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| Once upon a time my family room looked like this. |
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| And my kitchen (and my baby) looked like this. But this spring we embarked on some long-anticipated projects. The major issue was two-toned cabinets in the kitchen and family room (seen above) from the combination wood fronts and laminate sides. Maybe they matched when they were installed 20 years ago. You can't really stain laminate, so we decided to paint. It was finally time to stain the banisters a more classic dark color and put a fresh coat of white on the spindles. And then we decided to paint the cabinet in the laundry room -- the last bastion of honey oak -- because, why not? I did my due diligence and hired someone who'd done a friend's kitchen. Because I didn't feel up to the challenge of sanding, priming, painting cabinets inside and out. And I was not up for weeks of disaster house. Hahahahahaha. Everything came out of the kitchen cabinets, including the desk area not seen in the pictures. Everything came out of the family room built-ins and book shelves. Everything came out of the laundry room. Everything went into the front room and dining room. It looked like a junk shop.  Then the painters came in and started putting down plastic and taping things off. Awesome. Then the sanding, painting, staining, and discussing began. There could have been more discussing at the beginning. There definitely should have been more primer. The banister looked awful. I cried. They redid it. I asked for more touch ups. And then I asked again. I was really popular. Finally, they'd had enough and I was worn down enough to let them go. So could I do touch ups myself. After my post-painter painting, I waited weeks for the paint to cure so I could put everything back. Because I was afraid. I cut and lined every cabinet shelf and drawer (non adhesive liner) because I was afraid. I'm still a little afraid. I carefully replaced most of what came out, reorganizing as I went. The lining and replacing took days. In the midst of the projects I visited my parents, took a trip to California, and continued subbing. We had various stages of functional kitchen throughout, but were done by the end of the school year.  The kitchen's fully functional now and it looks lovely.  |
