Mood lighting in the kitchen

Well hello! I hope you had a wonderful weekend! My stepdaughter came home for fall break and we had a blast! The Bub was so thrilled…the two of them are 16 years apart, but you would never know it -- they play (and fight) like they are only a year apart.  ;)

I finally finished up a project last week that was about five months past due. I installed under cabinet lighting in our kitchen years ago – it was just the kind you mount under the cabs and plug in. It worked great for us because of the old black backsplash:

See the cord plugged in? I know…if you’ve read this blog for two hot seconds, you know I loathe cords. BLECH. Hate them.

But the black cords blended right in…even I didn’t notice them. ;)

But when I installed the new, white, beadboard backsplash, those black cords could be no more. I mean…are you kidding me? I would quite literally just pass out from it. Black cords on white?

No way Joe-say!

So the lighting sat in the basement for months while I tried to figure out what I was going to do. My first though was to have an electrician run connections from the outlets in the backsplash into the cabinets…but that just sounded like a mess (and not cheap).

Then I decided to try the battery-operated LED lights, similar to this one:

I liked that they were dimmable. But I wasn’t thrilled with their bright white light. (I know, I know…I’m supposed to love the energy-efficient lights but I am a warm white kind of girl – the LED is so harsh!)

I was living with them for a while, and then one night they were left on all night long, and by morning every. single. one. needed three new batteries. I knew it wouldn’t be the first time that would happen, so they went back to Home Depot. :)

So I kept thinkin’…and finally figured out what I was going to do. Last week I decided to just make a (HUGE) mess and finally git er done!! (Or is that “dun?”)

I figured I had three hidden outlets throughout the kitchen I could use – one behind the fridge, one in the appliance garage and one in the cabinet above the microwave. I only needed to plug in five under cabinet lights and knew I could get to all the outlets needed by going through the cabinets.

I used my 1 1/2 drill bit and started drilling holes under the cabinets for the cords to go through:

I drilled through the sides of the cabinets too, till I got to where the outlet was. To make the cords stay put, I covered them with my handy dandy cord covers:

Then I installed the lights under the cabinets, which is done by simply using a screw:

This part pretty much stinks. You have to contort your body under the cabs just so. I used a small drill bit to make a hole first, then drilled them in – otherwise the screws go flying and you may or may not say a cuss word.

:)

Because I positioned the lights so the cords would barely be showing underneath, I could have just left them alone. But I HATE CORDS (remember?), so I used my cord covers again:

In the past, I used these little jobbies to wind the cord around under the cabinet:

The cord fits in there and you nail it up into the cabinet so they are secured safely.

On that side of the room, I put two of the lights into the appliance garage, and I was going to put the third into the outlet behind the fridge. To operate it, I planned on using a remote to turn it on and off – but the box you plug in wouldn’t fit into the outlet because of the honkin’ cord from the fridge. So I just took it through to the appliance garage too.

The lights around the stove went to the outlet above the microwave, and while I was up above the microwave drilling, I had quite the mishap. :)

I (knock on wood) rarely have accidents…but this one had the potential to be a doozy. I was standing on a chair (first bad idea), and while I was drilling, I leaned against the front of the stove (second bad idea).

It started getting SO HOT all the sudden…and I’m such a fruit loop my first throught was DANG, two drills in one week are burning up on me! (The first one happened when we installed the new pantry door.)

I was so mad! But it just kept getting hotter…and hotter. Then I looked down and saw flames coming from the stovetop. (Within inches of my legs.)

Yeah…I had turned on the gas with my knee.

Awesome!!

In the process I melted the cord of one of my lights – so this free project turned into a $15 one (for a replacement) pretty fast.

But at least I realized it was ME that was almost burning, and not the drill.

Good Lord. Fruit loop, I tell you.

Oh yeah…and I have to warn you. This is easily the messiest project I’ve ever done:

An insane amount of sawdust. Crazy. Use eye protection.

I’ve had lighting above our cabinets for years now too, and I just drilled a hole through the top of the cabinet and used the plug:

On the other side, it’s simply snaked down behind the corner cabinet into the appliance garage.

I use rope lights for soft light:

Everything is plugged into a surge protector with a switch, so all of the lighting in the room is turned on with two switches. Which is WAY better than going around and switching on each and every light as I had it before. ;)

I missed our soft kitchen mood lighting so!:

I have them on every. single. night. Most nights, they are the only lights on in the kitchen.

Like I mentioned, this project was almost free – I’ve had the lights for some time. But if you’re interested in doing this in your kitchen, the small, (about ten inches?) lights are about $10. The medium size (20 inches) is about $15. I know they have a larger size and I think it’s $20.

