The Slow Cooker - Slow as Christmas!

"The Slow Cooker", that's what I'm calling our kitchen re-do!   It has been a S-L-O-W process!

It actually surprises me to think how long its been if you count when I almost lost my mind or something and took the doors off the top cabinets in October of 2010! WOWZER! You can read about that here.

Then, it's been almost a year ago (April 2011) when we started updating appliances. One.at.a.time. The fridge was first. I was so happy with it that I had to make myself quit standing in front of it and hugging it!

Then, a couple months later, maybe three, a "wave" of change came in the form of a new micro wave oven. The old one was pretty pathetic as you can see. Well, it doesn't look that bad I guess here, but when it was taken all the way out it looked BAD. My husband isn't one to get rid of things quickly, but that went straight into the trash!  Sorry I didn't get a picture of that.  I have it embedded in my brain, though!  Here's the "after" picture!

Then right before Christmas, I kinda started dropping some hints about the stove needing to be updated too.  I did it  in a sweet, suthin kinda way of course, that went something like this, "ya know what, it sho would look good if all the appliances wuh stainless steel, doncha think?", to my honey!
Now, don't tell me ya'll have never done that! Nothing works like that sweet suthin whine drawl, y'all! (I hear my daughters cracking up when they read this)!
That wasn't nagging was it? I don't think so, cause not long after we wuz in Lowes and my sweetie starts looking and asking questions about the stainless steel gas ranges! I started feeling like a kid at Christmas! The next thing I knew........this was setting in here!


Yep, that's a great big cheesy smile you see on my face!

Ok, we have made it from April to December! We are doing GREAT! I'm excited! Excited because shortly after the stove has been put in my sweetie said, "I know what I'm gonna get you for Christmas"! I started trying to remind him that I already had my Christmas present - the stove. "But I have to have you something else for Christmas", he says!  So, in my sweet little suthin voice, I said, "OK, Shua, my Honey Blossom!"  Then he says,  "I'm going to fix the island"! I didn't really know what to think, to be honest. This island has really had it's own set of problems recently. I won't bore you with the details.

Anyoleway, I was a little shocked when I heard this announcement because it was like the week before Christmas,.... ahhh,...... actually the Friday before Christmas when he got serious about this. Let me insert here that this is my husband's idea this time, ok?
So, he decided to take some walnut wood that came from trees cut down on our property and had been "curing" for y.e.a.r.s now, and have it "plained" and use it for the top for the island.
My husband is wonderful! One of our son-in-laws says that he could make something out of toothpicks! He can, but it usually doesn't happen overnight! That could be due to a couple of things: one, he is a perfectionist, or two, he is a very BUSY man. So, I'm OK, really I am! This was his idea, remember?!

Fast forward to January 18, 2011!   Island?   What island?   Where! Oh, that island!!! It's still at the wood working shop!
Something went wrong ( fan me, cause I think I'm gonna faint!)
 It was being worked on in a building that was not heated, and the wood SPLIT!
I know, isn't that terrible!
 I'm OK, though!
 I did get to see some pictures of it. I'll share with you, a couple of blurry ones,  if you're interested !




Where they are pointing to is the split.





Looks like a team of surgeons around it, doesn't it?  SERIOUS!

 Sooooo, hopefully, this week we will be able to go pick it up and then the island will look something like this island top.  (I know.....I'm dreaming)!

Then all we will have left to do is:    New Counter Tops, New Sink, Subway Tile above counters (have had that picked out for some time now), and decide what we will do with the cabinets....leave the doors off? get new ones doors?  get new cabinets ? (probably not!) do cafe' shelves?  There' still a lot before it's finished.
It might be done in time for Christmas! But I'm Ok with that!

Seriously, I am very thankful for what the Lord has given me. I have so much to be thankful for! I'm thankful for the way the Lord uses my husband. He is such a faithful minister and so wants to be used in the Lords work; and that he is!  He not only pastors a growing church, listens to my southern whining, drawling, but he also travels nationally as well as internationally, preaching, teaching and singing in conferences and meetings. He has so many opportunities and open doors to be used and I certainly don't ever want to hinder that. He also is known for his patience, and sometimes, I'll admit I need him to teach some of that to me!  When I think about it, I guess he has!  I'm patiently waiting here!
Gail

From Barn to Charm!

