Q & A Quickie...

A short while ago, I was lucky enough to be featured on Better After.  This little appearance got our newly-made-over-kitchen some attention, and it also gave rise to a couple reader questions.  I promised to answer them quickly…and I apologize for my slow response time.  My blogging has been very poor as of late, and I feel awful about it.  {Forgive me?!?!?!}

So back to the reason for this post…answers to the burning {yes, that was sarcasm} questions that my super amazing readers {I love each and every one of you} have!

Q) What is the aqua color on our kitchen walls?

A) Cool Jazz by Behr

I plan to paint a buffet that I scored on Craiglist {that will go in the dining room} Sweet Rhapsody, the color below Cool Jazz on the paint swatch.  Yes, it might be obnoxious, but I’m hoping it reads as fun and pops nicely off our gray walls.  I guess we’ll see! ;)

Q) What is the gray color on our living room/dining room/hallway walls?

A) Gentle Rain by Behr  {Btw, LOVE this color on our walls.}

Q) Where did I get the chandelier that hangs over our dining room table?

A) I bought it from Overstock.com, with a coupon.  It is the Linear 5-light 38” Bar Pendant Crystal Chandelier.  {Side note, it’s even prettier in person.}

Q) Where did I get the aqua pendants over our island?

A) I bought the Colored Seeded Glass Pendants from from Shades of Light.  They were a definite splurge {$159/each}, but I got 10% off initially and then I received another 5% off on top of that.  They also come in clear and a beautiful green color. 

FYI, they call for 60 watt bulbs, but we found they gave off the perfect light when we used 40 watt bulbs.  The seeded glass creates an amazing pattern above the pendants on the ceiling.  Definitely one of my favorite parts of our kitchen!!

Q) What type of hardwood floors do we have?

A) They are the original oak floors that were in the house when we bought it.  The hardwood floors were everywhere {including the closets}, except for the kitchen and bathrooms.  We decided to have unfinished oak laid in the kitchen {after we pulled up the old linoleum} while we were patching other areas of the floor.  Then we had all the floors sanded and stained using Minwax’s Jacobean, with a Satin finish.  I couldn’t love our floors anymore…they are just what I envisioned!

Q) Did I ever consider putting our cabinet pulls horizontally vs. vertically?

A) I did for a hot second, but then I realized I’m not the biggest fan of how it looks that way.  I like the lines created by placing them up and down on our ceiling height cabinets.  I’m a fan of anything that helps maintain the illusion of height in our house, since we only have 8 ft. ceilings.

Q) What process did we use to paint our kitchen cabinets?

A) Here is a quick recap…

                -Used TSP to clean them, inside and outside.

                -Primed the inside with an oil-based primer, then double coated the insides with two coats of latex

                paint

                -Removed the old knobs and filled in the holes with wood putty

                -Numbered each door and took pictures of them with their numbers shown, so we knew              

                which doors went where

                -Drilled holes for the new hardware {so this didn’t need to be done on newly painted doors but   

                I had to do it on a few doors anyway}

                -Removed the hinges and screws, keeping them safely secured in zip lock bags

                -Sanded the cabinet doors and used a liquid deglosser on the cabinet frames

                -Spray primed and spray painted all cabinet hinges and screws since we were re-using them

                -Primed the cabinet doors and frames {using Behr’s Enamel Undercoater Primer and Sealer} 
                -Painted two coats of white paint on the cabinet doors and frames

                -Waited for everything to cure and harden

                -Re-hung all doors

                -Installed new hardware

It definitely wasn’t an easy process, but the results are SO.VERY.WORTH.IT.  So be as patient as possible, and stick to it!!

Any other questions, comments etc?!?  Just let me know!  I'd love to fill you in! :)