whitewashing the 1970's........

Putting up the "pardon our appearance" sign in my kitchen due to the recent wave of overwhelming "wanting to get it done", is not an uncommon thing for me to do. I find myself coming up with home improvement ideas, and then wanting to wave my magic wand to see it happen immediately. But like the little red hen who seeks help in the barnyard, I am left alone to deal with the task. Besides, my boys cannot see my visions well when I talk to them about color or texture. I tell them to wait patiently and have faith, for not only will this take some time, but it's only important that I see the vision. For them, it will come at the reveal stage. Still, I did allow a 3-way vote that had to be unanimous as far as color was concerned. That alone took 3 weeks before I picked a color everybody could agree on. I'll be very lucky if the project takes only 3 weeks, but so far, I'm at week one, and only have 3 cabinets primed. Let's face it, brown is not an easy color to cover.

You see, I was left with brown cabinets upon the sale of the house to me 14 years ago. In that time, I have always envisioned them to be white.... clear, clean, crisp white. Something that brought them out of the 1970's and into the new millenium.... something that didn't scream "DATED". In the past 14 years, my house has undergone numerous changes. What was once a diamond in the rough, has slowly become a little gem of a cottage..... all this taking many weekends to complete, tons of paint, and loads of sweat equity.

The picture with this post is not my kitchen, but imagine my surprise when I found it on the web. It's almost the spitting image of mine...... dark, cavelike, and forboding. I've hated it from the day I moved in, but since it was still functional, I gave it a good cleaning, painted the walls white, replaced the nasty brown/ 70's appliances a few years back, and sat back on my laurels that I did the best I could with it, as other areas of the house need more attention. Now I'm eager to forge ahead and make this area a showcase..... one it should have been years ago.

And that's what I've been doing for the past week or so. Brown laminate does not cover well..... 3 coats of primer down, and I'm still plugging away with trying to get it covered. Remodeling a kitchen means that eating in said kitchen is an impossibility. Never mind that the dishes from the cupboards are splayed in every other inch of space in my house (how did I accumulate so much anyway?????..... and how did it all fit in those small cupboards?????) , but the ability to put together any dinner is improbable. Lucky for KFC right down the street, huh?

Being a neat and orderly person, I shouldn't be too shocked or surprised that I got it all to fit .... but it makes me wonder why did I collect so much. Searching my geneology (actually my Mom only), I realized I was very much like her. She had so many dish sets (all pieces included), that when she passed away, we all inherited one, if not several sets. Mine was a colorful Italian chicken set.... an antique I still collect today at yard sales and antique stores. The pieces aren't easy to find, but I still love the set, and have done well in my searches, usually when I'm not thinking about actually looking for it. I am convinced I have that collector gene firmly implanted in my DNA..... along with the bargain one, and the multitasking one. Let's face it, they know no bounds.

So if I am not here as much as I'd like, imagine me with a paint brush in my hands, endlessly covering the 1970's kitchen I was left with. This is going to take some time, as I can never be happy with just getting one thing done. After I successfully paint the cabinets, the walls come next.... then the old wallpaper that is impossible to strip down (covering it with bead board is a better idea), then the floors (hardwood replacing the very old, very dated, very used up vinyl), and then a retrim of shoemolding. Thank goodness I've had practice in this area, and thank goodness hubby is an ex-carpenter. We just might get it all completed before April, if we're lucky...... and then it's on to my office remodel if I have any funds left.

But before all that, I must attend to parties, wedding receptions, and office luncheons that are scheduled for food and services. As a matter of fact, I'm running out the door in a few minutes for a 50th birthday party not too far from my home. Let's see.... I'll be working a 7 hour shift on that, get some rest, and be back at it with the paint brush first thing in the morning. Who says my life isn't full of color?