Kitchen Upgrades: Backsplash and Table

Continuing the "New Year, Old Projects" post, I'm long overdue in sharing pictures of our kitchen. There were no major upgrades done, but sometimes the smaller ones still make a big difference. 

Here are the before pictures of our kitchen when we first moved in:

When we bought the house we were told there would NOT be a fridge included, it even said so in the contract. But they decided to leave theirs which we didn't discover until after we had purchased a new fridge. We decided to keep the new one since it was stainless steal and matched the rest of the appliances and sell the old one on Craigslist which sold in less than 30 minutes! The unsightly curtains came down promptly, and the peachy beige paint was covered by the same grey that goes through the majority of the house (as seen in the playroom).

For the backsplash, we jumped on board the subway tile bandwagon and I'm so glad we did. Miles did all the backsplash himself. I literally cannot think of a single part of it I helped with - maybe taking off the outlet covers? I also picked out the tile and grout color so there's that.

Obligatory 'during' pic:

And the after/comparison pictures:

Oh hey cute baby. Goes to show how long ago this project was done - MA was 14 months here and not yet walking.

After the backsplash was done, the next project Miles took on was to build a new kitchen table. Our old one worked, but sustained a large crack down the underside during our last move and we knew wouldn't survive another move. I picked a farmhouse style table from Ana White's website and even though I'm sure I took a bunch of pictures of the construction process, I can't seem to find any. But Miles did a great job building it as well as a bench for one side. 

Once he was done I stained it, sealed it, and began the search for chairs. I posted this to instagram and got some pretty helpful feedback:

Sadly, Miles vetoed this style. And they only had two, but I still swoon over these.

I really wanted fabric chairs on the end, but with little kids and a slobbery dog, I knew that probably was a recipe for disaster. I loved option C, and was even tempted to go with a mustard yellow color, but read several reviews of paint chipping. In the end I got the best deal on the metal chairs and they do make the most sense at this stage in life. With a couple of coupons and deals they came out to only $32 a chair and I do love how easily they wipe down.

Picture taken back when Mary would sit in the highchair. Big girl has to sit at the table now with Brabur.

Almost caught up on project sharing; hardwood floors are next. Other than some gardening, we probably won't do many other projects while in this house.

................................................................................................

New Year, Old Projects

I'm very behind documenting and sharing some of the home improvement projects we (and by 'we' I mean Miles) finished last year. We'll start with the faux wainscoting look he created in the playroom. When we moved in to our house we made the formal dining room our play room. Like the rest of the house, the color of the walls was this peachy-beige that we promptly had painted over. We hired someone to paint pretty much the entire house a shade of grey, the only exceptions are the living room and downstairs bathroom which I painted "Sea Salt" by Sherwin Williams, Mary's room which is a similar light aqua color, and the dining room turned play room which I hadn't decided how I wanted to paint so the painters left that room untouched. But shortly after the house was painted I decided I wanted the dining room (play room) to be grey as well, but that I wanted to only paint above the chair rail and below I would paint white and Miles could create a faux wainscoting look. 

Here's a picture of the room when we first moved in:

The beige doesn't look too bad in pictures, but in certain lights was more on the peachy-pink side

I don't really have any pictures after I painted, but behind the naughty dog you can see that the walls were two toned:

And here are some of the "during" pictures when Miles was measuring out the wood he cut and framed for the wall:

It was a fairly simple project and one I'm so thrilled with because I feel like the room looks like it always was this way. You definitely can't tell that Miles is an amateur as the finished product looks very professional, which is good since I'm neurotic and type A. I  think it makes the room fancier which is nice for when we go to sell/rent the house as it may likely be used for it's intended purpose as a formal dining room, but even if it's used as a playroom again it just adds a nice touch.

................................................................................................

