A Vintage Kitchen In Amanda's House!

 Amanda new what she wanted in a kitchen and these are all of her ideas put together to make this beautiful vintage kitchen.

 

 

Amanda is our youngest daughter and the last to leave the nest.We had empty nest when she went off to college and now again as she moves in to her own house but we are so proud of her doing all this on her own.

 

 

Amanda and Patti are celebrating the closing of Amanda's new house. Patty and Amanda have been best friends since they have been very young.  The house Amanda bought is very special to us all because we have all spent time there one time or another. The very special lady that lived there cooked many of meals, took care of everyone and brought so many of us together for some wonderful memories. So this post is dedicated to Pat Kowalski, a wonderful, beautiful person, that we loved dearly.

 

The before pictures of the house that I will show are not from when Pat owned the house but from previous owners after her. Pat was a wonderful decorator and cook! ( her daughter inherited her talent)

 

 

Amanda had decided to start in her kitchen...

 

  

The original cabinets are very nice and the hardware has a vintage look.  

 

 

Every project needs a beginning and this is Amanda's...

She began by removing all the cabinet doors and all of the hardware. She took an old slow cooker and placed the hardware inside with water and 1/4 cup of borax leaving it to cook overnight. The next day she brushed off the paint with no problem.

 

 

Make sure if you do this project, use an old crock pot that will not be used to cook food in the future. (This is a small crock pot I use to  melt wax for my fire starters in the fall.)  

 

This is a close up of the hardware after she painted it in this hammered gold.

 

 

Cabinets were painted in this beautiful mint green to accent the gold hardware. Amanda wanted to display some of her vintage pieces, so she left two of the cabinets doors off and added bead board to the back (with help from her dad). The back splash is not wall paper but stencil. The peach she used brings out all the green and makes it pop. Trying to save money was a must so instead of buying new counter tops she just refurbished the tops with a coat of white paint and a epoxy top coat.

 

 

This is a before of the linoleum floors. Amanda has always wanted to do a Chevron floor so here was her big chance. Starting with a bonding primer she put two coats. Next two coats of a regular white paint then she was ready to tape off. Using painters tape Amanda taped off the design  and used a gray paint to create her chevron floor.

 

 

A water base sealer was used to protect the top.( using three or four coats is a must.)

 

 

To coordinate the room further Amanda wanted to bring the gray,that she used on the floor and use it  some where else in the room.So she decided painting the wall to the right would be perfect, this wall on the right extends to the dinning room letting the house flow together.

 

 

The curtain topper was made when Amanda  was young. I used old hankies, sewed them together and added a white band for the curtain rod pocket. I tried to find these over the years, all this time Amanda had them packed away to use on her own house one day. Needing some where to display the collection of salt and pepper shakers, Amanda came up with the idea of a little shelf .  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the colors tie in so beautiful together.

  

 

 I love the bent spoons that hold the measuring cups on the wall above the sink.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the small things that she used to decorate this kitchen are the very things that give it that wonderful vintage look.

This is the first half of decorating the kitchen. The second half will be coming up in one of the next blogs. We are so happy with the way she took charge and put all these wonderful ideas together We love you the big wide world Amanda!

 

 

Chinoiserie Chest For A Guest Bed Rooom

Chinoiserie chest, hand painted for my daughters guest room.

My daughter Amanda just bought her first house. With all the excitement I was given the privilege of decorating the guest bed room, starting with a blank canvas is so much fun.
 The first thing that came to mind was hand painting a chinoiserie scene on a old chest I found in the trash. So, became the beginning of a fun guest room. Because I was bringing in different blue's I had to change the wall color to a bright white satin.

Starting with the backdrop, I used the paint colors gray, white, beige, and off white and worked these colors in using brushes and sponges.  Then using a pencil, I used free hand to draw the scene then painted and highlighted using nine different hues of blue.

The old hospital bed is one of my finds riding down the road on trash day.  All I had to do was prep, paint, and buy a single mattress.  The fabric for the back drop pillows and curtains were chosen to bring out the scenes on the plates and vase's.  Needing large pillows to act as a back rest, I cut them out 25" x 25" with no piping added.  Then added green and blue pillows to make the extra statement.

The room itself along with the windows are small, so I raised the curtains to the ceiling making the room look larger than it appears.  When sewing the curtains I added ten extra inches, not only for the fold over at the top but to give it a puddle look at the bottom. This is why I like to sew all pillows and curtains, you can get the look you want. The curtain rod is a large wood dowel that I painted white and added artichoke finials.

