{My Old House}: #goodbyeyellowkitchen

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. ;)

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Baby Food Jar Spice Rack Thingy

It's fall y'all!  How in the world did that happen?!  Life has gotten really crazy around here for me, but crazy in a good way, and in a way that is making time disappear WAY too fast!  I had wanted to share this project a few months back, but yikes!  Here we are in October!  Anyhoo...

#goodbyeyellowkitchen is still underway, although it will probably not ever get to the completion point I had imagined in my head.  Basically, any project on the list but not yet started won't get started.  And there's a really good reason for that that I will hopefully get to share soon!  I'll still be able to show off the "afters" once we do get things wrapped up, it just won't be the after I imagined.  But I'm going to store all of those ideas & projects for another purpose.  Can't let good ideas go to waste, right?

One of the new features in the kitchen that did get completed was my new spice "rack."  Really, I don't know what to call it.  Spice display?  Spice jar thingy?  I had a hard time deciding how to share this project because in order to get the materials needed, I had to do a couple of side projects.  So, do I give out the materials first then show what to do with them, or show off the finished product and then explain how I got my materials?  I decided on the latter.  Here goes...

When we moved into this house, we removed all the cabinet doors to create open shelving, which I hoped would make the kitchen feel a little bigger.  Obviously, that means everything you have in these cabinets is on display.  And, yeah, the designer in me wanted everything perfectly arranged and looking "pretty" but the practical person in me was like, whatever, just make stuff accessible.  For the most part, the designer in me won out.  But when it came to all my spices, the practical one won.  

Staying Organized: Kraft Paper Dry-Erase Calendar

I am a planner.  Not my best quality, not my worst.  I'm working harder to be a bit more spontaneous -- our summer road trip was proof of that -- but I will probably never be able to turn off the part of me that wants to make sure everything is in alignment.

I am also a visual person.  I need to see plans in writing, physically see my to do list on paper, to make it make sense in my head.  While I love technology, it is not always my friend in my plan making.  

This physical need to visualize plans is what inspired this project.  For nearly all of my adult life, I have had a physical calendar in my kitchen, planning out the months.  Usually, I'd look for calendars that would add a bit of art to my space, or even let me dream of far-off places.  You know, something that looks nice.  Not too long ago, we "upgraded" to a dry-erase magnetic calendar for our fridge since wall space is a bit limited in my current kitchen.

Kraft Paper Planter

So, I took a bit of a summer break.  I hadn't really planned to, but plans just kept forming, and life became more important, and I realized it was a much needed break.  I will admit though I've had kind of a hard time getting back to my projects:  all those little things on my to do list so I can one day stop and smell the roses.  So, here I am getting back into the swing of things.  I missed my wittle bloggy-blog.

I mentioned in my last post that we are giving our kitchen a mini-makeover.  #goodbyeyellowkitchen  Between the hubby's and my work schedules - and our summer break - it's taking a lot longer than I had hoped, but I think we have most of the major projects out of the way.  Now, we are just down to the nitty-gritty...you know, the stuff that always gets pushed to the end that's just not as much fun to do as the rest of it.  I'm not entirely sure when those last little bits will get done.  To be honest, that's driving me nuts, but I'm trying to be chill and just go with the flow about it all.  I'm more grateful for my life being so busy because it means we are living.  

But, that also means the most exciting part -- the reveal -- is still a ways off.  Womp-womp.  So I thought what I would do in the mean time is share all the little projects that make up the big project, which will hopefully get you excited for what our kitchen looks like now.

------------------------------------------------------

In an attempt to add some greenery to my house with indoor plants, I opted to put an aloe vera plant in my kitchen for decorative - and practical - reasons.

I can't really remember how the idea came about, but when I was planting the little aloe plant in its pot, I was wishing it wasn't the color it was because it just didn't work with what I had going for my kitchen.  I thought it would be neat to have a pot that looked like Kraft paper.  I'm trying to keep my kitchen modernly neutral with farmhouse touches and the Kraft paper look is right on par with that.  But how does one get a Kraft paper pot for a real plant?

Wrap it.