DIY Woodworking Projects

Last year I casually mentioned to Miles that I wanted a sewing desk. I really liked this plan by Ana White and after the great job he did on little projects like Mary's shelves and big projects like Finn's bed, I knew he would be capable of building a desk. So he set out to do this as my anniversary gift last June and had it done within a week, if that. I stained the top, painted the bottom, and could not be happier with the result:

Only thing that would make the desk better is if it sewed for me

Then around the the time he built a ledge for our gallery wall, he decided he wanted to start a new project of his own design. So he built a cabinet from scratch and left the staining and/or painting up to me. I found this pin and really liked the look, so decided since I was happy with the TV stand I redid, I would attempt the same only with the more bold green color as shown in the pin. While painting the green was kinda scary with how intense it was and after I applied the stain, I wasn't super happy with the end result. I wanted it to look antiqued, but feel it's a little blotchier than I had hoped for. But it's growing on me and I added a cute little fabric liner for the drawer (which is mostly hidden under lots of clutter). Six months later, while I'm still not crazy about the color, I'm even less crazy about the idea of redoing it.
 

Cabinet looks better with pretty birthday flowers from my friends Julia and Jen

After we moved, I put the gallery ledge in the playroom and decided that I wanted three ledges in our family room. Only problem was my handyman had since deployed! So I gave myself a pep talk and decided to make them myself. I painted them white and had help hanging them on the studs in the wall. They are noticeably (in person at least) less impressive than the ones Miles made, but they do the job and I'm really happy with the display of pictures:

On display: Gallery ledges and cute fireman

And now the handyman is home and we have lots on the agenda past woodworking, although I do want a farmhouse style table and Miles wants to build a pergola out back. But we also are going to be putting a backsplash in the kitchen, ripping up some carpet in the family room and extending the wood floors. Welcome home, Miles - time to get to work!

................................................................................................

Mary's Nursery

Several months before Mary was born I knew I wanted to redecorate the nursery. This was a pretty big deal for two reasons. First, because I was thrilled that I was hopeful and excited enough to decorate the nursery prior to actually bringing home a baby - something I had a hard time doing when pregnant with Finn. But also because it meant that I would part ways with the things that were so carefully placed and chosen when I was pregnant with Cale, and what Finn ultimately used for over two years. I shared their nursery decor here, and while there was the possibility we could have had another boy, I still just felt like I wanted a change in there. But that meant I would need to go with something that was gender neutral. I stumbled upon a clearance rug at Target (where most of the items for the nursery were purchased), and decided that red and aqua would be my colors!

What I love most about the room are the little personal touches. So much loved poured into this little baby and so many people who have helped us celebrate her and it just makes me happy to see those sprinkled throughout her room.

The rug shown below was my original inspiration for the room and the colors. I wanted to make a lot of the bedding and I found a clearance curtain that I ended up using to make the crib skit. I eventually plan to make a bumper, but haven't decided what print to use yet as I don't want it to be too busy as there is already a lot going on. The quilt was made by a family friend (who was also my 2nd grade teacher). She asked my mom what colors I was going with and put together this amazing quilt. The bunting was a little project I did the weekend before Mary was born. I just felt that the wall behind the crib needed a little something and love how it came together.

I bought the letter 'M' at Hobby Lobby and painted it aqua to hang on the door. The 3Sprouts Peacock mobile is just hanging on the closet door for now as I just got it through a discount website for $7! The curtains (also on clearance!) are from Target and I didn't get them until after Mary was born as I thought they were a little too girlie and in the event we had a boy, I would have gone with something different.

I recovered an old pillow with the aqua chevron, and Miles made the shelves above the bookshelf from this Ana White tutorial. Finn often comes in the nursery to pick out a book and read. I hope Mary loves books as much as he does.

On the shelves there are some pictures I took of Mary as a newborn, as well as one from our photographer Neely. Some free printables found here and here, the willow tree angel was a gift from my friend Rhiannon on Cale's 2nd birthday - she is holding forget-me-nots, and the ceramic tile which reads "Our Dear ones never leave us; they live in our hearts forever" was a gift from a family friend after Cale passed away.

