Kitchen Crashers Phase 1

When we purchased our house two years ago we knew we wanted to make some changes. Our house was a short sale and even though it wasn't damaged it was in desperate need of a face lift.  In the past two years we have re-painted almost every room in the house, replaced all the knobs, hinges and cabinet pulls to the oil rubbed bronze, added paneling in the media room,added trim to the column,
 built cabinets in the laundry room and built a builtin for the mud room.  
We love DIY projects and Im really excited to finally be working on our biggest one yet...THE KITCHEN!!!  The kitchen is absolutely the heart of our home.  I love our kitchen layout! It was the layout of this kitchen that made us purchase this home even though it did not have the upgrades that the other house we were looking at had. The open concept of the kitchen is my favorite! What is not my favorite is the cabinet color. When we first purchased this house the walls, cabinets and floors were all the same color (orange brown)

Before

 

...well we fixed the wall color first...

now on to the cabinets...and next will be floors! 

It is going to be a HUGE project to say the least but I am so extremely excited to get started! There is certainly a greater appreciation when you personally work hard and put in hours of time improving your home.

We started on the Island this weekend...here are some progress pics

Before

 

 

Added paneling

 

 

Painted and distressed paneling

We used chalk paint (mix yourself and save a ton of money) and distressed it with a low grit sand paper then sealed everything with polyacrylic so it is sealed and won't scratch but still has that dull finish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have ordered new corbels but they haven't arrived yet..once those are added the island will be complete....then on to the kitchen cabinets which will be painted in an  ivory color called Linen. We are not distressing the cabinets but we are antiqueing them with a walnut wax.  Sooo excited!!

 

Here are some of our kitchen inspiration pics:

These colors: black island, ivory cabinets

We will be adding a brick backsplash

 

These colors only switched: black on island and ivory on cabinets..we also want to add the barn wood beams from this pic in the living room...but that will be a seperate project :)

We loved the paneling look!

We will be adding a cooper sink and bronze faucet

 

 

Holiday Tradition

Pumpkin Pie is always a holiday favorite..and our family's favorite has it's own special extras on it!

 

Recipie:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 can (15oz) Pure pumpkin
1 can (12fl oz) evaporated milk
2 unbaked pie crust (I use Pillsbury)
1cup of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of butter or margarine
1 1/2 cup of crushed pecans
Redi whip

Mix sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar/spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk

Unfold one pie crust and press into pie pan. Go around edges and wave the pie dough to make a pretty crust edge

Pour mixture into pie shell
Bake in preheated oven at 425 degrees F for 15min
Reduce temperature to 350 degrees, bake for 40 -50 minutes

While pie is baking:

In seperate bowl mix brown sugar and crushed pecans and cut in the butter until most of the brown sugar is mixed

About 10 to 15 minutes before the end of the bake time pull pie out of oven and put brown sugar mix on top and put back in oven for remaining bake time

Unroll the 2nd pie crust and with a leaf cutter cut some leaves out of the dough

                          With a butter knife make shallow cuts on the leaves to make the leaf veins

 

Place the leaves on a cookie sheet- make sure you put some over the edges so they have a realistic bend to them.

 

Add a little food coloring to some egg whites and brush it on the leaves..it will add dimension in color when they are baked.

 

 

Bake in oven at 350 degrees for about 8 min.

 

 

Once pie has cooled, placed leaves on the top!!

 

 

Yummy!! This is a combination of all my favorites...pumpkin pie, extra crust, and pecan topping!!

 

Happy Holidays!!!

 

 

 

 

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Country Christmas!

 

 

I found this wreath at an estate sale this year and decided to use it for the front door. Complete with a bow in a red and black houndstooth ( I love houndstooth) and a few tree sprigs... my rustic and simple wreath made the perfect entrance for our home! 

 

 

 

My dining room is always one of my favorite places to decorate!!

 

 

Stockings are awesome as decor pieces throughout your home! This one was an old stocking I had. The cuff on it was a shiny silver so I just attached some scrap burlap using upholstery glue to make the cuff a little more rustic! Hang another fantastic Walmart $1 ornament and stuff the stocking with tissue and it is complete!

 

 

Pinecones, faux snow and berries are the centerpiece of my table this year!