I use the incandscent version because I like the warm light:

But they have a ton of options! I’ve purchased them at both Lowe’s and Home Depot.

Ideally I’d love to have them all wired and flip one switch…but for now, they take approximately four seconds to turn on and it was just a couple hours covered in sawdust to make it happen. 

I have noticed lately that I can see the reflection of the rope lights in some of my accesories above the cabs, so I think I’m going to try moving them behind everything to see how that works:

(Ignore the placement and accessories…most of it is changing.)

Oh, and I’ve mentioned my luscious dimmers (yes. I called them luscious.) before – I have them on almost every light fixture in our house:

They save money and the low light just plain lovely in any room!

Have you installed mood lighting in your kitchen? Did you do it the real way or the pretend way like me? ;) (If you’ve blogged about it, please link to it!)

DIY disclaimer: Again…I am no electrician – putting cords through cabinets is probably not the way an expert would accomplish this project. Be sure to watch rough edges so the cords to do not rub against them. (I have put duct tape around the edges of the holes I drilled just to make sure everything is smooth.)

OK…I promise to blog about something other than the kitchen this week! (But I’m on a ROLL!!)

A new pantry door

One of the many reason I love to blog is because I know some of you get excited about the little projects that I get excited about too. Or at least you act like you do. (That is so nice of you.)  ;)

I was so happy about this one, I couldn’t wait to share it with you. I even took NIGHT pictures. Which means I REALLY wanted to show you, cause you know that’s just asking for horrible pictures. (Which with the new camera are not nearly as horrible, by the way. Kisses to you Canon Rebel.)

I have a warning though – so far in our mini kitchen redo, there are now two DIY projects I suggest you hire out for if at all possible…the sink/faucet installation and hanging a new pantry door.

Both were just insanely annoying and full of issues, one right after the other. Maybe not for most people, but for me. Because that is how I roll.

I’ve been dreaming of a glass paneled door to our pantry for years now. I don’t know why – I’ve just wanted to do it forever. I think it’s because I always see them on those fab, walk in pantries you see – it seems like there’s always a cute glass door. Our pantry is TEENY – so I just want it to feel good about itself. ;)

When I got the opportunity to work with the free Amex points, I knew my day had finally come to get the pantry door of my dreams.

I went straight to Home Depot and got it!

And it sat in our dining room for six months. SIX. You can tell how excited I was to install it, huh?

Well, in an effort to get more of the redo wrapped up, I called my Dad last week and asked if he could help me out. Dad to the rescue (again!!). The first issue we had to deal with – the door was too big (wide). Buy a millimeters, really.

Of course it was. :)

My sweet Dad loaded the door in the car and took it to the woodworking shop who cut the butcher block for our island. They whipped it through their machines and got it planed down in less than ten minutes.

Have I mentioned how awesome this shop is?? When I was there last, they had built an 18 foot butcher block counter for a butler’s pantry in a mansion. Eighteen feet. For a butler’s pantry. It was GORG. Stunning. HUGE.

Anyhoo, we got it home and Dad started the process of installing the hinges in the door – he got them all screwed in and issue number two was realized – the door was upside down.

Of course it was.

He fixed the hinges, we hung it up, and even though the door had been cut down plenty, it still didn’t fit.

So…I had to do what we were trying to avoid – mortise the hinges:

(That would be issue number three, if you are counting.)

It’s actually quite easy to do – it’s just time consuming and messy. If you’re interested, I’ll show you how to do it in an upcoming post. Heck, I’m going to show you even if you’re not interested, so booyah.

I borrowed a knob set from a friend that locks into place and shows you just the spot to drill into the door:

Issue number four came when I was trying to drill the hole – I kept telling Dad something was stinking bad…and as I was drilling it was getting worse and worse.

And then I saw the smoke coming from the drill. Lots of smoke. The smell was the insides of the drill burning.

Of course it was. :)

It was thisclose to bursting into flames. Dad thinks I exaggerate just a bit, but seriously…thisclose.

So…off to Lowe’s I went for another drill. YAY!

The new one got through in no time, and then I did the side hole for the latch as well:

The kit pictured included both hole saws you need – I would definitely recommend it if you are going to hang more than one door!

I installed the knob again, and it was finally hung:

And it only took two days! Sheesh.

I couldn’t decide between black or white paint for the door – I was leaning toward black because I knew the white would look too similar to the windows and door in the bay area next to it.