On top of the bookshelf is another Neely pic, basket full of cards Mary received and some pictures, and the lampshade (from Target)  matches a picture frame from my friend Julia as well as the fabric for the crib skirt). The other side of the bookshelf has a picture of Mary in the rainbow bloomers - a gift from my dear friend Megan and it is next to framed rainbow quote "Tell me what it is you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" which was a gift from my friend Brooke upon Mary's arrival.

On the side of the room with the changing table, there is a mirror that I found in the clearance section of IKEA - I just painted it the same aqua as the 'M' hanging on her door and made a mini bunting to hang across the top of it. Next to it is a sweet frame my friend Danielle sent Mary, and a little hook for all her hair bows and headbands. Her changing pad cover is an Aden & Anais cover that someone purchased online, but returned in store to Target so they discounted it 50% - it has little aqua and grey stars.

On the opposite wall is her dresser which isn't any different than how it was in Finn's room - I have the framed sketch of Cale (which happens to have a litle blueish aqua matting to it), some stuffed animals, and this quote:

 So there ya have it. Mary's red and aqua nursery!

Hands down, the best part of it all is having this sweet baby fill the room with smiles and love.

................................................................................................

Finn's Big Boy Room

I have no before pictures of Finn's room. Imagine a messy guest room that had a couple pieces furniture, an air mattress and pack n' play for when my nephews sleep over and a whole bunch of sewing crap that still needs to find a home. That's definitely one downside to Finn moving in here from the nursery - we either need one more closet for storage space or I need to offload some stuff. I'm going to go with needing another closet. As for the new room, I didn't go with a theme. Because all the other furniture in the room is gray, I decided to just go with navy, gray and white as my main colors and just leave the decor very simple. Mostly because I don't want Finn to be getting out of bed instead of napping or sleeping and the fewer distractions the better.

Here's a few more shots of the bed as well as the rest of the room. I bought all the bedding at Target except for the transportation pillow which I sewed from cute fabric my sister-in-law discovered at Hobby Lobby. The rug is from Zulily. Oh, and we did attach a railing to the side of the bed, but that wouldn't have looked as cute in pictures now would it?

The dresser has a plate my friend sent me after Finn was born as well as a frame of the meaning of his name. This corner of the room seemed a little empty so at 9pm Saturday night I went to Target to get a bean bag chair because cartwheel had them 20% off but they were expiring that day, plus a trip to Target with no kiddo is just a little bit of Heaven on earth.

I'm tempted to make some curtains like these, but that will have to wait. I scored the shelves at Target for $5 each! I still am not really sure what to put on them, but for now I like it. I have Finn's framed birth announcement, his baby cup, a cute giraffe from the Dallas zoo, picture of huppy, one of Finn's newborn pictures, letter F, and a globe. A little random, but it works.

 

Bins on the bookshelf are from Target, free name printable from here, vintage airplane printed in powerpoint, and I typed up the cute Christopher Robin quote in matching colors, because I love it. The nightlight turtle, while adorable, proved to be too much of a distraction so is no longer on the nightstand :)

I'm really pleased with his room, but it's definitely bittersweet not to have him in the nursery anymore. Just one more sign that he's growing up far too fast.

................................................................................................

Cale and Finn's Nursery

The plan is to move Finn to a big boy bed in the next couple weeks. It's strange to picture him in a new room, but also exciting. I also plan on re-decorating the nursery and when I get around to finishing both rooms, I will share how they turned out, but first I wanted to share what the nursery looked like originally.

...................

