Adler love!

I'm in love with Jonathan Adler's new colors for Kohler!

You have to check out the new collection.  It's perfect for a space that needs something unexpected or a pop of color and surprise for a fun space!

Colors include: Piccadilly Yellow, Greenwich Green, Palermo Blue, Annapolis Navy

Jonathan Adler is a mod, funky, talented designer that creates furniture, pottery, and more in home decor.  In case you're unfamiliar with him, check out his website to see more of his fun creations!

Farmhouse Update

Our family farm is in need of a facelift.  It used to belong to my great grandpa ("Poppy") and great grandma.  My grandma grew up here and then moved to Raytown when she married my grandpa Bob.  They retired in Lee's Summit, where she lives now, and we've always come back to the farm to play, hang out, have bon-fires, hay-rides, celebrate birthdays, etc...  It's been since December 2010 that my great grandma, at the age of 101, passed away and no one has lived in this house.  We want to revitalize it and make it a place ready for large groups of friends and family to gather, make food, drink, and be merry!  But also a place that the younger generations continue to enjoy and cherish with many memories.

The kitchen needs new cabinetry, counters, and flooring.  We will be reconfiguring some of the plumbing/appliances and taking out that peninsula for a cute island in the center of the room.  This should help with traffic flow a lot and add charm with a place to sit and snack.

This one-piece sink is just too cool (probably worth a bit of money too).  We would keep it here, but the cabinets aren't in great shape, so we're going to move it to the barn where there's plumbing and use it for big parties down there.

 This cow head dish towel holder is too funny- we have to keep and re-hang it in the new kitchen!  Apparently, my mom gave it to great grandma at one time.  Makes for a very country kitchen look!

 Here are the current bathrooms.  they will be sooo different after we get our hands on them.

The living room is sort of an odd shape, but spacious.  We'll just be updating the paint, carpet, furniture, and some lighting fixtures to make it fresh.

The back screened-in porch needs some cleaning and new screens.  We will be replacing the outdoor carpeting and putting new cushions on the repainted chair frames.

 The deck just needs to be power-washed and sealed, but is a great place to sit and talk.

 Can't wait to show you photos of the process, and especially the after photos of our soon-to-be adorable country kitchen!

More Entries Accepted

Some of my other entries were accepted for This Old House's 2012 Reader Remodel Contest under the category "Budget redo."  You can click HERE to see other entries on their website.  Unfortunately, you have to scroll through tons to see mine on there- and there are some pretty ugly entries on there...oh well, improves my chances! ha ha.

Bright, Fun Laundry Cabinet 

Sent by: Kara K., Prairie Village, KS

Image 1 of 6: After: Laundry closet

Before:

Remodel timeline: Less than a year

The hardest part: We had to have plumbing brought from the kitchen area to the new laundry spot by saw-cutting into the slab and digging to connect plumbing. We filled the trench with gravel and concrete, framed the closet, drywalled, mudded, painted, and made the countertop ourselves. Hired plumbing and electrical.
How we saved money: We did all of the work besides electrical and plumbing ourselves! We also reused an old cabinet from our bathroom (pre-bath remodel), painted it and hung it for detergent. We made the countertop with MDF and formica (so easy to clean), and spruced up boring bi-fold doors with cheap wall decals!
Other comments: We created this space by bumping into the back area of the garage off of the breakfast space inside.

Spruced Up Cabinets With Paint 

Sent by: Kara K., Prairie Village, KS

After: New tile backsplash in kitchen 

Before:

Remodel timeline: Less than a year

The hardest part: Sanding, de-glossing, priming, and painting all of the cabinets was not fun. Now I wish I had invested in a paint sprayer; it would have been way faster and easier! My mom and I do tile work, so the backsplash was no problem, but grouting was a little trickier and took longer than anticipated.
How we saved money: We reused the cabinetry but spruced up with paint, did the paint and tilework ourselves, and replaced the sink and faucet with more mid-range options. Although I would have loved quartz, the price of countertops were kept down by using corian in a concrete color look-alike.
Other comments: The washing machine was actually in the kitchen where the recycling containers now are. We moved it into a new laundry closet we built (another project entry!) so that we could have extra counter space! We used this new area for glasses to hang above as a drink station and recycling bins beneath.

Bright Remodel Livens Small Bath 

Sent by: Kara K., Prairie Village, K

Image 1 of 6: After: Finished bathroom

 

 

 Before:

 

Remodel timeline: Less than a year

The hardest part: Learning how to mud/tape drywall was quite the experience! I had to have a friend come and redo the horrible mudding job I did! Demolition was fun, but harder work than I realized. Knocking down all of the old shower walls/tile was labor-intensive — even just hauling the heavy stuff to the trash!
How we saved money: We did the demo ourselves, had a friend waterproof and tile the shower and floor, attempted to drywall ourselves, and did the caulking and painting! We got our plumbing/lighting fixtures from local hardware stores and floating shelves from IKEA.
Other comments: We also saved money by keeping the cast-iron tub, reusing the old sink cabinet for a workbench in the garage and painted the upper cabinet over the toilet for our laundry room! Another trick we used to make the room feel larger was taking the tile all the way to the ceiling in the shower!

Bathroom Quick-fix

I'd been wanting to get these shelves from IKEA for over a year now, but unfortunately we don't have a store in Kansas City.  Finally, when I was in Fort Worth recently, I went by IKEA and grabbed some!

These are the shiny white 7.5" deep EKBY TONY shelves that fit into the EKBY BJÄRNUM brackets.  You cut the shelves to the length you want and then the brackets hide the cut edge.  I cut mine to be 2 ft. long over the toilet to add much-needed storage for guest towels.

[i used fabric samples layered inside the picture frame to add my colors and pattern to the space]

before:                                                    after:

Before, I only had one towel bar for guests to dry their hands AND hang their bath towels from.  Now I have the bar for their bath towels PLUS the shelves for extra bath towels, hand towels, and washcloths.

I also hung three hooks on the wall behind the door for my husband and my bath towels... plus an extra! ;)

TIP: by repeating the dark brown stain of the sink basin in the wood vase and willow branches and keeping the other colors (white and green) consistent it makes the small room feel more organized and simplified. 

It's amazing what two little shelves can do for such a small bathroom!

To see the full transformation of this bathroom and to find out more about the other products used, click HERE!