This is a bittersweet post for me.
I mentioned in my last post that the kitchen wouldn't be completed as I had originally envisioned. Well, I can officially state why: we bought a house!
Never did we imagine that we'd be homeowners again this soon. We had basically sworn off homeownership because of our last home-buying experience but, as my mom would say, this was totally a "God thing" and we couldn't be more excited. Its a 1913 farmhouse-style total fixer-upper, and has all the character and charm the hubby and I love. At this point, we are about half-way moved in, which is why the kitchen project is at an end in our rent house.
The first trip moving things from our rent house to our new house had me tearing up a bit, which was surprising because I never thought I'd be sad to leave it. But it was our home, not just a rent house, and leaving home is always sad.
Now, without further ado, the kitchen reveal!!
Well, first, let's do a little walk down memory lane.
Kitchen when we first began:
Kitchen after we fixed it up:
And now!:
Can you see how different it is? Does it look calmer, cleaner? I hope so, because that's what I was going for.
It all started with these guys:
I had decided one day I was over the white knobs and wanted something that would stand out but still be clean & simple. I came across these knobs and fell in love! After I ordered and installed them, it was like a snowball. First the light above the sink didn't work anymore, then I couldn't take the yellow any longer and my counters need less clutter....
New knobs gave birth to a new kitchen!
One place I never really showed in the first kitchen reveal was the space to the right of the refrigerator. For the longest time, it housed a set of wire shelves that we used as our pantry and extra storage. It worked really well, but it certainly wasn't the nicest thing to look at. So I didn't let you look at it. #bloggersperogative But I'll let you see it now.
My husband - God bless him - took it upon himself to approach our landlord and see if it would be alright if we put in a dishwasher for me. Heart eyes forever! Landlord said yep, so we built the upper cabinets to match the existing cabinets, bought a stock lower cabinet and a dishwasher, and lookee what I have now!
That teeny extra bit of countertop made such a huge difference in my workspace. Not to mention the dishwasher was a wonderful addition!!
Before in my kitchen, we had two small shelves over the stove that didn't have any function except to hold junk that collected grease and dust, so those had to go. We also took down the liquor shelf and housed that somewhere else.
Before:
We replaced them with one long shelf that ran the entire width of the wall with a shorter shelf under it that was the same length as the butcher block counter.
After:
One of my favorite parts of the kitchen revamp, and the hardest thing to lose when we move, was our new breakfast bar. While we did eat at the breakfast table, it became more of a catch-all and we were tired of the mess.
Before:
So we got rid of the table and installed a "bar" as a place to enjoy a meal, watch nature, or just sit and have conversation.
After:
If you follow me on Instagram, you likely saw this little teaser:
My cabinets needed a little pop but it also needed to be something removable since its a rent house. I looked into removable wallpaper, but with my kitchen going in a modern farmhouse look, somewhere chicken wire became the perfect solution.
And now, for the beauty shots!
We added a little interest to the breakfast bar by doing a concrete inlay in a grain sack pattern.
This whole process has been eye-opening for me in that I feel like I'm finally understanding who I am and what my design style is. I love modern but I love vintage. I love color but I totally dig that clean palette that the Scandinavians have mastered. I love objects that tell stories, but I hate clutter. I love clean lines, but I love traditional elements. For the longest time, I thought all those contrasts couldn't exist together, but I've realized, why not? Now that I have discovered me, I feel like my home will become a reflection of that. And I'm so excited to have a new home to style!
So I mentioned this was a bittersweet post. Sweet because I FINALLY get to share what we were able to do to our kitchen - which I totally plan on stealing ideas from for our new kitchen because I didn't get to enjoy it nearly long enough!
Bitter because I've decided that this will be my last blog post. Which may be a little shocking since our new home is a fixer but I've come to several realizations since we've bought this house.
