This is my 4th ORC!  I’ve previously transformed My Tuscan Inspired Kitchen, My Dining Room Reclaimed, and most recently My Master Bedroom Refresh.  If you have followed along with any of my projects, you know that my plans are always fluid.  As I proceed through the weeks, inevitably I stumble across more previous unconsidered possibilities and usually change course.  So hang on for the ride, there will undoubtedly be curves, changes, and surprises in this journey of creating an office space.

With my 5 children all grown and my antique store closed, I’ve been going through the process of purging and creating a home specifically suited for Mr. Blu and me.  It certainly has been interesting, after devoting most of your time to your children and family, to really begin to fashion your home into a special place that you absolutely love.  So far, I’ve transformed 7 areas of our home.  So this project puts me halfway through the entire house with area #8.  And I must say that I am amazed at how much I am enjoying this process of taking my home from functional to fabulous!

The Current Room

This room has been the bedroom to 4 of our 5 children over the past 20 years.  Most recently, it has been used, well, basically for storage and there’s a desk sitting right in the middle of all of the stuff. 

I mean, doesn’t everyone use their antique china cabinet to house their Ryobi collection?  

It is long past time to purge, organize and really design a functional office space.  When I say it’s been used for storage, it has literally been my dumping ground for projects, things waiting to go to the garage, and any decor without a home.  You can see from the photos below that there is exercise equipment, old computers, baskets filled with excess from projects, fabric, picture frames, artwork, antiques, storage bins, flooring, ladders to name a few.

The Organization Plan

1. All displaced items will be returned to their proper place in the house.  All tools go to the garage.  No more using my antique china cabinet for my Ryobi  collection.  All hardware, glue, staples, etc.  will be placed in their proper area in the garage.
2. Paperwork needs to be sorted and purged.  I no longer need the consignment box from The Blue Building Antiques that closed in 2019.  Personal documents will be placed in storage, specifically old tax documents, etc.
3. Shelving will be created for photography props and decor items that I use frequently.  Seasonal items will be placed in a special area.
4. All photography equipment will have its own place as will Silhouette supplies, office supplies, blogging supplies, photography props, seasonal decor, etc.

Room Design

I like the current color of the walls so I will keep the grey tones.  I’m loving the concrete Old World look of this wallpaper by Ever Wallpaper.  One of the walls will be a feature wall with some color and possible some florals.  I just can’t decide!  Look for a mood board in the next post as I iron out the details of my design.

Lighting

I installed this ceiling fan two years ago. 

The wiring need to be addressed as it is connected to a dimmer switch that stopped working some time ago.  That switch needs attention and the fan blades will be painted.  The popcorn ceiling should be removed but I’m not sure I am up to that task!

There is one window in the room that looks out onto our brand new deck.  I am excited to be able to see the summer plants thriving through that window with a view unobstructed by unnecessary clutter!

Closet Revamp

The closet is relatively large for this room.  And of course it is chock full of stuff.  Sewing machines, photography equipment, graduation gowns, clothing, blankets, fabric, books, a doll collection that I’m having trouble parting with, Silhouette supplies.  You name it and it is in this closet.  But not for long.

The wire shelving will be replaced with sturdy wooden shelving.  You can see where we had to access the Primary Bathroom plumbing.  I will build an access panel here.  I built a cubby unit several years back as part of a one board challenge.  Here is that post.  I might put this in the closet for office supplies.

Flooring

We had LVP installed in 2020 throughout the main level of our house.  We had ordered an entire pallet of flooring so there is enough left to do the floor in the new office!  I will install this myself.  Say a prayer for me!  Here is the floor as installed in the dining room.

I am looking at some rugs for the office as well.  We will see what I can find that is within my budget.  Is it weird, though, that when we have new floors installed I love to leave them bare for a while just to enjoy the change?  

The next two weeks will be very busy with finishing the stain on our new deck, trimming trees and shrubs, and participating in several spring blog hops.  We will also sneak in a trip to New Orleans for our anniversary celebration.  

The next 2 weeks will be spent sorting and purging and organizing.  My first big project will be the closet.  I’m so excited to have everything in its place.  I got a taste of this in January with the Declutter Challenge.  I feel like it is all a practice run for when I am able to tackle the mother load…the garage!  It’s coming!  

See you next week!

The post Creating a Home Office Space appeared first on Shop at Blu.

MANTLE PROGRESS

The mantle design has worked itself out.  I am still, unbelieveably, working on stripping the 130+ year old original finish from this beautiful mantle.  I knew this would be the most time consuming part of this project.  And I am almost finished!

