{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: A Non-Naked Coffee Table

Hi hello!  I've got another quickie makeover for you that was just a simple paint job, but what a difference paint can make!

Remember when I made a new coffee table for our living room?  We replaced our naked coffee table with it.

I decided to give the naked one a little makeover to make it more sellable because I didn't want to hold onto it.  I'm trying to be a better non-hoarder.  #diyerproblems

As successful as my pink desk makeover was, I kept with the bold -- to me -- color trend and took a chance with a light turquoise/aqua, then did a "grain sack" detail down the middle with stain.

Here's a true before pic for good measure:

Aaaaannd, after!

Turned out pretty cute I'd say.  (:

{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.

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

Times, they are a'changin'.

Or, maybe just I am.

Which is an odd thing for me to confess because I've never really been a big fan of change.  But yet, when I think about it, I am always changing things up, always wanting to mix up my routine, always varying my interests.

With all this talk of change, I bring you a post all about change!  Betcha didn't see that coming, did ya, haha!

First things first, the blog itself.  I am finding myself leaning more and more towards modern design:  in my pins, in my home and now in my blog look.  I've gone through several modifications (even an entire name change!) to get to this point, but I hope (really hope) this is it.  For a while.  A long while.  (:  And I hope it speaks more to what I hope this blog will be about:  me doing whatever makes me happy and sharing it with you guys, whether it is a DIY project, a graphic design project or a design trend or space that I'm in love with.  

The blog's new design has been up for a bit, but I thought I'd formally introduce you.

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.

When Life Gives You Too Many Lemons...Freeze Them...Practically

Well, my house has been hit with the flu.  Yay.  I suppose it was inevitable but I really had thought there for a while we were going to be one of the lucky ones.

In doing what we can to keep ourselves going and feeling as good as one can when they are dying, I have a little tip that has really come in handy for us.

But first, let's rewind a few weeks...

There's a lemon tree at my hubby's work.  It is currently producing some of the largest lemons I've ever seen.  And he keeps bringing them home.

I have a couple of dinner recipes that call for lemon juice, but mainly sweets recipes.  And the last thing my husband and I need in our house is tons of lemon sweets {which he's not a big fan of anyhoo}.  

So I had a bowlful of big, beautiful lemons that I didn't know what to do with, and that I didn't want to waste.  Wasting free is almost worse than wasting money, know what I mean?

My first thought was to freeze them, which was instilled in my by my mom.  She froze everything.  But unlike other fruits and veggies, the only thing you mainly use from a lemon is the juice.  

Ok, so, freeze the juice.  Duh.

But then what do I do with frozen juice from several lemons?  I mean, we're looking at at least a cup of juice.  That's a chunk of frozen liquid.  And most recipes only call for a couple of tablespoons of juice.  Definitely not a cup.  Unless you're baking in bulk.  Which I probably won't be.

So freezing by the tablespoon made MUCH more sense.  But how?

Light bulb:  Ice cube trays!!

My Top 13 of 13

I know traditionally this is done at the end of the year, or the very beginning of the new year, but I've debated about doing a post like this for a while.  In the end, I swayed myself to do it.  I love a good reminiscing.  (:

So, here's what ya'll were loving in 2013 from {be made designs}:

DIY Fleece Ruffle Wreath

I mentioned on Facebook the other day that I'm not crafting much this holiday, but I do have a couple of projects to show you guys, this being one of them.

Which came about as a "test run" for another project I have done.

Recently I have had a couple of friends ask me to make them spirit wreaths for their favorite colleges, which is something I had never done before.  So I did my research and found a particular style I liked - felt ruffles - and went to purchase the felt in the school colors.  

Which almost caused these beauties to not be created.  My local fabric stores have a limited color selection of felt, but luckily they did have the colors I needed.  The last time I was purchasing my needed felt, the fabric shop had all their fleeces marked down for holiday projects, and I swear they had every color under the sun in fleece!  As I'm eyeballing those soft fabrics, the hubby says, "Why couldn't you use fleece on your wreaths?"

Well, I dunno.  Why couldn't I?

So I decided to get a yard - since it was so cheap! - so I could do a test wreath to see how the fleece would work versus the felt.

Just because it was a test run doesn't mean it couldn't be useful, right?  So I figured I'd make a cute mini Christmas wreath for our house (if it worked).

When I made the two above wreaths, I had cut my felt into 4x4 squares, but since I was doing a mini wreath, I did 2x2 squares.  

You'll have lots of these little squares, and you'll probably need more.  I didn't cut the entire yard; probably ended up using about 2/3 of the yard.  I did use more felt for the bigger wreaths, probably close to a yard of each color I used {just FYI if you want to tackle a larger one}.

I'm a bit picky; I didn't want the styrofoam in the back showing, even though you wouldn't see it because it's the back.  It would be totally cool to leave it as is.  But, if you're like me, you can add a felt back to the styrofoam easy.  And I would recommend doing this before adding the ruffles.  Makes it easier to trace the wreath form.

I used felt for my backing but you probably use whatever scrap fabric you have, or use the same felt/fleece you are using for the wreath.  Just cut out your donut and glue it on.  I've tried good ol' Elmers and my trusty E6000 for the backing.  I definitely recommend the E6000.  The Elmer's just peels right off.

In doing my research for these ruffle wreaths, I found several different tutorials for attaching the fabric to the wreath form, but this tute was the one I used.  Which, oddly enough, the Elmer's glue is perfect for.  Weird.

But, this is a perfect project for sitting in front of all those Hallmark & Lifetime holiday movies.  Because after like 30 minutes, I had this:

But isn't all that ruffley-goodness beautiful?!

And, after a movie or two, you get this beauty:

And by using the fleece, in the words of Agnes: "It's so fluffy!"  Really a different texture than using the felt, but essentially the same effect.

I really wanted to keep this wreath simple, so I grabbed this cute little pinecone & holly floral pick from Hobby Lobby, and stuck it in the wreath form.  Then I used a little piece of holly printed burlap ribbon to make a hanger.

Then I added a small white bow at the top of the ribbon to bring a bit of the white up.

See that ugly green wire on the bow?  I just covered it with a pearl do-dad you can find with the scrapbooking supplies.

Just a sweet little wreath!  And now I know:  yes, I can use fleece, too!  Yay!  Two birds, one stone!

I don't have any Christmas decor out yet -- I don't decorate until after Thanksgiving -- but I'm trying to get my projects knocked out before that so I'm not crafting while I'm decorating.  I felt like last year I wasn't able to really enjoy my decorations because I was so focused on crafting.  I don't know where I'll hang this little guy yet, but I'm sure my decor will tell me. (:

So, whadya think?

I've got two more projects comin' at ya soon:  my most favorite from last year, and a new addition for this year.  So be sure to follow along! (:

And I hope you guys have a very Happy Thanksgiving!  I am so thankful for you guys for sticking with me these past few years!  It's been fun!  

TTfN!

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