Turning our Builder-Grade Kitchen into a Beautiful Blue Dream

Good day everyone! 

If you've been following along on Instagram, you couldn't help but notice that we officially wrapped up our kitchen update last week. From the teal backsplash to the sunburst brackets I am OBSESSED with every nook and cranny. I actually find myself sitting on the couch, glancing over at our completed space, just smiling because I am so proud of what we accomplished. Like a crazy kitchen goof...I know.

A few of the to-do's we crossed off the list to achieve our dream kitchen included:

• raising the upper cabinets
• removing a cabinet
• painting cabinets 
• adding a backsplash 
• hanging shelves
• adding hardware
• trimming out the window 

Everything on the list was pretty straightforward...except for the backsplash. We had never tiled anything before yet alone almost an entire wall. But more on that later. 

For reference, here is a shot of when we first moved in. It was a pretty standard builder-grade kitchen, with ample room above the cabinets and not much underneath. I have never been one to decorate on top of cabinets especially when the ceilings aren't particularly high. Adding stuff up there just makes the whole room look even smaller and everything gets covered in dust and grime. So to create the elusion of height, my plan included creating a modified "to the ceiling" look. 

First up, raise the upper cabinets. To determine how high to raise them, we thought about what would still be functional for me (short-er person) as well as what would look natural to the space. We landed on 4 inches. Enough to give us more room underneath and make a difference while working on the countertops, but not too high so it would be difficult for me to use. 

This is where our kitchen progress halted for a few months. It wasn't until we took time off for the holidays that Eric and his dad spent a day "bridging the gap". By that, I mean adding plywood and crown molding to the top of the cabinets to create that to-the-ceiling look. 

Eric first installed 2x4s to the ceiling joists to create anchors, then attached the plywood and crown molding. Lots and LOTS of wood filler was used to hide the seams, as well as quite a bit of sanding. But this prep work was key to achieving a smooth look after painting. 

And speaking of paint, we had the best helpers. They don't particularly have an eye for detail, but they make up for it with enthusiasm. 💜

The color we chose was white, but not just any white, the perfect white paint I have been using ever since reading about it on VintageRevival.com. The people behind the paint counter may give you an odd look when you ask to add "more white" to your already white base, but trust me. It's beautiful. 

After a day of prep, painting, and removing the loner cabinet to the right of our window, we ended the day kind of in a mess. But as chaotic as our kitchen looked, that was how pumped we were about the next day. Because that, my friends, was the first day of our adventure into the world of BACKSPLASH TILING! 

From the moment I began dreaming about reworking our kitchen, I knew I wanted a bold backsplash. My first vision included a black and white pattern with teal lower cabinets and white uppers. But after Eric made the request, "pleeeeeeease don't make me paint all of those cabinets." I pivoted and came up with a design that incorporated our current wood tones by bringing in a teal backsplash. After mocking it up, I was in love. 

To find the perfect tile I ordered approximately 10 samples from various sources, but in the end, decided on Moze 3" x 12" Ceramic Brick Look Subway Tile in blue. I liked the irregularity of the coloring, price, and size, plus the high-gloss made for a great "easy to clean" kitchen choice. 

After measuring the amount of space we wanted to cover, 8 boxes was what the site recommended we buy which included extra for waste and reserve. We decided on a classic 1/2 offset pattern (hoping that wouldn't be too difficult), consulted a few friends, and watched a handful of tutorial videos before getting to work. 

Once we got started, the process really wasn't too intense. Slather on your adhesive, use the trowel to scrape away excess so there's even coverage, place your tile, add spacers, and repeat. Set your bottom rows first, measure twice and cut once, and don't get too far ahead with the adhesive because you only have about 15 minutes to work before it begins to set. Since our tiles were kind of long, we also used these wedges in combination with the spacers to keep tiles from shifting. 

When it came to cutting tiles to size, we borrowed a friend's tile cutter (example here) which worked great for straight lines and was extremely satisfying to use. It was like my scrapbook paper trimmer on steroids. For any cut more elaborate (window corners, outlets) Eric used a special blade he purchased for his circular saw. 

Even with the right tools, we definitely still broke our fair share of tiles. Broken tiles though are all just part of the process, that and making a huge mess. Thank goodness we planned on sending the kids to daycare a few days that week so we actually had time to work uninterrupted. No offense to our children, but their "helping" is kind of anything but. 