The top layers came off rather easily compared to the original stain.  I have to really layer on the chemicals and let it sit for more than 30 minutes to ensure that the solution penetrates the stain.  I’m talking 6 applications from start to finish with increasing application time from 15 to 30 minutes. 

Patience and ensuring that the surface remains moist is the key.  Remember Pop’s tip from Week 2, patience!!!  Allow the chemicals to do their job.  I have been devoting about 90 minutes a day to this mantle.  She should be finished this week.

IT IS PAINT TIME!

I am now into the fun stage of actually transforming the room.  The white paint looks fabulous and really is the key to transforming this room.  The previous gold wall color really tended to darken the room.  This white makes the room so clean and fresh and new!  We are thrilled already.

The painting of the walls will be completed tomorrow.  Then I will start on the transformation and final selection of furniture.  I have selected an antique highboy to replace this dark chest that matches the dresser I will be painting in a vibrant blue. 

The highboy is from the early 20th century.  I bought it from a man who said it was handed down in his family.  I have the original full sized four poster bed and dresser that complete the set.  I painted the dresser several years ago to use as a vanity for IV(child #4).    It is now a distressed black but I will eventually strip her back to match the highboy and bed.  This beautiful set needs to stay together.  There are so many restoration projects lined up in my garage.  I should be busy for some time.  So you can expect to see the highboy renewed and the dresser transformation started with next week’s post.

I did select curtains and they arrived just yesterday.  Here is a teaser photo of the curtains and the walls:

The first morning with the new curtains was like awaking in a hotel or foreign room.  The morning light was brilliant as it reflected off of the new walls.  And the curtains were just glowing.  

Recreating a space is so invigorating!  So I am onto the next project for this master bedroom refresh!

The post Master Bedroom Refresh: Paint, Curtains and Color appeared first on Shop at Blu.

Wall Refresh

The room is painted!  This includes the walls and all woodwork.  The crown molding had been painted once about 10 years ago.  So it actually needed three coats which took some time.  The Behr Pure White looks so fresh!  

It never ceases to amaze me how paint can fade and loose its bright glow!  In this case, it has been probably ten years since we last painted the woodwork in this room.  The quality of paint also makes a huge difference.  I have become a great fan of Behr.  And this picture right here tells you why! 

I am also thrilled with how the Mayfair White amazingly brightens the room!  What a difference.

Two, Not One, China Cabinets

My grandmother’s curved tiger oak China cabinet is ready for my China!  I have a gorgeous gaudy Noritake set that needs to be on display.  I bought this from a sweet friend.  It belonged to her grandmother.  I call it my Liberace China because it is dripping with over the top elegance.  

The second China cabinet has a fresh coat of paint on the exterior and the interior.

I will be putting the final touches on it on Monday.  I was in the process of reinstalling the glass when I realized there were no shelves…not one!  So I detoured to Home Depot for some luan.  I made a template and grabbed the saber saw and made some shelves.  These will do for now until I find some thicker wood for more sturdy shelves.  I just didn’t want to deal with pulling out the table saw to rip 3 small shelves out of a full sheet of plywood.  Some day in the future that will be a nice project for a sunny day by in the driveway!

Sorting out the Sideboard

I have sorted all of my glassware, linens, and additional serve ware that was in my enormous sideboard.  This is the before photo.

Most of the China, glassware and linens will be relocated to the China cabinets.  I found many pieces of serve ware that I had forgotten I owned due to the overstuffing of the sideboard!  I am anxious to use some of these for Thanksgiving.

Custom Drapes for the Win!

I found a few great tutorials on how to make lined drapes!  I have washed an ironed my fabric.  Lordy, was that time consuming.  

I believe it is because my iron was made in the Stone Age!  Time for an upgrade.  I still have to wash and iron the lining fabric.  Then I will sew the drapes.  Are you getting the impression that this next week will be very busy???

An Unexpected Surprise

And now, for the surprise!  We had been waiting for our installer to schedule us for installation of our vinyl planking floors in our Dining Room, Living Room, Hallway, and Master Bedroom.  He has been so busy due to the pandemic and consequential delay of materials.  We weren’t expecting installation until January.  But I got a pleasant phone call informing me that they will be installed next week!  I will have new floors for the final reveal!  Here is the LifeProof Luxury Vinyl Planking that we selected.  It is Tupelo Oak.  It is the same brand that we used in the kitchen.  

