Retro Kitchen Redo

When we moved into our last house, the kitchen was (in a word) gross!  But, we made some quick changes (click here to see) and it cleaned up beautifully.

Still, the kitchen felt cramped and oddly arranged.  Overall it was not very user friendly or functional.  So after living with it for about a year, we decided it was time for a complete overhaul.

Before we bought this house, the kitchen had seen some hard days, and apparently a lot of college parties.  But, I love a good project!

Before Photos:

Original "cold storage"; Before

Gas range, before

Refrigerator, before

Now, I am aware that most people probably wouldn't walk into this space and think "Oh my GOODNESS, it's my dream house!" 

But, I did!  I knew that hidden under all of this grime, was a charming beach bungalow (originally built in 1928).  And, I couldn't wait to bring it back to it's former glory!

Kitchen corner, before

Kitchen sink, before

When it was time to remodel and rearrange I set up a temporary "make-shift" kitchen in the laundry room, and we went to work.

The first step was the really fun part. We broke out the sledgehammer, sawzall and a chisel.  Because it was time for:

Demolition!

Take out your frustrations, give a cabinet a good whack with a sledgehammer!
We even re-purposed some of these old cabinets into a playhouse for our children.  For details on that project, see this post.

A note about old houses and with lath and plaster walls (as seen in these photos).  Unlike today's modern sheet rock, traditional plaster crumbles!  Once you start chipping away at it, the whole thing just starts to crumble away.  So, unless you have to remove it because of water damage, it's best to chip with care and caution.   Or, better yet, just leave it alone whenever you can!

We went over the old linoleum floor with simple peel and stick vinyl tiles. I found the best price for these colors on ebay. They are super easy to install, and easy to replace if an individual one gets too worn.

*Note: We installed the floor about a year before the actual remodel. But, I had purchased extra tiles. So, it was easy to fill in any gaps later, after we removed the original cabinets.

We purchased an old classic range from Craigslist, that was contemporary to the time the home had originally been constructed.  I spent an entire day scrubbing the grossness out of the range (see photo below).

I have no idea what that gelatinous gunk was, but with the help of oven cleaner and a scrub brush, I was able to get it out.  

Here are the products that I had the best success with while tackling the grossness:

And, for brightening dingy chrome surfaces, it works well to scrub them with dry steelwool. 

To really get in all the nooks and under the edges of this stove, I literally used dental tools to scrap out all of the gunk! They were great for the detail work.

I have a friend who's a hygienist, and she gave them to me.  But, it looks like you can buy anything on Amazon these days!  I've been surprised how any times it's been handy to have these little gadgets:

Finally it was time to order new cabinets (prefab white vinyl).  We took careful measurements and a salesperson there helped us with the best possible configuration. They delivered them, and we installed them ourselves.

Then... countertops. Oh, how I wanted the clean smooth finish of granite counters!  But, it simply wasn't in the budget.  

Enter: Budget friendly 12" granite tiles!

They are primarily designed for use on floors or walls, but these tiles also work well on a countertop! We simply took the edge pieces to a local stone and marble shop to have put a "bullnose" (rounded edge) put on them.  Then we on the counter installed them like we would have with any other tile.

I had a lovely granite counter, for a fraction of the cost of a slab!  A small strip of white corner trim under the tiles completed the look.

We moved some plumbing and relocated the sink, so that it looked out over my garden (instead of the parking lot next door), added a small dishwasher, and reused the cabinet hardware I'd found on sale at Restoration Hardware.  

Soon, we had an entirely different kitchen!

After

Range, skink, counters and floors: After

New corner with passthrough, after

After

We stayed with a style that would reflect the age and original charm of the home.  But, also we did so while simultaneously adding in modern conveniences.  Little things like a classic beveled edge subway tile backsplash, a black and white color pallet and red accents brought the space to life.  

It was such a relief to have a shiny, new, and functional kitchen!

For more about this little beach bungalow, and the many changes we made there, please see the following posts:

Budget Bathroom Remodel

Budget Kitchen Makeover

Living Room Makeover

Thanks for stopping by!

