Painted Cabinets

Remember where we started?

Before

Half-way

After

Half-way

After

Before

Half-way

After

The kitchen is SO much brighter.  And I'm so glad it's DONE.  

I still need to get knobs, but I've been without them for a year so that's no big deal.

Whaaaaaaat?!

Were my yellow linen-look 1970's laminate countertops actually cool?!

http://retrorenovation.com/2013/02/26/linen-laminate-counter-tops/

I haven't been able to totally get into the midcentury modern trend, probably because our house is a little too midcentury un-modern.  But a day after I painted the countertops, I was reading the Consumer Reports magazine (it had a whole section on kitchen remodels), trying to decide on a permanent countertop solution and what do I see?  Laminate is coming back, and in retro styles!

http://new.pentagram.com/2013/01/new-work-formica-anniversary-collection/

Kitchen Transformation

It's all done and turned out great!

Haha...okay, not really. The countertop painting went great.  The polyurethane over the paint is not going great.  After the first two layers it looked awesome.  But then the third layer turned cloudy and streaky.  I almost cried.  I'm still not sure why.  Maybe I didn't stir it enough.  Maybe it was too humid.  Either way I'm still trying to find a way to fix it.  

Here is the before of the pic from above.

Scary

The linen-patterned harvest gold laminate is gone.  I'll update later with whether or not this turns out to be a disaster. 

Open shelving in the kitchen and the kid's bathroom

Just a reminder of what it used to look like.

Now, much better.  Still, those yellow countertops...

Now the bathroom update...

Here's where we started.

Progress.

Uncovered this groovy wallpaper behind the mirror.

Painted the countertops and the vanity.  

We'll see how it holds up.  I painted the countertop with Aged Copper spray paint and then several coats of polyurethane.  I'll be surprised if it doesn't get chipped by the kids, but it really couldn't be much worse than the red so I didn't have anything to lose.  

Taking out the soffit

I just couldn't stop myself.  

But once I got to this point, I needed help. 

I wish I knew more about electrical stuff, but I don't and didn't feel like figuring it out.   This is where the fluorescent light above the sink went, and where I'll hang a pretty pendant light.  

I also couldn't hold the drywall and screw it in place by myself.  

Kids Bathroom 2

The tile is done!

 It looks great!  I still need to paint the crown and baseboard and touch up the walls, but it's useable and looks amazing.

But then there's still this...

I'm not sure what to do for the countertop.