Kitchen Updates
You Win Some…
… and someone else wins some. Remember when we entered our little kitchen facelift into This Old House’s Remodel of the Year Contest? Well, we obviously didn’t win but it was fun and we got a lot of great feedback on the cocina as a result.
As a nod to the grand prize winner and all their hard work we thought we’d feature some images of a true Remodel of the Year. They obviously entered the whole house portion of the contest and not the “budget redo” as we did. Notice their mixer isn’t too tall for the countertops now… skillz.
Photos: This Old House
Our Lamp’s Got Flair
Do we want to have the kind of lamps that wear the minimum amount of flair? Heck no! That’s exactly why we’re jazzin’ this piece up.
Our groovy red $30 lamp from Carolina Pottery came with an equally affordable – and therefore basic white lamp shade. We’ve been staring at that corner for a few months now, still loving the lamp – you’ll remember we weren’t so sure at first if you read this post from way back when – but wanting to mix things up.
So we ran out to Michael’s craft store and picked up some cheapo red ribbon for around $3 a spool.
Since it would have been a bit cumbersome, and let’s say it – strange, to drag our lamp into Michael’s to get a ribbon that matched exactly, we chose to bring a couple of options home. We’ll just take the extra back – yes we’re tight wads who will return a $3 spool of ribbon.
We opted for ribbon #1, the grosgrain (pronounced “grow grain” not “gross grain”) without the white stitches. Those stitches were cute but a bit too traditional for our curvy, modern lamp body. Plus the red wasn’t perfect and I’m weird enough to be bothered by that.
After choosing a ribbon we just warmed up the ‘ol hot glue gun and glued the ribbon to the bottom rim of the lamp shade, leaving the thin white border that was already in place to maintain a little bit of contrast between the red lamp and red ribbon.
If you are trying this at home, just make sure to line up your ribbon seam with the seam in your shade. We actually didn’t think of this right away and had to pull some of the glued ribbon up and start over. You can see some dry glue residue in the picture above – great to know that if we every decide that we don’t like this ribbon any more we can easily pull it back off and the glue too. Live and learn right?
The finished product is a subtle change, but one that just adds a bit of dimension and layering to a boring old lamp shade. Doing this over time will keep the room visually interesting and fresh for us.
Here’s the before again.
And a close up, you can see the glue line a bit in the picture with the lamp on, but in person it is not prominent at all.
Simple changes can make a nice impact to a room huh? We’re loving how easy this was and we were really surprised with how much we like the final look.
We’re off to return some red ribbon and fight the urge to hot glue all of our other lamp shades – we’re not the minimum-flair type. What about you guys?
Shameless Plug: This Old House Wannabes
Continuing to beat the dead horse that is our kitchen update from last year, This Old House magazine has picked our kitchen as one of their featured entries in their online Your Old House Remodel Contest.
They’ve appropriately titled our entry “Working With What You’ve Got” check it out by clicking here and let them know you like it by rating us on the little sliding bar. We don’t think you have to sign in, register or anything.
We could end up in the printed magazine if we get enough support for the cocina! We will video the Carlton dancing if that happens!
Too Cool to Use
Grandma Whited stuffed our stockings with some great items this year like Dr. Pepper steak marinade, nacho cheese lip balm (not joking) and little tissues with nuns on them. Amidst all these uniquities was a really awesome dish towel with a vintage Texas map design printed on it.
We love it so much that it’s headed for framing. The colors will compliment our new bright cocina perfectly, so perfectly that we’re going to take down our vintage map of Central America and replace it with the towel. This could be a great place to make one of those huge photo walls too. You know? Lots of frames floor to ceiling. We’d love to add some of Chad’s other Texas memorabilia here like his Grandpa’s arrowheads in shadow boxes, ACL Festival ticket stubs, etc.
What do you guys think? On a side note, who knew they played polo in West Texas?
Do you love this look? Want to find your own vintage-inspired dish towels? Check it. Want our exact same towel a la Grandma? Click here.
By The Numbers: Our Kitchen Updates
We’ve gotten lots of questions from readers about our new kitchen, especially since it’s debut on Apartment Therapy. One of the most common questions has been “how much did it all cost?” So grab your measuring tape and your calculators ’cause here we go.
Stainless Steel Refrigerator, Gas Range, Dishwasher and Microhood: $ 1,550 ($2,400 minus the $450 we recouped by selling our old appliances on Craigslist and $400 in Mail in Rebates)
Installation of Dishwasher and New Gas Line for Range: $ 400
Butcher Block Counters: $ 470 ($365 for 2 counters from IKEA, $30 for new corded drill, $45 drill bits, saw blade, caulk and sandpaper, $30 for Waterlox sealant and supplies)
Plumbing: $325 ($170 faucet, $130 sink, $25 for PVC pipe, plumbers putty and a new disposal ring)
Tile Backsplash: $ 50 ($35 subway tiles and $15 in supplies)
Crown Molding: $200 (including $30 nail gun rental)
Cabinet Hardware: $17
Paint and Supplies: $35
Light Fixtures: $120 ($35 for each pendant light and $25 for each track light)
Window Coverings: $142 (3 Bamboo Shades at $28 each and one for $58)
Desk Area: $85 ($48 desk, $7 mirror and $30 lamp)
Miscellaneous Décor: $75 (rug, photo frames, thrift store accents)
Grand Total: $ 3,469 (honestly, we’d round up to $3,500 just to account for that run to Lowes for an extra tube of caulk,etc.)
It took a little over four months to finish up all our projects. Spreading them all out over that time saved us a lot of money on labor, allowed us to shop around for great deals and to pay cash for everything – no plastic allowed. Plus, we’ve developed a good base of tools which cut down the extra expense for items like caulk guns, putty knives, saws, etc.
Sure there were things we could have done with more money like rip out the cabinets, knock down the wall to the dining room, reconfigure the whole kitchen to allow us to buy a bigger refrigerator and build an island, or bring in hardwood floors. Instead, we moved a lot of decorative items in from other areas of our home and worked within the existing flooring and cabinets – and saved big dollars in the end. Plus we love the result – staying true to the casa.
But enough about our cocina. What have you guys been up to? Any thrifty DIY-ers out there tackling the world one room at a time?
Photo: Sesame Street
Featured: Apartment Therapy
That’s right. Apartment Therapy. As in, we get a million hits a day Apartment Therapy.
We love to check out AT for unique home inspiration, products and even kitchen and baby products. Yes baby products - we have friends with bambinos.
Just for fun we shot them a link to our blog over the weekend and, (cue that Carlton dance) they featured our kitchen on their website Monday morning! Check it out:
They mention Chad’s name three times in the post and only call him “Brad” one of those times – so we’ll take it!
We’re not the only Durham-ites featured on the site. Check out Liz’s beautiful casa here, and this awesome Tobacco Warehouse turned condo here. There is even a pink and purple Durham house featured here.
Got a great room, home or project to share with us? Brad and I are all ears.
