Sneak peek #2: Kitchen reno in progress!!

Happy Tuesday friends!!

*Cabinets painted and rehung...check

*new knobs on...check

*new fridge in...check

*anxiety gone...check

Still waiting on new range and microwave...(coming tomorrow)...new quartz countertops may be a few weeks away...I'm hoping sooner...I can't wait to show you all the finished project!...Here's another sneak peek...

A couple of new items for the new kitchen!...couldn't pass these up:  mercury glass birds & little boxwood topiary.

It's getting there...thanks for following along on this journey...stay tuned, and thank you all so much for the encouraging comments!!

xo,  Mariaelena
linking to:
http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/
http://www.somewhatsimple.com/
http://laurieannas.blogspot.com/
http://tatertotsandjello.com/
http://restoreinteriors.blogspot.com/
http://organizeyourstuffnow.com/wordpress/
http://whilehewasnapping.blogspot.com/

Holiday greens & Christmas mantel

Happy Saturday friends!!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We spent the holiday at the beach house and it was SOOOO relaxing....back to the burb house now and on with the Christmas decorating!!...HOORAY!!!....(kitchen is coming along...new fridge came today...I'll post more on that once the other appliances arrive)...Every year, I take a walk with one of the kids to "collect" greens to decorate our house for the Christmas holiday...it's become a tradition of sorts...Here's a sampling of this years pile and what we did with them so far....

This years Christmas mantel...as always, I will edit and add as I look at it some more...It's a very wide mantel, so it's hard to get a good photo of the entire thing...below are some close ups...

This is the urn on my piano that is usually filled with hydrangeas...

This is what's left...still need to make swags for the porch tomorrow...may need to go out for some more!!

Happy decorating!!!!
xo, Mariaelena
linking to:
http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/
http://itssoverycheri.com/
http://savedbylovecreations.com/
http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/
http://www.somewhatsimple.com/
http://www.thevintagefarmhouse.com/
http://tatertotsandjello.com/
http://verymerryvintagestyle.blogspot.com/
http://abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com/
http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/
http://eisymorgan.blogspot.com/
http://organizeyourstuffnow.com/wordpress/
http://lbratina.blogspot.com/
http://whilehewasnapping.blogspot.com/
http://romantichome.blogspot.com/
http://houseinroses.blogspot.com/
http://modvintagelife.blogspot.com/

Sneak peek at kitchen progress!!

Thanks to my hubby...anxiety finally gone and things are moving along quickly....here is a sneak peek:

All of the cabinets are now painted..our job for today is to put on the minwax poly to help protect them and then add the knobs! 

I'm hoping that in the next couple of weeks the new counters and appliances are in!!

PLEASE STAY TUNED!!
HAVE A GREAT SUNDAY!!

xo, Mariaelena


linking to:
http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

OMG!!...we are painting the kitchen cabinets!

A little background:  we bought our home 16 plus years ago...we did a mini kitchen redo right away...you know, wallpaper, new vinyl floor etc...then, 10 years ago, we decided to completely gut the 1963 kitchen and remodel...at that time, I LOVED the whole cottage white kitchen look but was afraid that it may be a trend and wanted a timeless look that would be appealing to all for resale.  We did the remodel ourselves, ripping out and putting in the new maple cabinets, putting in the hardwood flooring etc.  My favorite part of the kitchen has always been the eating area.  My hubby built a corner built in and made the wainscot boxes on the walls.  (this is the part of the kitchen you always see in my blog).. We decided to stay in this house and for the last couple of years I have considered painting the cabinets, especially after spending summers in the beach house with the white kitchen.   And so after way too much thinking and rethinking...we took the plunge...I had a complete anxiety attack the other day...I have painted tons of pieces of furniture, but this was different.  We were painting very nice maple cabinets that were fairly new. This is what I will be blogging about for the next few weeks...we are replacing the appliances and counter tops....so far we have sanded, primed and applied the first coat...hoping to get to the next one today...here's a sneak peek of what we've started....wish us luck and help me breathe.....

Our before photo...I'll show more in a future post once it's done... 