This is a project that has been an on going, Summer, project. We bought these (there's two, but I'm only showing one throughout this post) night stands at an estate sale early in the summer for a whopping $10.00 a piece! This was at an old horse farm in our area that I didn't even know existed. They were selling the house furnishings (which was a huge old house), all the outside equipment and all the barn "stuff". The barn is where we found the night stands. I think from the looks of them, they had been stored there for a looooong time! They were in pretty bad condition as you can see.




  I know, you're probably thinking, "what were you thinking?"!  These are ugly! They were, but I could see potential in them, and I could tell they really were "nice" nice as in quality and as in being solid wood, and  remember the $ tag ?......only $10@, and did I mention, they are French styled? (my favorite style of furniture)!  But I do admit, they looked pretty bad!
Not to mention the smell.  Oh, maybe I shouldn't have!  Well, they did come from a barn!  Also in their "better days", they must have belonged to a nice, little, southern lady, because there was also a smell of talcum powder mixed with a moth ball smell!  WAIT, please don't quit reading.  It gets better.....Ha Ha!  Some of the table drawers were lined with contact paper, there were straight pins in the corners and edges.  (Our little, old, southern lady must have been a seamstress too!)  Of course there was dirt and, hold on, there were spiders (dead ones of course)!  WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!  I can't believe that recently I have actually been considering trying to start a business of refurbishing old furniture.  I don't think I was thinking!

We started working on them early on, but because of our busy Summer schedule, we were not able to work on them as consistently as we would have liked.

We have only had time to work on one so far. Lots of steps have to be taken to get this project from "barn to charm"!

First, while my husband sanded and sanded and sanded some more, I cleaned  the inside. I removed the wonderful contact paper (yuk!), and cleaned and cleaned and cleaned some more! Just call me the "Clorox Kid"!
After we got it cleaned and sanded, (believe me, it got the best cleaning it had ever had in it's life from me! Let's say bleached!, we coated it really good with a sealer. Then we let it set outside in the hot summer heat for weeks. Then the grandkids came and it got put on hold for weeks! That is ok, though!


 Anyway, here it us the end of October, and we are starting again. I am so pleased to tell you that all the steps we took and especially the sitting outside in the heat for weeks, took care of the smell. It no longer has the old, mothball, talcum powder smell. I'm glad, cause I don't know of I could have taken that since these are going in our room as nightstands.

I'm excited because we just got a new mattress and it sits so much higher than our old nightstands, that it is hard to reach anything from the bed. Our charming barn nightstands are much higher. I believe they will be just the right height.

Anyway, as of this week, Oct, 27, 2011 after more sanding and a coat of this paint,  (I decided to use a oil base paint and have as sleek of a finish as I could),

It is beginning to look a little more charming! 

Maybe not quite there, but close!  Just hang on! 

Ok, after more sanding and a second coat of paint on the outside as well as a second coat of sealer on the inside, it is  time for the "big reveal"!  Ta da!  I'm excited!







These are the original handles spray painted  with this paint:  Krylon Brushed Metallic, Satin Nickel

The following are just pictures of the finished project.  (well, there's a couple of tweaks that have to be made, such as the drawers need to be put in to fit just a little better.  That will have to wait until my husband gets back from an out of states missions trip.  He's the one who fixes these kinds of things!) 



Sure am glad the height of the table matches the height of the bed! 



BEFORE!



AFTER

Whew!  That was a lot of work, but I think well worth it, I think!  I hope you like them too!  I don't want to sound conceited at all, but I do think a good name for this little nightstand project is, "From Barn to Charm"!  What do you think?  Do you think they are charming?  What do you think about my opening up a furniture refurbishing business?  Well, never mind about the last question!!!

So there you have it!  I am so glad to have rescued this little nightstand from the spiders, dirt, etc.  The only thing is we have another one just like it waiting......probably until next summer!

Linking up to:  Beneath My Heart's October DIY linky party.

                      My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia's Tuesdays Treasures

Time to Tile!

"We"   (I'm smiling sheepishly right now because my husband did all the work) , finally jumped into a project that we had been putting off for a looooong time.  That is to tile the bathroom upstairs that goes between two guest rooms.  We actually have had the tile for a couple of years now.  It was just one of those things that we kept procrastinating about.  I know no one else ever does that! : )  When company was coming for a few days, that got us hopping.  As a matter of fact, there were other projects that were completed as well; one being a new microwave oven installed  (YAY!  Can you see the big grin on my face?)  by none other than, you guessed it, my DIY husband!