{Re*Made}: Cabinet Door to Tray

I am probably 85% hoarder.  I have this problem with throwing things away.  I mean, surely I can figure out some sort of use for it, right?  My house is full of just stuff waiting for me to figure out its use, some of it has been waiting years.  I know, it's ridiculous.  I am trying to be better about it, and the hubby and I tried doing the 40 bags in 40 days.  We started out great and got rid of a ton of stuff, but between our two work schedules, we couldn't stick with the schedule.  I'm hoping we can keep going even though it won't be within the original planned 40 days.

A few of the things I keep I know right away what I want to do with.  Thank goodness.

If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen we are giving our kitchen a face lift.  #goodbyeyellowkitchen  We aren't calling it a makeover really because there's mainly just painting and accessories being added.  Ok, and some new shelves, and a new cabinet....  It's taking a while (due to those work schedules I mentioned) but hopefully I'll have that reveal soon (because I'm so ready for it to be done!).

{Re*Made} Simple Makeovers: Sewing Table

God bless whoever invented paint!

And God bless whoever thought spraying paint would be even better!

Isn't it amazing what a little bit of paint can do?  There's been a lot of change happening in my house, but most of it has been just a simple paint change.  So I'm gonna have a few quickie posts with befores and afters showing these simple changes that are making big impacts in my home.

First up is my sewing table.  My grannie gave me this table when we moved into our first home.  It had been left in a house she was selling and asked if I wanted it.  It was in very "well worn" condition, even missing two of the drawers.  But I loved it and welcomed it into our home.

I used to have a philosophy with old stuff:  their "well worn" condition should be left as is, unless you are restoring it to its former glory.  And so I left that sewing table as it was:  rusting base, warped & chipped top, missing drawers.

Loving My Favorite Chair -- A Makeover Story

There once lived a girl who was oblivious to the world of thrift stores.  She had grown up with mostly hand-me-downs (there's no real choice what you get there), with some new stuff bought at the big-box stores, or sometimes "name brand" stores, but the concept of "one man's trash is another man's treasure" held no value to her.

Until one day, after she and her mom had moved to their new home in a new town, did she venture into a shop boasting thrifty finds.

And her life would never be the same.

Well, I might as well admit.  That girl was me.  hehe  

And it is a true story.  I would know.  (:

I honestly don't remember how I happened upon that little shop.  For years, it was across the street from another shop my mom and I would frequent, so I probably subconsciously remembered it was there.  When my mom and I moved to our new place, we were trying to outfit it very cheaply, and I was hoping to get some new goodies for my very own bedroom.  A first for me.

And if I remember correctly, I drug my brother along with me to this little shop.  I didn't really go in with a purpose or looking for a specific piece, but when I spotted this chair -- and sat in it -- and saw the $15 dollar price tag -- I knew I had to have it.  

Isn't it hideous and awesome at the same time?!  (I wish I had a true true before pic but that was way before the idea of a blog ever entered my mind.)

My New Coffee Table

My poor husband.  I'm so glad he gets me and just lets me do me.  I doubt there'd be anyone else who would put up with someone spending hours refinishing -- or rather, definishing -- a coffee table and hunting for months for castors the perfect size for these coffee table legs, only to decide it needs to be replaced just a little over year later.

Because that's what I did.

And he let me.  (:  Lucky girl I am!

It all started with these legs.

Aren't they some sexy legs?!  I found them one day in my landlord's stash of junk he keeps and he let me have them.  For what purpose, I had no clue.  But they were so mid-century mod, so sleek, so non-traditional, that I had to have them.

Organizing Household Tools: Easy Catch-All

Y'all.  

My husband is a genius!

An incredible out-of-the-box thinker.

The other half of my creative soul.

Ok, ok....I could keep going, you know, haha!

I guess I'll start at the beginning so you know why I am boasting about his genius.

{Functional Art} Broaches in the Bathroom

Here's a little "me" trivia:  I don't wear much jewelry.  I love jewelry, I own probably more pieces than I'll ever wear, and I like to buy pieces that I may never wear {go figure!}.

But I usually just stick to the basics:  wedding ring, college ring, watch, "What Cancer Cannot Do" cuff (for my mom), my diamond studs and a necklace {usually a simple pendant}.

I do love the occasional "dress-up" event, when I can really lay on the jewels, and I have some really pretty pieces for those times, but most days, I just keep it simple.

