Baby Steps

I love my house. Growing up spending almost every day here playing with the 'neighbor boys', I knew every inch of the house before we moved in. We have however made a few changes. Since we don't have unlimited cash just laying around, we do projects here and there when we can. My kitchen is the area that needs the most work. Well, when I say that it sounds like it's hideous. It's not, it's just personal preference. The idiots owners who were in between the family who claimed me as theirs and us didn't change anything. Weird, since they had awful taste...if you can call it taste.

When we moved in I walked into the kitchen and felt like a kid again. I'd sat in a chair in front of the pink counter top and had my hair (that I could almost sit on) cut into the "Dorothy Hamill" after watching her skate. What was I thinking?? But now, the memory is sweet.

The family had made inserts in the cabinet doors and wallpapered the new rectangle. The curtains were the same pattern. It...just wasn't my taste. In '98. In '84? Loved it.

One of the first changes I made was that wallpaper. It used to match this bear.

My mother-in-law made the bear so I could remember the curtains. I'm all about being sentimental.

I love the lilac wallpaper I found. Possibly because we have my mothers lilac bush growing in the backyard. It has been in two different yards, and three different locations, since she planted it 20 years ago.

A few years after I took a sander to the doors and antiqued them in my own special way. I love it! Just makes them look more dimensional. And also helped me discover every possible place that dust can land.

But the knobs...oh the knobs. Because I need 32 I have not replaced them. Years ago I picked out a new one I loved but they were $5.99 each. You do the math. And then tell me, because I stink at math. Oh wait, my phone has a calculator. Almost $200!! I rounded a bit for tax.

Imagine how happy I was when I discovered that Hobby Lobby had iron handles...and they went half price like everything else in the store! I finally found some I liked and asked them to order the other 18 that I needed. I waited patiently until they came in and then waited again for Shawn to have time to replace them.

And that was just a whole lot of words to get to this point.

The before:(This picture makes them look incredibly dirty. Hmmm, maybe they were. I did Magic Erase everything while the handles were off.)

The after: So, one little step at a time I'm making this house mine while still honoring the people that came before. I hope the people after us will do the same:)