I have always wanted a rich dark Walnut traditional floor.  But when we had our entryway floors repaired, I grabbed this since it was immediately available at Home Depot.  And I’ve grown to love it.  It is somewhat beachy, a little bit rustic, and very contemporary.  

And so, while I had hoped to have my room just about completed at the writing of this post, instead, here is the situation:

We spent the last two days ripping up 25 year old carpet, pulling staples out of the floor, removing tack strip, hauling debris to the driveway, scraping floors, sweeping dust piles, moving furniture, and this list could go on for a while.  We are exhausted and beyond thankful that I still have my Number 5 at home…a strapping young 18 year old who jumped in and saved his old decrepit parents from total exhaustion.   

I leave you with a few more photos of our progress.  New floors will be here in the next week’s ORC post!

Here are the Week 5 ORC updates for the Featured Designers and the other Guest Participants.  Be sure to scroll through and find some favorites.  There is incredible inspiration here!

The post ORC Week 5: Many Little Projects and a Big Surprise appeared first on Shop at Blu.

Welcome to Week 2 of the ONE ROOM CHALLENGE!  I expect this week’s task to be the most challenging of this entire project for me.  Give me a DIY project and I am good to go.  Change the plan midstream?  No problem!  Break a tool?  No biggie!  I will adapt every stinkin’ time.  But tell me to get rid of my stuff…well, that one is a stumper that stops me in my tracts.  Decluttering, though very satisfying and quite rewarding, is and always has been very difficult for me.

Might as Well Face it, I’m Addicted to Stuff

I am so attached to things!  That’s why the catch phrase for my store was Elegant Clutter!  As long as I can remember, THINGS have brought me such joy.  Be it a record album, like the soundtrack from Grease that my Aunt Patsy gave me for my 12th birthday or a Valentine’s card my Mom Mom sent me or a hastily drawn picture one of my kids drew…I attach sentiment to everything!  

I even had a difficult time trying to thin out items that had been at my store for years.  I would come across an old table linen with a beautifully embroidered flower.  Though the linen was stained and quite wrinkled, my mind would whisper “You can’t get discard that!  Some little old grandma spent countless hours creating that artwork!”  So it would stay and my heart was happy.  But my store was cluttered…and not always so elegantly.  It can be quite frustrating to find beauty in everything!

When I closed the store in 2019, I knew I had to donate 90% of what was left in the building. My store was 8,000 sq. ft.  And though we moved a good majority of merchandise on clearance, there was still so much left.  I didn’t want to pay for storage since I would not have an income.  I selected a small percentage to keep.  Some were great items that I would try to sell.  Some were things I absolutely loved and vowed to find a place for in my own home.  And some items were just too valuable to donate to be sold for pennies on the dollar.  

My “save” pile quickly grew and I realized that it would be ridiculous to pay storage for items that really and truly had no meaning to me.  So the “donate” pile grew and grew.  It was painful for me to see revenue going into that Thrift Store trailer and out of my hands but it was the logical answer.

Where to Put it All

My struggle with STUFF resulted in boxes of office documents, antiques, vintage items, etc. filling my garage.  The overflow landed in the living areas, most notably in my dining room.  I used the table to sort papers for income tax and sales tax and estate information and personal finances.  Each task was so overwhelming, it seemed, that I would work in stages.  When my head hurt, I would turn to listing items on Facebook Marketplace and Etsy.  When that became overwhelming, I would start a DIY project in an attempt to reclaim my house from the STUFF invasion.  Inevitably, the excess paperwork, items for sale, and DIY supplies and tools would all end up on the dining room table.  

My goal after closing the store, was to freshen and renovate every area of our lovely home which had been neglected over the last ten years a direct consequence of owning a retail business.  I started with the kitchen which was the target area for my very first ORC.  MY TUSCAN INSPIRED KITCHEN was just completed in June.  Next I worked on a FEATURE WALL partnership with Woodgrain.  We ordered a NEW FRONT DOOR.  Once it arrived, I finished the ENTRYWAY.  

As the house is beginning to transform into a comfortable and aesthetically pleasing reflection of our family, I decided it was time to really attack the clutter.  And so, the dining room was selected.

I scanned the room and realized that I could make quite an impact by first removing things that simply did not belong in the room.  So I returned all paint, tools, ladders, chairs, and miscellaneous items to their rightful place in the garage or room where they belonged.  That process opened up some room to sort and review what was left.

The First Step to Decluttering

I made the following staging spaces:

• Garage:  tools, paint, items for vintage shows
• Etsy and Facebook Marketplace
• Vintage show merchandise
• Yard Sale
• Donate
• Trash
• Office Supplies
• Tax and Financial records

By sorting into categories, I could box items, label, and set aside for processing later.  Many items were relocated to the garage in a designated area such as Yard Sale, Vintage Markets and Shows, Etsy and Facebook listing, tools, toys, furniture, etc.

