Kitchen Bling

Yep, this is a post about putting hardware on our kitchen cabinets.  Our lives are just not that exciting, people...we've got to fill up the blog space somehow.

Let me just preface this project by saying that we lived in our last house for five years and, despite the fact that we had black painted kitchen cabinets, we never wanted to "splurge" by adding hardware.  Lesson learned--when it came time to sell, we (Sean) had lots of paint touch up to do.  So, with that experience under our belts, we decided to drive to our neighborhood Home Depot and finally get going on jazzing up these ho-hum cabinets.  Did I mention there's about a million of them?  We selected a different type of hardware for the upper cabinets versus the lower ones, mostly because the upper cabinets are considerably taller and a tiny knob looked kind of silly.  The pulls on the drawers were easy...I've always liked that look.  (If it works for Martha Stewart, it works for me!)  Plus, it helped break up the monotony of our dark brown cabinet convention.  

Here are the Before & After shots for your viewing pleasure:

I am really happy with how they turned out.  Another project checked off the list, thanks to my handy husband!

From Dirt to...Dy-no-mite!

After much discussion, we (thankfully) decided to hire landscapers to do our back yard instead of Sean working on it. Don't get me wrong, the dirt and weeds had a certain rustic Colorado feel, but we were ready for a change. Enjoy the transformation... (*Warning: the "before" shots are pretty ugly*)


View from the front yard, with the first of the "big" equipment tackling our yard.

We had so much fun watching the various equipment. Couldn't ask for better free back-yard entertainment!

View from our back step. The Austrian Pine looks great!

It hides the unsightly utility boxes nicely.

We had them put a sort-of pea gravel at the back door for now since we plan to build a deck there next year. Can't wait for that!

Baby pine tree, thanks to a major score from Home Depot!

Next item on the list: window well covers

We replaced one of the ugly shrubs out front with another baby pine tree.

That should do it for this year!

Progress

We have been in the new house almost two weeks now and slowly things are coming together. There is still a ton of painting to do and the back yard to landscape, but at least the front yard looks nice! Lucky for us, that was included by the builder. Otherwise, we would still be living in a dirt pit.

There is a lot of activity going on in the new neighborhood, two new houses are going up on the street behind us and it is amazing how quickly they are taking shape! The boys and I enjoy watching the construction vehicles and the progress they are making daily. It will be fun to see the transformation over the next few years as there are another 170+ houses that will be built just West of us as the neighborhood expands. Next Summer, we will have the pool, clubhouse & playground to enjoy. I can't wait to take the boys!

We had the back yard fenced on Friday--yippee!! This was huge for us because we had been walking the dog several times a day out of necessity, something we were definitely not used to. Adding a double stroller to the mix was not fun. Oh, and did I mention it has been raining non-stop?

This is the only type of fence our HOA will allow...hopefully it will contain our crazy Macey! Getting used to the HOA thing will definitely take some time.

The side yard is actually where we have the most room. There is supposed to be another house built directly behind us and that person will have five yards converging on their lot. Glad we are on a corner lot!

Possibilities

We are one step closer to finding a new home! While it is not our "dream home", it is a very nice house and one that we could be very happy in. It has everything we need and plenty of room for guests! Enjoy the photos...it is very beige now, but that's nothing that a few cans of paint can't fix!

view of kitchen from fridge space

from kitchen into great room

fridge space

the pantry--I've been dreaming about this!

view from eating space in kitchen to great room & dining room in distance

from great room to entry

french doors to study

powder room and doors to study (aka: the playroom)

master bath

view from front bedrooms

I saved the best for last: full bathroom in guest bedroom!!