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July 15, 2013

The Kitchen-To-Do-List: Progress Report!

The Kitchen-To-Do-List: a progress report! Great ideas for maximizing the space in small kitchens!
This past week, we knocked two whole things off the kitchen-to-do-list! 
While I would prefer to be the speedy hare who rebuilds his entire kitchen on his lunch break, I have to settle for being the tortoise who makes teeny tiny steps towards the finish line. 








I may never get there, but you can bet these little turtle legs will at least get an honorable mention for effort. 
I'm pretty sure that the turtle is supposed to win in that analogy, but let's be realistic.

 Anyways, I'm super excited to show you a couple of teeny tiny updates that we've made recently.
Last time we visited the kitchen was back in April when I painted our kitchen cabinets and replaced the hardware. It made a huge impact on the look of the kitchen, but didn't help much with the function. The basic problem is that we have about two inches of cabinet space.  

You may remember that this cabinet is where I store all of my pots, pans, toasters, coffee machines, tupperware, casserole dishes, and four baby giraffes.


I tried to make it a little better by painting it, but obviously that didn't help with the lack of space issue.
This space has not been this clean and empty since the day I took this picture. In reality, it's a total hot mess, and there's not enough room for even one baby giraffe...or more than 3 pots.


My ideal scenario would be to expand the kitchen about 4 feet into the adjacent bedroom (which has a giant closet that I could cut in half, as it would be better served as kitchen space), but that's just an idea I've been pondering and I have no plans to knock down walls anytime soon. 

So, for the time being, I had to look for easy options to help increase our storage space. Rather than go out for more space, it dawned on me that I could instead go up!

See this perfectly good empty space above the sink...just waiting for me to mess with it?


 I have wanted to hang a pot rack since the day we moved in, but I kept putting it off because all of the ones I found locally were nearly $200.


So, instead, I purchased this stainless steel pot rack online for only $63. (Amazon Affiliate link)  I was a little curious to find out if it would be a quality rack or not since it was so inexpensive, and was so pleased when it arrived in just few days and was gorgeous. Score one for the bargain hunters!

I was able to hang all of my pots from it, and it frees up so much space in my cabinets! 
Plus, I just really love the way it looks.
And did you notice the other new addition?




We replaced the faucet! 
When the kind folks at Moen generously offered to let us take their Annabelle faucet for a spin, we jumped at the chance, knowing our own little faucet was on its last leg.

I've never shared a picture of our old kitchen faucet on the blog before. I always cropped it out of the pictures.
But, today's your lucky day.
Meet Faucet, Jr. 
 He was a hard worker, and even though he was falling apart, he was a good boy. We've been through a lot over the past few years.


But all good things must come to an end, and it was Junior's time to retire to greener pastures. 
 Luckily, Jesse is great at crawling into the places I don't want to crawl into, so I enlisted his help with installing the new fancy faucet.


It took him less than an hour, and he was oh so very patient as I bounced around taking pictures of our cats....who had very different ways of dealing with the kitchen chaos.
You may remember last week when I showed you this look of terror on Cheese's face.
This one was taken about thirty minutes later after she had apparently reached her limit. (Keep in mind all she is doing is just watching Jesse quietly install a faucet.)


So, after a little bit of kitchen chaos, here's the kitchen faucet! I've wanted to replace this faucet for so long, so this is a total mini-kitchen-dream-come-true.



 I chose one with the 'spot resist' technology that resists fingerprints and water spots, and it is amazing. Who knew that stuff actually works?! I also love that it has a pulldown spray head. I'm always washing off paintbrushes or something equally messy, so this feature really comes in handy.


But my favorite feature is the built in soap dispenser. Our sink ledge is kinda narrow, and our old soap dispenser was always falling into the sink. It drove me absolutely crazy. Now, all we have to do is fill the soap container underneath the counter probably once a month. It's genius.


So, those are the two very wonderful things we knocked off the kitchen-to-do-list this past week! 
After painting the trim and walls, painting the cabinets, replacing the hardware, painting the tile, painting the grout, painting a chalkboard wall, and now a new faucet and pot rack...we are really moving along! Here's what the kitchen looks like as of today.


And if you're curious, here are the things still left on my to do list. (Well, my reasonable list. I've got a crazy list, too.)


Here's a quick breakdown. 
1. Replace the thrift store chandelier with a really cool crystal chandelier flushmount. My little chandy is a tad too big for our low kitchen ceilings. 
2. Put nice wooden blinds on our windows. 
After 3 years of having peeping eyes into our kitchen on a daily basis, you'd think I would move this one up the list. 
3. A nice rug...perhaps a colorful stripe. 
4. Some colorful art between the windows
5. Comfier barstools.

Now, let's quickly discuss #5. You may remember when I spray painted my thrift store stools silver. While I still think they look great, I've been keeping my eye out for something comfier. I like to sit there a lot and work, so I'm sure my behind would appreciate it if I found something cushier. 
I saw these at Marshall's just yesterday, and I was two seconds away from hauling them home, but realized that they were too short. They were only $99 each, and absolutely perfect for what I needed. Aren't they cute?


So, the search continues for cute and comfy barstools.
I'll keep you in the loop on any discoveries.

Until then, I'll just enjoy the progress we've made! So, that's all for today! Thanks for stopping by!


And a big thank you to Moen for allowing us to enjoy their Annabelle faucet! You can check out all of the beautiful faucets Moen has to offer here.

'Til next time!



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32 comments:

  1. Love it! We actually just replaced our builder's grade faucet in our kitchen too! Ours is similar to yours, but no soap dispenser. :) It makes such a statement and the water pressure is so great on the pulldown nozzle!

