Making Mama's Kitchen with a 3.5 and 1.5 year old

Every couple years, it seems like I'm struck with the realization that my kitchen is once again changing.  Not just the physicality of it, like new appliances, new flooring, or in this case, new house, but also the feeling of it.  When I first revamped my blog from "Ashley's Kitchen" to "Making Mama's Kitchen," Annalyn was only about 5 months old and I was astounded at how our kitchen had been taken over by bottles, drying racks, and baby bathtubs.  I could see that my kitchen would never be "mine" again. (post)

As Annalyn got older, she hit the I-want-to-help-with-everything stage and learned how to push the kitchen chairs up to our island to help me cook.  I embraced the change, and learned valuable lessons like, don't fill the mixer bowl and plug it in without checking first to see if she's pulled the knob all the way to high (see post here).  My mother-in-law made us matching aprons and we even used a sweet baking photoshoot to announce that I was pregnant with Emma.

Tour of my new kitchen, part 2: A little paint makes all the difference!

This weekend we knocked out a big project that I've been dying to have done, but really really not wanting to start.  As you can see, we painted our dining room table.  The reason I was so hesitant? Well, this isn't my first go around with painting this table.  We bought this table and chairs set on Craigslist when we still lived in our old apartment (so 6 years ago... ish) and it was solid oak.  The table top needed refinished, so we stripped and sanded it down, refinished the top, and painted the legs and spindles all blue (all in our tiny apartment, in January).  I loved how it fit and looked in my last house.

here's the before picture

which is sort of the middle picture

since it was once the after picture

got it?  good!

However, all things have a season, including my blue table that just didn't look right in my new kitchen.  So I was torn between repainting or replacing, but I'm cheap and sentimental, so here comes a weekend painting project!  First we primed all the remaining wood parts with Zinnser Cover Stain Primer (yay for no sanding!).  (For the record, I planned to have it tinted so I wouldn't have to paint black over bright white primer, but I had two kids with me in Lowes on a busy Saturday morning and forgot.  So here's to getting it right the third time I paint this table... because we all know that's probably inevitable).

Then we painted all the rest with this HGTV Home by Sherwin Williams black enamel paint.  It took 2 full coats, plus spot coverage on the painted parts, and 3 coats over the white primer.

For the top of the table, I decided to use Benjamin Moore Muslin, which is one of the colors that matches our Cambria quartz counter tops (the two companies paired up to have a series of colors that perfectly match the different colored counter tops. It's called the paint match tool on their websites.) I like how it breaks up the stark black.  And how it gives me a great excuse to go buy some cute tablecloths and/or place mats since I now have a very light colored table top (the paint is scrubbable, at least).

Carlisle Gray, Cambria Quartz

We also got our gallery wall up in the dining room. Starting to feel more homey all the time.

While we're talking about DIY projects in my kitchen, here's another one I'm pretty proud of - my "kitchen window" mirror.  This window was part of the screen door that was original to our first house (so 1959ish) and when we replaced it, I insisted on keeping the window part since it was in pretty good shape and clipped out easily.  Sure, it sat in the garage for a couple years, but I knew that one day, I'd have room to make it a focal point piece. Plus, I don't have a real window in my actual kitchen, so it's nice to pretend.

see the old blue table in the corner?

doesn't the black look so much better?!

(please don't tell me if you answered no...)

For the window, I scraped off all the peeling paint and glazing first.

Then sprayed the back of the glass with Krylon looking glass spray paint.  This is what gives the regular windows the antique glass finish.

 

Next, I taped off the glass and put a fresh coat of white paint on it. I didn't worry about it being perfect, because I wanted it to have an antique feel.

 Then, it waited for Mike to figure out how to hang it...

And lastly, I found the perfect wreath for the middle. I plan to change it out seasonally or whenever inspiration strikes.

Well, that's all the updates for now! Except these little guys I suppose - had to get bulldog s/p shakers to watch over the place :)

Tour of My New Kitchen!

Here it is, friends!  My new kitchen.  Hopefully my forever kitchen (not that I won't change it around a bit down the road).  I couldn't be more excited to be settling in and starting to cook again.  I didn't realize how much I missed it when we were in the middle of showing/selling our old house.  I'm sure I'll have lots of new recipes coming up this spring/summer to share with you, but first I wanted to make sure you had the lay of the land of what's going on behind the camera.

First of all, I have to tell you about the color of my kitchen.  Not the crayon green it started, but the bright, beautiful, calming Palladian blue that I painted it three days after closing.  No joke, three days.  My sister came over from Illinois and I took full advantage of her freakishly good painting skills (and lack of fear of heights that I have when standing on the counters trying to paint above the cabinets).  Not only is this a great color for this kitchen, but of all the thousands of paint colors out there, my sister-by-marriage has the same one picked out as a contender for her kitchen.  I sent her a few of my favorites, with this in the lead and we were surprised (but then again, not really) that we once again are basically the same person.  Even funnier, I was relaying that story to one of Michael's cousins and she also has picked Palladian blue, but for their bathroom!  Three Musketeers for life, ladies!

But back to my kitchen... it's no longer green, it's blue.  With a hint of green... and gray.

Here's the before and after... Pretty crazy!