My Useless Cabinet

I thought people were smaller in the 1950's.  To walk through some of the homes in my neighborhood you would think the same.  I mean, really, the house across the street has a Master Bath the size of a travel trailer.  My husband can't even get inside the shower stall.

So why was this cabinet in my kitchen so high?  Most of the top shelves in the rest of my cabinets hold all the stuff I only pull out once a year, like Christmas dishes.  This one above my sink was useless.  Who is going to use a cabinet that you have to have a ladder to reach and you have to hold the door up with one hand while to try to search for what you need with the other.

So a decorative shelf was born in my 1954 kitchen.  But a plain white shelf in my plain white cabinets was...well...boring.  For something a little different I lined the shelf with fabric.  I little spray glue did the trick.  (Hint: don't use striped fabric.  It's much harder to make it look good.)  I used hot glue and a little bit of black lace trim to cover all the corner seems.  Voile'.

P.S.  Everything on this shelf was found at a thrift store.  The bird was a cheap tacky resin figurine that I gave knew life.  See the post on that here.  The decorative "carving" on the face of the shelf was made using a stencil and spackling paste.

Don't let that hard to reach cabinet sit empty.  Have photos of your shelf project?  Share them on my Facebook page.

More Tacky Art Reborn

Ah, the 50's & 60's.  The era of cheap, tacky, green art.  Once again I found the perfect item to raise from the dead.  It's your grandma's art.  You know that stuff that you remember hanging on her wall from the time you were knee high to a pigs ear...or something like that.  After grandma passed on it was the first thing to end up in the "estate" sale pile. 

I love that word.  "Estate" sale, "Estate" sale.  Like saying it somehow makes all the really old plastic furniture worth a little more.  But, as usual, I digress.  If there were an ugly art contest, like those ever-so-sweet ugly pet competitions, this would win, hands down. 

The purchase had to be mulled over.  After all, what in the world was I going to do with this?  There was only one reason I couldn't pass it up.  It was a perfect match to one of the images on my recently purchased toile fabric for my kitchen.  And where there is one tacky piece of perfect art, there is always it's mate, and they both came home with me.

They sat in a drawer in my craft room for about 6 months and I decided to take them apart the other day to hopefully inspire my creative juices.  It worked!  And glory be!  All the other owners of tacky art would have taken their mildly hideous pieces home from the competition the minute I walked in with these ugly mutts.  What I found inside was a cheap piece of molded silver plastic so flimsy I could cut it with a pair of scissors.  So I did.

I trimmed the corners, just in case I find a use for the small corner border pieces then cut around the center frame with a ruler and my utility knife.  Did I say "thin piece of molded plastic" because it was a piece of cake to cut.  Each piece of art got a good coat of cream colored spray paint to cover up all the green.  After mere minutes in the Arizona sun these babies were ready for a coat of spray glue on the back and voile'.

I glued them to the inside cabinet on either side of my kitchen sink, let the spray glue dry overnight, then used paintable kitchen caulk around the edge of each picture to ensure the look of a cohesive piece.  When dry, I simple brushed a light coat of the same cabinet paint to give each piece a hint of wood grain. 

A completely new life has been created and I will challenge anyone (who hasn't read this little blurg) to suspect the humble beginnings of these beautiful, custom carvings.

If it weren't for grandma's in the 50's we would actually have to pay real money for real stuff like this.  Thank you grandma. 

A Soft New Look - Recycled Kitchen Project

Finally!  It's seems to have taken forever but I have actually made some progress to the point where I feel like I can share it with you.  My new pantry.  Well, maybe and maybe not.  I haven't decided yet if I will distress the cabinets or not.  If you read my earlier blog you have seen this ugly cabinet.  We did make one attempt at improving these 57 year old cabinets after we moved in.   But we were rushed and never really did like the outcome.  Primer, brown paint and hew hinges were as far as we went.
 

