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My House

Kitchen

kitchen shelves & the butler’s pantry

Now that the cabinets are painted, I’m hoping to finish some other parts of the kitchen over the next few weeks.  The freshly painted cabinets and walls are a great backdrop, but the kitchen needs some more texture and warmth. I am on the hunt for fabric to make curtains for the eating area, family room, and a valance for the kitchen.  I need a lot of fabric for all of that, so the trick is finding something I like that isn’t too expensive.  I’ve ordered samples and I’ll keep you posted on that. I also need to paint the open shelving and finish styling it.  Ideally, I would’ve painted the walls and the shelves prior to hanging them, but sometimes the cart goes before the horse when DIYing.  I have to take all of the shelves down to paint them, so I’ve been dragging my feet! The laundry room

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Kitchen

Painted Kitchen Cabinets | Reveal

Over the past few weeks, I have been working on painting my kitchen cabinets.  I must admit that it dragged out the process, but working on the cabinets in stages helped keep some order in the busiest room in our house. And now, they are done.  Whew! As a reminder, here is what the kitchen looked like shortly after we moved in… And here is how it looks now… I know you’re going to ask and, if you missed them, I wrote a series all about painting the kitchen cabinets… painting cabinets | prep painting cabinets | priming painting cabinets | applying the paint The cabinets are painted in Advanced Paint in a Satin Finish by Benjamin Moore in a custom-mixed white.  Here is the formula… The island is painted in the same kind of paint, but in the color Stonington Grey. The walls are painted in Pearly White by

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My House

and just like that…it felt like home

We’ve lived in Rochester, in this new-to-us home, for almost three months. We’ve been doing a lot to intentionally get settled and entrenched in this area…  Working on projects to make this house feel more like ours.  Spending time with people to establish relationships that go beyond acquaintance.  Having kids over to play to nurture friendships for our boys.  Getting involved in the church, school, and community. And as much as we’ve been embraced and welcomed, as much as we know we are geographically right where we are meant to be, as much as we are loving this new home…  there is still an element that feels alien, foreign. I still have to use my GPS to get to a store and back home again.  I have yet to establish a routine for grocery shopping, meal planning, cleaning, and exercising.  I still need to change over my drivers license and

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All Things Home

the oak buffet

When my in-laws were visiting, my mother-in-law and I checked out a local consignment shop and I found a piece of furniture that’s been on my wish list for a few weeks – a buffet.  I have been wanting one for my office, but have come up empty on craigslist and at Gold Rush Days.  The second I spotted this piece, I knew it was perfect… I like the style of it, the graining…and those legs!  I am totally a “leg girl” when it comes to furniture. I liked it so much, in fact, that I had to debate where to put it, because it would look great in at least three rooms.  It found a home in a office, for now. The room still needs to be painted, but I’ve been using that as an excuse to not hang pictures or get rooms organized.  The fact is that it’s

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All Things Home

counter & tile options & $30 shelves

Yesterday, I needed to run some errands and play some catch up, so I didn’t have a chance to start painting the kitchen island.  I must admit that it’s nice to have a break from cabinet painting, although I’m looking forward to having it done! While I was out, though, I picked up samples from Home Depot to “try them on” in my kitchen.  I can picture design elements in my head pretty well, but it’s nice to be able to see something in place and get a feel for how it relates to the colors and textures already happening in a space. I picked up a Grecian marble floor tile and beveled subway tile mosaic backsplash… When Jeff saw it, he commented how much be loved the beveled subway tile, but he raised his eyebrow at the floor tile.  “We’re not going to use floor tiles for our counters,

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Kitchen

the beefy dual fuel range

Disclosure: This post is not sponsored by Kitchen Aid, but I did receive VIP pricing on the purchase of this dual-fuel range.  I decided to purchase this specific range before I knew I could receive a discount.   I paid retail price for my other Kitchen Aid appliances.  All words and opinions about the brand and the range are, as always, honest and my own. I have wanted a beefy dual fuel range for about 15 years.  The timing was just never right.  So, it remained on my wish list for a future home when the timing was right. When we bought this home and it had an old electric range, Jeff agreed that we could have a gas line installed and purchase a dual fuel range.  We hope to live in this home for many years, so we felt like it was worth making a few key investments upfront, so

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All Things Home

painting cabinets | applying the paint

I know this series is called “painting cabinets”, but painting is just the final and probably the easiest step!  Before you break out the paint, make sure you check out the first two posts in this series… painting cabinets | prep painting cabinets | priming Now, let’s talk about the paint. For the cabinets and trim in my house, I’m using Benjamin Moore’s Advanced paint in the Satin finish. It’s a waterborne paint that behaves a bit more like an oil.  It has a long open time, which means you can brush over it, fix drips, etc. without pulling off the drying paint.  I think the reason I like using this paint so much, though, is that it is thinner, like milk paint.  The advantage to thinner paint is that it’s self-leveling.  Brush and roller marks disappear, making for a beautiful finish.  The disadvantage is it doesn’t cover quite as

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Kitchen

trim for days, grays doors & glass knobs

I scoured and studied pictures of our house before I had the chance to see it in person.  That didn’t happen until after we made an offer and were pretty much committed to buy it as long as Jeff received a job offer.  In the pictures, I was hopeful that the trim was a nice, clean white, but I had my doubts. When I walked through the house for the first time, my love for the house was tempered, if even a little, but the fact that trim was almost beige.  I knew it would mean weeks of painting if I wanted it to be bright white, which, of course, I did.  Having painted out the trim in our two previous homes, I knew what a huge job it is and not one that’s particularly exciting. The results of bright white trim, though, are worth it. So, Monday, when it

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I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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