Custom Cabinets, part deux!

Glass cabinet fronts!
Everyone loves them, right? I know I always swoon when I see them. Those kitchen full of of gleaming, open looking cabinetry with artfully arranged dishes and decor...
Love them.

No way was I going to be able to convert every cab in my kitchen to glass fronts - too much junk to hide! But all those Kitchen Design magazines that I keep mentioning showed me that it's okay to have just a couple glass fronts - it adds to that "custom cabinet" look.

So I converted just two of my cabs.
First was this stand-alone double door unit.

(Don't worry - I'm getting rid of those vinegar bottles, too. They are SO dated!)

I started by removing the doors, and taking all the dishes out.

Then I cut beadboard to fit (two pieces because I didn't have one that was large enough) and painted it green.

Once the beadboard was dry and installed, I began work on the doors themselves.

My sweet hubby helped with this part. I did the first one all alone - then handed the jigsaw off to him and let him do the rest. It's heavy!  He routered out a channel for the glass to sit in, too.
While he cut out the center panel I artfully arranged the dishes :)

Eventually (it took more than a week!) I got the glass cut to size and installed. I used a clear liquid nails product that promised to hold glass.  This is how it turned out.

Beautiful, right?
I was nervous about the glass at first, but they've been in for about 2 months, now, and it's been problem-free :) We are much more careful about how we close the cabinet doors now, though - no flinging them shut as we walk across the kitchen!

Love them <3

I also installed glass in the corner cabinet.

(before)

I have a bit of an obsession with tea pots.  So I decided to display them.

First I had to make sure everything was neat and tidy. I found a hemp basket in my craft supplies, holding fat quarters, and appropriated it for teas.

It wasn't big enough to hold all of them, so I used a brown paper bag, too. Stamped it with fleur de li's and replaced the handle with a gold ribbon - pretty :)

That took care of 2 tea-pot-back-drops.
For the 3rd I just a bunch of non-display-worthy tea pots in neutral colors.

For the 4th, I cut a piece of beadboard. I left it white because I wanted it to be non-obtrusive. It slips in easily and it's impossible to see from almost any angle. Behind it hides hot chocolate mix, protein shake powder, plastic straws...

Here are the afters of the corner cabinet.

I love the way these turned out. Doing just two cabinets let me arrange things so they look pretty, without giving up the storage space that hidden cabinets provide - because, let's face it - it you can fit a lot more in when you have no regard to appearance! :)

Linking up again this week!

@ ASPTL for DIY Day :)
@ The Shabby Chic Cottage for Transformation Thursday

PB Side Table Knock Off

After :)

I had this table in my family room that was hideously ugly.
So ugly, in fact, I don't have a before picture of it.
But I did find this one. It was the background of a picture that's about 3 years old.  Many, many things in my house have changed since then - but it at least gives you an idea of where I started.

This is a side table that Pottery Barn sells for $200

I love it, but (as usual) their price is a little rich for my blood.
So I watched my local online classifieds and I kept an eye out at the thrift store, and eventually I found a pair of round tables that I thought would work nicely. I offered $35 for the 2 of them.
Then my boy and I took a little road trip and drove for over an hour to pick them up.  We met our sellers in the parking lot of a grocery store near their home. While we were there we went inside to go potty and buy some snacks for the ride home. I ate my first twinkie in over a decade. It was my boys first twinkie EVER. It's a day we'll always remember. Maybe.

Anyway, I got my little tables and I brought them home, and then I started sanding.

I decided only to work on one, for now. I'm sure I have a perfect place for table #2, so I'm going to hold off on the makeover until I find it :)

When I had sanded it sufficiently (and removed that strange little brass thing)

I gave it several light coats of Heirloom White.
One that was all dry I brought the table inside (since it's COLD here!) Then I gave it a light sanding to smooth the finish out. Notice the dust on the floor.

Then I gave it a couple more coats of paint - a Behr color that matches Heirloom White exactly.

I think it turned out beautifully! And the total cost was no more than $20 - just a tenth of PBs table :)

Linking up to all my favorite blog parties for the first time in WEEKS!

P.S. I promise to put up a kitchen post this week - I know I've been a major slacker lately!

Decorating for Spring

I'm itching for Spring.
The weather is actually cooperating this week and we've had THREE 50+ degree days!
Unfortunately it will still be several weeks before the mound of snow in my yard melts off.
Still - it's definitely time to decorate for Spring.

Here's how I started - by jumping on to the bird and egg bandwagon, of course!

(I've wrapped so many plastic easter eggs in twine over the past week that I could do it in my sleep!)

This dresser by my front door is my favorite decorating surface in my whole house. It's a perfect display area and I love to pile lots of seasonal decor on it.

My "Spring" vignette was a little lacking, though.  I wanted it to be tonal and soothing...but it ended up flat and boring.

