And so it begins...

Our kitchen renovation has "officially" begun. It's really rainy and gross weather today, so we decided to take up a bit of the tile in the kitchen so that we know what we're getting into with the subflooring. Unfortunately, the grout and mortar holding our nasty white tiles seems to be quite well made because the tile does not want to come up easily. Apparently back in 1983 when they built our house, they used some pretty good stuff. Lucky for us!

We also discovered some lovely leftover termite damage in the front of our pantry. It was just a day full of surprises! The entire moulding was rotted and the drywall pretty much collapsed as soon as we touched it. Nothing like having some exposed insulation in your pantry! Luckily we're starting this project for real in less than a month, so it will be taken care of sooner rather than later. I knew this project was going to be a PAIN but now I'm starting to realize how much work we're in for this summer....

Wish us luck!!

Friday Thoughts...

(Source)

Sneak Peak

of the linens that I made for Easter dinner. Yes, I realize that Easter is a month away, but we're hosting both of our families this year for our first big holiday, so I'm a little excited/anxious. I decided that I wanted to make a runner and napkins to make the table extra special. I found the most amazing seersucker and then a coordinating swiss dot floral print fabric. I made both the runner and napkins reversible of each fabric and I love how it looks mixed and matched. I haven't decided if I want to switch it up and have the runner seersucker side up and the napkins floral. My sewing machine (who I named Betty) is in overdrive with all the projects I've done lately.

I'll be sure to post how the entire table comes together as it gets closer! I'm currently brainstorming place card ideas!

My version

of the infamous "framed seafan". I saw this project on many other blogs recently, as well as in my latest Restoration Hardware Catalog (for $550!!! Oh wait, it's just been discounted to $439...much better!). I thought it would be perfect for one of the walls in our "dining alcove". We don't have a real dining room, or even a separate dining space. Our super huge living room has a weird alcove that we turned into a dining room by hanging a drum shade and getting an area rug to define the space. We're working with what we have here, obviously. I will say, our next house will have a HUGE formal dining room!

Anyways, back to my project. I found a large seafan on Ebay for $17.95 (with free shipping!) and used a Michael's 20% off coupon to score a 16x20 dark wood frame for $22. We decided to spray paint the seafan with some leftover pumpkin orange spray paint from our Goodwill lamp project from the fall. It helps to tie in some of the orange accents (the lamp and throw pillows) we have in the living room into the dining room, since they are essentially all in the same room. So for a total of $39.95, we now have some custom art in our dining room. Here's the final results!

I love how the veining in the seafan mimics the design in the table runner that is pretty much always on our dining room table. Totally an unplanned thing, but I'll take it!

Hanging on the wall - I promise in real life, there's more of a difference between the wall color and the mat in the frame.

I'm loving the slight nautical/beachy vibe it gives our house and that the orange is a fun pop of color!

What's for Dinner - Product Review

At my mom's recommendation, I tried something new for dinner tonight:

Philadelphia Cooking Creme - I'm sure most people have seen the ads for this by now. It was on sale last week 2 for $4, so I figured I'd give it a try. Last week was sort of crazy because I was super busy at work with a big event and I'm still recovering, so I was happy to cook with this tonight because it was so EASY! I used the Sante Fe flavor tonight and made the Chicken Enchiladas, which are featured on the back of the carton.

Even with having to brown the chicken, the entire recipe took less than 30 minutes total. I had everything on hand to make it (chicken, tortillas, shredded cheese, an onion and a can of diced tomatoes) so it was perfect! It was tasty - Jake ate THREE enchiladas, if that says anything about how it was. I won't say that I would use it every week, but it was great to make a quick, easy and good meal on a busy weeknight. I would definitely try the other flavors and recipes, especially if it's on sale or I have a coupon.

So if you are thinking about trying this, I say definitely do it. Especially for those nights when you need something fast and easy!

This post is simply my thoughts/recommendations on this product - I was not compensated in any way (not that I would object to receiving coupons for more of this!)

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Benched

A few months ago (ok, like a year ago), I blogged about how I got a Pottery barn knock off entry way bench and shelf from JCPenny to act as our "coat closet" in the foyer since our house didn't have a real place for jackets and storage. (original post here) Well we LOVE the bench, however, it's taken me quite a while to make it our own. It sat un-accessorized for a year, but I finally got around to making it cute! Especially since it's literally the first thing you see when you walk in our front door, it wasn't making a very good impression. Here's the blah before:

It is great for storing shoes and other stuff like scarves, hats and gloves, but it was just sort of boring. I hated the white cushions on the bench because they got dirty so quickly (we have a dog with black fur!) and I felt like they blended in with the wall.

My first step was accessorizing the top. I found two glass vases that I loved and they fit perfectly up there. Then I turned to Etsy to find a fun print to frame, which I propped up against the wall. My last project came just recently when I got out my sewing machine (I told you I've been busy with that thing!) and made a new print cushion for the top to replace the dirty white ones. Here's the after:

Isn't it so much more fun?

Close up of the top (ignore the lovely nail pops in our ceiling that need to be fixed). I got the famous "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster, but found a seller on etsy who personalizes them with different things. Since J is big into sailing, I thought that one was perfect!

Close up of the cushion I made. The brown and green paisley matches the rest of the colors in our house and will definitely hide all the dirt and dog hair we have going on. I'm pretty proud of myself because I did a cushion with piping, which I think it makes it look more finished than just being plain.

So that's my latest house project - definitely makes our entry way more cheery and inviting!