New Kitchen Details

I posted this "before" photo... well.. uh... before. But I have to keep reminding myself that it's the same place, just getting rid of THAT FLOOR made a big difference in how I felt about the room.

We changed out the lighting and painted the walls blue.  The cabinets (in that section at least) are painted, the hinges came and we were able to get the doors back on. Believe me, I'm grateful for that! And I really really like my polymer clay covered knobs on the upper cabinets and the simple black ones on the lower ones. I'm not usually into details like a polymer clay handle, that but this time it feels right.  It seems like it might be a good idea to go back and paint the toe kick, huh?!  Funny, it didn't occur to any of us working on the project at the time.  And now it's on my list.  I LOVE my new floor!  That project seemed to take forever but I am pleased with the result!

So... let's see.  Here we have a little of my hand painted glass.  A framed photography grouping that spells out the word "PEACE" with photographs I took around my adopted home town a while back.  I took two weeks walking around town looking at things and photographing everything that looked like an alphabet letter.  THAT was fun!  Try it sometime, it's a creative exercise in adjusting your vision to see beyond what you think is in front of you.  Alphabet photography got popular and then started to look a little kitchy to me.  Oh well.  I photographed the entire alphabet, the Q was one of the harder ones to find but I have a good one!  You may recognize that little floral quilt from a recent blog post.  And also the open sign from my gallery in the old days.  So far so good.  Feel free to leave a comment!

Happy Creating,
-Carmen Rose

Updating the Kitchen

I played catch up at my house today. I don’t have much to show for my day but I was SO busy yesterday that I welcomed a little peace and quiet today.  Plus I have some physical things happening right now that seem to be sapping my strength.  Just catching up on email took some doin and I still have a few I haven't worked through yet. I did get a little nap though, which was lovely. And… I have a few kitchen details to share. I really should save this little detail for last, but it’s my very fav, so here goes.

Ages ago when I reworked the bathrooms, I had floating shelves made. In the small bathroom I painted them brown, and in the larger bathroom I painted them black.  And I ended up with two extra floating shelves that hadn’t found homes in the house yet. So when I took a look at one of the problem areas of my kitchen, I decided to try putting a shelf there.

This is what it looked like when I met my kitchen for the first time. It was a little messy but I didn't care, they were preparing to auction the place off. Now see how the cabinets end on the left by the doors instead of going all the way to the wall? That always puzzled me, why did they do that? We keep those french doors closed because the dogs don't have run of the house, and because we don't heat the whole thing. So... that left a very odd looking configuration of cabinets. We ended up keeping one of the dog crates there, but that didn't answer the question of what to do in that wierd corner. So this is what I did:

It works, right?  At least for now.  It needs a light, that's on the list.

The framed piece is a photograph I took 3-5 years ago.  Those beautiful trees in the foreground were bulldozed to make way for an overlook on Warm Springs Mountain in Virginia.  It was sad to see them go but the overlook is a beautiful place to stop and consider the beauty of the valley spread out below and the rippling mountains in the distance.  I love that place and places like that in the mountains.  I call that photograph "Last Stand" because those trees were sacrificed for "progress."  The vases are both ones I painted.

The cookbook shown there is my recent Christmas present to myself, it's by Ina Garten.  It is the first of... six I think?  Yeah, those cookbooks are such a work of art that I wanted to display it as if it was a small framed painting.  "Hey, why not?!"  (She says that on her show a lot!)  That reminds me, I need to get my birthday present to myself ordered, I think I'd like another Ina Garten cookbook!  =)

Drop me a comment and let me know what you think!

Happy Creating,

-Carmen Rose

Kitchen Update

I followed the tracking information on the hinges but there had been no updates after they left the warehouse. So imagine my surprise when I hear the Post-Lady drive up Saturday afternoon and so I peeked out the front door and there she was walking my direction with a box in her arms. Yay! The hinges finally came! I was SO glad to see them.

Turns out that it wasn’t quite as simple as putting screws back in the existing holes. These little buggas are a little more temperamental than all that, so it took a long time to get the doors back up – but Holy Smokes! There are doors on my kitchen cabinets again! YAY! I can’t believe what a difference it makes in the room! And the white cabinets really brighten up the room! I took some photos but it was dark and the lighting isn’t that great so I’ll wait for a bit of sunshine and then let you all in on the details that are finished so far.

I have six sections of cabinets, two of which I think are complete. When I paint the toe kicks, two other sections will be finished. The fifth section needs a final top coat of paint but I’ll do that with the cabinet doors in place. And tables and red rosin paper are back out and the doors are off the final section waiting for the process to begin all over again.