Somewhere along the line, however, I became a broach gal.  I just LOVE broaches, especially vintage, sometimes quirky ones, and I try to work one into most my outfits.

My Old House: Living Room Update {With a Touch of Fall}

You may, or may not, have noticed that with most of my designs, whether graphic, craft, or interior, it is an evolutionary process.  My home is a prime example of that.  I think it's because a designer is their own worst client!  Or at least I am.  But I'm always seeing new things I like and want to try, or rearranging my furniture because I know it'll function better this way.

In the case of my living room, it was function that drove the evolution.

We don't have a "guest" bedroom in our house.  But we recognized there is a need to have a place for guests to sleep.  We decided the best way to solve this was to get a sleeper sofa.  And that new purchase gave way to many new purchases.  (:  As always, he he!

We actually began this "update" a little more than a year ago, but when working on a budget, or sometimes NO budget, change takes time.  I definitely would prefer it not to be that way {I'm a bit of an "instant gratification" kind of a girl}, but it is.

Here's what we started with {read that story here}:

Here's how it was after we moved in:

And here it is now!:

*SIDENOTE*:  I don't like referring to budget because I would love to share with you how much it took to make these updates.  But, I don't really set budgets. I mean, I would love to say, "I have $500 to make this room awesome!" but I don't save moolah like that.  Because that is a patience thing, and I don't have much, lol.  So it's more or less like, "Oooo I like that....I think I can swing that this paycheck...yep we can....let's get it."  Which is why it takes months to complete my rooms, but that's how I roll.  Although I think it works for me because I tend to have a hard time making up my mind or I change my aesthetic as time goes by, so this way I get to contemplate my choices before I actually buy it.  Even though I would prefer for it to all happen at once.  Yep, I'm a walking contradiction.

But, all in all, excluding the sofa, I would guess all these updates cost between $250 - $300.  Not too shabby I think.  And that may REALLY be over-estimating.

Some of these changes you've already seen:  the naked coffee table, the doily art, new dining chairs, and the dresser drawer shelves.  And with each I promised a reveal soon.  Well, soon has finally come folks!  Ya-HOO!!

Obviously, as I stated before, the biggest change is the sofa.  When we first moved in, we had to make do with what we had, and that was a bulky sofa with an equally bulky loveseat.  They functioned beautifully in our previous house, but here, they were just too large.  The literal elephants in the room! {See the "before" pics at the end.}

So we sold them and got the new one.  We love the chaise, and sometimes when we are lounging for movie night, we'll pull out the bed part and really "lay out."  The only thing I sometimes question is the color.  The neutral is good, but it's lighter than our other sofas, which meant I never really noticed all the doggie dirt {yes, we let our puppies on the furniture}.  Now, I do see it and it drives me a little nutty.  But I just Scotchguard the heck out of it and hope for the best.  And these days I'm contemplating a slip-cover -- DIY style.  We'll see.

After the sofa came the new coffee table.  I quickly recognized that the boxy sofa/chaise did NOT work with the boxy trunk coffee table.  You may remember I spotted my new table on our Habitat Restore's Facebook page and knew I had to have it, and how perfect it would be with casters.  SO EASY to roll out of the way when we need to pull out the bed.  That table cost me all of $15 and then $4 for the casters.  

I think it was not too long after that we decided to retire the lace curtains and get blinds.  I loved the open windows, but the sun glare was not cool at certain times of day.  Literally.  I'm pretty sure our electric bill went down a bit after we installed them.  It was also a privacy thing.  The blinds, curtains and curtain rods were probably the most expensive purchases for this room, even though they aren't the high-end kind.

I also did a better job styling my dresser drawer shelves, I think, for someone who doesn't really do knick-knacks.  {You can see how they originally were styled here, as well as the DIY tute.}

We also got new dining chairs from the most awesomest antiques fair ever!  Ok, I take back my comment about the blinds & curtains being the most expensive purchase.  These chairs were, but they were SO worth it!  And I didn't have to do anything to them {although I did mention here that the two ladderback chairs may soon have new cushions.}

But I would say those are the biggest changes. 

Here are a couple of small things:

New rug:

Some of you may be wondering:  why so small a rug?  Generally, a rug should be large enough that the major pieces of furniture should sit upon the rug entirely, or at least their front halves.  I specifically chose a smaller rug for a couple of reasons.  First, I was inspired by a picture of a living room with bare wood floors.  It was fabulous!  While I love that look, for practical reasons I couldn't do it, so I opted for a rug that just sat under my coffee table.

