Eat in style. Or at least better style.

Our kitchen has gotten a bit of a face lift since I last posted pics. Here it is today:

I painted one shade lighter than the living room. A light simple gray. 

This was the kitchen 1 year ago, and 2 years ago:

The chalkboard is essential to keeping our little family on track with our daily happenings. I also swapped out the red decor, for something more fresh. 

We ditched the armoire back in 2011 before having Camdin. It was mine from high school. We decided that not having to move that bad boy again would be a wise choice... plus with our new updated bar cubby in the living room, we didn't need it anymore!

 Fitting in much better with the color scheme here, I moved this print in from Camdin's room. 

The peppers are something I painted for Chris for Christmas. They are all of the peppers that we have grown at our home. See the curtains?

I hand-painted them in Del Rio when I had entirely too much time on my hands. I still love them. 

What's that? You see a coffee machine? But we don't drink coffee, you say?

That's right. Chris and I are not too much into the bean. And by not too much, I mean that I don't drink it at all, and he'll have maybe 10 cups/ year. Our relatives do, however. Which is where this little beverage station comes in handy! It's nice to have our Keurig out to get hot water for tea, but it's only used for coffee when we have company. It's nice to have it over here in the corner, not taking up my high-valued counter space. 

One of the main reasons I wanted to get the kitchen completed before the holidays, was for Camdin's birthday!

It was so nice to have a fresh clean space for her party. 

So there you have it. The kitchen. 

It's not a breathtaking showstopper of a transformation, but I'm pleased as punch that it's done. There's something about that tan paint that screams traditionally boring to me. As least gray has a touch of modern to it. Ha. Who would've thought that gray would be so hip. 

Let's get you caught up. Living Room Style.

I've been a painting fiend this past year, trying to customize the house, but still keeping it somewhat neutral. While Chris was deployed last year, I painted the living room a light gray. It took several sample pots to come across the winner: Porpoise, by Behr. 

Here we are today:

What did it look like before?

The tan/beige was painted throughout the house. I was OK with the color until I started noticing EVERY little square that was touched up when the previous owners moved out. Word of advice: If you're going to spend the time touching up paint...make sure it's a match, or the entire wall will need to be repainted. Also, please don't put flat paint in bathrooms. It doesn't work for anyone. 

Are you also noticing that the hole-in-the-wall looks different now, too?

Chris and I think it was originally used for a TV cabinet by the previous owners. But honestly, who needs that deep of a space for a TV, anymore? Not to mention, the space is not in the center of the room, and makes it extremely difficult to try and arrange furniture around. (Not that everything has to be centered around the TV. Just saying.)

My father-in-law helped build shelves to put in the cabinet for all of our booze glasses. 

Then, I decided that it was too plain, and needed some color to pop. 

I went with the same color that I've repainted the entryway (which you'll see in a future post).

We look like alcoholics, don't we? No? Take a closer look...

Chris has a drinking glass problem. He finds them in thrift stores, and can NOT resist. I now have to say, if you want to buy one, you have to get rid of one. We literally have no more room on the shelves for more glasses. And don't think I'm about to find another place the keep the "extras", because it ain't happ'nin. 

I do love our little re purposed space, though. It's a great place for a bar, i.e. out of Camdin's reach (for now). We also built the shelves shallow enough that if future home dwellers want to put their TV in the cubby (provided, it's a newfangled flat screen), it will still fit in front of the shelves. They could even be used for DVDs... I measured to make sure the boxes would fit. Go me. 

OK, back to the rest of the room. 

I put of couple of picture shelves above the TV stand, and they help fill the wall nicely without being too cluttered. 

If you're wondering what that mess of color is in frame on the left, it just so happens to be Miss Camdin's first work of art. Crayon, of course. 

Then over on the west wall, I've added some more art and photography. 

I made this "shelf" or frame background out of an old pallet. The only power saw that we own is a reciprocating saw (which I wasn't comfortable using without Chris home). So, yes, I hand-sawed this bad boy down by my self. Roar. 

In the frames?

From left to right: our wedding feet, vows printed on purty paper, Christmas chaos photo from 2011, important dates (birthdays and anniversary), and a picture of Chris and I from prom in 2003. The flower balls underneath are another project that you can read about here.

So there you have it, the Living Room. Updated. 

Ugh... and YES, I'm still planning to recover the gem of a chair that both Chris and I LOVE because it's so comfortable. Don't hate on it's original skin, it's just well loved. Soon to be smokin' hot, though. Stay tuned. Maybe I'll get that done this summer. Just maybe.