Kitchen Update

First, thank you for all the great birthday wishes! It meant a lot!

Well I am not completely done with painting the kitchen counter tops but its looking great! So far, so good! Pictures turned out a little too dark, sorry! I use two different cameras and get two different results!

I've been cleaning the counter tops with Windex but I am planning to make my own cleaning solution with no chemicals and using coffee filters to clean them. I have some home made cleaning recipes I want to try out soon! I will keep you posted!

Everything is turning out great. I wasn't so sure about using the Envirotex Lite but I've had great results. I love the HI-GLOSS! It just makes it look so nice, clean and fancy.

Just wanted to share with you how our kitchen is coming along.

Hope you have a great weekend! Talk to you soon!

Painted kitchen counter tops

You girls guessed right! I am working on my kitchen counter tops!

This has been the scariest but most rewarding project ever. See my boring island? It doesn't look like this anymore! It looks more like this....



So, what do you think? Doesn't it look wonderful? I love how it turned out. They will look much better once I paint the cabinets.

I sold a few of my creations and was able to do this project with that money. Yeah! Hopefully I can sell more things so I can buy materials to paint the cabinets! Cross fingers!

Really, I only spent about $30 to do this project. Thanks to coupons! That was the greatest part of it! I can't afford thousands even hundreds of dollars to change my counter tops so I decided I would paint them.

I came across this post and she totally inspired me to do it. That same day before I read the post, I went to Home Depot asking for advice on which paint to use, how to do it etc.. I really didn't know what to do. I was scared! So I came back home disappointed because no one really helped me. They had never heard such thing of painting counter tops, but I knew you could do it.

My prayers were answered when I came home and the first thing I see when I log in is that post. Its funny how things work out!

I just wanted to know what kind of paint to use and what kind of coat for protection. Sara from Whimsies & Whatnots did a splatter effect with the paint. It turned out beautiful. I did a different effect only using the faux painting sponge. Both ways look beautiful!

I used:

Faux painting sponge
Variety of acrylic paints (depends on colors you want)
Paper plates
Brush (if you want splatter effect)
Paper towels to clean your hands (might get kind of messy)

1. First thing I did was to clean the island counter top really good. I cleaned mine with warm water and soap.
2. Next, I needed to see all the colors. I was only going to choose 3 colors for the counter top. I did this by putting paint on a paper plate and writing the color name. Doing this will be much easier to decide on colors.


3. After you decide what colors to use, using the sponge I started to paint the counter top. I painted lightly and I had to make sure not too have to much paint. I first used Burnt Sienna and let it dry. Then on top I used Burnt Umber and let it dry. At the very end I painted antique gold to give it a final touch. There were some spots that came out too dark and you couldnt see the original color of the counter top. There is a solution! I mixed white paint with a light brick color and painted over the dark spots. Problem solved!

4. After its completely dry, (dries quick) comes the most nervous, terryfing step; Envirotex Lite. I was so nervous to do this step so my husband helped me. After we were done, I thought its really not that hard. You just need to make sure to read the directions carefully and follow them exactly. We used a foam brush to spread the varnish. We used a propane torch to get rid of bubbles, but Sara used lighters.

It does take time to paint and get the effect you want. Overall, its an easy project but takes a good couple of hours to complete. I promise if you try it, you will love results.

Here is my husband using the propane torch.

Make sure you tape off everything because it will be messy. Envirotex Lite is Hi Gloss you could even see the reflections. I accidentally poured a lot of varnish in this corner. Can you tell? ha ha.. For it to be the first time, I did good! :)



So $30 for this project is not bad at all! I am working on the rest of my counter tops today and hopefully I can finish them in a couple of days. Pictures coming soon!

Information:
I bought the Envirotex Lite at Hobby Lobby with a 40% coupon. They are originally about $30 a box of 32 oz. and I will be needing 3 more. So if you have the coupons use them! Each 32 oz box will cover 8 sq. ft.

I cant wait to see my kitchen completed!

Well thanks for stopping by and hopefully this will help. If you have any questions just send me an email!
Have a great Saturday!

Show us where you live Friday- Baby Nurseries and Thrift Thursday

First of all I wanted to share this custom name frame I did. I absolutely love how it turned out! It matches Payton's bedding and it looks so cute!
Name Art on sale $18 + shipping
Contact me for more info! :)

Kelly over @ Kelly's Korner Blog is having a children's room and nurseries home tour!
As you know, we don't have any kids yet but hopefully we will soon.

A couple of months ago I found a wonderful website where they showed many different types of baby nurseries. I feel in love with all of them. You can see the post here of my favorite ones!
Enjoy!