Miles deployed when I was six months pregnant with Cale. Before he left, we ordered the nursery furniture and he put it all together so that I wouldn't have to tackle it later on:

My sister came out to visit when I was about eight months pregnant and helped me with some more decorating, to include hanging this cross stitch my grandmother made when I was born:

The bedding that I had ordered worked nicely with the cream furniture and cross stitch:

I made a bulletin board to match the bedding, hung a few more things on the wall, and got the room all ready for the little boy we so hoped would live there:

Before we even left the hospital, Miles had Daren remove all baby things from the common areas of the house, put them in the nursery, and shut the door. And so for nearly a year, the room sat like this - a total mess of things somewhat packed and stored away:

With a couple weeks remaining in my pregnancy with Finn I summoned the courage to get the room ready once again. My reasoning was simply that I had prepared for Cale, and felt Finn deserved the same, but it was really hard. I remember crying when we hung new curtains because I thought it may be a waste of time. I remember how slowly I unpacked the tupperware, reminiscing about each thoughtful and loving gift Cale received, and how everything still smelled like Dreft.

We made a few changes to the room, but not many. I framed and hung the sketch of Cale, purchased a glider, and added a more touches, like the small frame below Cale's sketch that reads "Wherever you go, Whatever you do, May your guardian Angel watch over you," and the frame with Cale's maternity picture and one with Finn's ultrasound.

And then we waited, and hoped, and by the most amazing stroke of luck, we got to add one final touch to the room:

................................................................................................

Play Room Makeover

We are very fortunate that the house we are renting right now has a great space for a playroom. It's just this open room between the back two bedrooms (one is the nursery where Finn still resides, and one the messy guest room that will eventually become his big boy room thus forcing me to find a space for all my sewing/project/storage crap).

We have a big chair, bookshelf, and the IKEA expedit shelf in the room to house all Finn's toys. It's a nice area to contain all the kiddo things even though they do trickle throughout the house each day. This is what it looked like when we moved in and set it up:

The board in the far right picture is the Growth Chart that has yet to be redone. The space and the room is great - but I wanted to add some flare to it. I had been planning on decorating Finn's big boy room with a map/world theme since I'm obsessed with maps, but decided it would make for cuter play room decor.

So I spray painted a bunch of frames and printed off some printables and maps I've been saving and framed some others that I had ordered awhile back. I'll include links to those, but this is what we ended up with:

Here's a closer look at some of the details.

Inflatable globes purchased on Amazon - all three for $10. They are thumb tacked to the ceiling with string.

 Target Find. Bought it over a year ago.

 Top Right: DIY "Places we've been" Map. Map was purchased off e-bay and I stuck it to a framed bulletin board.

Bottom Left: Layout of the city of Paris. From ETSY but it was a gift so I don't have a link.

Bottom Right: Finn's art work. Age 1

Top Right: Zulily purchase. Just love this saying. The font is in a map print too, just to make it extra cute

Bottom Left: US watercolor purchased off ETSY (shop link), found this on Young House Love

Bottom Right: Finn's artwork on a cut out of Texas. Age 2.

The state printables in the top left picture are Arizona (my home state) and Wisconsin (Miles' home state) - I don't have one link for these as it seems there are several sites that offer these free downloads (like anywhere shown here)

Left: Another state map printable, this one Georgia, where the boys were born. Also a little Dr. Seuss quote I put on powerpoint with clipart. Not crazy about it, but I love the saying. Especially since Oh, Baby, the Places You'll Go is a book I read to both Cale and Finn in utero.
Right: Framed map from our trip to the Dallas Zoo and a map of Berlin, where Miles was born

Other side of the playroom:

Recovered an old pillow with this state print fabric from Hobby Lobby. Finn likes Utah's choo-choo train.

Found the big world map at Hobby Lobby (used 40% off coupon), and already owned all the globes, Lamp, and metal city wall art.

Finn will either be really good at telling time or totally screwed up. If daddy deploys we will change it to the time zone there, so we will always have Daddy time.

Some other little touches I like include this wood hanging that was in my playroom growing up:

And this cute little craft table that I purchased off Craigslist:

So, there you have it, Finn's playroom with far too many toys. At first I thought maybe it was a little too busy and colorful, but then I remembered it's a play room. That's exactly what it should be - busy, colorful, fun, and most importantly, messy!

................................................................................................