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    1. That's fantastic! It really does make all the difference to have a great faucet! Who knew?! :)

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  2. Super cute sweetie! Love the form and function on the new pot rack. Baby steps girl. It's getting there and you guys can be proud of every new thing you check off the list :)

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  3. That faucet is amazeballs. And I want to hug cheese so so hard.

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  4. That's looking gooood! Love your pictures as well. Nice to see that your cats aren't much of a help either by the way, mine usually tend to walk on freshly painted objects...

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! Yes, ours are really great at walking through paint. They think it's their job. :)

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  5. Your kitchen is a dream! We got a new kitchen only 3 years ago (when we moved into our new home that we had built) which I love, but there are already some things I would do differently if I got to chose a new kitchen NOW. You have to live in it to see what you really need! So I have a (short) list of things I want to change - sooner or later.
    Jule

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    1. Yes, you really do! I would love to be able to build a kitchen one day! Maybe by that time I'll have a good idea of what I need! Fingers crossed!! :)

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  6. Lovin and totally jelly of your kitchen. Mine is on my short list but I am like you, baby steps honey. Other projects are taking the front seat but I will get to the kitchen...eventually. For the mean time, I will live vicariously through yours. :)
    Thanks for all the inspiration!

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    1. Thanks so much Lea!!! There's still so much that needs to be done! But, I'm trying to enjoy all the little improvements along the way!! xo

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  7. Totes love your style, as always. The faucet and pot rack are so pretty! This is an inspiration. I'm about to remodel my kitchen, so I love watching your progress!

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  8. I love your kitchen- that new faucet looks just wonderful! I was hoping you could help me out on a cabinet question. Our cabinets had been painted white before we moved in, but they looked awful. I spent probably a month lovingly sanding them and then priming, brushing, and rolling them... and they still look like crap. (Cleaner, but still awful.) I don't remember if I used any sort of gloss when I painted them, but they are impossible to clean and despite using those expensive foam rollers, they're still textured and collect dirt like crazy. In my perfect world I take a sledge hammer to the entire kitchen, but we don't plan on spending much more time in this house and have already spent way too much money on it. Do you think I should repaint the cabinets with a glossier paint? Or use some type of finish? I am really at a loss here.

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    1. Hi Lauren! Aw, that stinks! It sounds like you might need to strip the paint or use a deglosser before repainting them and then use a semi-gloss finish. Semi-gloss finishes are really easy to clean. That's what we painted all of our trim with.

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  9. This looks great!!! Such a classy room - and I can't believe the pot hanger was only $63! #Steal ;)

    xox
    Bailey
    http://akabailey.blogspot.com

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    1. Right?! I was so surprised that it ended up being so nice! Thanks so much Bailey! xo

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  10. Fun times! Question: How is your grout paint holding up? I bought some after reading your blog about it but have been kind of a scaredy cat to start the project(a large portion of our house flooring is tile). Would love to hear how it has held up!

    :)
    Sara

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    1. Hi Sara! It's held up so great! I've had to touch it up in a few high traffic spots, but it only takes a second! It was one of the best updates I've made!

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  11. I love ALL your kitchen posts! Thank you so much for the 10% off code for DL Hardware. I ordered the EXACT same hardware as you, but I'm painting my cabinets with chalk paint and a satin finish. I'll post the link so you can see when I'm done! Thanks for all the tips!

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    1. That's awesome! Thanks so much Katie! Can't wait to see your kitchen!
      xo,
      V

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  12. Dont you just love a new faucet?I have a new kitchen one too. I play with it all the time. Funny how something so simple makes such a huge difference. Love your kitchen. So Pretty. Love the mirror. I never thought about doing something like that.

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  13. Why not just add a cushion to your current stools? Or figure out some super ingenious way to upholster the bottom? That way you can keep your lovely thrifty repaint AND cushion your bottom for the cost of some fabric and upholstery foam.

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    1. That's a great suggestion! Thank you! I've been thinking about whether to do that or just get something I really love! I just can't decide! :)
      xo,
      V

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  14. Your progress looks really great! There is so much we need/want to do to our kitchen but my top two items would definitely be painting the walls and the cabinets. However, we found out we have a little one on the way so the attention has gone to the nursery. I'm sure we will get around to the kitchen one day...


    Runt
    runtspickins@yahoo.com
    www.runtspickins.wordpress.com

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  15. Love the pot rack, love the faucet, love the bar stools! Please don't get rid of the bar stools. Just make some comfy cushions :-) Ya know you can do it Virginia :-) Easiest way (read--cheapest way..hah!) to do this is to buy a standard bed pillow, open it up to use the stuffing in two new-sized cushions you make out of your desired fabric to fit your bar stool seats. Bed pillows (like from Walmart) are about $6...waaaaaay cheaper than buying a pillow form that's usually a bit too fluffy for a seat cushion, and often not quite the right size. Have I got ya thinkin' of yet another DIY? :-) Love your kitchen!

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    1. I've been thinking about doing that, too! Although, I go back and forth! Thanks Connie!
      xo

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  16. I think you could add some open shelving either where that mirror is or in the space between the windows. Another storage opportunity! Plus, you could fill them with a combo of fun colorful cute things and baskets for storing.

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    1. I love that Jennifer! There actually was a shelf there in earlier posts, but it was a problem with our kitties jumping on the shelf and knocking stuff over, so it eventually had to come down! CATS! :)
      xo,
      V

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Thanks so much for leaving a comment!! I do the hammer dance every time I read one.

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