I wanted it to shine!! :) So I asked my friend Layla to do her Photoshop mojo on a the picture above, and the black paint version looked AWESOME.

One coat of tinted primer and two coats of black later…

I am in luuuurve!! OH, I am so thrilled. It looks JUST like I’ve pictured in my head for all these years.  :)

Oh I forgot to mention my least favorite part of the whole project…taking the plastic off the glass:

OH dear LORD…I think I lost my mind just a little bit. It was insane. I mean…like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I will be pulling itty bitty bits of plastic off of the windows for months.

Reason number 88,348 I love my husband – he walks into this mess after working for 12 hours straight and doesn’t even bat an eye. We were meant to be, my hubby and me.  ;)

My plan was to put some window vinyl stuff over the glass panes:

But the kind I got wasn’t the frosty look I was going for. Then I wondered if I could just use the frost spray paint – has anyone tried that? My only concern would be how it holds up – I figure it would scratch easily. I wonder if I just spray the windows from the inside, maybe it would hold up better?

I gotta tell you though – once I rearrange my shelf labels so they are centered (yes, that’s giving me hives) and clean the pantry a bit, having it open doesn’t really bother me.

Crazy? Maybe. But I’m allowed – it’s my pantry.  :)

My little glass pantry door dream has always included a soft light shining down inside. I tried sticking an LED light inside just to see how it looked and it accentuates the mess just a tad:

So that may not be happening. :) I would use a softer, non LED light if I did it, but we’ll have to see if I cover the windows first.

So there you have it – one of the most annoying DIY projects I’ve encountered. But, yes, grumble – it was totally worth it. I absolutely love it.

One of the little things I love about the new door is that it allows SO much more light in the pantry – even during the day, when the old door was open it would block the light from the window. Now the light shines right through and we can see our food! (And I can find my cheddar and sour cream chips soooo much easier.)

Do you see the little extra project (above) I started while I had the paint out? I primed and painted some of the base on the table and OOHHHHHH, it’s going to look FAB!!

I was too tired to finish the table today, cause our kitchen was a disaster area – this is what you don’t see in the pictures:

Paint tarps wadded up and tossed out of the picture. Little pair of jeans on the floor. Island covered with things I took off the table:

Our dinner still on the stove. Dishes everywhere. Popcorn popper from four nights ago. A massive bag of Dum Dum suckers on the counter. (Why?? I don’t even know.) Bag of supplies from True Value (from a week ago) that I haven’t put away yet.

I told you I chuck stuff out of the pictures. The clean house is all an illuuuuusion. ;)

So, do you have a glass pantry door? Do you have a pantry closet? Or a itty bitty one like us? Do you even have a pantry? (Bless you who are pantry-less.)

 

P.S. Why does spell check still not recognize “booyah” – helloo??

P.P.S. I did some organizing in our pantry last year – to see that post, go here.

 

Thanks to this week’s sponsor!:

Spooky in the house

Well, it’s about time for some Halloween decorating up in here!

At least that’s what the Bub said – without the “up in here” lingo. OH my goodness – he is SO exited about Halloween this year! He’s been decorating all over the place. Which in his way is pulling everything out of the bins and lining it up along every. single. surface. in the house.

Adorable. :)

It feels like I just put the fall mantel together yesterday – I never know how to do the whole fall/Halloween decor. I usually pull fall out, then do Halloween, then put fall back out on November 1. Seems like so much extra work, so next year I think I’ll just start with Halloween. Decor is so confusing.

Our spooky mantel hasn’t changed much from last year when I ended up taking a few Goodwill frames:

And spray painted them black, then filled them with various graphics I printed out:

This year I added some height by adding my $3.50 (originally $20!) sparkly haunted house to the middle:

It’s stacked up on box you can’t see. Sneaky, I am.

Do you see the adorable addition Stink Eye Sis added?:

UGH! I could DIE from the cuteness!!

Then I just continued to layer the frames:

I showed you how I made these cutie little spooky votives here:

  

I absolutely love those little eyes. ;) I used my LED candles again – you can find them just about anywhere now!

They’re all nestled in black tulle and a string of lights. Just wish they made black Christmas tree lights, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

Would it be wrong if I spray painted the white cord black? Nah…even that’s a little much for me.

Maybe.

The glass jar is filled with some netting and a glittery skull – both from the Dollar Tree:

The sparkly spiders were from Pier 1 – I think eight for $1.50? Ewww…they are so grody.  But cool.

And of course, the crows are from the Dollar Tree too. That place rocks!

For a little finishing touch, I cut out some bats with my Silhouette and placed them here and there:

    

My friend Jen did it on her mantel and I just had to copy it. How fun is that?