Mainly, I'm just tired of playing keep up. When I first started blogging, there weren't many DIY/Home Decor/Interior Design blogs out there. And I started it with the intention of not only sharing my ideas but possibly generating a little design business, too. I never intended blogging to be my job, but more power to those that do. But as someone who doesn't blog full time, it was hard to always remember to take before pics, take process pics, then find time to edit the pics and write the post. Not to mention think of projects that could be the "next big thing" to generate more readers and followers. I love sharing my ideas and projects, but it was wearing me down and just not enjoyable anymore. You can tell it got to me this year as I've posted hardly anything.
And I didn't want that pressure for our new house. We won't be able to do everything we want right away; in fact, it will probably take years. And I'm ok with that, but I was afraid by keeping my blog, eventually waiting years wouldn't be good enough. I would want it done now to keep up with the blog Jones'.
Essentially, my blog has become something unhealthy for me, and it's time to say good-bye.
I'm not sure I'll give up blogging entirely. There may be something I just have to share, and if so, I'll do it on my personal design website, www.justjennimarie.com. But this will most likely be the final post for "Be Made Designs."
To those that have followed me for the past 5 years, I thank you wholeheartedly! To those that found me on Pinterest or linky parties, I'm so glad you took time to peruse my little blog and hopefully found something to inspire you.
A huge thank you to my hubby, who not only supported all my hair-brained ideas but helped me brainstorm and create them. And for remembering to take process photos for me because I might blog about it when I roped him into working on something without me. He gets me, he trusts me, he pushes me and he loves me. This was as much his blog as mine.
Finally, thank you to my mom. She was the inspiration behind my blog. She encouraged me to share my ideas because she believed they were as awesome as I thought they were. She encouraged me in all aspects of my creative life and her words are what keeps me going when I feel like giving up. I miss her so, so much.
2015 was an incredible year for me. I am truly sorry to say good-bye to it. I can't remember feeling that way about a particular year. And I hate saying good-bye to this blog, but I feel like it is a good way to end the year, and ring in 2016 truly open to any possibility.
So, ta-ta.
For now. ;)
I mentioned in my last post that the kitchen wouldn't be completed as I had originally envisioned. Well, I can officially state why: we bought a house!
Never did we imagine that we'd be homeowners again this soon. We had basically sworn off homeownership because of our last home-buying experience but, as my mom would say, this was totally a "God thing" and we couldn't be more excited. Its a 1913 farmhouse-style total fixer-upper, and has all the character and charm the hubby and I love. At this point, we are about half-way moved in, which is why the kitchen project is at an end in our rent house.
The first trip moving things from our rent house to our new house had me tearing up a bit, which was surprising because I never thought I'd be sad to leave it. But it was our home, not just a rent house, and leaving home is always sad.
Now, without further ado, the kitchen reveal!!
Well, first, let's do a little walk down memory lane.
Kitchen when we first began:
Kitchen after we fixed it up:
And now!:
Can you see how different it is? Does it look calmer, cleaner? I hope so, because that's what I was going for.
It all started with these guys:
I had decided one day I was over the white knobs and wanted something that would stand out but still be clean & simple. I came across these knobs and fell in love! After I ordered and installed them, it was like a snowball. First the light above the sink didn't work anymore, then I couldn't take the yellow any longer and my counters need less clutter....
New knobs gave birth to a new kitchen!
One place I never really showed in the first kitchen reveal was the space to the right of the refrigerator. For the longest time, it housed a set of wire shelves that we used as our pantry and extra storage. It worked really well, but it certainly wasn't the nicest thing to look at. So I didn't let you look at it. #bloggersperogative But I'll let you see it now.
My husband - God bless him - took it upon himself to approach our landlord and see if it would be alright if we put in a dishwasher for me. Heart eyes forever! Landlord said yep, so we built the upper cabinets to match the existing cabinets, bought a stock lower cabinet and a dishwasher, and lookee what I have now!
That teeny extra bit of countertop made such a huge difference in my workspace. Not to mention the dishwasher was a wonderful addition!!