When dealing with enormous tasks it is critical to break the whole into parts.  Then attack and complete one part at a time.  You have to view the project one step at at time or the end goal is just seemingly impossible and the series of complicated steps is overwhelming.

Ten Minutes in My Shoes

So, I did a quick removal of the things most easily relocatable.  Then I sorted the remaining items into categories.  Then I rehomed each category one at a time.  It took me three days because…SQUIRREL!

Here is how the process worked: 

• Oh!  This plate is beautiful!  It’s one of my favorites.  I remember when I bought this I also bought that gorgeous antique bottle.  Where is that bottle now?  In the garage?  Yes, let me go find it since it would be lovely with the bottle collection on the glass shelves in the kitchen. 
• Enters garage to find bottle.
• Yikes!  There’s so much stuff in here.  Where did I see that?  I think it was by the Vintage Show items. 
• Walks to Vintage Show items but passes a stray Ryobi power tool battery. 
• Oh, I’d better put that away. 
• Goes to the tool area and places the battery in the charger.  Sees miscellaneous paint supplies. 
• Oh, I should sort those out so I can find them when it’s time to paint the Dining Room. 
• Moves sandpaper to the sandpaper drawer.  Returns rollers and putty knife to paint supply areas.  Passes a chain saw.  Puts the chain saw where it belongs. 
• What was I doing?  Oh, sorting the paint items. 
• Goes back to paint items and puts cans of paint on paint shelves.  Looks around at all of the stuff and boxes. 
• Why did I come in here?  I had better get back to the Dining Room. 
• Returns to DR and sees the beautiful plate. 
• Oh, the antique bottle!  Crap…no more rabbit holes right now. 
• Resumes sorting.
• Oh, here are those flowers from the girls’ wedding.  I was going to make an arrangement.  I’ll just put them in this box and label them for later.  What ever happened to the flowers from ONE’s wedding?  Hmmm…it’s in the bedroom.  Let me grab that and put it with these. 
• Goes to bedroom.  Grabs flowers.  Sees YLEO bottles nearby. 
• I should put these away.  Wait, there are some in the kitchen too. 
• Goes to kitchen and grabs oils.  Puts the oils away in a drawer in the bedroom. 
• Flowers still in hand, sees a drill on the dresser. 
• Oh, I should put that in the garage…

And we already have established what happens when I go into the garage, which is essentially an antique store, thrift store, furniture store and tool department all in one.  So that my friends, is why it took me three days to sort and empty my dining room.  And my dining room is not very large!

But it is decluttered!  Welcome back Mi’lady!  And oh how I have missed ye!

Dining Room Ready to be Transformed

Time to Paint

The next step is to paint these walls!  In decluttering the room, I found these fan decks.  The Sherwin Williams Fan Deck was given to me at my store, The Blue Building Antiques, many years ago. 

The smaller and much more manageable fan deck is from Behr and was one of my favorites in my SWAG bag from onE of The Haven Conferences that I attended also a few years back. 

My paint color of choice is somewhere above in that Behr fan deck.  I considered every one of the colors that are shown.  Such a difficult decision.  But I picked an unexpected color for me.  Check back next week to see the freshly painted room!

Here are the updates for exquisitely talented FEATURED DESIGNERS in this season’s ORC.  And, as always, make sure you visit the other GUEST PARTICIPANTS .  I guarantee you will find some inspiration and ideas for your own home!

The post Decluttering the Dining Room appeared first on Shop at Blu.

If this is the first time you’ve joined me here, I am a DIY’er and purveyor of antiques and all things funky who is re-emerging to life after closing my antique store that I ran for 10 years. The last year has been quite crazy so I took a bit of a break. DIY is reviving my energy and zest for getting things done. So why not start with participating in the ORC!

Here are the links to my weekly updates for My Tuscan Inspired Kitchen:

WEEK 1 WEEK 2 WEEK 3 WEEK 4 WEEK 5-6 WEEK 7

This ORC Spring 2020 edition was adjusted due to the 2020 worldwide pandemic and protests. The organizers extended the ORC to 8 weeks and we actually skipped the week 5 updates in order to breathe deeply and focus on bigger issues around us.

Where We Started

Here is a picture of my original kitchen.

This kitchen had been in transition for about 5 years. We painted the cabinets white about 4 years ago. They were in dire need of a refresh as we’ve raised 5 children and our large family is very demanding on a kitchen.