With a little bit if ingenuity, some glue, recycled faux wood blinds, clamps, black spray paint and a new white finish...voile!

This is the same cabinet, same doors, same hardware.  I found some used 2" textured faux wood blinds and Stardust and framed the cabinet doors.  Window blinds have small holes to accommodate the pull strings so I had to come up with some way to hide these holes. 

I filled the holes with spackling paste then used a stencil and more spackling paste to create a Fleur de lis embossed treatment over the holes.  Those ugly chrome handles...a coat of spray primer and matte finish black paint gave me a more desirable piece of hardware.  Forget spending $3-$5 on new handles.  I spent that much on a can of primer and a can of paint and I'll be able to re-do all 35 kitchen handles and 3 bathroom handles.

The white looks so much bolder and yet somehow softer against the tan paint.

Redecorating can be done very affordably if one is will to think creatively and take the time to measure, cut, glue and paint, paint, paint.

Kitchen Project - Something A Little Different

These homes built in the 1950's have a wonderful, energy saving feature (NOT!) that you just don't find in new homes.   Nothing says mid-century Ranch in Arizona like crank-out windows.  Windows that crank out require one very important thing, screens that hang "in".  That doesn't necessarily mean Ugly.  Idea time once more.

I painted the metal screen finish white.  A nice dress up, I thought.  But, ooo-ooo-ooohhhh noooo.  That would be way too easy.  A black & white Country French theme is what I'm going for here.  So I printed a Fleur De Lis on card stock and made my own stencil.  A quick spray of black paint and...voile!  (Note the extra touch with the Christmas Ornament for the holiday season)

Don't forget the finishing touches.  They can add a lot of spark.


Bryndal!  Don't chew the screwdriver!

Creative Kitchen Cabinets

Update #1 on the Uber kitchen remodel.  Kitchen cabinets.

Testing various techniques - Tying in to the existing back splash and future counter tops.

 
I used a door from our old linen closet to create a test board for the techniques I was thinking of using for the kitchen cabinet make-over.  It was still laying around from our Master Suite remodel, and since it is the same type of wood I thought it would be a good work surface.  What I needed to accomplish was to achieve a technique that would maintain the visual integrity of the fabric print but allow me to distress it at the same time.

Fabric Distressing Technique

  
And the winner is...

 
I protected the fabric and created texture by covering it in two layers of clear, water-based kitchen caulk.  It's white coming out of the tube which allows you to ensure adequate coverage of your area, and dries clear.  Don't use the type that must be cleaned with mineral spirits.  It's too shiny and sticky, even after it has dried.  The first layer of caulk was spread on thinly with a drywall blade.  The second was slapped on thickly, and rather hap-hazardly to create depth and added a nice touch with the application of the antique glaze. 

I tried a few other ideas that I thought would create the antiqued look I was going for, but none of those protected the fabric.  Once the glaze was applied it just soaked right in and covered the pretty toile print.

In addition, I needed to test my use of old faux wood window blinds as the frame for the doors of the cabinets.  With these blinds you get nice convenient little holes about every 10" which allow the strings to work the blind when it's hanging in a window, but inconveniently create a quandary when you are trying to re-purpose them.   Problem solved.  I covered each hole by applying Spackling Paste to a fleur de lis stencil.  Once the paste was dry I dampened my fingers with a tiny bit of water to rub out any sharp edges and they look very attractive with the glaze applied.




I'll be completing the top doors in the kitchen first.  I think I may simply apply the same technique on all of the lower cabinets without the fabric, to lend a little bit of subtlety to the overall look.

Keep checking in.  This could get very interesting.


Yes, Bryndal, you can chew on my coke bottle.  I'm finished with it.

The Giganto, Humongous, Mondo, Uber Project Begins

My husband wants a new kitchen.  No! Seriously!  He hates our kitchen and he wants a new one.  Every day he has to walk through the kitchen to get to his precious Man-Cave so he is constantly reminded of how much he hates the kitchen.