We had guests here last evening and it was nice to have the kitchen looking more put together (aside from the cans of paint and boxes of kitchen hardware) even if it was fleeting. Taking down the tables and the saw horses sure made the place seem much bigger for a while and I got to enjoy the new floor for a while. But it’s really time to wind up this project, I’m very impatient to have it complete. So, tomorrow I’ll start again if I can. Photos coming when I get a little good light, though it’s been raining so much that I soon expect to see animals coming up Gypsy Hill two by two.

I just couldn't finish the post with no photos at all, so here is a sneak peak:

THOSE are the polymer clay cabinet knobs in place.  And I lurve them!  I really do!

Happy Creating,
-Carmen Rose

Waiting...

Yeah, the pooches and I are just hanging out waiting on those hinges to come.

I ordered them Last Year!

The doors (for this section at least) are just leaning,

Waiting to be reattached.

With hinges.

Just... 

waiting...

Ever so (im)patiently...

I walked through my kitchen earlier today and looked at all those leaning cabinet doors and burst into a loud rendition of "Lean on me... when you're not strong..." The girls threw in a little howl, twas lovely.  

I may be a little unhinged.

(but maybe my hinges will come tomorrow?)

Love and chuckles,

-Carmen Rose

Studio B transformation in process

Studio B has turned in a B&B this week with guests in from Indiana.  I started painting my kitchen cabinets on Monday.  I got about 1/3 of the way through the upper cabinets and not even a quarter way through the lower ones.  Guests came for New Years so we put aside the painting while our guests were here, opting for lots of cooking rather than lots of painting.  (Good choice!)  I’m waiting on cabinet hinges to show up but they won’t even ship until January 4^th.  Once they are here we can get some of the doors back up and it will be fun to see how things turn out.  I'll be posting photos soon, but for the moment, here are some photos that were an inspiration to me as I considered paint colors.

Plus over the last few weeks I've cleaned out the cabinets and reorganized things.  I found some stuff that had been missing, like the fertilizer for my violets, and got the rest decently organized.  I love organization!

I really liked the look of dark lower cabinets and lighter top ones, plus it's more practical choice for us.

Various shades of gray give a different look.  My floor is white and charcoal tiles in a harlequin pattern (which I LOVE!)  and my upper cabinets are "ultra white" and the paint color on the lower ones is called "iron frost." 

So far I'm really loving how it looks, but it's a little hard to tell until the hinges come and I can get the doors back up and then take a step back and look at it.  I'll be sharing photos soon, but for now it's time to get back to my guests. 

Happy New Year, Happy Creating!
Love,
Carmen Rose

Out of my Ordinary

My Mom had a set of prints that were in her living room for a long time. The color faded out of them (the room has lots of windows) and she wanted me to do something with them.
So we took them out of the frames and I pulled out the watercolors. Mom brought out a pillow and some of the fabrics from the living room to match the colors.
She took photos while I brightened up the colors and refreshed the look of the three pieces.
I brightened the colors and added a few of my own. Mom made a comment that one day they'd be mine, then we both had to laugh because this sort of thing isn't exactly my taste.
We put them in the living room and took a quick walk around the neighborhood. When we got back we looked at them again and I made a few adjustments. Mom washed the glass and I popped them back in the frames and put the backs on again.
Brightened up and ready to rehang.
Now she has exactly what she wanted and I had an interesting afternoon with Mom. I'm guessing she hung them only moments after I left her driveway. =)

What's the one thing

These all have in common?
Olive base cabinets, cream uppers
charcoal and cream
again
rich chocolate and white
and again
gray or stainless, not sure which and white uppers
the island contrast look
and again (LOVE this kitchen - so CLEAN looking!)
island contrast again
oh yeah, another one.

I will paint my kitchen cabinets. And when I do... the uppers will be a different color from the base cabinets. Now if I can just match paint to the hair colors that my border collies shed... (KIDDING!) I will need to purchase the new floor first, no point in needing to repaint if I can't get the color right.

Another Bathroom Facelift

Our small bathroom had a bad case of ugliness so we gave it a little facelift. Nothing major, we didn’t move any of the big stuff.