Inspiration

The inspiration for this entire project is this Hammered Copper Farmhouse sink from Sinkology. I won this sink last summer at The Haven Conference. At first sight, I fell in love and the copper vibe just took over.

New Appliances

While a gorgeous new sink is exciting, the most critically functional parts of your kitchen are your appliances. We selected this Samsung package because the features were incredible and (this is really why) this package was available in a Tuscan Stainless finish.

This bronzed brown metallic finish compliments my new sink perfectly!

New Floors

When these gorgeous new floors were installed over my builder grade vinyl floors, it hit me that I was really getting a new kitchen! This was a great day!

Hammered Copper Farmhouse Sink and Countertops

I still cannot believe this beauty is in my kitchen! It’s like Christmas every morning when I walk into the kitchen. The beautiful faucet is also courtesy of Sinkology. It is a Pfister Ashfield Rustic Bronze pull down faucet. And it is even more beautiful in person. The finish is rich and gorgeous!

Our countertops are Corian Sandstorm. We are living in luxury with this long awaited upgrade from builder grade standard formica.

Freshly Painted Cabinets

The painting of the cabinets was both the most time consuming and messiest part of this upgrade. I am so glad, however, that I decided to use an oil based industrial paint for this task. The cabinets are sleek with a high gloss finish. The oil based paint is so much more durable than latex or chalk style paint. I don’t anticipate having to work on the cabinet face for a very very long time.

This was my first time using my Homeright Super Finish Max Paint Sprayer with oil based paint. As always, the Finish Max came through with a beautiful finish. Thank you to Homeright for supplying this tool.

New Cabinet Hardware

I selected a beautifully hammered copper knob from D.Lawless Hardware that perfectly complimented my hammered copper farmhouse sink.

D.Lawless also supplied white hinges to replace the original dated gold hinges.

The stunning knobs and discreet hinges really elevate the look of the cabinets. Don’t you agree?

Backsplash

My backsplash was supplied by Aspect Tiles. I selected the weathered quartz stone tile. The tiles are peel and stick so they are very easy to install. They are also easy to trim to fit custom spaces.

An Additional Project

When you have phenomenal new appliances, freshly painted cabinets with stunning new hardware, and gorgeous new floors you want to upgrade everything in the room. While I didn’t have time to paint the table and chairs (truth be told we are now looking at building an island) I knew there was one thing that I could quickly update. So I grabbed the paint and my sander and gave this beauty a new look.

This beauty is one of the first big pieces of furniture that I bought when we moved to Alabama. I bought is for a few dollars at a local thrift store. Pop refinished it for me during one of his visits with Mom circa 2003.

I must extend a special thank you to the wonderful sponsors who donated products to complete this project. I am so thankful for their partnership! Our sponsors are such a huge part of our success as bloggers!

• Sinkology
• D.Lawless Hardware
• Homeright
• Aspect Tile

I will leave you with some more photos of my new kitchen. I also encourage you to visit the ORC blog and check out the other guest participant projects. I know you will find some inspiration there!

The post My Tuscan Inspired Kitchen: The Final Reveal appeared first on Shop at Blu.

Welcome to Week 7 of the One Room Challenge! This is the week where you start to panic. The big reveal is next week. What details did I forget? Will I get all of the little seemingly insignificant projects finished? This is my first ORC so I really am just learning the ropes. I planned out my weekly projects but if you’ve been following along, my cabinets were supposed to be the topic of Week 4. So, as with any project we must deal with unforeseen issues that cause delays. Fortunately, I’ve had enough small projects to keep me busy but these cabinets were a major project.

Our Original Cabinet Finish

I first painted my kitchen cabinets white about three years ago. Here is a picture of the original cabinets.

Mr. Blu wanted white cabinets. I thought he was crazy as we have a very large family. At the time, I still had my antique store so life was crazy and rushed. It seemed that white would be high maintenance in a time when I had no time for maintetance.

First Round of White Painted Cabinets

But, I went ahead and painted them white. And I loved it! Our kitchen was refreshed and renewed. But the paint I used was not ideal for a kitchen and over time there were chips and scratches and such, as you would expect.

This time around, I planned to use an oil based paint for my painted cabinets. I remember years ago as a little girl helping my Dad paint around our house. Pop was the original DIY master! Back in the day all he used was oil based enamel. When I was in 6th grade, I got to revamp my bedroom. It was the first time Pop really used latex paint. While it was easy to use, I could tell the difference from the oil based enamel that we had always used before. I it still is ingrained in my tough Irish mind that oil based paint is the most durable paint. And so, that’s what I decided to use on the kitchen.