I decided it need (what else!) a wreath.

So made the easiest wreath ever by trying some ribbon and a scrapbooking tag (which I wrote "nest" on) to a small grapevine wreath. I added a tiny nest and a couple of faux robbins eggs and called it good.

I covered a small styrafoam ball with moss and threw it on the dresser top to add a little green.

SO much better!

The display is almost entirely the same, but a couple new elements really helped everything pop.

 

Custom Cabinets, part one!

Did you think I'd abandoned my kitchen project?
Or my blog?
I haven't. I've just been busy with real life stuff - Girl Scouts and the PTA, namely!

Back to the kitchen!
One of the most important elements in any kitchen is the cabinets, right?
All of the high-end kitchens have custom ones.
So I examined several Kitchen Design Magazines to try to determine what, exactly, makes cabinets look custom.
I decide it was finish (usually more than one), varying heights, hardware and niches.
To start, I gave my island a 2-step finish and tricked out the underside with a copper colored magnet board.
Next up, I tackled the "niche" idea.

Most of the ones I saw in magazines were above the refrigerator or the microwave. I chose to do mine above the micro, because it was a nice, central spot.

Here it is, before:

(taken last "FALL", obviously!)

First, I took the cabinet doors off and filled in the gigantic screw heads that holding the cabinet to the wall.  This ended up being a useless step - but I thought I should explain the white patches ;)

 

Next, I used a jig saw to cut the crown molding off the top.
I practiced a little first, but this was still only the 3rd or 4th thing I ever cut with a jigsaw. I didn't exactly get the angle exact on the right side...but I fixed it later!

Then I painted out the inside with the same paint I'd used on the island.

This is when I started the top piece - the part I was REALLY excited about.
I used my jigsaw to cut out two side pieces, free handed from a picture I'd seen in a magazine.
Then I built the rest of the box - the back and a thin strip for the top. The whole thing was made out of 1/2" MDF.  I attached the crown molding to the top and painted the whole thing.

When I slapped it on top of the cabinet, though, it looked...unfinished.
Obviously the angle on the crown molding (right side) was off. I took that down and adjusted it, but still wasn't satisfied.

I stared at it for a couple of days, feeling like it was wrong somehow. My husband kept telling me how great it was...hoping I'd just FINISH the damn thing, I'm sure!
Then I decided to try putting beadboard in the back. I painted it the green that I had considered for the island and slapped it in and LOVED the result.

(not shown - my superhero of a husband shortened the cord from the microwave, removed the plug piece from the wall and wired it directly into the power source, so instead of hiding a 2 foot coil of thick grey cord I only had to hide a 3 inch piece! LOVE him.)

Here it is, all accessorized.

Accessories: the white jar/bottles are from the thrift store - all were clear until I spray painted them white! I paid $1 or less for each of them. The basket and artificial artichokes are also from the thrift store - the 'chokes were still in plastic (never opened!) when I bought them for .75 each! and the basket was $2. The little black architectural thing was from the thrift store and cost .75.  The fluer-de-lis plaque was from Hobby Lobby and was my big purchase - $6. The silver thing is an antique vegetable chopper that was my great grandmothers. It's still super sharp - my husband cut himself on one of it's blades while washing it!

I really think it adds to the "custom" look of the kitchen - it gives a nice, staggered height to the cabinets and another finish, plus it's a great decorative space :)

Stay tuned for Custom Cabinets, part two!
(coming soon - I promise!)

Pretty, Simple Spring Wreath

I took down my Valentines wreath last week.
My door has been naked since then.

I never realized that I don't have anything for the front door for this time of year.
It's not really Spring yet - not here - but I am in full winter rebellion at this point. I needed something green and simple, so I started looking around.
Pottery Barn came to my rescue.

They sell this lovely moss covered wreath for $49.
It's currently on sale for just $39, but I still figured I could make it for less :)

The PB version is 18" in diameter. I bought the largest Styrofoam form the craft store had - it was only 16", but I figured that was close enough.

To start, I spray painted the form green.

Then I started hot gluing the moss on.  First to the front, then to the sides.

It was easiest to do the sides (both in and out) by standing the wreath on it's side.

When I had the form fully covered I took it out to the garage and sprayed it with spray adhesive, then I sprinkled some moss crumbs over it and patted it all around with my hands.
I hung it on my front door with a gold ribbon.

I love it. It's so sweet and simple and it was just a fraction of the PB price.
$5.00 for the wreath (used a 40% off coupon at Roberts)
$5.00 for the moss - I bought 2 packages at Wal Mart for $2.27 each, but I only used 1/2 of the second package, so the true cost was probably about $5, including tax.
The ribbon and hot glue were already in my stash.
$10 total - the perfect price to adorn my front door :)

Linking up!
Made it Monday at the Persimmon Perch
Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative
DIY Day at ASPTL
Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage