{harlequin romance}

yuegh! ...looking at the post from yesterday and just cringing at the kitchen floor. don't think scandanavian white floors have been forgotten! and let me just show you what's in store for the kitchen...


{photos via :: mary ruffle & desire to inspire}

{bungalow kitchen bin pulls}

and you thought that was all the kitchen photos for a while, but a few more to share, this time of the bin pulls that we finally put to good use. i'm particularly pleased with these photos, as putting on bin pulls might be the first thing that can be declared complete in the entire bungalow. also it shows just how something as seemingly small as drawer pulls and cabinet knobs can make a huge change to the overall feel of the kitchen. remember the before pulls?

oh and also i have had a few requests to share more in the behind the scene details, so here's my first (of hopefully many) diy/learn as you go home tutorial.

step one - begin with clean & freshly painted drawer (ours had all of our christmas vacation for the paint to cure = a week and a half = paint was definitely dry)


step two - measure drawer height & width so you can find the exact center of the drawer and mark it with a pencil.


step three: make a template using a piece of cardboard (in my case it was the back of the notebook) and measure the distance between the two screw holes in your drawer pull. also make a dot on the template to denote the exact middle of the drawer pull. then line up the center dot on the template with the mark you made on the center of the drawer. attempt to level the template (you can use a level or measure so that each screw hole dot is the same distance from the top of the drawer). now, using the template as your guide, mark where the screw holes should go on the drawer itself.

step four: place the drawer pull over the marks you just made, being sure the holes align with the marks. check measurements again to be sure the drawer pull is level. (note - the holes on our bin pulls are on the bottom of the pull so i actually moved the marks for the holes down about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch so that the middle of the pull is in the middle of the drawer. if i left the holes in the middle, the pull would have been placed too high. it just depends on your pull as to whether you need to pay attention to this.)

step five: drill the holes where you have marked. (no reason you can't do this yourself, but b likes any excuse to use the drill so i was happy to let him drill the holes while i continued to measure the next drawers). a word on drilling holes - if you can avoid it, don't drill all the way through the drawer unless the screw that came with your drawer pull is to be stuck through the back of the drawer. most drawer pulls seem to just have screws that only go into the front of the drawer and do not go as far to stick out the inside of the drawer. also be sure to pick a drill bit that is a good bit smaller than your screw. basically what you are doing is drilling a pilot hole, which is very useful in preventing the wood from splintering. but if your drill bit is too big, the screw will not have any wood left on which to grab ahold.

step six: move the pull away from the holes & blow off the sawdust. also, note you don't have to leave the pull on the drawer when you drill the hole. if your marks are accurate and dark enough to see, no reason why you can't move the pull during this step.

step seven: realign the pull and drill in the screws. make sure it is on tight (but watch out for stripping the screw) as you don't want a wiggly handle.

and *ta-da* a kitchen full of completed drawers with pulls. (if you have taken care to do the measuring, your pulls should line up quite nicely).

annnnd, here's one of the main hold ups in the kitchen. some of the interior bottom cabinets are not in the best shape & need repairs or new sides.

apparently there used to be a small water heater in the below cabinet, which explains why the floor of it is lower than all of the others. also the drawer that should go on the left was a fake panel, so we are planning to build another drawer to eventually match all the others.

but how great do these drawers look?

much more after the weekend.

{bungalow kitchen love affair} ...continues...

guess what.
bungalow kitchen progress! well, at least in the two steps forward, one step backwards kind of progress. ...yeah, so there was a run in with the paint. ...not enough sanding prior = peeling/scraping off after. i didn't really document this happening, as i was too busy fussing to bust out the camera. but here are some spots on the drawers that flaked off. oh & i should mention the bottom right is of course a re-sanded & newly re-painted drawer front.


so in a frustrated, yet forced re-focused effort to do things the right way, we went back to the drawing board...this time with a hand-held power sander (which was surprisingly affordable). and sanded off sheets of polo blue paint. (author's note - power sanding, while easy to do, makes a ridiculous mess over your entire house. would not recommend doing so if you aren't already living in a construction zone, as we are. otherwise taking care to cover & seal off livable areas is highly recommended.)


some of the polo blue did adhere and the sanded first coat just meant for a smoother second coat. it actually is best to sand between coats when going for a high gloss surface with oil paint, as one might desire on kitchen cabinets. we tried to have as much patience with this step as possible, but there is very little gratification in making piles of blue dust (and very little to show for all of your efforts i might add, hence the lack of kitchen photos even though i swear we've been hard at work.)


ok, so the biggest upgrade to the bungalow kitchen has of course been the installation of all the appliances, with the most notable change being the microwave & range. see the before picture below...there was a drop-in stove with a skinny vent (which was extremely nasty to take down as what you cannot see in the picture is all of the grease that was built up inside of said skinny vent.) we cut out the drawers under the original drop-in stove to make room for our slide-in range (note: when buying new appliances it is significantly cheaper to keep the stove & oven all in one piece.) oh and also there was a separate wall oven, which also explains the enormous hole in the wall (more on that later).


so of course when we wanted to install a microwave in the place of the skinny vent, we were presented with the issue of shrinking space between the bottom of the microwave & the top of the stove. also apparently the skinny vent was also a bit longer than the length of a standard microwave, so we would be left with an awkward gap between the long cabinet to the left & the microwave side.


in the below two photos you can see our steps to fit our existing cabinets to house our gleaming new microwave. (both photos show more views of annoying peeling/sanded polo blue paint). below left is without the skinny vent. and below right is our creative solution - a baby shelf. (full disclosure - we did hire a cabinet guy through ricky the contractor to do the construction & installation of the microwave. images of it coming crashing down onto boiling pots of water kept us from attempting the diy for this part of the project). BUT b & i did completely come up with the solution on our own. you can see in the below right photo how the bottom of the shelf had to be moved up about 5 inches from where it was to accommodate the additional height of the microwave.


and *ta-da* ! microwave, baby shelf (we took out the middle partition so it makes one long shelf instead of the two square shaped shelves that were originally built by the cabinet guy. my thought was this will serve much better for olive oil, pam, and other cooking necessities that are nice to have at hand). ALSO will you just look at that gleamingly smooth polo blue paint. still plans to paint yet one final coat (after sanding of course...ahh, it never ends) but this is pretty much the final paint look. cabinet doors will be added back but of course we have to chop off the five inches on those too. oh and a backsplash is in the works...thinking aqua baby subway tiles.


more to come...
(p.s. did you notice in the last photo, how the counter tops have been sanded a little? like i said, big plans for those, too.)

{bungalow kitchen}

didn't realize i hadn't posted any kitchen progress photos. (!)

:: the story of a bungalow kitchen ::
{at least the first few chapters}

before

dirty cabinets, rusted medieval-looking hardware, old greasy range hood, cheap laminate backsplash, multiple layers of icky contact paper {with shells on it though, so clearly this kitchen was meant to be ours. haa. just click on the below right photo for a little close-up of the loveliness.}, & unpainted sticky cabinet interiors. also, in the photo below right, you're looking into the hole in the counter that used to house a drop-in stove. we'll be trading in the drawers {or what's left of them} for a slide-in range.

as for the gap once meant for a single oven (see below)? i'll save those plans for another post, but i can tell you they are big, big plans.


first things first :: removed all doors, drawers, hardware & hinges {thanking my wonderful sister here for this & many other bungalow kitchen tasks!} also peeled off the laminate & chucked that gross range hood {it doesn't look so bad in pictures, but i promise, even the gh wouldn't approve}.


patched holes, peeled contact paper {which so kindly removed itself in one-square-inch sections. terrible.}, scrubbed, sanded, & primed for painting!


primer all around. already making major strides here.


annnd the debut of the first bungalow paint color:
benjamin moore's polo blue. turns out is absolutely beautiful & luxurious in person.
have recognized computer swatch does not reflect reality & previous fussing proved unnecessary.

backsplash area is painted white to quiet the ugly mess of glue & drywall for now. plans for a glistening aquamarine subway tile something before long.

yes, yes, the counters have things coming to them too. soon.

forgive the mess in the below photo, but this is one of the kitchen spots to which i am most looking forward :: open polo blue shelves to cozy up to baby kitchen window {yes, on these top two cabinets we'll be ditching the doors}. also, a word on the painting scheme. outsides of all cabinets will be polo blue & all interiors will be oxford white. except for these top two, which will be the opposite. polo blue interiors to make white dishes pop & white exteriors to brighten an otherwise dark space.



drawers, shelves, & cabinet doors getting a makeover also. clean & bright.


still lots to do, but feeling very accomplished in pulling it all together.