 

I love love love my Christmas dishes!! They are a collection that I add to each year little by little, but each plate is a sentence from my favorite childhood Christmas book "T'was the Night before Christmas" We eat on these throughout the Season and everyone has their favorite one!

 

I continued the theme from the centerpiece to each place setting with berries, pinecones and tree sprigs wrapped in burlap!!

 

 

 

 

    

  

 

 

 

Christmas thru my kids eyes

This is my favorite tree in the house! It is my kids tree and is wrapped with colorful lights and filled with all their homemade ornaments from over the years! I absolutely love unwrapping each ornament and comparing their little handprints they made years ago and see how much they have grown. 

Merry & Bright!

Merry Christmas!!!

 

Effortless decorating to make your Christmas Merry and Bright!

 

 

 

 

I love to replace my vases with seasonal filler..and this year I decided to fill it with snow! Combined with burlap wrapped candles and a snowflake ornament tied on with raffia makes for a wintery statement in my kitchen!

                                     

I am so excited about this little tree! I found it at an estate sale for $1..now that's a deal!!  Paired with my glitter white snowman I purchased from Marshalls for $8 and a sleigh ornament I picked up from Walmart for $1.  This centerpiece is one of my favorite vingettes this year and it only cost $10!!! :)

 

A sparkle garland mixed with my magnolia leaves is a great way to combine rustic with sparkle!!

 

 

 

 

 

Effortless decorating tip: add burlap to candles and wrap with ribbon or raffia!!

 

 

Wreath from Walmart with sprigs stuck around it and a burlap ribbon with a $1 Let it Snow ornament from Walmart attached.

 

 

Faux snow in vases and sprinkled on garland ($2 for a bag of Faux snow)

I use ornaments all over my house as decor...they are inexpensive and add that little bit of Christmas to any decor. Sleigh filled with ball ornaments and 2 additional ornaments as decor (ice skates and Believe sign)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Christmas is by far my absolute favorite time of the year and I just love to decorate for it!

I love so many different decor styles for Christmas from the frosty white christmas to the country rustic lodge christmas look.  One day I would love to have a bunch of different trees throughout the house!!

 

 

 

 

 

    

    I love the combination of frosty tree branches, burlap ribbon and birch wood stems!!     I took inspriation from the Pottery barn catalog for the burlap  ribbon banners, and just cut a banner and used a sharpie to write on them with my favorite Christmas words such as "Noel, Joy, Peace and Faith"                                      

 

                                                                  

Burlap tree skirt!! Love the simpilicity of it!

 

 

                      The topper for my tree is a combination of different stems...from glittered pom pom sprigs, to a huge frosted tree branch in the middle and multiple birch wood branches !! I love big toppers!!

                                                          

                                                                  

 

Wreath for all seasons!

 

I am always torn between keeping my fall decor for Thanksgiving or starting on my Christmas decor. This wreath is perfect for me because small changes take it from one holiday to the next in just a few minutes.

 

This wreath was very easy to make. I took a twine wreath from Michaels, and stuck some fall stems on 3/4 of the wreath. Then I took a twine garland and wrapped it around the entire wreath. The letter I purchased at Michaels and painted it with some acrylic paints that I had. Then add a few sheer pokadot bows and your done. (Tip: the bows and letter I wrapped with some arrangement wire to secure it to the wreath)

 

If you are ready for winter all you need to do is remove the bows  and replace with burlap and christmas plaid, remove the pumpkin stem and replace with a chirstmas one and voila..you have a winter berry wreath.

Happy Holidays Y'all!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the inside looking out....

 

Happy November!!! 

Over the past few months Ric and I have been redecorating our dining room.  We love the farmhouse style and wish that we lived on a ton of land with a big ole' barn that we could look out the window and see. But, since that dream has not become a reality yet we decided to do something similar. 

It started with a window we found at a thrift store for $10...we sanded it and Ric built shutters with cedar on each side.

 We built a ledge and trim on the bottom and painted it.

We used leftover white trim paint for the window and ledge and  Varathane wood stain in "Sunbleached" for the shutters (tip: don't get the stain/polyurethane in one...just get the stain...the all in one does not turn out the same color)

 

 

To complete the look,  our good friend and amazing photographer Jason Pendley (Jason Pendley Photography) took some barn pics of barns on his parents land and we enlarged them and put them behind our faux windows.  From the inside looking out our farmhouse dreams now inspire us everyday!