Surely industrial and marine grade oil based paint will hold up to the demands of a busy Edinger kitchen!

Using Oil Based Paint

Oil based paint needs an oil based primer. I had forgotten about the primer. A quick trip to our local Sherwin Williams store proved quite fruitful as I got to chat with one of their specialists. You must use an oil based primer with oil based paints for fresh wood that has never been painted and when painting over latex paint. I didn’t necessarily need the primer since I had used a mineral based product originally on my painted kitchen cabinets. However, I wanted this treatment to last a long long time. As with all important paint jobs, primer is a crucial step to preserving a good paint job. So, I bought the oil based primer.

With our new luxury vinyl planked floor already installed, I didn’t want to spray the cabinet built ins. The doors would be sprayed to achieve a fine finish. But the base cabinets would need to be hand brushed.

Help from Homeright

Homeright was kind enough to send me a Super Finish Max paint sprayer. Their Finish Max is my go to tool for painting furniture and even ceiling and walls when appropriate. Some time ago, they released their new Super Finish Max which was redesigned to reduce the need to thin your paint. I have never used a paint sprayer for oil based paint so I was excited to give it a try with my painted cabinets project.

The sprayer arrived with three different spray tips to use with different types of paint, stains, and polys. I called their customer service line just to make sure I had selected the correct tip for my oil based paint. Judy was quite helpful and concurred with my choice. So off I went to the driveway with my large Homeright spray shelter, my Super Finish Max sprayer, and 22 cabinet doors of varying sizes.

The Process

I set up a paint station inside of the shelter to maximize the number of doors I could paint at once.

The process consisted of:

• a light sanding to both sides of each door
• one coat of primer to the back of each door
• allow each door to dry completely
• repeat the previous three steps for the front of each door

Each coat of primer had a dry time of 2 hours. I was able to prime the all of the doors, front and back, in one day.

The next day I set up the Homeright Spray Shelter again. This paint needed 8 hours to dry. This drying window allowed so much room for error. It would be my luck that a windstorm or flock of fluffy birds would blow through the neighborhood leaving remnants of many undesirable things in the air to settle on my drying doors. So I repeated the process listed above but carried every door individually inside to dry. Believe me when I tell you that there is a definite art to balancing a horizontally carried wet painted cabinet door (like a pizza box) while trying to open the door all the while dodging the dog who reacts like you’ve been gone for three days every time you re-enter the house. That was 22 trips up the steps and into the spare bedroom where the doors could dry safe from bugs, stray leaves, pet hair, etc.

My plan was to spray the final coat on the back of the doors early in the morning. The paint would dry for 8 hours although I could probably allow 6 drying hours. This would allow me to paint the fronts starting around 6 PM and allow all of the doors to dry completely overnight. Um…that didn’t happen because I was exhausted from my spectacularly balanced 22+ trips up the steps coupled with the 90 degree Alabama weather. So instead, I hung out in the pool…with a cocktail!

I finished the doors the next day and allowed them another overnight drying session. It was time for re-installation! That mean…new hardware!

D.Lawless Hardware Sets the Standard

I met Derrick from D.Lawless Hardware at my very first Haven Conference in about 8 years ago. D.Lawless has the most extensive and beautiful selection of furniture hardware for just about any project. I had received several sets of hardware for projects over the past few years. You can see how beautiful hardware and embellishments can completely change the look of furniture Here and Here.

I wanted the new knobs to compliment my copper hammered farmhouse sink. And D.Lawless did not disappoint. I found the following knobs and ordered one of each so I could see them in the kitchen with the floors and the counters and the sink. All of the samples were beautiful but there was really only one that demanded to be installed. I’m sure you can guess which one I selected.

I also wanted to replace the gold hinges. Low and behold, D.Lawless has white hinges! So I emailed Derrick and asked if he would send me some hardware for my kitchen. He said of course! And just days later, I received my hammered copper knobs and white hinges!

It took a little bit of balancing, maneuvering, and patience to reinstall the doors with the new hinges. The old hinge holes did not exactly fall in line with the holes in the new hinges. This wasn’t a big deal for the installation on the insides of the doors but I had to be more careful on the exposed portion of the hinges. I figured out a process and over the course of a two days I was able to install all of the doors.

What a stunning difference! From the paint to the hinges to the gorgeous knobs! My kitchen is coming to life!