{ & many thanks to you too, m & d}

{regal emerald}

daydreaming of the bungalow kitchen again. still on board for a deep midnight blue and am now thinking a splash of saturated emerald green would be a really beautiful compliment.

{images via :: house beautiful and drew barrymore's home for domino}

p.s. happy friday. we're heading up to virginia for the weekend. b has a new truck & the gh's bed will fit right in the nook with the back jump seats. and can i tell you how great this website is if you have a pup? who knew so many hotels are dog friendly.

{cozy in canada}

browsing at canadian house & home today. i wonder if all that snow they get up there has to do with the amount of cozy photos they have. it's making me wish the thermometer wasn't still lingering around 90 degrees here. am getting impatient to wear my new fall coat {which may or may not come with a heap of ruffles} that is hanging in the front of my closet waiting for the weather to dip below 75. but something tells me it will be a month-or 2-longer still...

for now i'll live vicariously and daydream of other people's snow days.

...

in other news, haa, there really isn't any. apparently there are some issues with rickythecontractor getting his hands on a proper permit to rewire the bungalow. he keeps saying it will be tomorrow ...and tomorrow. ... i'm not holding my breath. i suppose this is a welcome to the world of renovation. i do think b & i are going to work on the kitchen this weekend. going for coziness. oh and baby aquamarine subway tiles & midnight blue cabinets. more to come...

{making a kitchen}

i have a new favorite movie. julie & julia. yesterday evening, kl and i shared chocolate malt balls while salivating over julia child's french food masterpieces. aside from making your mouth water, this is a feelgood, laughoutloud, charactersareyourbestfriends kind of movie (albeit several horror film previews pre movie, not sure what that was about..). anyway, all the thoughts of cooking have really got me thinking about the bungalow kitchen. and i think i may have found our perfect cabinet color, courtesy of windsor smith's beautiful l.a. home. drink in the sultry hue of benjamin moore's polo blue (hmm, just found the paint swatch online and it looks
::n o t h i n g:: like this inky midnight blue we have in the photos below. does it look like an ugly brown on your screen, too? whyyyy? ...in any case, the color i'm hoping for is that in the photos below).

now picture the bungalow kitchen cabinets drenched in polo blue (or a variation, if polo blue does in fact = baby poop brown) with satin nickel cup pulls (at least the drawers), coupled with my farmhouse sink (<3), gleaming white deck floors, and we'll need a pop of color somewhere...i'm thinking maybe we'll paint the back door turquoise (not unlike one of my all time favorite domino magazine kitchens, see last photo below).

would love to have enough space for a big ol table in the kitchen, but just around the corner will work just fine, too. i suppose you've gotta take the space as it's given to you (or at least as your money will allow). but i can't help daydreaming about windsor's centuries old french wooden table cozied up to her gleaming stainless steel range.


wishing carrera marble was in our budget... though while admiring it i just noticed smart skinny shelves above/around the sink

see the amazingness of a pop of color in a dark space. i'm also still having a romance with that chandelier. so yes, add that onto the bungalow kitchen list above.

{images via :: house beautiful & domino (last one only)}

p.s. happy weekend! this weekend b & i are heading north for a richmond wedding and are looking forward to making all kinds of bungalow related lists during the 7 hour car ride.

p.p.s. can i trade jobs, please?

{an island of your own}

consider your kitchen lucky if it has enough space for an island. if ours did, i am certain i would choose one of these beautiful farmhouse style work tables to take center stage.

this light weathered-wood is a nice contrast to glossy grey cabinets (still loving dove grey in the kitchen + white dishes)

or choose a rich caramel wood to compliment worldly glamour.

pair with industrial inspired stools & a kitchen can never have too many cooks. and i'll take my kitchen with a fireplace, please.

or take a french bistro style with a gleaming marble table top. pull up black bentwood cane chairs & sip cozy afternoon cafe au lait.

{images via :: desire to inspire, home sweet home, desire to inspire, southern accents}