Favorite Project of 2009

Hi Everyone!

Today I'm sharing my favorite "project" of 2009. I use the term "project" instead of "back breaking time-sucker" since it is shorter and less wordy. 2009 was a very busy year for my husband and myself since we purchased our first home at the end of July. We had, however, been looking for a home for almost two years, so I had LOTS of time to think about and plan for our new home, and therefore I was itching to start doing stuff before we even moved in.

One of the first items to tackle was expanding the already existing built-ins that take up one end of the den. Why tear down perfectly good built-ins? Because that's how we roll, and because we have a ginormous television (my husband says it's for sports, I say it's for So You Think You Can Dance). The before built-ins had a small opening for the television, and there were several shelves above the t.v. for various electronics like a DVD player. Of course having a spot for these items is nice, but it is not nice seeing electrical cords dangle everywhere like techno-jungle vines crying out for attention. (I really hate seeing electrical cords if you can't tell). So we moved the shelves from above to below the t.v. Then my lovely husband wanted to add cabinets at each end of the built-ins for more storage. More storage? Heck yeah!

So here are the BEFORES:

And here is the AFTER:

Basically my husband demolished the entire top part, and created a new one reusing most of the wood from the old built-ins and of course keeping the glass cabinets. The living room was originally painted a light blue (Carolina blue almost, which to 2 N.C. State alumni was just unacceptable). So we painted the room a neutral khaki called "Outerbanks" (another NC shout-out) from Sherwin Williams. The brick behind the built-ins was also painted the light blue, and I decided to white-wash it so you can still see the brick but not that yucky blue.

I was so excited about what we had accomplished in the living room, that I kept on truckin' to the kitchen since they are pretty much one big open space. The cabinets in the kitchen are original to the house, so about 50 years old. Typically, I like white cabinets in a kitchen, but these were not working for me. After several weeks of delibiration, I bit the bullet (or paint brush, if you will) and bought a gallon of dark, dark brown paint. My hope was to disguise the old cabinets and make them seem more up-to-date.

The kitchen BEFORE:

And the AFTER:

What do you think? Is it an improvement? There is still a ways to go, especially with the random fruit tiles, but I'm pretty pleased. This was my first time redoing cabinets, but it was easier than I thought. Correction, the overall process was easy, but it took me 3 weekends and killed my back in the process. (So I treated myself to a massage). You may have noticed that I didn't clean before taking the after pictures (dirty dishes and towels), but again, that's how I roll (keepin' it real and a little lazy!). Also, there is a corkboard project that's still in progress happening over by the stove, and hopefully I'll share the finished product soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

P.S. This blog took me an hour to write and post. Not kidding. Need to figure out a better way to add pictures.

I'm linking to
Thrifty Decor Chick's Before and After Party and Metamorphosis Monday.