1954 was a lovely year for kitchens

 But remodeling would be super costly, and we are too cheap.

So here is the goal...remodel my 1954 kitchen for as low a cost as possible, re-using as many of the current items as possible, while achieving a fine French Country finish deserving of a few "oooo's" and "ahhhhh's".

The cabinets are sight built and structurally bound to the universe.  They don't build them like that anymore.  They'll be staying put and receiving a fine treatment with fabric, recycled window blinds, paint, caulk and drywall mud.

The appliances all work just fine.  Olivia is the original 1954 gas cook top.  She works like a dream.  I'd like to find a way to re-finish her with a heat resistant enamel paint.  Carol (lovingly named after Carol Brady), the 23" gas wall over works just as well.  Even the built in timer functions flawlessy.

Dated but fully functional appliances

Ok, ok, ok.  So I have to throw in this story here.  This is the first house we have had with gas appliances.  Right after we moved in my husband, Dave was yelling from the kitchen that the oven wasn't working.  When I went into the kitchen to investigate he was repeatedly pushing a button above the oven door.  "It worked fine the last time I used it.  What did you do to it?"

"Nothing" he replied.  "But the 'light' button isn't working."

"The what button" I asked curiously?

"The 'light' button" he responded as he pressed his Schwarzenegger finger on the tiny little chrome knob over and over again.  I burst out laughing and he looked up at me with crooked, sheepish grin on his face, those blue eyes twinkling with confusion.

"Honey, dear", I mused.  "That's the button to turn the light on so you can see what's cooking.  You turn the oven on by turning the temperature dial."  I slipped my hand up the knob and turned it to 400 for pizza.

After a brief pause he huffed with embarrassment and said quietly, "Oh.  I thought it was like the stove and it had an ignition."

I love that guy.  Back to the project...

I took the door off of the horizontal cabinet above the sink.  No one but Dave can reach it anyway, so I will add a treatment to this "plant shelf" to tie it in with the cabinets.  I will also be shopping for a set of matching vintage light fixture to replace the ultra cheapo hardware store versions currently in place.

A plant shelf and new light fixtures are in the plans

 And last, but of course not least...the counter tops.  Those lovely Formica counter tops;  those UGLY Formica counter tops with their burn marks, scratches and permanent mold caulking around the sink.  I can't replace them without ruining the back splash, and that I actually like.  We will be tiling over the existing counter with new ceramic tile in black.  The current back splash is in perfect condition and has a sweeee-eet black accent that will tie the whole thing together.  You can see it better in the appliance picture.

Can you say "Yuk!"

I think this project will take several months, lots of man, um no wait-woman hours, and some minor expenses.  The project will be blogged as I proceed with the costs incurred and the techniques.  I will summarize all of the expenses and hours when I am finally able to post the photos of my completed Country French kitchen.

After that...  A vacation.  I don't think I'll be done before our pre-Army ship-out Disneyland trip with my son in March.  Hopefully when we return from his Basic Training graduation in May we will be coming home to our "magnifique cuisine".

Stay tuned...ask questions...make comments if you wish, and don't be surprised if an emergency room tale, or complaints about how old I am surface occasionally.




Where is Bryndal, anyway?

She should be in a magazine

Kelli's home is one of the most beautiful homes I have ever seen. In my opinion she puts ALL the model homes I have ever seen to shame. Her sense of style is amazing and she is willing to take some pretty big steps to create some pretty amazing looks.

She crackle finished the maple cabinets of her kitchen island. I don't know if I would have even been willing to do such a drastic thing to some perfectly good cabinets. But the effect is stunning.

These are not custom cabinets. These were put in by the home builder. It is not a custom home. Granted it is in an upscale development, but a development non the less. All the homes are basically the same. Pick your favorite floorplan and choose your upgrades kind of homes.

Kelli used a crackle medium she purchased from a local craft store and painted over with a basic house paint. I'll ask her if she knows what the brand names and colors were.