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Boy's Lazure Room

You may have seen my previous post about creating my daughter's rainbow room, using a painting method called "lazure".  In our new house I decided to try my hand at lazure again, this time in my boys' new room.

When we bought this house, this room was decorated in a very feminine style, complete with 80’s mauve curtains and accents. It wasn’t what I had in mind for my twin boys’ bedroom. The "before" photo is how it looked (with the seller’s furniture) when we bought the house.

Before

After we moved in, with two toddler’s in the mix, the room didn’t look much better!

During

It saw some hard days and a lot of playtime.  As you can see even the walls were "decorated"! Eventually, I went to work and transformed the room into a Waldorf inspired space for my boys.

After

After

Wall Color

The method I used for painting the walls is further detailed in my Lazure Tutorial post. But, here is a quick summary:

The first step in creating lazure walls is to start with a bright white base. I like to use off the shelf "ultra pure white" paint. 

I'm also careful to use a matte white. This creates the perfect surface for applying the transparent layers of color on the walls.

You will need:

-Water

-Paint brush (standard good quality wall paint brush)

-Bowl

-A soft cloth rag

-Liquid water color paint (I used Stockmar brand) 

-In this room, I also used some acrylic paint. 

Or you could even try using powdered pigment:

-A pigment binder like this (be sure you use matte):

-Large sponge

White acrylic paint

Mix Your Paint

You want a very thin mixture of color. It should still feel watery, and not thick like regular paint. I didn't measure very precisely. But here is the rough recipe:

-2-3 cups of water

-1/4 cup of polymer binder

-1-2 teaspoons of a single water color paint (you will need to mix up a new batch for each color)

-1 tablespoon of white acrylic paint

Mix well, I used the paint brush for mixing.

The next step is to begin applying the mixture to your walls. It is VERY drippy, so apply only a small amount at a time. I started at the top of the wall, and worked my way down to the floor, so that any drips could be easily wiped up with the rag.

 

Apply with the brush, using a swirling circular motion. Because I had textured walls I really had to "scrub" the color onto the walls. Then follow up with the sponge, using the same arm motions.  

As I moved around the room, I changed the colors, fading one into the next.

Furniture 

Then, it was time to add "big boy beds". I knew I wanted beds that could also become bunk beds once the boys were older. But it was difficult to find convertible beds that were identical in size and shape when separated. Luckily, Amazon came to the rescue!

        

Eventually I will add wall hangings, art and photos in the big empty wall spaces. But that will have to wait until the boys are a little older. Right now they'd just pull anything that they could reach down! So stay tuned for an update in the future :)

Then it was time to add details!

I pulled the colors and theme of the room from this fabric. My mom made the curtains years ago for our first nursery. 

We attached several wooden crates to the wall for storage. 

Then I filled the crates with animal themed nicknacks, and other colorful things that matched the walls.

As the boys get older we will be able to add more items. 

I surrounded the top of the walls with these alphabet wall cards:

They are primarily shades of blue and green, so they match the walls perfectly. The animal theme is also carried through with them. 

Again, someday when the boys are older I will add more decor to the wall below them. 

For now the decor has to remain pretty sparse, and very kid-friendly. 

I found the wooden animals at The Goodwill, and used acrylic paint to make the turquoise. The Waldorf doll is from Etsy. He does have more clothes... somewhere!

Floor

For the floor I collected old sheets from thrift stores and used them to crochet a rag rug.

To create this rug, I used a combination of this tutorial, and lessons from a friend. It was a time consuming project. But it was nice because it was cost effective, and I was able to chose my own color pallet. 

 

Overall everyone seems happy with the way this room came together. We're looking forward to adding to it more and more in the future!

Before:

After:

Thanks for stopping by!

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Living Room Makeover

It's flashback Friday here at Leaving the Ivory Tower. Today, we're traveling back in time to when we bought our first house. This tiny 900 square foot beach bungalow was the cheapest home in town, and it showed!

The home had been a rental for college students, and had seen her fair share of parties. But, we saw that she had "good bones" and great potential.

It took a little (actually a lot) of TLC, but eventually she shined and was even featured on national TV!

