We were a bit buried by the end of the night, so it was good we didn't have any plans.
We DID have a short little list of "must-get-done" items for the weekend though, one being to get those last few cabinets painted!
Eric didn't have school Friday, so he had the whole day to himself. When I got home from work that day, he was so excited to show me this little cabinet painting system he rigged up in our basement.
How awesome is this?! He hung the last few doors up with clothes hangers so he could paint both sides at the same time. Making sure to go with thin coats so there wasn't any dripping, they turned out perfect.
So the moment you've all (OK maybe just me) been waiting for...
WHITE CABINETS!
So fresh and inviting! Such a big difference from when we started.
I'll have to keep you posted as to how tough they are to keep clean, I'm sure it'll be nothing a magic eraser can't handle every once in a while. Every time I walk into our kitchen I just smile, this was the biggest project we've done to the house so far, and the results make it all SO worth it!
The rest of the weekend was filled with a bit more house organizing, Christmas decorating, and I finally updated my chalk-board window for the holiday season.
Saturday was also the night of the Bella Forza Fittness Pole and Arial Showcase!
This was the second showcase I've performed in, and this year my whole family was able to come and watch! Even my Grandma H.! It was an absolute rush being able to perform with my BFF friends, and show off what our hard work and dedication is all for! Everyone did an stunning job and I am just so proud of all of us!
I am so proud of this group! You can check out the rest of the performances from Saturday night on the Bella Forza Fitness Facebook page! Hope everyone else had a great weekend, just a few more until Christmas!!!
Can you all believe today is the 30th and tomorrow is HALLOWEEN!? October is GONE, and Thanksgiving and Christmas are a knockin' on the door. It really hit me when I was talking to my parents, and when asked the next time we would be home our response was "well I guess Thanksgiving..." Dang! Fall is just whizzing on by.
We've been super busy this month, gone almost every weekend for parties, little trips, or other obligations. All fun things I assure you, but it definitely is the reason why I feel like I've blinked and this month is already over.
Since we've been gone a lot, our home projects have kind of been put on hold. We've discovered that after working all day, the last thing we want to do when we get home is start painting something. Weekends are our main days to tackle projects, so hopefully November will let us get a few more things off of our "to-do" list.
One thing we have gotten done is painting our cabinets!
My mother and sister-in-law were troopers, taking down all of the doors and sanding them.
Our next step was getting everything out of the kitchen.
It seemed like I had just finished unpacking and putting everything in those cabinets, and here we go taking everything out and putting in the dinning room.
Having to walk in here a million times while making dinner was SUPER FUN, I tell you what...
Anywhoo....after a few coats of Sherwin Williams Simply White (with some sanding in between) we were in business.
What a difference! As soon as we put the first coat on, Eric stepped back and was like, "we need to paint these walls ASAP" and I agree. The white cabinets and the cream walls are just way to washed out together.
So now we're all taped up and ready to paint! These walls are textured, and after a few suggestions from friends (THANKS!) we purchased extra thick/fluffy rollers which should help the paint cover better.
I would love to say that we're ready to call our kitchen cabinet project done....but the doors and drawers are still out in the rec-room. I've only finished one coat (and 4 doors still need that) but don't fret cabinets! You won't be hanging naked for much longer!
Lastly a little before and after, because that's just too much fun :D
The white is just so fresh! I am giddy just thinking about what the final kitchen reveal will look like.
I think this song runs through my head at least once this day every week. It's just so dang catchy, and especially true sometimes: "Monday Monday, can't trust that day...."
Nope, can't trust it.
I think one of the reasons I'm especially sluggish this Monday, is because of all the work we did over the weekend. We got a TON of stuff done! I give credit of our progress solely to the fact that Eric's parents and sister came down Saturday and helped us ALL DAY LONG! They were seriously warriors. Eric's dad brought down a trailer full of tools and big boy toys that made everything so much easier.
One of the biggest things we Eric and his Dad did was tear up our backyard. It was looking a bit sad when we moved in.
Note all of the brown/patchy/dead spots. Eric's original plan was to just spray and kill a portion of it, mow really low, then reseed. But by around 4pm Saturday it looked like this!
It is now seeded and covered in hay. Luckily we found a sprinkler in the shed so we can easily water it.
Another project we got rocking on was repainting the cabinets. This will be a long process, but we were able to take down all of the doors, remove the hardware, and sand everything. This was messy beyond all reason, and I cringe when I think about having to do it inside the kitchen, but the hand sanders made it go a LOT faster.
Sanding the drawers and remaining cabinets will be done another day. As well as priming and painting.
We now are sporting the "open cabinet" look. Sometimes I think about keeping it this way, especially when I see pictures of kitchens like THIS, but then I think OMG all of the DUST! And change my mind.
Another "cross this OFF the list!" moment was replacing our foyer light.
You may recall this post about me walking away from a sweet antique chandelier and then having a "Dang it why didn't I snatch that up!??!??" moment.
Well a couple months ago I went to the Valley Thrift Store (which now is JUST down the road from us!) and found a cute little chandelier for $4.00. SCORE! I bought that bad boy, and it sat in our apartment dinning room for...well...a long time. But I just KNEW that someday I would have a purpose for it and it would be magnificent. And you know what? That day was yesterday! I grabbed that $4 lamp, some spray paint, and went to town.
First I lightly (and evenly) sprayed it with 2 coats of Rust-Oleum primer.
Yes I am quite proud of my rigged up painting system.
After the primer dried, I sprayed it with 2 coats of Rust-Oleum yellow spray paint.
Eric helped me hang it up in the tree so I could make sure the bottom was completely covered. I thought this was important since that's the part of the light that people will see most often.
After a few hours of letting it dry, Eric took down the original light fixture, and rigged up our new chandelier! I bought 5 globe bulbs from Menards since I love the look of exposed light bulbs, and thought it would be a nice touch.
Needless to say I'm OBSESSED with how it turned out. *insert HUGE smiley face*
We do have a ceiling cover to hide the wiring, but I guess Eric was just too excited and decided to hook the lamp up without putting the cover on first. Oh well, I'm still super pleased with the how much brighter our entry way is!
While on the high of a new light, we finished decorating our dining room. The china cabinet is filled with dishes, the table is all set up, and we even hung some pictures on the wall!
This is the table from my grandma I was talking about in a previous post. It's made from a tree from Valley Forge, which I think is pretty amazing. And yes we only have three chairs. One broke in the move to our apartment last year, but it's perfect for that awkward 3rd wheel date!
Some close-ups of my little accessory arrangements. Putting these together are another thing that keeps me calm. Eric is pretty much convinced he married a crazy person at this point.
Whenever I am overwhelmed by how unorganized the rest of the house is, I come in here to sit, and take in the happiness of a complete room. :)
Phew!
Sorry that was so long, it's just so much fun sharing our progress!
Were any of you able to cross off a few things from your "To-Do" list this weekend?
.JPG)
