Laundry Sink Addition +Makeover

I was at the thrift store about a month ago and found the cutest hanging chandelier for only $15.  I googled it and found that it was selling online for around $400.  I mean come on.  I didn't have a place for it, but after careful consideration decided that I should put it in the laundry room.  Well, then it tail spinned into a complete laundry makeover. Isn't that always the case. You never know when inspiration will hit so these projects are hardly ever planned.  At the bottom I detail sources for items. But overall, I painted everything, including the ceiling, added beadboard wallpaper, wall storage, a new laundry sink and faucet, rug, window trim, custom cafe curtains, and accessories.   

AFTER

BEFORE

BEFORE

AFTER

The sink is a kitchen/laundry sink found at the Restore for a steal! We added a beautiful English inspired faucet and we custom made a counter and backsplash using birch wood with a faux Soapstone finish, tutorial I followed below.    We changed the undermount rod to a brass one and added acrylic clear hangers.

I took down the peel and stick wallpaper and put up beadboard traditional paintable wallpaper.  The cabinets and upper trim were all painted in the same color.  I am in love with the traditional English Brass faucet.  It was originally designed for a bathroom sink so we had to purchase a larger drain size when we hooked it up.

The upper cabinet door handles got a fresh coat of gold spray paint as well. Much cheaper than replacing them.

We added craftsman trim around the window which made a huge difference. I mounted a brass cafe curtain rod outside on the frame and sewed curtains with a french pleat in a Waverly french toile fabric.

I didn't spend a lot on accessories since I planned to pull blue delft or pottery from around the house.  I gave the chandelier a good cleaning and painted it champagne gold. Originally it was silver. We added LED candelabra lights and installed a dimmer switch. It turns out six light bulbs in a laundry room can be quite bright!

The light switch is Vintage Delft and it fits the new dimmer. 

I was pretty happy to find a runner rug that fit the space and brought a richness to it. It's a Vintage looking Scandinavian design in a flat weave. 

A great feature of the laundry room is now the freed up floor space. We found a wall mount Ironing Board rack to get that off the ground and also a wall mounted drying rack. Before both were on the ground and used up quite a bit of space.

Okay now back to our regularly scheduled laundry program!

Here is breakdown of room items, plus cost.

Paint on Cupboards and beadboard - Sherwin Williams Semigloss in color Rock Bottom - $45/gallon

Wall and Ceiling Color - Eggshell Valspar in Reserved White $45/gallon

Wood Trim for Windows -$100 Sherwin Williams in color Celedon (already owned)

Sink - Elkay Quartz Classic 25" x 22" Single Bowl Drop in Greystone Color, I paid $60 new

Bottom Cabinet Used from Habitat for Humanity Restore $75

Cabinet Pulls -From trip to Korea

Painted Upper Handles with Krylon Gold Spray Paint $7 x 3 =$21

Wallpaper Beadboard from Lowes $25

Vintage Ornate Porcelain Putter 6 ARM Candle Stick Light Fixture, Made in Spain $15

Vintage Painting $40

Glass Bowl with dryer balls Home Goods $12

Baskets from Home Goods Large $25, Medium $20 Wall Basket $14 

Rug- Garnet Hill $245

Faucet - English Vintage Style Single Handle Centerset $233

Wall Mount Iron Rack - Wayfair $18

Birch Wood for countertop $40

Faux Soapstone Paint Supplies $40 Followed this tutorial

Towel Bar Lowes $30

Curtain Fabric - Waverly Toile Ebay $60

Brass Cafe Curtain Rod from Rejuvenation $75

Brass Cafe Curtain Clip Rings Ebay $15

Delft Vintage Switch Plate Ebay $25

Plumbing for Sink plus tools $230

Acrylic Hangers $75

Grand Total Makeover - $2,176 (and cue the frown from Joe after I said the whole thing would only cost a couple hundred dollars.  Although if I put a positive spin on it, I saved tons on the sink, light fixture, and art! 

P.S. Make a budget beforehand.

 

Painting a storm door

I decided to give the front door a fresh paint job. It was a dark slate blue to start and I was trying to match it with a color I already had.  This color is a bit more teal but I love the way it turned out.  I replaced the door handle as well and decided to give the storm door the same color. I think it looks better when both doors match.