So slowly, but surely, (cause my DIYer is also a perfectionist), things are getting done.  I love it! 

The flooring that was in the bathroom (which I forgot to get a picture of) had been there since the house was built, 17years ago and it was uuuuu ga ly! Not to mention worn out.  It literally had a hole in it that I had to cover with a rug.  So, it was time for the tile!

These first pictures are of the bathroom after the vinyl flooring had been ripped out, and before the tile was laid. The "before" pics, I guess you can say.



It got worse before it got better!




Cutting the board that goes under the tile.





Bringing the board upstairs.  He made a lot of trips up and down these and the basement steps.  He was pretty tuckered out after this.  We are not getting any younger, you know!  He enjoys this kind of stuff, though.  I sure am glad!  He has gotten some experience at laying tile in the past couple of years; some for us and some for others.  I don't think he's ready to go into it as a career or even as a hobby.  It's pretty hard work.  Take it from one who knows!  (there's that sheepish grin again!)

 .                                                            Now,  for the "reveal"!

Welcome to the upstairs guest bathroom!

........and here are more "after" pics...........

It looks tons better!  Keep in mind that this is only a renovation of the tile.  The little room also needs to be painted.  I think I have decided to paint it some kind of a gray color and use yellow accents.  Those two colors (I don't know if you can tell by the pictures or not, are actually in the tile.  That's where I got my idea from!  I'm  really smart when it comes to decorating!)  Just kidding!

Here are a couple more pictures of this little space to show a little more how it looks.  We may never come this way again! Unless.....it looks really cool when and if I ever get it painted gray!   I really had rather do posts on other rooms than bathrooms!  I kept trying not to get a picture of the commode!  I thought you could probably do without that! 




Yes, I had to put a little "French twist" to this room as I do to most of the rooms in my house.  Le Bain.  Now that doesn't  sound too bad.  Maybe I will do another post on the bath and entitle it Le Bain.  You can be on the lookout for it, ok?  I'm sure you can't wait!

Linking to Beneath My Heart's "Best DIY Project for June" Party.

 

Waves of Progress

This year has been the year for upgrades on "this old house"! I know I should have been blogging more about it, and I have intended to more, really I have. It's just that I get caught up in everyday life and get engrossed in reading everyone else's blogs, and don't give attention to mine as I should.


We have done quite a lot, though, and hopefully I will manage to post about all of it before the year is out. I do want to show you a "quick" update that was made just today. Here's what I mean by quick. A NEW MICROWAVE OVEN!

I know this is not very exciting to anyone else other than me, but I am pretty excited about this little beauty considering what she replaced.  The picture below doesn't show the broken handle and how yellowed it had gotten.  Trust me, it was pretty bad.  I didn't know just how bad until it was removed completely.  Yuck!

My husband is such a DIYer!  It would have been $150 to have this installed by the store where we purchased it.  He says, "thanks, but no thanks"!  He has saved us tons of money!  I sure am thankful that he is willing and able to do these kinds of things. 

He did say that this project was a little more than he had anticipated~

The difference it has made in the kitchen, though, has been well worth it. 

Oh, by the way, it matches the new fridge that the Lord blessed us with a couple of months ago.  I have intentions of a blog post about that too.  Little by little,  in  "small waves " the kitchen make-over is taking place! 

You will never believe what my husband did after he got through installing this microwave.  He began tiling the floor in the upstairs guest bathroom!

Progress on upgrades is looking up!  He is such a busy man and I am so grateful for all his work. 

I'm linking up to A to Z's  Tips and Tutes

Crystal "Shine" delier!

This is a project long time in the making.

After looking like this

 for, oh I don't know, probably 5 or so years,  (actually worse, because I washed it in dishwasher),


This wonderful old chandalier that my husband and I picked up at an antique store for $30.00, now looks like this:

Thanks to Lonnielove for doing this:



Yes, he put this thing that was in broken pieces together and now it looks like, well, not new, but shiny like new.  It can't look like new, because it probably came out of an old restaurant, and I really don't want it to look new.  So it really looks the way I wanted it to look, I guess.  I'm happy with having a light over the dining room table, can you tell?!

Oh and I helped: 

Who can find the clue in the above picture that I helped??????
I'm linking this to:
http://happytodesign.blogspot.com/