Also..................

I am joining the fun at "Thrift Store Thursday" @ Homebody Hollys Party! This is the first time I've done this and I am very excited!

First, lets start by showing you pictures of my beautiful niece! Oh man.. I love her so much. She is so funny and is always laughing. She turned 9 months today! She has my eyelashes! ha..

So I went to Goodwill today and it went perfect! I found so many great items and the price was right.

I dont know for how long I've wanted a plant holder in shape of a bike.. I think they are adorable and look very nice by your front door. Well, today was my lucky day. I didn't only find one, but two! Mama bike, and baby bike! ha.. I paid $8 for both which is not bad. Good deal. They did need a little makeover.... sooooooooo.. with the help of my good ol' friend spray cans.. they turned from this.. into....

this!
I think they look much better. Im telling you blog friends, spray paint will do wonders! If there is an item you dont like anymore for whatever reason, spray paint the item and I promise you will never think the same about the item! It will be love at first sight all over again! :)

I also bought this cute hamper for $3. I might be painting it but I still dont know. Undecided!

I bought this little chair for my niece. It was only $1. I have big plans for this baby! Pictures coming soon!

I know, I might have bought a little too much but I couldnt help myself! The best is yet to come! I bought these four "not so pretty chairs" for $2.25 each. They will become "beauties" in a couple of days.

The recliner, I just bought it because it was $1. Really! Its ridiculous! I had no idea where I was going to put it but I liked it. It was clean, pretty and it was only $1.

It worked out great in my "reading area". It might be a little to big, but for now it looks good. Master bedroom moulding projects coming soon!

This is the best deal! Do you have an idea of what it is? Its a headboard! A cool looking headboard! You might be thinking why I have it in the kitchen, right? Well my plans are: turning this headboard into a wine cellar! Ok, that might have sounded to fancy!

I am planning to paint, remodel and embellish this headboard to hold wine bottles and wine glasses. Doesnt that sound interesting!?
Believe it or not, it was only $1.. I know.. ridiculous! We dont even drink wine but I have many wine decorations around the kitchen. It will go perfectly.

Well hope you have enjoyed my Thrifty Thursday finds.

Show us where you live Friday

Kelly over @ Kelly's Korner is having a "Show us where you live Friday" Kitchen Edition party.
I just wanted to share some quick pictures of my kitchen before and afters.
I am in the process of painting all my kitchen cabinets and figuring out what to do with my counter top to make them look better. If you have stained or painted the kitchen cabinets, please give me some advice!

Here is the before picture. (March 2008)

My husband and I took out the vinyl and put beautiful 12 X 12 porcelain tile. Of course my husband did most of the work! I did help though! Here is the before..


(May 2008)

This is how my kitchen looks now with a little few more decorations. (December 2008)
This is the last picture I have taken of my kitchen and it was during Christmas time. Can you tell? ha..

My husband and I put the back splash. Its really simple. Want to learn how? Read this post!

Nice Backsplash

A while ago, my husband and I decided to design and put our own backsplash in our kitchen. I'm not kidding, at 2:00 a.m, we decided to begin our kitchen project. Who in the world decides to work on a kitchen project, during Saturday at 2:00 a.m.? Of course, us! :) We were just excited and the sooner we saw the final result, the better. I came up with the design and my husband did most of the work. I helped a little too! :) Total project cost was about $70, not bad at all! The final result was great! We loved how it turned out. Next kitchen project, staining the cabinets! Wish us luck!

My Tuscany Inspired Kitchen...

I love how my kitchen has turned out so far. I went to Europe a couple of years ago and just fell in love! My husband and I got married on March 27, 2008 and got our house keys on March 29, 2008. Two days after our wedding! We were so blessed to get our house. Here are some pictures of our before kitchen and after! Enjoy!

We took this picture before we bought the house. Not my dream kitchen, but we will get there I said! I love house projects!

We took this picture in June of 2008. We had put the tile ad added a few plants.

This is the latest picture I took of our kitchen in December 2008. Big difference? We painted the kitchen. Cost, free. We got the paint for free! We added a nice chandelier that we got at a yard sale for $5. Mostly of all the decorations here we received them as presents for our wedding. My husband parent's gave us the dining set as a wedding gift. The tile we bought at a yard sale for $60. We had so much tile, we added some in the guest bathroom and our bathroom.

Here are some pictures of us taking the vinyl floor off, and putting tile. Look at my husband, such a working man! :) This was the first time he had put tile, and he did a very good job!