This was about the time the anxiety attack hit...my poor husband...

Why is it that your kitchen cabinets reproduce once they are taken down???

They are EVERYWHERE!!!....I just have to remember to breathe and keep on painting..
please stay tuned and follow along with us on this journey....

xo,  Mariaelena


linking up to:
http://www.jenniferrizzo.com/
http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/

THE POWER OF PAINT!!

Happy Wednesday friends!!

I'm finally up and running again after the October snow storm here in the Northeast this past weekend...unfortunately, we lost power for a few days and internet access for a couple more.
All great now and I'm so excited to show you my totally budget friendly main bathroom redo.
Now remember, that the "burb" house is a 1963 ranch.  This is the bathroom that our kids as well as guests use.  My husband and I did a mini redo about 15 years ago by taking down the awful wallpaper that was in there, replacing the floor tile and the countertop.  At that time, I also stenciled a boarder on the wall.  I have been so done with that stencil and the orange/brown stained vanity for a couple of years now.  We are getting ready to paint the kitchen cabinets very soon and so I thought I'd practice on the OLD bathroom vanity first...I really got in to trying to use things I had around the house (shopping in my attic) to redo this bathroom as well as a couple of new accessories.  Well...here it is, the finished product!.....sorry...there are tons of pictures!!

TADA!!
this is the after...below are tons of before photos...
from country to cottage...

the before:  flowers, flowers and more flowers.... 

15 year old stencil

the pre painted stained vanity...

still before:
the stenciled...country wall

let the redo begin!!!

Even though I painted the walls a white on top of white,  it took a few coats to cover up that stencil...

The painting of the vanity

I found this Christmas basket in the attic and painted and distressed it to use for tissues !!

We put this little shelf on the wall when we redid this room 15 years ago, so now I painted it white and antiqued it with glaze...I added some ball jars for storage and some other accessories I already had...

One of my favorite things in the redo...I bought scrapbook paper from Michael's and cut and framed it twice.
LOVE this!!

Bad lighting, but there is the other framed paper....I took a plain white frame and used the antiquing glaze to give it some texture.

This was my mom's pitcher...she would have loved that I am  blogging..xo
I used some twigs for texture and added some battery operated lit twigs...

I already had this weathered basket (in the attic)...perfect for my new spa colored towels!!

Simple, but I am LOVING this room now!!

Another old window from this house...I painted this about 3 times...I wanted it to look like I found it on the side of the road...I used this on the wall where that heart shaped wreath was...thinking of hanging a round twiggy wreath on it, but simple is good too...what do you think???

Remember this from one of my summer tag sales???....it was pink...I painted it with the same paint I used on the old window, and then wiped some antiquing glaze on top...perfect on the side of the vanity for magazines!! 

new soap dispenser...

A simple, inexpensive way to add a little something to an otherwise plain wall...so many scrapbook papers to choose from...this one was perfect with the color scheme I was going for...

At first, I was planning on keeping the old shower curtain, but once I got going...that flowered curtain was all wrong for the space...I found this one and it is PERFECT!!

Here is that old Christmas basket....I told you I was shopping in my own house!!!

simple ball jars for pretty organization

photo taken with me standing in the tub...remember...1963...lol

Replaced the wooden knobs with these brushed nickel knobs.

I spray painted the hinges nickel... 

Sorry, but here is that larger frame again...close up this time......I'm so happy with it!!!

And these fabulous real wood shutters were here when we bought our house...a coat of paint freshened them up...

Hope you liked it...
Have a great 2nd half of the week!!

xo, Mariaelena


linking up to these party people:
http://www.domestically-speaking.com/
http://www.fingerprintsonthefridge.com/
http://creatingahouseofgrace.blogspot.com/
http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/
http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/
http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com/
http://savedbylovecreations.com/
http://lbratina.blogspot.com/
http://adiamondinthestuff.blogspot.com/
http://verymerryvintagestyle.blogspot.com/
http://athomewithk.blogspot.com/
http://bec4-beyondthepicketfence.blogspot.com/2011/11/under-100-linky-party.html
http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/
http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/
http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/