It’s got a lot more going on than I would usually do – but Halloween is the one time of year I’m OK with that. And it’s only up for two more weeks anyway – when the fall decor comes back out. Gah! (At least I didn’t say Christmas decor – wink wink.)

I’m also working on our foyer as well – it started with a little friend on the mirror:

He’s just a cut out made of the vinyl texture stuff for windows. ;) I’ll show you the foyer when the Bub’s I’m done decorating it. ;)

** I’m linking this up to Beth’s Halloween mantel party –- uhhhh…my mantel is child’s play compared to some of these. Gorgeous!!

Thanks to this week’s sponsor!:

My nekked kitchen windows

Sooo…do you remember that little bitty kitchen project I started ohhhhh…five months ago? With the help of some free Amex points, I was able to take the simple changes I had planned for the space and amp them up just a tad. :)

Well, the summer-o-lazy hit, and then the closer we got to fall, the more obsessed I got with decluttering, so the kitchen has had very little DIY action lately. I’m finally getting the urge to get it finished up – especially since there’s not really that much left to do anyway.

I do have one thing I’m stuck on though – our window treatment-less windows. My plan has always been to redo the no sew roman shades I had up before – I absolutely LOVED them, but the fabric was a bit heavy for the updates I made to the kitchen.

But the further I got into the changes to this space, the less I wanted to cover the windows again!

I started the window redos by reinstalling molding around the windows. I had done this once before a couple of years ago, but they never looked quite right because I never painted everything out white:

I ended up stealing that molding for a family room wainscoting project a year or so ago, so they were trimless again for some time. Nothing is safe with me – I’ll pull it right off the wall if it will save me some cash.  :)

This time, I installed the trim again, using this technique – the molding is just the right width and matches up with our window sills perfectly:

I painted out everything in a glossy white paint, to give the illusion of window casings:

It’s the thrifty man’s version of beautiful molding around the windows. :) Not nearly as thick as I’d like, but I do love the result!

My main mission with this kitchen redo was to brighten up the space. It was never really dark and dreary, but I was craving a change after six years. My original plan was to paint our bay window area an apple green to go with the accent color in the room.

But we all know how the apple green went. :) NOT GOOD. Bad. Very, very bad.

So I decided to just paint the whole area out in the wall color that goes throughout our great room – Sisal from Ralph Lauren. BEST. color. ever. (Home Depot doesn’t carry the RL line anymore, but I think they can still find the formula for it! I get it matched to Behr paint.)

It brightened up the space so much, and I swear it made the area feel more spacious too!

The before, with the olive green bay window:

The after, with the Sisal walls, trimmed out windows and a few other new additions:

But here comes the dilemma – I started making new window treatments a couple of months ago and they were a colossal FAIL. In the end, I think it was the fabric I chose. It was gorgeous, but too bland for the space. There wasn’t enough contrast -- everything was blending together.

And now that we’ve lived without treatments in this space, I have to say…I’m quite loving it!

FOR SHAME, I know! I’m usually a decorating, window treating, cover those windows, fanatic!!

But with the changes, this:

Now looks like this:

I mean, look at all that beautiful natural light! (I know, the before pic was taken at night, but just nod your head and agree with me.)  :)

Oh yeah, and the unplanted basil, honkin’ cat water bowl (with a fountain, GAH) and Halloween stickies on the window are the perfect touch. I know you’re jealous.

When I redid our backsplash, I took the beadboard up high around the window over the sink, and I absolutely love how it looks with the trim around the window:

On a side note -- since all our other herbs died, I added a little Halloween to the sill by filling my Ball jars with candy corn:

And sticking a little orange LED candle in each one:

Adorable. And I don’t like candy corn…so absolutely ZERO temptation. That is what I’m talkin’ about.

Anyhoo…I can’t believe it, but I don’t want to cover those windows! Is that crazy? Good LORD, is that even allowed?? Will the decorating police come and find me?

When we moved in, I put treatments up thinking I would close them often, but we’ve found little need to do that. Because of the way our house is situated, we don’t really need them for privacy.

I do think a bamboo roman shade would look pretty fab above that kitchen sink – especially up against all that white trim. But the bay windows are super skinny, so finding matching shades for those would be hard. (And expensive.)

So what do you think? Cover my nekked windows? Leave them alone? Just do a little somethin’ somethin’?

Are you a window treatment fool like me? Or do you prefer your windows completely uncovered? I think I may have crossed over. :)

 

Thanks to this week’s sponsor!