Countertops from Doors!!

It was a labor intensive weekend to say the LEAST!  Lord Have Mercy!!  I have been wanting butcher block countertops FOREVER!!  I just really wanted that warm feeling that wood gives, and felt that they would work the best with my kitchen….alas, butcher block is not cheap….so I started researching….and I came upon The Mustard Ceiling blog wherein they used oak doors that they found to create countertops in their kitchen and I loved them! 

SO….last Saturday Steve and I went to Anniston to Remodelers Warehouse (LOVE that place) to see what we could find so we could have wood countertops….

We found birch doors with beautiful graining…..$60 each….we got three….

Hello!  In this photo Steve had already been ripped them down to the width I “thought” I wanted….turns out I wanted them one inch less…so Steve ripped’em down another inch….(oops)

If ya’ll will remember, about two years or so ago I painted my oak cabinets  cream…..then I spray painted my white laminate countertops black….yes, I said spray painted….they worked well for awhile, and it was always intended to be a temporary fix….and they started to get scratched and the black started to get on my last nerve!  I would wipe them down and in 5 seconds you could see dust on them….made me CRAZY!

So the process started…..and WHAT a process!

We started with this….

 

Now, when you hear people say….you never know what you will find until you start pulling stuff out?  They are right!  When we took out the old countertops, we didn’t find rot, or termites….thank goodness….but we did find this….

A random hole in the sheetrock….paneling that was cut off….

Hello?

The kitchen was a HOT mess….stuff everywhere….no sink all weekend….

Oh Lord what a mess!  I kept sweeping, like that would make it all neat and stuff….

So….plan B….install a bead board backsplash…..

My precious sweet husband who makes all my visions a reality….

He only had to cut around two windows, three switch plates and a microwave….not fun…

just sayin’…Lord have Mercy look at that island!!! LOL!

I caulked and painted the bead board and had originally intended to paint it back green….and as I was painting it green….I kept looking over my shoulder at the white….so I ceased and desisted with the green paint….went to Lowes with my handy dandy mason jar full of my cabinet paint and had them match it….Where’s Waldo?  See the paint in mason jars on the island?  Yeah, that’s how I roll…

Now to the pretty part….

I took these photos this  morning, so the light is not great, but the sun coming in the window on the wood I thought was so pretty…

I left out the corner cabinet thingy….I have so much more room without it….

Steve used dowels to join the two pieces together….he is awesome like that :)

So there you have it!  I stained the wood dark walnut.  I started with special walnut and it wasn’t as dark as I wanted it.  I tested it on a scrap piece of wood first, then went back with the dark walnut and it was exactly what I wanted. Much sanding was also involved…..

I do LOVE them and it was exactly what I invisioned….and the cost was $180 for three doors and $20 for one sheet of bead board….so $200 total on this remodel…..gotta love that!

Thank you so much for stopping by…I will try and get some better photos later….

So….what do you think?

I will be linking up to the following this week:

Met Monday

Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays

Wow Us Wednesdays

Cowgirl Up

No Minimalist Here

Simple and Sweet Fridays

Lou Cinda

 

A Spring Centerpiece…

I was playing around Saturday with the centerpiece on my dining room table, and wanted to lighten it up a little, since the temps down here are already in the 80’s…My Stars!!  I would have loved to have had a “whisp” of Spring before Summer came barging in….though my grandmother used to tell me that we will have a “blackberry winter”…and that has not happened yet….anyhoo….

Do you love my bolt of fabric leaned against the wall…lovely accessory…

Rabbits and carrots go together right?

My NEXT project involves the wood you see leaned against the wall up there…

These will become my countertops in the kitchen….I KNOW!!  Steve is so EXCITED…..NOT!!!  We found these birch doors Saturday at Remodelers Outlet in Anniston…I truly LOVE that place!  Steve and David, a friend of ours, ripped them down to the proper width Sunday, and we are going to begin the install tonight….I will stain them dark walnut and in my head they are GORGEOUS!  I just hope the vision in my head, becomes reality!  (fingers crossed) (prayers said)

Stay tuned!