Vintage 1975 blue shower, blue vinyl floor with glitter in it. Can't believe anyone ever manufactured that stuff.
The light and mirror get the award for the worst things in the room. And the sink... well... it is what it is.
So I went shopping and when I got home it was time for the real work. First, that med cabinet was out of there, it had been installed way too high on the wall and I wanted it lower. Which wasn't as simple as it seemed like it should be. Never is.
Some fancy drywall patching, a coat of paint and the new light fixture installed and it's already looking like a different room. There he is, looking pleased with his work! And I love the extra space inside this mirror/med cabinet!
I put down a new floor, vinyl tiles go down fast and are pretty easy to cut if you have the right cutters. Hubby put the baseboard back down and that finished up the floor.
On the window I used a piece of vintage textile from my collection and it fits beautifully on the window. I hung it from a tension rod on clips and the hand work on it is a nice detail and a touch of color in the room. A new white shower curtain, and a nice new extra long towel holder. (curtain rod)
I painted the vanity "Italian Leather" and was surprised with how much I liked how it turned out. Removing the old hardware and patching the holes and some new hardware from the Restore and it's a big difference. A new GFI outlet and white switches and plates were more nice details.
We visited our friend John Sproul to make some bracketless shelves in his woodworking shop and for the price of a sheet of MDF we built some serious shelves. Hubby is putting the finishing touches on them after he'd attached them to the wall.It didn't take me long to fill those shelves after the paint dried. Three of my hand painted vases look great here, and a landscape photo taken from our front porch when we lived in the artist/witch's house. Of course there is a bowl of beautiful soaps. The fleur de lis are a theme with me, have been for a very long time. I don't know if that plant will make it there or not, I guess we'll see.

I found this great clock at Big Lots and it even has storage space inside which tickled me pink.

There are a few more details I will to attend to at some point in this room but for now I'm really pleased with how it is turning out.

This Good Day

I scored some wonderful veggies today at the Farmer's Market. Sometimes I think I buy them just for the pretty colors to put on my kitchen counter for the week. I decided to get beets from Bob and Lisa who had the booth next to me at market this week. They put extra in the bag before they handed it over. It's a fun feature of market that we pass our products around to each other, sometimes bartering and sometimes just being neighborly.
Dinner when cooking for color...
I've never cooked beets before, never had the urge, never found them anything of interest until I saw them at market today and decided to try them myself. Maybe it was the salesmanship, I don't know, but they made them sound delicious. They told me how to cook them and I followed the instructions mostly, except for the bacon. =) I thought it needed bacon. Hubby didn't like the greens but approved of the beets.
Fresh Basil and mayo are wonderful on good tomatoes and I purchased a loaf of wonderful bread at market and melted some fresh motz over it. Yummm...
I roasted a few heads of garlic and a number of jalapeños in olive oil for flavoring this and that over the next few months. I wonder if that will have the "depth of flavor" (a phrase used by Barefoot Contessa on The Food Network) that I hope, we'll see.
This spring I planted this little bird bath full of goodies and I must have been doing something right. The plants are growing and so are the golf balls. There are now 17 of them. We find them regularly since we live on a golf course. It's only natural since our home is located right on the curve of a 90 degree angle green so that the golfers are aiming directly for our house when they tee off. =)
It’s been a lovely day - in spite of the alarm going off at 5:00 am to get up for farmer’s market. It was a fun market day, the temperatures were perfection. I wore a jacket most of the morning, just can’t believe this is July! And it never did actually get hot, just perfection all day. Even though the vender on one side seemed very grumpy, the lovely couple on the other side of me made up for it by being good company. I borrowed two books on felting from another vender and flipped through them in between customers. Talk about inspiration! Yay!

This afternoon I saw that a friend of mine is having a sale in her lovely art supply store which is close by. So instead of catching a nap, I headed over to pick out a lovely collection of colors and canvas. Buying colors is such a delight and it's a treat to pet the puppy and Leslie is very cool!

And when I came home I still wasn’t ready to succumb to a nap so I pulled out a box of llama fuzz a friend had given me and tried out a very basic felting technique. It’s something I’ve been meaning to do but just haven’t gotten accomplished. The results are rather weird. I also dyed up some wool roving in a variety of colors, so once that color is properly set I’ll play with adding some color to the strange experiment and see what happens. I blame it on the books lent me by another vender, they had such inspiring photographs!

We’ve been working on another bathroom facelift this week. It takes time but the work is rewarding and I’m pleased with how it looks so far. We’ve hung a new light and med cabinet; I painted and installed a new vinyl tile floor. It’s cheap and fast and will hold us over until we’re ready to rip out and install some exotic glass or hand painted tile or something. Hubby put the baseboard back down and I have a little touch up painting to do. There are other details that need to be finished up and I’ll post photos when I get the chance.

We’ve had a lovely evening here and I’m grateful for these days that feel so right. This year has brought more than its share of grieving, and these days of grace are good for the spirit. I am grateful. It reminds me of a Fernando Ortega song called “This good day.” And if I could have found a youtube video of it that was decent, I would have included it.

Here is the chorus:

“This good day, it is a gift from You
The world is turning in its place because You made it to.
I lift my voice to sing a song of praise
On this good day."