photo SUPER THIN LINE 4_zps4xjugusw.png  photo ENTER 188X24_zpsan0no3qw.png  photo HOLIDAY 134X24_zpsivdh8utq.png  photo PROJECTS 118X24_zpsmt1mfnap.png  photo RECIPES 112X24_zps5kyaynje.png  photo SHOP 100X24_zpsgecoqzk4.png  photo CONTACT 134X24 SECOND_zps0icpk3so.png  photo PRESS 100X24_zpszfhijryx.png  photo SUPER20THIN20LINE204_zpsq5i2ucyd.png

April 27, 2017

One Room Challenge Guest | Week Four


Morning!  Welcome back to week 4 of my One Room Challenge update.  If you want to catch up on where this room started, you can find all the details in these post: Week One,  Week Two and Week Three.  Things are moving along, but definitely feeling the pressure a bit.  As you will see from some of the pictures, we are tackling some projects in the evenings after kids are asleep just to stay on track.  So let's jump to it!

Window Trim

This window is the focal point of the kitchen, so I wanted to beef it up a bit.  There's not a whole lot of room between the window and cabinets, but we were able to add a small piece of trim which really gave it a more of a finished look.  These trim boards were then caulked, wood filled, primed and painted.


New Sheetrock

When we demoed the backsplash the drywall came off with the tile, which is expected.  So new sheetrock went in.

New Backsplash

And finally the backsplash.  When we first started thinking about redoing this kitchen I originally wanted to do 2x8 white subway tile in a herringbone pattern.  But the more I looked at the amount of backsplash we were working with and all the outlets, etc. to work around, it became apparent that going with the classic 3x6 in a horizontal pattern was best.  I just felt like it wasn't enough space to really create a herringbone pattern.  And my installer (aka my husband) was trilled as well, since this pattern is much easier to install. 




The grout is still wet in these pictures, so it's darker then the finished color.  The true color is a very, very light gray, so the backsplash has a more all white look.

And just to review...here is my plan for this space and what we have completed thus far:
  • paint the cabinets - Benjamin Moore Simply White
  • paint the walls - PPG Palomino Gray
  • replace hardware with gold pulls
  • new cabinet hinges and new drawer rollers
  • new electric outlets
  • replace the backsplash
  • replace outlet covers
  • trim out the window
  • replace the blinds with a roman shade
  • under cabinet lighting
  • move light above the sink to the wall
  • new light above the sink
  • replace light in breakfast room
  • maybes - new faucet, new barstools and chairs for breakfast area
After all this dirty work, I was excited to see my roman shade arrive.  I had to change to a different style then I posted on my inspiration board due to my window size being unavailable, but love the new style too!  And I am the most excited that my counter stools are supposed to arrive today!  I have been wanting these forever and can't wait to see them in my kitchen!!  Lighting is still up in the air.  We have been back and forth on pendants over the island or just going with a light above the sink and then using the larger Darlana pendant over the breakfast table.  Lighting is probably stressing me the most at this point.

Thanks for following along.  We are getting so close!


April 25, 2017

Fashion Faves



Hi there!  Lots of my attention has been focused on our kitchen and searching the web for home décor items, but there are so many cute fashion pieces that I am really loving.  From all the one-shoulder goodness, to the adorable espadrille sandals, to the cute fabrics like seersucker and eyelet.  I've been saving several of my favorites and sharing them today!


April 20, 2017

One Room Challenge Guest | Week Three


Morning!  Welcome back to week 3 of my One Room Challenge update.  Lots of dirty work to report this week, except for the pretty new gold pulls we installed.  If you want to catch up on where this room started, you can find all the details in these post: Week One and Week Two.  So let's jump to it!

New Hardware

I knew when we moved into this house I wanted to paint the cabinets and bring in some gold.  After shopping around a bit, I finally found gold pulls that looked much like the pricier ones I had been wanting at a fraction of the cost.  They come in many different sizes and you can buy them in packs of 10.  Because we already had pulls on these cabinets, it was nice to find these that actually fit the holes that were already drilled into the cabinetry.  I really didn't want to make any new holes if we didn't have to. 


Demo Backsplash

To remove the backsplash and sheetrock we used this sledge hammer and it worked great.  Pretty easy to remove, just lots and lots of mess to clean up.


New Electrical Outlets

While the back wall was open my husband made a few adjustments with the electrical.  He made few functional changes like moving a box location, but mostly cosmetic replacing the old faded yellowed outlets with new bright white ones.


New Cabinet Hinges and Drawer Rollers 

Another change we made was to change out all the cabinet hinges and roller tracks on the drawers.  I know it doesn't sound too exciting, but the old ones were really gummy and gross.  Once the cabinets were painted and looked so nice, having these new parts really made a huge difference.



And just to review...here is my plan for this space and what we have completed thus far:
  • paint the cabinets - Benjamin Moore Simply White
  • paint the walls - PPG Palomino Gray
  • replace hardware with gold pulls
  • new cabinet hinges and new drawer rollers
  • new electric outlets
  • replace the backsplash
  • replace outlet covers
  • trim out the window
  • replace the blinds with a roman shade
  • under cabinet lighting
  • move light above the sink to the wall
  • new light above the sink
  • replace light in breakfast room
  • maybes - new faucet, new barstools and chairs for breakfast
Lots of big tasks done, but still lots to do...