Linking up at 2805 for Potpourri Friday!

Lou Cinda :)

 

The Chair is Home…

Steve and I drove to Trussville and picked up my chair a couple of weeks ago and I really really love it as much as I thought I would….it is a very well made chair….love the pattern and colors and it is SO comfortable!

Now, ya’ll remember when I covered this ottoman before….and I don’t think it looks bad with the chair….but…

Then I found this fabric  on the internet….Warehousefabric.com…

LOVED it!

So… I think this looks better…

These pictures were taken in the morning, so there isn’t the greatest light….but the colors in this fabric match the colors in my chair to a “t”…I am  also going to make pillows for the sofa out of this fabric….

Bad light, but you can get the gist of the room….(Sadie is watching the birds)…

The secretary in the back is going to get a coat of cream paint….I have been putting it off, but I am fixing to get cracking on that….it will show up SO much better I think….

I made a runner for the coffee table…then cut out the lace from a tieback that I had as an overlay….

And Sissie is “chillin”…I am going to change the vignette on the coffee table too…I have somewhere else I want to use that silver tray…

Just a few small changes going on around the casa…let me know what you think!  Thank you so much for stopping by!

I will be linking up to Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage and Potpourri Friday at 2805….

Lou Cinda :)

 

It Takes a Village…

Okay….FINALLY I have taken some photos…granted they are not great….one day it was too sunny….one day not sunny enough….but I digress and I just took some flippin pictures so ya’ll will know that I am not just sitting around eating bon bons and watching soap operas all day…..(I wish)…

Dining room chairs and rug before…dark’ish…when I was covering these seats in my upholstery class, my instructor, Gary, whom I do love and adore, looked at this fabric and said, “I hate that fabric.”  The man does not mince words….I think he would like them better now….

After…

loved both of these fabrics….so I did two chairs in each one…

I think they look perfect with the runner I made…

Springified the centerpiece…..

of course, now I am thinking I need to cover the shades on my chandie….

does it EVER end?

this is what my son, Seth got me for my birthday….I SO love her…

she is all chippy and worn….the stories she could tell..

She has a broken wing….much like myself….imperfect…

aren’t we all?  Thank you Lord for your Son and my Salvation….

And thank you for blessing me with my Seth….

I have more photos to put in another post….I’m on a roll! lol  Thank you so much for stopping by!!

Lou Cinda :)

Thrifting…..Part II

Hopefully, this weekend I will be able to get some pictures…it is supposed to be sunny and maybe I can get some decent pictures.  I did go back and pick up my chair and I also got another rug for the dining room.  So I have actually gotten something done…it takes a village…

I wanted to share some additional pictures I took on our jaunt a couple of weeks ago.  Funny thing…I went back to Trussville Antique Mall last week and was going to get some of the things that were in my photos….they.were.gone!!  The basket was gone….one of the chairs was gone….the little chair was gone….  I know better than to wait….

Love this chair…..of course I do….it is checked…

Industrial…

I like the chippy shutter…

Love the red and black…

I did a u-turn in the street yesterday because I saw a rusty chippy red radio flyer wagon sitting outside at a yard sale when I was on my way back from lunch…

This one that I saw in a booth was $180.00…see it under the table there? Onehundredeightydollars!!! I ain’t even lyin’…

Got mine for $15….and I swear it looks just like this one….hmmmmmm…also found a cute cute cute vanity stool for $20.  I have been looking for one to put at my vanity….I will take pictures of it this weekend too..

Also, do you see the croquet mallets in the above photo?  $10 each.  a few weeks ago I saw a WHOLE SET of mallets PLUS the balls….they were all old and faded and chippy…..$5.00.  Yeah, FIVEDOLLARS!!  Did I get them?  No, I did not.  Why didn’t I"?  Go ahead…ask me, “Lou Cinda, why didn’t you buy those croquet mallets and balls for $5.00?”  BECAUSE I AM AN IDIOT!!!  I must have been smokin’ crack!!  I have kicked myself a million times over THAT one!!

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Have a great weekend!

Lou Cinda ;)