Today we're stepping into the living room for a details about the changes we made there. Join me for a "budget friendly" living room remodel!

Before

Sadly neglected, this foreclosure had seen better days.  Carpets were stained, windows were broken, and there was even a crack-pipe laying in the (weed covered) yard.

But, we saw that despite the neglect, she still possessed many of her subtle charms.  An archway lead to the dinning room, and thick wood trim still lined the windows.

The carpet was covered with burn marks, beer stains and who knows what else!

Carpet, before

Carpet, before

Can you tell where their couch was?!

Living room floor, before

We suspected there might be good things hidden underneath that gross carpet. So, one of the first things we did was pull up a corner of the carpet (it was actually only a few years old!).

Much to our delight, we discovered the original heart Douglass Fir wood floors hidden underneath!  

This is often the case in older homes (this one was built in 1928).  So if the carpet is in poor condition, like this was, see if you can sneak a peak underneath.  It's easy to (inconspicuously) pull up a corner to look.

Original wood floor, before

We knew the wood floors would need refinishing, so I quickly started painting the walls.  When "flipping" a room, it's best to work from "top to bottom" (starting with the ceiling).  This way I didn't have to worry about dripping paint on the floor, because I knew it would just get sanded off during the refinishing process.

Because I like bold color, and because the style of the home lent itself fun choices, I went for a bright cheerful green for the walls.  It was essentially the color of wasabi!

Wasabi Green!

 

Next, I painted the 4th wall (the one with an open arch leading to other rooms) white.  Because I wanted a crisp clean look, I just used the standard out-of-the-can "ultra pure bright white".

Then, it was time to refinish the floors. This was one of the things we splurged on. We brought in a professional. You can rent a sander and do this job yourself.  But for DIYer's (like us) I wouldn't recommend it because upright sanders can be tricky to control.

Floor refinishing process

They sanded through old floor, old finish and replaced a few rotten boards.  Even though they draped the house in plastic, this still made a HUGE mess.  There was a fine layer of sawdust everywhere!

Wet finish on floors

Also, note that the finish they put on the floors has a very strong chemical smell that lingered for a couple of days. We were living there, and I was pregnant, so it was not pleasant. If you can, stay away during this time!

Before

After

To hide some of the flaws that remained, and because I like to look, I chose the darkest stain available.

Then it came time to add furnishings and decor...

Before

After

Because the room was so small, we opted for a red love seat (purchased from a local furniture store) in place of a full sized sofa.  Red and green are complementary colors, so this worked well with the vibrant walls.  Also, smaller scale apartment sofas, are perfect for small spaces.

We also hid our TV inside of an armoire, and used a storage trunk as a coffee table.  In a small house it's important to add storage wherever you can!

Simple sheer white curtains, a dark brown club chair, my own painting and a DIY suitcase table finished off the look.

After

After

I spray painted an ornate hand-me-down mirror red, and we added some sturdy wood shelves from Ikea.

We played around with how the furniture was arranged, and switched around accents.  It was fun to be able to make these small changes.

Overall we were so happy with the end result! Instead of having a a living room that was dreary and depressing, this little house suddenly had one that was bright and cheerful!

Before

After

When we were selling this house we had a neat surprise. The day after we accepted an offer, this house was featured on the Today Show! We still don't know how they found us. But is was pretty cool be be selected and featured on a national TV show, even if it was a day too late to help us with the sale!

Here is the link to watch the Today Show Segment.  There is a short ad.  To see our house featured fast forward to the 1 min 13 second mark.

It was pretty funny to hear Al Roker commenting on my "strong art" (a painting I made in college), and to hear the comments about how there should have been "chunky red cookie jars" in the kitchen... which there were, 3 of them, just off camera!

For more about this house, and our complete bungalow remodel, please stay tuned for future posts. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Also, to see more of the drastic changes we made in this home, please enjoy these other posts as well:

Budget Bathroom Remodel

Retro Range Redo

Retro Kitchen Re-do

Linking up to these fun parties:

http://www.shabbynest.blogspot.com/2015/05/frugal-friday_28.html
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