We Need A New Kitchen Table

Hello!  We own a lot of Ikea furniture.  From the shelving in the family room to Hadley's little bed.  And I have never encountered a major issue....for the price you pay perfection isn't always expected but the things we have purchased have held up incredibly well and we've been happy with them.  Except for the kitchen table.  Oh the kitchen table, the one I ran out and bought at an Ikea that was 45 minutes from our house a month after Hadley was born to prove to myself that I could still do things with two kids in tow.  I even called Scott after I got home - soooo proud of myself.  Well that table was a good idea at the time.  We hadn't even moved in our house yet but we knew from the limited space in the kitchen that a round table that extended would make the most sense.  Enter the Ikea Liatorp table for $249.  Looks like this table has since been replaced with this one for $100 more - lets hope its been improved.

Here is what the table looked like when I bought almost 4 years ago.

 

Here is in the kitchen after we moved in.



 

Once we moved and the table was set up it was fine.  That was until someone drops a fork and suddenly there is a small "ding" in the table.  Then someone spills water.  Well the mixture of exposed Particleboard (fake wood) and liquid causes swelling which caused paint to chip off.  We sealed the spots as soon as they happened but it was no use - one would turn into five within a few days. 

 



 

 

And here are the bumps and swells that have taken over.



 

When this first started happening I tried covering them with waterproof decals - but that made it look even worse plus with two little girls the table never stayed clean which meant the decals never stayed stuck.  Then I had a better idea. Cover the whole thing! I sanded down the entire table, repainted it white and applied a food safe sealer.  Once that dried I applied an adhesive and put this gorgeous fabric over the two sections of the table and then sealed that with four coats of polyurethane.  This process was annoying since the sealer smelled and it all needed at least a week to "cure" I did everything in the garage.

 

The end result was really pretty and a big improvement.

This solution was great for about 3 or 4 months but then the edges of the fabric started to curl and fray and the swelling came back in the middle of the table where the split was.

 

 

Lovely right?

So after all that hard work I decided to just cover the table with tablecloths - I bought two from Target and one is always in the wash so they are nice and faded now: ) 

 

All of this has lead me to start looking for a new table, one that will hopefully withstand everything our family can dish out.  Below are a few that I am considering.  Until then I might need to pick up a few new tablecloths!

 

 

Crate and Barrel.

 

 

Overstock.

 

Pottery Barn.

See you tomorrow!!

 

 

 

 



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Current Obsession - Farmhouse Rag Rugs

Hi there!  Today I thought I'd share a little purchase I made - which was intended to be repurposed into a wall hanging for my shop - that ended up becoming our kitchen rug.

I had planned to cut this vintage rug in half and make into two weavings,  but once it arrived I fell in love with the colors and imperfections in it.  And it fit perfectly in front of our kitchen sink.

A few weeks ago, I bought another super long rag rug runner, intending to use it in same way, but when it arrived I had second thoughts and now it's for sale in the vintage section of my shop.  If I had somewhere to put it I would totally be keeping it!

 

I love the worn look of these rugs and that colors are muted in some spots and bright in others.  There are also a lot of prints running through the rugs which makes them more special and unique.



They are soft underfoot and make any space feel a little bit more cozy - at least they do here!


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Wish List Wednesday ~ Beach House Decor

Just dreaming about the summer, warm weather, and the beach with today's special items....all from Etsy!




Nautical Sea Shell bowl

Raggedy Ocean nautical illustration

Shell tureen and serving tray

Octopus poster

A brass sailboat

Crab watercolor


Now, maybe I can WISH the cold weather away!! ♥

 

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Brightening Up the Bay Window

Hello!  So the bay window in our kitchen as pretty much stayed the same since we moved in.  The previous owners had stained the wood counter with this dark brown color that looked out of place once we put the butcher block countertops in.  But I dealt with it because it was brighten up the plants in colored planters and some of the girls artwork too.  I also wasn't sure how to go about removing it.  I thought the counter would have to come out or I would have to cover it with laminate...in an attempt to mimic the color of the butcher block. 

Then I had an "aha" moment and realized that I could just paint over it...or at least try to paint over it! I mean it couldn't get much worse!!  So after a little prep work and a few hours of painting and drying time we now have a brighter window in our kitchen a long with a pretty plant display...I love it!!

BEFORE

I went over the counter with light grit sandpaper a few times to remove any build up and to rough it up a bit so the paint would stick better.

After I vacuumed all the sanding dust up I applied two thin coats of primer to help cover the stain and wood grain.

 

At first, I had planned to paint the counter a bright white but decided it might be to matchy-matchy with the window trim and instead opted for some left over light gray paint I had.

I applied three thin coats with a foam brush and that was that!!

AFTER

 

 

I got replaced most of the mismatched planters with some of the milk glass I recently found for a more cohesive look .

I love keeping a little water filled vase here now, the girls are always bringing me beautiful "flowers" (grass and weeds usually) when they come in from playing outside and want them displayed immediately.

 

The blue planter above was a little too blue so I cut a heart out of a piece of white paper and adhered it with a glue stick...easy!

So much brighter!  So much better!!!

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Making a List Was on My List - So I Made One!

Mornings...I am not a morning person in any way, shape or form but since having kids I have become more "cheery" at 7am than I used to be.  I am especially not a person of the morning when it looks like this outside:

Rainy, dark and all around gross.

Scott does the majority of the grocery shopping for our family - I am a terrible meal planner and even worse in the grocery store.  If I went shopping I'd come home with a few of the staples (milk and fruit) and then a bunch of hummus, wasabi peas and Greek yogurt - good for me but not for everyone.