Before in my kitchen, we had two small shelves over the stove that didn't have any function except to hold junk that collected grease and dust, so those had to go. We also took down the liquor shelf and housed that somewhere else.
Before:
We replaced them with one long shelf that ran the entire width of the wall with a shorter shelf under it that was the same length as the butcher block counter.
After:
One of my favorite parts of the kitchen revamp, and the hardest thing to lose when we move, was our new breakfast bar. While we did eat at the breakfast table, it became more of a catch-all and we were tired of the mess.
Before:
So we got rid of the table and installed a "bar" as a place to enjoy a meal, watch nature, or just sit and have conversation.
After:
If you follow me on Instagram, you likely saw this little teaser:
My cabinets needed a little pop but it also needed to be something removable since its a rent house. I looked into removable wallpaper, but with my kitchen going in a modern farmhouse look, somewhere chicken wire became the perfect solution.
And now, for the beauty shots!
We added a little interest to the breakfast bar by doing a concrete inlay in a grain sack pattern.
This whole process has been eye-opening for me in that I feel like I'm finally understanding who I am and what my design style is. I love modern but I love vintage. I love color but I totally dig that clean palette that the Scandinavians have mastered. I love objects that tell stories, but I hate clutter. I love clean lines, but I love traditional elements. For the longest time, I thought all those contrasts couldn't exist together, but I've realized, why not? Now that I have discovered me, I feel like my home will become a reflection of that. And I'm so excited to have a new home to style!
So I mentioned this was a bittersweet post. Sweet because I FINALLY get to share what we were able to do to our kitchen - which I totally plan on stealing ideas from for our new kitchen because I didn't get to enjoy it nearly long enough!
Bitter because I've decided that this will be my last blog post. Which may be a little shocking since our new home is a fixer but I've come to several realizations since we've bought this house.
Mainly, I'm just tired of playing keep up. When I first started blogging, there weren't many DIY/Home Decor/Interior Design blogs out there. And I started it with the intention of not only sharing my ideas but possibly generating a little design business, too. I never intended blogging to be my job, but more power to those that do. But as someone who doesn't blog full time, it was hard to always remember to take before pics, take process pics, then find time to edit the pics and write the post. Not to mention think of projects that could be the "next big thing" to generate more readers and followers. I love sharing my ideas and projects, but it was wearing me down and just not enjoyable anymore. You can tell it got to me this year as I've posted hardly anything.
And I didn't want that pressure for our new house. We won't be able to do everything we want right away; in fact, it will probably take years. And I'm ok with that, but I was afraid by keeping my blog, eventually waiting years wouldn't be good enough. I would want it done now to keep up with the blog Jones'.
Essentially, my blog has become something unhealthy for me, and it's time to say good-bye.
I'm not sure I'll give up blogging entirely. There may be something I just have to share, and if so, I'll do it on my personal design website, www.justjennimarie.com. But this will most likely be the final post for "Be Made Designs."
To those that have followed me for the past 5 years, I thank you wholeheartedly! To those that found me on Pinterest or linky parties, I'm so glad you took time to peruse my little blog and hopefully found something to inspire you.
A huge thank you to my hubby, who not only supported all my hair-brained ideas but helped me brainstorm and create them. And for remembering to take process photos for me because I might blog about it when I roped him into working on something without me. He gets me, he trusts me, he pushes me and he loves me. This was as much his blog as mine.
Finally, thank you to my mom. She was the inspiration behind my blog. She encouraged me to share my ideas because she believed they were as awesome as I thought they were. She encouraged me in all aspects of my creative life and her words are what keeps me going when I feel like giving up. I miss her so, so much.
2015 was an incredible year for me. I am truly sorry to say good-bye to it. I can't remember feeling that way about a particular year. And I hate saying good-bye to this blog, but I feel like it is a good way to end the year, and ring in 2016 truly open to any possibility.
So, ta-ta.
For now. ;)
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