After those two full days of childless labor, plus a few extra nights post-bedtime, we officially completed the "put up the tile" part of our project. 

Next came the grout. 

With our backsplash, I wanted the minimal amount of grout showing as possible. The size of our spacers helped with this, but when it came to choosing a grout color, I knew it couldn't be anything bright. It had to blend in with the tile. That is why I decided to go with dark charcoal. Was it messy and ruined more than one of my dishrags? 100%. Am I confident it was the right choice? 10000000000000000%. 

Like installing the tile, once we got into a groove of slathering on the grout, working it into the cracks, and wiping away the excess, we were able to move pretty quickly. The more time-consuming part came after, which included cleaning away the "haze" of grout dirt so those beautiful tiles could really shine and applying an extra coat of sealant. 

But with those final steps came the VERY satisfying moment of crossing "install tile backsplash" off of our to-do list and adding another skill to our ever-growing resume. 

And what do you do with a brand-spanking new tiled wall? Drill into it to hang shelves of course!  

And can we talk about those brackets??? 😍 I can't take full credit though, I first saw Liz Morrow use them in her own kitchen renovation but immediately knew they were what I had been searching for. 

OK, logistics on the shelves. Three brackets per shelf may seem a little overkill to some, but hear me out. In that area of our kitchen, the studs were in odd places. We needed at least ONE of the brackets to be on a stud, and in this situation, it was the center one. The left and right have additional anchors to make them strong enough while only being drilled into the drywall. Using a bracket at the very end of each shelf also gave the edges a clean finish. Plus when I planned on using them for glasses, dishes, and books...the extra support was a bonus. 

With the shelves hung, final touches were all that remained. Hang the cabinet doors, reinstall hardware, touch up paint, install new outlet covers, clean, and STYLE! 

So what do you think!? I think I'm in love. 

I also think that having crisp white cabinets has convinced me that white could be the winning color for the remaining kitchen walls as well as for our living room. I never thought I'd see the day when I became a "white wall" girl, but guess that'll make hanging bold colorful art all the easier. 

There are still a few details left to tackle; like the black accent details behind the large counter and the entire area around and above our fridge. For now, I'm dubbing it complete. Seeing this vision come to life from concept to creation has been a lovely start to 2023. 

I wonder what the rest of the year will hold? 😊

Check out all of our home improvements, by visiting the OUR NEST page.

The Last Five Years - HOUSE TOUR!

Last week marked the first day of yet another school year of teaching for Eric, it also marked the anniversary of when we moved into our house...FIVE YEARS AGO! Seems like yesterday though. Packing, hauling boxes, cleaning everything, countless trips back and forth from our tiny two-bedroom apartment to this "new"100-year-old house. Our Incredible family and friends helped the entire day, and I'll never forget the overwhelming sensation of looking around and seeing all of our possessions, and...well...crap, just thrown everywhere. For someone who thrives on organization, it still gives me a twinge of anxiety just thinking about it. 

But that crap was thrown everywhere in OUR house! WE bought a house! WE were homeowners and so beyond excited to start that next adventure. 

Five years later and I am still filled with absolute joy by simply walking from room to room. There has been so much love brought into this space, and it truly has transformed from just a house to our home. Click the links to check out how the house looked when we first moved in, as well as our one-year house tour. 

But today we're talking FIVE YEARS. So let's take a little trip down memory lane, shall we? I've gathered up pictures from when we first moved in and set up a little before-and-after with pics from this morning. 

Cue "Let's See How Far We've Come" by Matchbox Twenty! 

The biggest updates we made to the general exterior of the house are painting the front door, upgrading the address numbers, painting the light black, and getting a new roof. Filling the porch with potted flowers is one of my favorite things to do in the Summer. I can't get enough of how their color just spills down the steps. Unfortunately this year one of our big terracotta pots took a tumble, oh well, it's almost time for mums anyway.

Once you enter through the threshold, you'll find yourself in our charming little foyer. 

What was once dark and muddy is now bursting with color and personality! We painted the walls, trim, added a landing spot for keys and such, and even installed a funky yellow light. 

Moving through to the kitchen, we painted over yet another shade of brown and breathed fresh new life into the cabinets. 

The order of transformation for the kitchen went as follows; painting the cabinets, painting the walls, hanging some DIY curtains, and giving the fan a mini upgrade. We also swapped the microwave stand for some metal Ikea shelves, and glammed up the mini awkward bathroom. Future plans still include new appliances, cabinet hardware, and replacing the floors. 