Secondly, our new sofa has a roll-out bed, and those wheels slide better on a bare floor.

Ok, moving on... (:

New sofa pillows:

New lamp made from a broken lantern from Hobby Lobby {broken = super cheap!  Yay!}:

This fun little find.  When we saw him, we knew we had to have him, but we had NO CLUE where to put him.  I think he has finally found the perfect home on my sewing table.  Now he just needs a name...  Hugo?  Too cliche?

I made this bookcase brighter by painting it and lining the inside with wrapping paper, and I tried to style it a little better as well.  It's a learning process, right?

Those two lil' kids on the right are the hubby and I when we were little.  We had this on display at our wedding, and decided we had to have it in our house!  My mom loved this, too, because she said this was a glimpse at her grandkiddos.  Guess she got to meet them before we did.

This typewriter belonged to my great-granddad, which if I remember the story correctly, it was payment given to him by a writer who was staying at a hotel he managed.  If only we knew who that writer was....

I loved this quote and felt like it perfectly described my home:  "Collect moments, not things."  Almost everything has a story to tell, a moment in time.  (:

This butcher block table was a gift from my mom.  Really one of the last things she was able to go out and get by herself before she got too sick.  And, crazy as it may sound, it was an anniversary gift for my husband and me.  She knew how much we love funky antique/vintage stuff, and when she saw it, she knew we had to have it {plus, I may have mentioned once that I wanted one}.  Our kitchen is too small to have it as an island or a work table, but it's great as a little entry/hall table.

Speaking of my mom, I have to share the story of this blanket on my sofa with you guys.  My mom's favorite season was winter, and probably spring.  Spring would be a close second--like by a minuscule-point-off close--because that was the best time to work in her garden.  And she loved gardening.

But I say winter was her favorite for two reasons:  Christmas {her FAVORITEST holiday--like, you should have seen our house at Christmas!} and sweaters.  She freaking loved sweaters!!  Which is funny and sad.  Funny because we live in South Texas.  Where we are lucky if we get a week of "winter weather" during winter.  I mean, we get excited when highs will only be in the 50's or 60's because then it will feel like winter.  And we can bust out our sweaters and coats.  

It was sad, too, because as much as she loved sweaters, she never really got to wear them because of our fickle winter weather.

There is a point to all this, I promise.

When we were going through her things, cleaning out her closets, I couldn't believe how many sweaters she had.  Well, I could, but you know what I mean.  And some of them {I love you, Mom} could have easily won the "ugliest sweater contest."  Just terrible.  But they reminded me of her and I hated to part with them.  I remembered a cousin telling me of a friend of hers' mother passing away, and she made a blanket out of some of her old shirts, as a memory keeper.  And I knew that's what I had to do with my mom's old sweaters.

So after researching I found a really great tutorial -- which I could totally relate to the cats! -- and pieced together a sweater blanket for myself and my brother.   I also used the sleeves to make scarves for her sister and nieces, since she was so close with them.  

My kitties love this cozy blankie too!

The only part of the tutorial I couldn't follow was felting the sweaters.  I couldn't wash them.  They still smelled like her and I just couldn't bring myself to wash that away.  It did make cutting and sewing a little more difficult, but I made it work, and I'm pretty proud of it.

Hope you didn't mind the little detour, but that's one of those pieces that has a story, and it was a story I felt like sharing.  (:

So, I think the living room looks better now, more like what this house is telling us, not what our old house told us, and more like who we are now.

Ok, some final "befores & afters."

After seeing my room in photos, I see a couple of things that might need some changing.  But I'll have to get approval first.  Or maybe not, since my hubby remarked to me the other day that I could do whatever because "he just sleeps here."  Nice, babe.  He he he...

Maybe one day I'll actually get the Master Bedroom -- the last "makeover room" in this house -- done.  My husband and I don't really "hang out" in there other than to dress and sleep, so it has definitely taken the back-burner for room makeovers, but I am slowly making changes, and fingers crossed, I'll get to reveal that one before the year's out.

I'd love to hear your thoughts! (:

Have a great one!

ta-ta 

for now!

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