The original storm door was painted black. It felt like too much of a contrast with the white trim.  The new color is Narragansett Green by Benjamin Moore in the Exterior Soft Gloss Ben Paint.  I sanded the door using 200 grit sand paper and then cleaned it. I taped both the door and the glass off with painter's tape. After that I primed the storm door with Zinsser 1-2-3 Primer.  I let the Primer set for 24 hours and then I did two coats of paint the following day. 

I love the new color so much. I think it's going to look great year round.  

The new door handle is from Lowes and it's called the Baldwin Prestige Torrey Pines Venetian Bronze Smartkey Single-Cylinder Deadbolt Entry Door Handle. How can we go wrong when Joe and I lived in Torrey Pines in San Diego.  Names really have symbolism to me and I always take them as signs.

We have some freezing cold temps over the next few doors so this will remain closed! ❆ 

xo

Cathleen

Summer Vibes Porch

My instagram poll was no help. I posted whether I should paint my porch railings White or leave Cedar and the pollers were split 50/50!  I let the season guide my choice as well as the style of my house and the balance of colors outside.  So it turns out White was the winner and I'm pretty happy about that choice. I spent exactly 10 hours yesterday priming all the railing, painting it and then staining the deck.  About a week ago I power washed everything and let it dry for two days. Then I sanded everything. Can anyone say Karate Kid?    My arms are sore and my back hurts but I love how it turned out. 

It has a very coastal feel now.  I will post more pics of the view looking from the patio below once I get the patio cleaned up.  I got rid of the big black rug and replaced it with this Bohemian Jute rug.  

For the white paint I used Sherwin Williams HGTV's weathershield in white. The Stain is Cabot Wood Toned Stain and Sealer in Heartwood.  The Primer is Zinsser 123.

I decided to clean up the table a bit by not cluttering it with too many plants. Now we can actually have our breakfast out here in the morning. The two blue and white throw pillows are new from Lowes. They are indoor pillows so I coated them with Scotchgaurd. 

Before starting the painting process I had to carefully remove my climbing rose bush but am happy to report that I was able to reattach it and I gave it a nice pruning since it had a lot of damaged leaves from a recent house cleaning where they used bleach. Never again!

This arrow metal shelf got a new paint job in Hammered Black.  

The little white table is a thrift store find and the basket on top serves as a great glass holder.

Well what's the verdict? Farm House Fresh? Country Coastal? Coastal Craftsman? I know there are people who would hate the fact that I painted the wood. But after reading so many websites that said either way, Paint or Stain, there is maintenance involved and stain doesn't last as long.  The stain that was on there previously was faded and dirty. Yes it's easier to stain, but in the end I think I like the painted look better.  Feels fresh and beachy.  

So here's the real interesting bit. I stained the stairs and deck skirt a slate gray.  My plan in the next week or so is to stencil a pretty pattern onto the front risers to give it a more dynamic feel. And from down below on the patio you only see white and slate. And only a hint of the wood deck color.  So there's not three colors competing.  Stay tuned for more deck photos next week!

 Happy Porch Sitting Days ahead!

xo

Cathleen

Café Curtains in white

Our Formal eating area overlooks the living room and it flows in one big space.  The idea of having café curtains in this area is two fold. One to create some privacy from backyard and to still allow light into the living room. I love curtains and don't really like blinds, but these large windows make it quite difficult to open and close drapes.  

When I stumbled upon Rejuvenation and saw these brass café curtain rods and rings I knew they would work perfectly in these windows. I wanted them to be inside mounted and also to match the curtain rods at the tops of the windows. Here is a link to these custom fit rods and solid brass rings. I needed four rods and 40 rings for 4 windows. The white drapes are from Wayfair and I love that they are sheer but provide total privacy.   

                            

I had put to throw in a photo of my new coffee table book that really cheers up my living room in the new year. Veranda's "A Room of One's Own."

I got a new throw pillow from West Elm too. I hit up the after Christmas sale and found a few treasures.  It has a pretty metallic material that goes great for January. It's called the Watercolor Fragments Brocade Pillow.

The café curtains look great closed or open. I love how the rings make them easy to open and close too (as opposed to inserting the rod into the fabric.)

With all the  holiday decorations gone, I'm loving just a few simple garlands of lights and black pom poms on the mantel. I also kept some dried golden hydrangeas. I don't want to part with them. 

In the eat in kitchen I also added a brass café rod, but this one is a long tension rod from Home Depot. This window is approximately 70" wide so Rejuvenation didn't have that width.  I used 4 of the curtains from Wayfair. 

Hope this inspires you to use Café Curtains in your home. I think they're back in style!

xo

Cathleen