Easing into the Final Reveal

This next week will be spent completing those little annoying tasks that always get pushed to the end of a project. And there are always new small but important projects added as the primary projects have been completed. Things like painting the baseboards and the trim around the exterior door leading to our deck. I have a few small pieces of backsplash that need to be replaced. My kitchen is beautiful and refreshed! But our kitchen table needs a face lift because she really looks quite shabby in the shadow of the renovations. Same for a long MCM dresser that we use as a buffet and storage piece. So I’ll be working on these unplanned projects and finishing up the planned projects.

A special thank you to D.Lawless Hardware for providing this beautiful hardware and to Homeright for providing the Super Finish Max paint sprayer for this project. I am so very thankful to these two wonderful companies for their partnership!

See you next week for the final reveal!!!!

The post My Tuscan Inspired Kitchen: Painted Cabinets and New Hardware appeared first on Shop at Blu.

Are you ready for this week’s project in My Tuscan Inspired Kitchen? We tackled the floors!

Welcome friends! It is Week 3 of the One Room Challenge, Spring 2020 Edition! You can follow this LINK to see all of the projects of the guest participants like me. Click HERE to see the progress of the talented featured designers. Prepare to be amazed!

Last week I shared our appliance choices. If you missed that post, you can read about it HERE.

Selecting Floors for My Tuscan Inspired Kitchen

I’m one of those who has to see every option and check every detail before they can make a choice on just about anything. I wanted our floors to be light because our old floors were light. We agreed that vinyl planking would be our best choice of product since this is a kitchen floor. Water from leaky ice maker lines or dishwashers can wreak havoc on a laminate or even a true hardwood floor.

The very first sample we spotted was the floor display at Home Depot of Lifeproof Sterling Oak. Our back splash is mix of grey so I wanted my floors to have both grey and beige tones to unify the appliances and backsplash and all of the elements of my Tuscan Inspired Kitchen.

While I liked the Sterling Oak, it seemed a little dark. I also considered Chiffon Lace Oak, which was very light and Lighthouse Oak, which had more brown tones. Can you believe Lifeproof has 79 choices in their vinyl planking? It is 100% waterproof and guaranteed for life. Talk about overwhelming.

I was very conscious to make sure we had a complementary and consistent color flow running between all of the newly selected kitchen elements. So I took all of my samples home to the kitchen and observed them together in my kitchen. I lined up the sink, the Tuscan Stainless sample chip, and the floor samples to see which one best unified my kitchen.

Again Rebecca, the Pelham Home Depot appliance specialist came to the rescue. She recommended viewing the samples online to see the bigger picture. This last tip was critical as I found the Chiffon Lace to be more “splotchy”, if you will. I know this probably shocks those of you who know me because I am indeed an uber distressor…the chippier or the more worn then the better for me! But in this case, I felt the variations of color made the floors look less authentic. I really want the Copper Hammered Farmhouse Sink to stand out. So a more uniform flooring would ensure this.

Sterling Oak was our choice.

Installation: Floors!

I had requested install estimates from three contractors. One was a friend of a friend. One was a local kitchen reno company. And one was a no show. So two choices. We went with the friend of the friend because I’ve seen his work and his work is incredible. He would schedule us for some time in April. Then the pandemic hit. And essential stores limited the number of shoppers permitted inside. And our guy’s productivity dropped by 50% because a good portion of his day was now spent waiting in line to gain access to supplies. So we sheltered at home. And we waited, expecting a call in May or even later. But the day after I posted my Week 2 update, my guy called and said he would be here on Saturday! Whoohoo!

Saturday came and the floor was quickly and efficiently installed!

I left the kitchen completely empty for days. I just love the floor so much! The transformation is incredible and I love the open roomy look. We’ve lived with clutter for so long that this was incredibly satisfying. How long do you think it took before I moved the table back in??

Let me just say that this floor installation and the resulting effect led to formulating another change for our kitchen! Can you guess what that change might be? It is an addition to the original plan. Stay tuned once the cabinets are painted to see what else we are adding to our kitchen!

Next week…my hammered copper sink gets installed!

The post ORC Spring 2020: Let’s Talk Kitchen FLOORS! appeared first on Shop at Blu.

A year ago this time, we were planning to complete numerous overdue projects on our house with the intention of moving back to Philadelphia within 2 years. My dad was 85 at the time and all of our family, including 4 of his siblings (two older and two younger), all still lived in Philly. With our last child graduating from high school in June of 2020 and all of our other children settled into careers, we thought we would like to head home. And then Pop decided he was ready to be with Mom in heaven and everything stopped. Suddenly, there was no rush to move home. What if I actually took my time and molded this house into OUR home? After all, most of our kids are still in Alabama.