I added a white carpet so the blue would continue to make a statement. The silver table is a match to the antlers by the bed. The chair was a find by my daughter, Cassie... (like mother like daughters)! The same fabric as the accent pillows was used to cover the chair.

 

The chair was painted white then I stapled the fabric on.

 

 

Try to keep staples in a row so you can hide them with your covered piping.

 

 

A solid green fabric was used to cover the piping. Trimmed close to stitches, hot glue gun was used to adhere the piping to the chair. 

 

 

This mirror, yes you know what I am going to say, (trash find!).  I cleaned it up and painted it white. This hangs above the chinoiserie chest. Using all the beautiful finds and redoing them saves a lot of money so the cost of this room was minimal. Thanks for dropping in and happy treasure hunting. 

Happy Mothers Day !

Happy Mother's Day!

I love spring and all the things that come along with it. Mother's day and my daughter Cassie's birthday are very close in date or sometimes on the same day. She was born on mothers day making me a mother, one of the greatest gifts to be given. I thought of all kinds of things to blog and decided to do Cassie's favorite cake. This recipe that she likes came from my mom and it's an old fashioned Carrot Cake.

Back In Time Carrot Cake   

1. 1 1/2 cups salad oil (I used canola oil)
2. 2 cups sugar
3. 4 eggs
4. 2 cups flour
5. 2 teaspoons cinnamon
6. 2 teaspoons soda
7. 1 teaspoon salt
8. 3 cups raw carrots, grated ( I put mine in the food processor )
9. 3/4 cup walnuts

  Using an electric mixer, cream oil and sugar and add eggs one at a time. Mix dry ingredients, then mix in to egg mixture. Fold in walnuts and carrots. Pour into 3 greased 8 inch round pans. Bake at 350* for 25 to 30 minutes.

 

Bake at 350* for 25-30 minutes using a toothpick to check for doneness.

 

Cream Cheese Icing

1. 3  8-ounce packages cream cheese
2. 3 sticks butter
3. 3 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
4. 2 teaspoons vanilla (I use vanilla bean paste)

Have butter and cream cheese at room temperature,( a must ) Cream the butter and cheese together well then add confectioners sugar and vanilla, beat well. If you want to add a little color now is the time, I added pink because it reminded me of Cassie. I made a little banner out of straws and colored paper.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CASSIE! LOVE YOU THE BIG WIDE WORLD!

Girls Night Tokens

Girls Night Tokens

This week Judy, a beautiful friend of mine, is having a girls night at her house. It has been some time since we have all seen each other. I thought it would be nice to give all my friends a little token at the get together. Everyone loves candles so in came the idea of decorating matches. When you have a lot of girls the cost can get exhilarating and this is a very inexpensive way to make a beautiful gift.

 

You can buy a bundle of box matches almost anywhere. I started by painting front and back with paint. It will take a little time for this project because you have to wait for your first coat of paint to dry before you put on the second. Digging back into my vintage jewelry and beads, I put some color schemes together. I used a hot glue gun to adhere the embellishments on the front.

 

 

 

There is no limit to the ideas that you can come up with and they look so beautiful on a table beside a candle.

 

 

To wrap, use tooling and string. If you want a little extra you can always add a candle to pair with the matches. This also makes a wonderful bridal token or birthday gift. 

Thank you for stopping in, see you again soon!

 

 

Garden Update

 

 

This is such a wonderful time of year! Everything smells so good and the garden stores are filled with delightful things. I wanted to give an update on the garden because a lot has changed since I started with the preparation!

I love to fill beautiful large pots with a variety of perennial and annual flowers. In this pot I have put as my main attraction a blue hydrangea that looks as if it may bloom soon. There is a red Amaryllis bulb and some petunias as well as English ivy so I can have a cascade look. "A thriller, a filler, and a spiller!"

 

This is a wicker basket I painted black. In this basket I have placed portulacas, petunias, and small seeds to come up later.

The seeds that we planted in a previous blog have grown so fast. Here they are in there containers. The nest pictures show the transplant and the finished up garden boxes.

The garden boxes have been framed and we have added mulch to keep weeds at bay. Beans and cucumbers need a trellis so my husband Michael added stakes and wire for this purpose.

This is a picture of our fabulous pomegranate tree with the bright orange flowers in the back. ( the humming birds love it.) To the right back is our grapefruit tree that we had over 800 fruit last year. Up front in the large pot is a kumquat tree and I have added a variety of flowers for ground cover.

Sometimes it is the little things that make an area pop! So as to not get overwhelmed, I work with one small section at a time. When that is complete I go on to the next.

 

If you have a garden project you love, I would love to hear from you at thatsmeyaya@yahoo.com happy gardening!