Our House Projects: 7/3/11

I have this huge blank wall that just screams at me for something to be hung on it.

See..

I really would love to put a white shelf or two

above the dishwasher...eventually! :)

For now (cause I like Free Projects) I grabbed two 8x10 frames that were not in use and painted them white (of course!) and snipped 2 pages from my Better Homes and Garden magazines. I used those magazine article clippings for my "Art"!

They turned out like this:

*Sigh*

L-O-V-E them! :)

Plus, it gives me inspiration while making dinner!

Because I have cheap frames..they tend to have a crack look here and there.
See the little black line on the bottom?

I tackled it with just some hole filler! Works like a charm!
I had to do several parts of the frame to make it look "flush" with the side

It's a start..

Can't wait to make that chalkboard! :)

Have you ever made art for your frames out of magazine articles? Or have you cut out multiple small pictures and made a collage inside a frame? Post pictures of what you are doing or what you have done at Facebook.com/OurHouseProjects :) See you there!

Yes I turned our cabinets into a open show off area :)

Like I showed you yesterday, I want to open up the kitchen to look more modern and to give a clean, spacious appearance.

I got inspired by this photo at BHG.com

I love that it can show off cute dishes and bowls..Even wine glasses!
You can hide stuff in cute baskets and set out recipe books for decor :)

Our Kitchen is really, really neutral right now..

I want to add a splash of color into the decor to give it a

"I-want-to-be-in-here-and-cook" kind of look :)

However it still is a big improvement to the way it was..

Haha too green for me ;)

So today I started by taking down the two top end cabinets..

(I might do the other side of the sink too..but I want to test it over here first! Sometimes doing too much can ruin the effect!)

Unscrewing all the cabinets...the screws were pretty stripped so we had to use a
good old fashion screwdriver!

And next I took out the dishes and started to peel out all the shelf liner...

flowers anyone?

Then I took off the rest of the hardware...

Before painting, I had to lightly sand and fill the holes with hole filler

Before

I unscrewed the hooks from the shelves and pulled the shelves out.
Wiped everything down with a damp paper towel to make sure that the paint adhered well.

The painting begins! I would suggest a primer but I didn't want to spend any money
on this project so I ended up using 3 coats of paint ;)

first coat of paint..

2 coats...

3 coats of paint!

After!

Roxy and Rolie's Treats :)

Cookbook and Vases

I'm planning on doing the other side too!
The kitchen looks bigger since you can see the back of the cabinet!

In just a few hours our kitchen went from...

To this...

Have you ever wanted to bring decor into your kitchen and make it feel spacious?
Try removing your cabinet doors or trade them for framed glass cabinet doors!

Budget Breakdown:

Paint: Free!

Paintbrush-Already had!

Time: 6 hours. (Had to dry between coats and it was humid!)

Hole Filler-$3.50

Sandpaper-Already had!

Total Cost: $3.50 :)

I have been on BHG.com a lot lately and have just seen so many things I want to do! Plus, gave me ideas of how to do other projects!

I love being so inspired by others and their creativity!

I wanted to share some projects I hope to undertake one day!

All of these pictures are from BHG.com

Head over there to get even more house decorating ideas and even recipes

and gardening tips!

What I want to take from this bathroom: The open shelving! I love the idea of drawing the eye
up to make the bathroom appear bigger and to give some decor storage for bathroom items
such as t.p. and extra washcloths! I also love the idea of small plants on the back of the throne ;)

What I want to snatch: I want to make our kitchen feel more spacious and open by
taking off some cabinet doors and displaying the mugs/bowls/etc. Mine will need a good
paint job but maybe even through in a pop of color on the back of the wall using paint or
wallpaper (or even heavy gift wrap paper!)

This is just a great example of decorating a coffee table!
I've been on the look out for months for a serving tray for our
coffee table! I got to get some books from the attic and knick-knacks
that I know I have around and create a gorgeous looking coffee table display!

Okay, so there's one more picture I'm dying to show you that I want to do! But BHG.com is HUGE and I cannot find this certain photo! So I guess it'll have to wait... *sigh*

Our long time in progress photo wall is complete with black & white photos!

Here are a few snapshots to show you how it turned out :)

*Happy*

p.s. Don't forget to check out some of our sponsors on the side! :)

Thank you Amazon and Google!

Happy 4th of July!

Joe and I have no plans today for the 4th, but we did manage to eat some good ole hot dogs in celebration. (Sadly, Joe is having to go into work tonight!)

But, today Walgreens is open so I went ahead and edited some photos for our frames that I keep saying I'm going to fill. Today is the day!

Mixed pictures that do not go together and a few don't
have anything in them!

I love using Picnik.com for editing photos. I used it for our Black and White Polaroid String that I did about a month ago. I do have quite the obsession with black and white photos. They look so vintage and keep everything uniform!

A few of the picture's I'm having printed at Walgreens.com and

I'm picking them up in about an hour!