Alot changed on June 21, 2019 when Pop left us. Finally I am feeling the resurgence of that love for DIY that he instilled in me many many years ago.

The One Room Challenge

This post kicks off my official participation as a Guest Participant in The One Room Challenge! The One Room Challenge, started by Linda Weinstien of Calling it Home blog, is in its 17th season! The ORC is a biannual event where twenty design influencers are challenged to design a room. While this is my very first ORC. my friend Leslie from Deeply Southern Home is actually one of this season’s featured designers! You can follow along at the ORC blog for this season’s phenomenal designs HERE!

Kitchen Inspiration

When I won a Sinkology sink at The Haven Conference last July, I took that as a sign…let’s start with the kitchen! You can read about the Haven contest and a little about why I selected the kitchen project here.

I had to select between three farmhouse sinks. Something kept telling me…don’t be safe…do something crazy…get the copper sink! So I did!

I chose the Hammered Copper Farmhouse Sink! She came with the All In One Package which included a faucet of my choice, a care kit, and some accessories. Isn’t she lovely?

This beauty is the inspiration for my One Room Challenge Tuscan Inspired Kitchen Upgrade. We started searching for appliances with this copper theme in mind.

Appliances

Initially, I hesitated with the copper decision because I was concerned with a mixed metals conflict. Would stainless appliances match a copper sink? How would black applicances work? Would either of these compliment my fabulous hammered copper farmhouse sink? I’ve seen tons of kitchens with copper sinks and stainless steel appliances. Our current appliances have both stainless steel and black so I did not find either of those choices very exciting. Stainless seemed like the logical choice. While I don’t really think I would mind a mixed metal kitchen, my “be consistent” philosophy kept screaming at me…”those appliances should match that sink”. So I started to look around. Mr. Blu and I visited Home Depot and guess what we found? A stainless option called Tuscan Steel on a limited selection of appliance by Samsung. Tuscan Stainless is a fingerprint resistant brown metallic finish. I took a sample, dragged the sink into the kitchen, and voila! It was very complimentary to my sink…a great match!

We were able to find a full appliance package with options that we loved in Tuscan Stainless Steel! We were the proud owners of new appliances.

I fell in love and things began to take off.

Vision Board

With our new sink and new appliances selected, I was able to continue down the list of items for the kitchen.

Cabinets

When Mr. Blu asked me to paint the kitchen cabinets white several years ago, I thought he was crazy. White? Really? With 5 kids? And pets? It just didn’t seem logical. But it was fabulous. Our kitchen seemed so much larger. But the paint I used just was not durable enough for a kitchen as busy as ours. The doors were scratched and dinged and chipped and in need of a facelift. It would be necessary to repaint the cabinets and I would keep the white.

As I had I had painted the cabinets three years ago, I didn’t want to have to paint them again in another few years, so I decided to up my game and use a more resilient paint. I selected Sherwin Williams Industrial Enamel Protective and Marine Coatings and in pure white.

Flooring

As lovely and high grade as our current basic builder grade vinyl floor is, (I am being totally sarcastic here), my head filled with visions of hardwoods and rustic floors! However, we had to be smart as we’ve had several water leaks over the past years with the garbage disposal, the water line to the refrigerator and the dishwasher all failing at some point causing puddling and settled water on the kitchen floor. Any recurrence would be deathly to a laminate or even hardwood floor. So we selected vinyl planking! Home Depot had a wonderful selection.

And amazingly enough, with our very different design and decor tastes, Mr. Blu and I agreed on a floor!

Countertops

Every woman dreams of expensive beautiful kitchen countertops. I’ve only ever had laminate. With a large family, I just couldn’t justify dumping thousands of dollars into a countertop. I wasn’t convinced that we wouldn’t ding them and stain them so we never indulged. Until now. We found a higher grade beautiful design Corian sample at Home Depot that was on sale for $20 off per square foot! So we jumped on that deal.

Lighting

To be honest, I’ve been so caught up in the sink, the counters, the floors and the appliances that we haven’t actually selected our lighting yet. Our current lighting is outdated. My instinct is to install some sort of can or pendant lighting in front of the stove to replace the flourescent eyesore. This will probably be the last project completed. So it will be the surprise element. Maybe you can help me select the fixtures! I’m thinking copper…of course!

And there you have all of the main elements of my new kitchen!

Below are a few before photos.

We will start with the appliances installation. Tune in next week to see how that goes!

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