Kitchen Update: Dishwasher + Panel

My dishwasher broke about a week into the Coronavirus crisis and social distancing (ugh).  The dishwasher came with the house and it had been sub par pretty such ever since it conked out on me the morning of our first Thanksgiving in our house!  I have been able to repair it every time, but when it stopped working this time, I just could sense that it wasn't coming back to life with a good lump of cash invested in it. So we bit the bullet and ordered a new dishwasher and I could be more pleased with it. 

I intentionally ordered a panel-ready dishwasher after seeing a number of Instagram accounts I follow install one of their own to match the cabinetry.   With our kitchen being on the smaller side (it if great if only one person is in there, but get 2+ people or kids and it quickly gets out of hand), I thought having a panel that blended in with the rest of the cabinetry was worth the extra time and money. 

I ordered a cabinet front from Fast Cabinet Doors and got started!  I needed some additional lumber to attach to the back of the panel so it matched the cabinetry around my kitchen a bit better. I used an extra door handle so the handle matched the other cabinets (I'd love to eventually update the hardware, but that is for another day).

Overall I am really happy with it!  And it was another easy project and install, so win, win! Oh and the functioning dishwasher is a BIG improvement. 

I will eventually install a toe kick underneath the dishwasher so that it matches the surrounding cabinets, but that is a minor detail that isn't noticed, so it can wait a bit longer. 

I lucked out with how close a match this cabinet was with what already existed. There are some minor details that you notice close up, but otherwise, it blends in really well. 

Bathroom Peg Rail

Ever since I saw The Grit + Polish install some peg rails at their farmhouse (they have them in many locations), I knew this was likely the solution I was going to use for our powder room on the mail level. I have already decided I wanted some kind of shelf there for storage, but the shaker pegs were a welcome detail. The Grit + Polish tutorial seemed easy enough, so I went with it! Couldn't be happier with the result!

The shaker pegs were ordered off of Amazon, but everything else was from my local Ace hardware. So happy to be supporting local businesses right now!

The yellow wall color is Golden Bounty by Sherwin Williams.  I have it in another guest bedroom, its a wonderful shade of yellow (thought slightly hard to photograph accurately).

I plan to store handsoap tablets (I order mine from Blueland for an environmentally friendly alternative) in these thrifted wall baskets and also a broom/dustpan for easy access off of the kitchen.  

It's also a great place to display my artwork...nothing like a captive audience to admire your art ;)

Kitchen Update

This was by far the biggest and most intimidating project I had done in this house but  I knew it was something I should do if I really wanted to make this house feel like a home to me.  I am a huge fan of white/bright kitchens and this kitchen was anything but white and anything but bright.   The dark cabinetry, while perhaps very nice quality, were just the absolute opposite of anything I would have chosen for this kitchen.  It felt like a cave every time I walked in, and with the high ceiling, but small footprint, it just felt like being enclosed in darkness.

So, with a very limited budget, I decided the best route was to paint the cupboards. I knew I wanted cupboards that were either blue or greenish, but it took me a while to land on the color.  I eventually chose Sea Salt by Benjamin Moore and I couldn't be happier with the color.  Eventually I would love to switch out the countertops for something lighter, maybe a creamy white quartz and install a farmhouse sink instead of the horrible design for a sink there currently.  It's two sinks, but both are just not a good size and created way more mess than necessary.

The process was simple enough, but took about two months, start to finish because I did it all in sections.  I used a foam roller and a tinted primer before doing two coats of Benjamin Moore advanced paint in Sea Salt. I am really happy overall with the result, I think if I had to do it all again, I would sand down the heavily used areas (spots around the door handles) because I have noticed some chipping there already. But, I do eventually plan on replacing and updating all the hardware, so I'll likely do touchups when I do that. 

The dream for this kitchen would be to eventually update the counters, backsplash and maybe remove some of the trim pieces...its just a little excessive for my taste. I have played around with the idea of painting the tile floors and backsplash...but I'm a little hesitant at this point to paint tile that is in a heavily trafficked area. 

A bigger, and probably never going to happen dream, would be to expand the kitchen footprint into the mudroom on the other side of the sink.  It could make a gorgeous kitchen/breakfast table area, but would require a lot more work and a lot more money. 

1885 House Mood Board

Once I had finished the living room, I fell into a little bit of rut in terms of inspiration for the rest of the house. I decided to create a mood board for the house, which is something I had never down before.   I thought it would bring me some clarity about what I have going on in the house already and where I might like to focus my attention next.

This isn't complete, but it is clarifying for me in terms of what colors are there, what colors to stay away from and which ones to incorporate. Also, at this point, I had ordered from fabric in the top right area from Rifle Paper Co and made plans to make curtains for the front window. There were red curtains and I just don't do red anywhere in my design decisions.  I think I have painted one surface red ever, and that was eventually changed to navy blue. So I knew the red had to go. 

Living Room Paint 3/4 wall

The living room as it currently stands is still very much in flux.  Almost all the furniture in there now is furniture we brought with us and is stuff that was given to us, so it is old.  BUT, I wanted to change a couple things about the space in the interim including the wall color.  I chose Quiet Mint by Sherwin Williams but chose to paint just the first 2/4-3/4 of the wall.  I thought this might make the space feel cozier, stunt the height of the 10 foot ceilings. I'm not sure if that is what it actually did, but I like it for now.

view from the living room looking into the dining room

I thrifted these lamps (left) as well as the matching end tables that double as storage

The curtains were left over fabric from a different project. I'm eventually going to replace them with a pull down shade.  I'm trying to avoid anything that takes away from the gorgeous window and trim. 

I added a knick knack shelf to store stray books and photo albums.

   My future plans included replacing the old couch (not pictured) and possibly updating the rug as well.   But for now, it works. We are saving up to do the third story, so all big purchases will have to wait til after that.