Upcycling

Do you ever look around your home and start jumping up and down, clapping, because everything is coming together?  Yeah.  Me neither.  That's why I'm writing about.  It wouldn't have occurred to me, if I hadn't done it.

This afternoon I began painting some of the upper cupboards from the kitchen, for the laundry room.  Now, painting these cupboards is something I have wanted to do since we moved into this house (nine years ago).  But Manny didn't like the idea.  Didn't think I could do a good job.  Blah, blah blah!  Whatever.  Now that they are coming down, nobody cares!  And that suits me fine.


Recycle what you can.
But of course!
Why throw out something that you can use?
Maybe so you don't become a pack-rat?
But this is not recycling.

Cuggles , helping me paint the base coat.

This is upcycling.
This is taking something I never liked, and turning it into something that makes me smile!
This is art.
This is making a house a home.

I've done that before...
Made a house a home...
But it always resulted in moving.
I'm not sure what the connection is, but every time I have felt at home in a place, we have ended up moving within a few months.  Okay, so some homes I didn't live in for more than a few months, but that is another story.

My four year old, Cuggles, left off watching cartoons on YouTube, to help me paint!  He is so happy to be helping me make the house beautiful.  (You know, having a floor that you don't care about is really convenient sometimes...  That's why I'm getting as many of these projects done now, before completing the kitchen.)

We put on a base coat of white, because I want to give these an aged look:

A base coat of white paint.

Then I painted them an aqua color, that almost matches the paint chip on my idea board:

I only painted the parts of the cupboard that are really going to show.  Since the inside is all laminate, it will only get scuffed with use... if I want something different, there is contact paper.

This aqua is made up of the left over ceiling paint, a bit of sky blue paint and some white.  I was afraid that if I just used what I had left over from the ceiling, I would run out before I was done.  These still need another coat or two of paint, but that will have to wait for morning.

And this? We've been on the topic of great looking things, haven't we?  How about something great sounding?




And James is so damn sexy...

 Of course, there is also Kirk.

A-door-able and Doable

If you have children, or can remember your childhood, then you know that a room with two doorways leading into the same room is a place to run in circles.  My kitchen is like that, or was.  It was worse before I remodeled, with only a three foot section of wall to run 'round and 'round.   Now the circle goes through three rooms, but that doesn't slow them down much.  So, I want to put a door in one doorway -- the one that allows everyone coming in the front door to see the sink.*

My first thought was a dutch door.

http://amydmorris.com/amydmorris.entry.1.html

http://www.countryhome.com/projects/decorating/dutchdoor_1.html

http://donnas-art.blogspot.com/2010/11/dutch-door.html

 I love the way they look, and thought the whimsy of it would be great.  But then, I got thinking about boys... How they love to throw things over a wall or building, and I could just imagine all sorts of stuffed animals and trucks flying into the kitchen.  Then too, they love to climb -- they'll climb anything!  Even walls:

So a half door would only make a game of 'round and 'round more fun, right?

So what to put there?  I don't want to eliminate the doorway and I want to be able to see out...
Then I saw this:

http://www.countryliving.com/homes/how-to-get-the-look/ultimate-guide-kitchens-1008

I love screen doors!  Always have... I just never considered putting one indoors, and in this area, they all get taken off in the winter... so what is the point in having one?

But inside?  It meets every critera I have!  I can see out of the kitchen to the front door, and if the lower half is solid, those at the front door can't see into the kitchen.  I can hear what is going on.  It allows light it in, and it keeps boys out!

http://www.noaccountingfortaste.com/?cat=15

It looks good.

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/screen-door-handle-julie-dant.html

http://www.thewoodworksinc.com/woodworking/screen_door.shtml

The whimsy potential is unlimited.

And if I build it myself, I can get just what I want!  I am seeing something in black, with chicken wire instead of storm screening and a funky door handle.  Something unexpected, yet it goes so well...



*Who's idea was that anyway?!?

...then it comes to me...

Some days, it seems as though everything is falling apart.  Other times, it all comes together.  

For the past five years I have wanted a leather jacket.  I had one when I was in my early teens, and I loved how warm and weather proof it was.  I wore it all the time, until I out grew it.  Then, it was passed along to my sisters, until they too outgrew it... With any luck, it is still being passed along.

So, the other day, when I was in Jackson, I stopped by the Boot Barn to pick up a new pair of jeans.  And there I found my leather jacket.  No fringe and a subtle zipper.  Corset lacing.  I tried it on, and it fit perfectly!

Cripple Creek leather Jacket

I was ready to buy it, when Mr.Muscles said, "I like the cross on the back!"

There's a cross on the back?  I took it off and turned it around.  Yep.  There is a big ol' cross on the back.  I wondered how I had managed to miss it when looking in the three-way mirror, so I put it back on and looked again.  Ha!  My hair had covered it up.

But now I had a decision to make.  I try to avoid clothing with obvious emblems on them... Horse shoes, yin-yangs, skulls, crosses, etc... I tend to find things like that tacky.  But I liked everything else about it so much.  Then I realized that with the lacing, the cross could go goth as easily as it could be a religious symbol.  And besides, I usually wear my hair down!  So now it is mine. 

From the Boot Barn, we walked over to the ReStore.  I wanted to see if they had any black tile I could use in remodeling the main bathroom.  They didn't, but they did have a boy-proof couch (with matching chair and ottoman!), like I had been praying to find:

It was clean, smelled good, and all the cushions are removable so it would be easy to recover.  I knew my husband wouldn't be thrilled with the fabric, but I figured it would go with my house just fine.  I felt so lucky!  I had planned to go to a furniture store next (sorry Ken), but for a fraction of the cost, found a new living-room set. 

The old couch, I wanted to get rid of, but it now setting on the back porch:

We've got the real red-neck look going on!  Oh well, the doggy is happy.  Manny says he might bar-be-que all winter, if he can figure out a way to close the porch in.  I have a feeling it will be plastic wrapped before the snow begins to fly.

And finally, there is the pantry I built on Saturday:

Floor to ceiling kitchen pantry, built of pine.

It still needs a face frame and doors, but I won't be adding those until the new floor is in.  I built it in the same manner as my mom's pantry was built, more than 100 years ago:

Construction details of my pantry cupboard, October 1, 2011.

Construction details of the built-in pantry cupboard in a 1910 homestead (farm) house.

I have always loved antique furnishings, and am glad to duplicate this in my house.  Move over Norm.  'This Old House' ain't got nothing on me!