Kitchen Remodeling....All Of The Decisions!

Decisions, Decisions...So many kitchen remodel decisions!

Choose a counter top....Choose a backsplash....

Choose a cabinet style

......Choose a sink and faucet.....

Knobs or handles...Which handles....

.....Which knobs......And which way to have the doors open.......Do I want glass doors?

....Lighting.....

What do you want in the cabinets....Spice rack...Lazy susan?

...Appliances...Keep the old ones or get new ones...

Well...I am almost to the end of all my decision making and I'm so happy with how it is all turning out.  There is not one thing I would change.  

I'm in the process of doing the backsplash myself...A great way to save money and not a difficult Do it Yourself job!

One of my readers said "It must be fun doing projects for yourself"  ....It is!!

Happy Creating

Carol

Kitchen Remodel.....Demolition

I'm in the middle of a kitchen remodel....Oh goodness, this is a grueling process.   I'm not so sure I would have done this had I known what a difficult process it would be....I hope it will be like having a baby....I will so love the results and forget all the pain lol!

Here's my 30 year old kitchen before I started the remodel

I've been putting Band-Aids on it for the 10 years I've lived here...It was time for new cabinets and counters

The first thing I did was salvaged all of the old cabinet doors.....They will be great for making chalkboards and signs.  

Then I emptied all of the contents of the cupboards into my living room.

I have the BEST contractor in all of Florida doing the work.  I am truly blessed, without him I would have been in the looney bin.

Demo time

I went with Ikea cabinets, they were having a 20% off kitchen sale.......Would I go with Ikea if it had to do it all over again?????   

If you like, I will do a whole blog post on answering that question!

Here's my kitchen, fresh off the Ikea delivery truck...200 piece....I had 48 hours after delivery to inventory and claim any damage or missing pieces...I was totally overwhelmed!  You are only seeing half the pile in this picture!

Two weeks into the remodel and I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel

Hang with me, I had no idea how all consuming this project would be.  Here's the good news....I will never have to do this again lol!

Happy Creating
Carol

How To Make A Valance/Cornice.....Inexpensive And Easy

One of the finishing touches to my Hollywood Regency bedroom was to add Valances over the drapes

You are going to love this...the only tools you need are:

Hot glue gun

Straight pins

Batting

Fabric

And 

Styrofoam sheets from Lowes for $7.00

After I hung the drapes I thought they looked to plain and I wanted something to glam them up, so I decided to make valances

Many years ago I made valances from wood.  They were expensive, heavy, and took carpentry skills to cut and nail together......There had to be a better way!

I have been buying styrofoam at home improvement stores for other craft projects since it is soooo much cheaper than buying at craft stores

This is what I used.....There are 6-48" sheets to a $7.00 pack

I used a knife to cut a sheet for the top, front, and 2 sides.  I ruined a sheet because I did not compensate for the Styrofoam width on the sides and top.....I'm just saying that I had to do some careful measuring but, with 6 sheets in a pack I had plenty of sheets so, messing up was no big deal.

The only thing I used to attach all of the pieces of styrofoam together was gobs of hot glue.  It gave a good strong bond...I was amazed!

I first hot glued on the batting and then pinned the fabric on.   I hot glued the batting but pinned the fabric to make it easy to change the fabric in the future.

Now it was STILL to plain.......

....So I hot glued 2 rows of ribbon to the bottom....

I used 2 "L" bracets and set the valance on the brackets, there was no need to attach the valance to the brackets as they are really light and not going anywhere

The Bedroom is officially done!

If you are wondering what I'm up to now.....

...Here's my kitchen, do you see anything missing? 

Oh gosh, I think I'm a glutton for punishment.  Anyone that has done a kitchen reno will agree that it is the most difficult of all!

I'll be back when I can........

Happy Creating!
Carol