Off of the kitchen is our dining room. 

This was one of the first rooms that really felt "complete". Of course, nothing is truly finished, and although we hardly ever actually dine in here it's still one of my favorite spaces. Because it gets the most sunlight, a majority of the plant babies live in here. Painting the ceiling had a major impact on how this room felt, and I love the addition of Eric's guitar and ukulele on the wall. We still want to paint the chairs white (you can see one in the background of the first pic) and reupholster the cushions. I've also been keeping my eye out for a sweet lighting option...but we'll see. 

The only room left on the first floor is the living room! 

I could NOT paint over that olive green fast enough. And painting all the trim white was one of the best decisions we ever made. Notable things I adore include the big-kid furniture we gifted ourselves one Christmas, Eric's old nesting tables I gave a facelift, that colorful shag rug, and thrifted sconces I scored for practically nothing. That coffee table also wins best purchase for under $90. 

Our floor plan is basically a circle, so once you've mozied through the living room you'll find yourself back in the foyer face to face with our gallery wall. 

Walking into your home should fill you with all of the feels, and that is how I react every time I come home from work and look at all of our pictures, knickknacks, and random elephants. That gallery wall is a reflection of our life, and watching it grow through these years has been way too much fun. 

So let's head upstairs! 

Right from day one, I knew I wanted a black and white banister. If you looked closely at the spindles, there was so much brown paint on them you could barely make out the curvature details and the handrail was anything but sexy. They needed some serious love, and we were ready for the job. And OMG what a job it was. The whole project took a lot of time, repetition, and yet again Eric showing off how incredible he is. He also tore off the brown carpet (are we sensing a color theme??) and replaced it with a beautiful geometric grey runner.

One of the reasons we bought this house is because it actually had a full second story. We were shown a lot of "cape cod" style homes where the second floor is one big room with slanted ceilings on both sides. Not so great when your husband is 6'8''. 

More brown walls, more brown trim, more brown doors. UUUGGG! PAINT PAINT PAINT! 

Oh, and replace the light with a lil something super cute. 

To the left, you'll find the master bedroom. 

We chose to paint the walls the same grey as the living room, and once the doors and trim were painted white everything really brightened up. The ceiling fan and headboard were recent additions, and our bed frame was build custom by Eric's grandpa. I also created a jewelry organizing out of an old mattress spring frame from a baby crib. Someday I'd like to get a rug, or at least two smaller rugs for each side of the bed, and hang a few more things on the walls. For now, I'm very pleased with the cozy state of our bedroom. 

At the end of the hall is our bathroom, or mermaid room as I've dubbed it. 

This room was pretty boring (tan, brown, darker brown) but I think the end result is just lovely. I actually did this makeover 98% by myself, so go me! 

Turning back down the hallway you'll find our two spare bedrooms. One of which we knew would need to be made for overnight guests. 

When deciding how to design this room, I knew I wanted to hide the sloping ceiling. That is why the color only goes halfway up the wall, not only is it bold (which I love) but it serves a legit purpose. Next steps for the guest room include an updated ceiling fan, more storage for guests to put their things, and more art on the walls. 

Last but not least we have our office space. 

Our office has been the most recent room we've worked on. Again, to hide the sloped ceiling we painted everything white except the one full wall. And I tell you what. That beautiful emerald GIVES ME LIFE! It's almost comparable to the high I get while styling those shelves. Having space to actually work and be productive at home has absolutely been a game changer. Plus sometimes I'm doing freelance, and Eric's working on school stuff, and we're like on a little computer date and IT'S SO CUTE! 

Ok, enough pictures from the inside, let's go out back! 

If you've read my blog for a while, you'll remember our GIANT backyard makeover we completed last summer. It literally was a couple years worth of work, but DANG was it worth it. The whole thing started with Eric and his dad building the pergola. Then the project took a little bit of a stand-still for a while, before really taking off when we got the concrete poured and the flower beds built. My favorite thing out here though is hands down the custom table Eric built and I painted.

Writing this post was an absolute blast. I had forgotten what each space looked like when we first moved in, and the change is incredible! I do find it funny how some areas have been completely revamped, and other little decorations and things haven't moved since I placed them down five years ago. 

I feel the winds of change a blowing though. Maybe it's about time we consider crafting up another crazy DIY in the near future. Hmmmm...



Check out all of our home improvements, by visiting the OUR NEST page.