So when I noticed this on the counter (once I was fully awake and one coffee deep) I decided it was time to make a list that could be added too throughout the week and not sit on the counter until Saturday - one of my organizational pet peeves.

The beginning of what will soon become an epic shopping list!

By now it's almost 8am and I decided that it would be the perfect time to get out the old chalkboard paint and make the inside of our pantry door into an easy to use (and not see) shopping list.

Pantry door before.

Paint leftover from the garage makeover and an cheap paintbrush.

After taping off the middle section of the door to create a frame around the list I added three coats of the chalkboard paint - letting it dry for about 20 minutes in between each coat.

By 9:30am the tape was ready to come off and the sun was out!  After removing the tape and doing a quickly priming the painted section by rubbing a piece of chalk all over it then wiping it away my morning project was complete!

I attached one of Scott's old matchbox trucks (one that opens in the back) to the door with a 3M strip to hold extra pieces of chalk. 

Happy Thursday!
Kendra
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How Does Your Garden Grow?

Ok, so maybe this doesn't qualify as a garden but it is the longest I've kept this many plants alive. At once. Ever!  And keeping with this week's fresh theme it seemed fitting to share these little lovelies at the close of the week because I am proud of them and myself! Lame but true.

Assorted plant life - two from here (two sadly did not make it) others from Lowes winter sale ($.75/each) and the aloe is from Ikea.

Hello inside of the Piperlime cardboard box my leather boots came in.  For some reason I think it looks pretty under there...

Hadley wanted some attention during my plant photoshoot.  She'll keep saying, "Mommy" until I snap a pic of her.

The rosemary bush was a holiday gift and has been used a lot in my cooking since then.  But it doesn't look like it will make it that much longer - so I thought the fabric heart might help perk it up a bit.

Have a lovely weekend!
I've got wallpapering on my mind - more on that soon - fingers crossed!
xo!
Kendra


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Adding A Little Color to an Empty Corner

It all started with this little bare corner of our kitchen. 

For awhile now I have been trying to decide what to put up on the wall to brighten it up a bit and add some color.  I didn't want anything to big or dramatic, just something simple and pretty with a pinch of quirkiness.

And then last week I spotted these on Etsy and I had an idea!

This just shows nine of the larger caps.  I actually received 40.

Why not frame these pretty vintage dairy and juice caps and turn them into a cute (quirky) work of art?

I started out by finding a frame that would be a good fit and a piece of white cardboard to use as the background for the caps. 

Once I was happy with the layout I added a dab of hot glue and stuck the caps onto the background.

I knew the dark brown frame was not going to look right so I decided to use my little sample jar of Martha Stewart's Persimmon Red , which you might remember from this project, to add some brightness.

The perfect shade after two quick coats of paint!

 

This color goes perfectly with the Missoni tumblers and other items I have in our glass front cabinets - which are on the other side of the window - directly across from the cap art.

Crazy how similar the orange/reddish pink colors are!

Once the paint dried and and the board was in place my plain little corner turned into this.

Hooray for a quick and inexpensive update!

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Our Kitchen - Then and Now

Happy Monday! Hope the weather is bright and sunny where you are because we are in the middle of a neverending rainfall here - joy.

As I mentioned here we closed on our house in mid-May but we didn't move in until mid-June. During that time we were busy (along with a general contractor) designing the inside of our dated 1980's abode. So today I thought I would share the remodeling progress we've made in our kitchen. 

Let me set the scene...brown laminate flooring as far as the eye could see.  A huge (weird) island with a tall backsplash that completely cut the room in half.  A giant eyesore vent hanging over said weird island making the room feel smaller. And finally dark wood cabinets with crystal ball knobs (what?) that I suspect were the previous owners attempt at "glamming" them up.  

BEFORE  

Scott and I pretty much agreed that everything had do go except for the built-in shelves above the desk on the right - love those.  I already a vision of what I wanted the kitchen to look like - bright, clean, simple.  So we got to work picking out white cabinets - side note: I wanted to just paint the old cabinets white in order to save money and not be wasteful (ugly yes but still functional) but after discussing this with our contractor we realized there wasn't much of a price difference to have them strip, sand and paint the cabinets compared with buying new ones.  Now the old cabinets (with their glam knobs) have a new home in our garage as Scott's tool storage.

Next we decided on butcher block countertops - I have always loved how wood looks in a bright white kitchen and we were able  to get all of these ourselves after a few (too many) trips to Ikea. We also picked up something I have been coveting forever - a big farmhouse sink.

Bright shiny subway tile was next on list for the backsplash, hardwood floors and new appliances replaced their dated counterparts.  Lastly new paint - blue.  And that was it, well not really but for now.

I'm going to call the next photo "Progress" instead of "After" because I still have a bunch of stuff left to do before I feel like the room is truly complete.  Little things like finding tea towels I like this one and these, filling the glass-front cabinets with some kind of usable collection of something - like this and this and this. Recovering the kitchen table chairs with durable fabric to save them from messy two year olds.  And the list goes on.

PROGRESS

Some Sources:

Countertops: Ikea

Farmhouse Sink: Ikea

Subway Tile: Lowes

Faucet: Overstock

Cabinet Pulls and Knobs: Home Depot

Paint: Martha Stewart

Stainless Steel Appliances: Lowes

Cabinets and Flooring through contractor

I am a terrible terrible cook so I'm counting on the prettiness of this kitchen to make my food taste better!

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