April 18, 2017

Easter at the Beach


Hi there!  Taking a little break from our kitchen makeover and sharing a few pictures from our Easter weekend.  Mostly due to kid activities and buying a new house last year (with many projects to do,) we had very little time to spend at the Texas coast like we have in the past years.  My husband's family has a place down there, so we took advantage of the activity-free weekend and headed down for a few days. 


We had gorgeous weather!  The pictures tell most of what we did...fish, boogie board, tumble, shell hunt and relax in the sun.  I pretty much sat in my beach chair and snapped pictures.  And I didn't even bother to get in one all weekend, but I was there :)



April 13, 2017

One Room Challenge Guest | Week Two

Welcome back to One Room Challenge weekly update!  This week I'm sharing all about painting. 

We are DIYing everything for this project except the painting.  This one we decide it would best left to professionals.  After the painful task of removing everything from the cabinets, we then removed all the doors, hinges and drawers, so they were just left with open cabinets to paint.  To paint the doors and drawers, we set up an area in the garage and made a plastic tent where they could spray those parts (which I forgot to take a picture of.)


The paint process the painters used was a spray, so everything had to be covered and the kitchen draped off from the rest of the house.  The taping and prep work took way longer than the actual painting. 

They also did a light sand over the cabinets and then primed.


And below is a side by side to compare after painting.  The cabinet color is Simply White by Benjamin Moore and the walls are Palomino Gray by PPG. 

And I noticed that the granite looks a totally different color in the two pics??  We did not replace the granite.  The before pictures is from our realtor and not sure if it was edited or if the new paint color makes it look that different.  Anyways the granite color in the after is the closer to the actual color in person.


We used this same paint technique in our last kitchen and I love the finished product!

And just to review...here is my plan for this space and what we have completed thus far:
  • paint the cabinets - Benjamin Moore Simply White
  • paint the walls - PPG Palomino Gray
  • replace hardware with gold pulls
  • new cabinet hinges and new drawer rollers
  • replace the backsplash
  • replace outlet covers
  • trim out the window
  • replace the blinds with a roman shade
  • new faucet
  • under cabinet lighting
  • move light above the sink to the wall
  • new light above the sink
  • replace light in breakfast room
  • maybes - new barstools and chairs for breakfast
And a reminder of my design board:


Still lots to do, but things are moving along as planned so far.  With Easter falling this weekend, we probably won't get much done over the weekend, so we'll have to get things done in the evenings which will be interesting! 

Have a great day!


April 10, 2017

Cute Spring Top



Morning!  I posted this picture on IG a couple of weeks ago and I had a few inquires about this top so I thought I would share it here too.  I picked it up on sale after seeing a friend wearing it, and I love the fit so much that I bought two!  The polka dot design is no longer available, but it comes in six different colors and almost 400 positive reviews.  It's a longer near tunic length and very slimming.  I've worn it casual with jeans, as well as to work with slacks. 

You can find more of my fashion and home favorites here.

Have a great day!


April 6, 2017

One Room Challenge Guest | Week One


Ok, I finally made the decision to join the One Room Challenge Guest Linkup to get our kitchen knocked out!  It's been dragging on way too long, so I'm hoping this will help us get it finished.  When the last ORC was going on in the Fall I remember thinking maybe I should wait and do our kitchen for the Spring ORC.  But I thought that is way too far away and we will be all done with this space before then...not the case. 

If you're not familiar with the ORC, it is organized by Linda at Calling It Home twice a year with 20 feature bloggers and then a guest link up.  Participants pick one room to makeover in a 6 week period and each week the participants link up their projects and share their progress.  So let's jump in with a few before pics.


Just to give a little background...we moved into this home 11 months ago, and you can read the full story of why we moved here.

Here are a few inspiration pictures. 


Inspiration Kitchen # 1 - What I love from this kitchen is:  the window shade and trim, white subway tile


Inspiration Kitchen # 2 - (this space looks familiar :)  Just like in our last kitchen:  white cabinets and white subway tile


Inspiration Kitchen # 3 - And from this kitchen:  gold hardware, gold light fixtures, white subway tile, faucet

So, pulling ideas from these spaces, here's my list of what I want to change in our kitchen:

  • paint the cabinets - Benjamin Moore Simply White
  • paint the walls - PPG Palomino Gray
  • replace hardware with gold pulls
  • new cabinet hinges and new drawer rollers
  • replace the backsplash
  • replace outlet covers
  • trim out the window
  • replace the blinds with a roman shade
  • new faucet
  • under cabinet lighting
  • move light above the sink to the wall
  • new light above the sink
  • replace light in breakfast room
  • maybes - new barstools and chairs for breakfast


If you've been around here awhile, you already know we got a little head start with this space, but I'm starting from the beginning for this challenge.  I hope you'll follow along!