Brian and I dream of the day when the Myrtle House is to the point where it is freshly dry-walled. All of the systems are in place, the structure is sound, and we get to move onto the fun part: decorating. Last night I sat down with my paint deck and favorite paint swatches (I know, I lead such an exciting life) and narrowed down my selections for the Myrtle House. I know we are very far away from painting, but it is nice to day dream a little bit. I am sorry I have been on such a painting craze these days! Last one for a while, I promise. :)
The Perfect Shades of Greige | Paint Colors
I am a big fan of gray wall paint. It is such a great neutral and adds a clean, modern feel to just about any space. However, I have come to learn that not all grays are created equal. We painted the majority of the Brooklyn House in a very cool gray (Sherwin Williams Lattice, to be exact). While it is a lovely color, it always felt a little too cold and sterile for my taste. This sent me on the hunt for a perfect greige paint color that is not too cool but also not in the "builder beige" paint color category. Here are my favorites so far. :)
Kitchen Inspiration | Myrtle House
Even though I don't often cook, I am really excited about how the Myrtle House kitchen will turn out once it is all done. I think it may be the biggest transformation as I am planning on taking down the wall in between the somewhat small kitchen and quite large dining room. I have always loved the look of a white kitchen. Creamy white shaker cabinets, chrome bin pulls, sparkling crystal knobs, marble slabs with charcoal accents and rich reclaimed wood hardwoods... this is what dreams are made of.
May Goals | Budget
Oh hello, May! Where in the world did you come from?! Is it just me, or is this spring FLYING by? This being said, I am sad to report we sorta kinda failed on a lot of our tasks, specifically with the Myrtle House. :/ Here is how we did:
- Find new bar stools (...) - $100 - DONE
- Paint new bar stools - $25 - DONE
- Order engineering print for canvas art - $8 - DONE (but ended up not using)
- Order photograph prints for gallery wall - $20 - DONE
- Paint kitchen table - $20 (paint) - DONE
- Repair boat accessories - $5 (dowels) - DONE
- Paint swivel chairs - $25 - N/A (Ended up leaving as is)
The good news is that since we are all wrapped up with the condo, we can devote all of our time to the Myrtle House from now on. :) Here is what is on the agenda for May:
TASKS/BUDGET
- Remove all wood paneling (so close to having this done) - $0
- Remove carpet and vinyl flooring - $0
- Deliver wanted items to Brian's mom's house - $0
- Get all of the debris to the dump - $40 (gas)
- Remove hazardous waste - $350
- Repair windows - $300
- Have Jake (our contractor) do walk through for estimate - $0
- Start to fix foundation (!!!) - $500
It is exciting and scary to start actually doing stuff to the house! The process so far has just been cleaning out, so making strides to improve the house is really cool. I am pretty nervous to have the contractor come through; they always find more stuff than I thought there was to fix...
Below are some of my favorite Instagrams from April. Happy May, friends!
Surprise flowers for my Mom :)
Sunset dinner in Beaufort
Crafting sailboats for the Sea Spray Condo
Painting the bedroom my new favorite color - Valspar Winter in Paris
Guest Bedroom Before and After | Sea Spray Condo
I feel a little silly dedicating a whole post to this room since literally all we did was paint the walls. However, it turned out to be such a cutie-patootie room, and I wanted to show how much difference a can of paint and re-arranging furniture can make. (Do I sound like a broken record yet? ;)
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Sorry that the pictures don't exactly match up for the before and after, but basically we moved the beds to the wall perpendicular to the one they were on. The tall chest moved to the wall directly in front of the beds and we put a TV on top of that. I think this layout is much better for viewing TV, but I also didn't like the fact that before when you walked into the room, you could see the bed. Not a whole lot of privacy for the person sleeping in here! I love that the beds can be pushed together to make a king size bed if a couple is staying in this room, or remain two twins for kids.
We were lacking a nightstand in here, so I found this little guy on Craigslist for $10. We lacquered him up in a pretty white with leftover cabinet paint and he looks right at home amongst the other white furniture. When we were taking this photo, the nightstand was still wet, so we couldn't put the lamp back on top. Did you spy the plastic wrap on the carpet? :)
The bedding was existing and so was the artwork, so we only spent $40 in here between the nightstand and the gallon of paint (Sherwin Williams Watery). I think it turned out pretty cute!
Kitchen Before and After | Sea Spray Condo
I have never been a very patient person, so we are going to start the rest of the Sea Spray Condo re-design with the most dramatic transformation!
BEFORE:
AFTER:
BEFORE:
AFTER:
The only new things we purchased for this room were four dining chairs, three bar stools, gallery wall frames, a hanging frame, and a decorative tray. Everything else was existing and re-purposed. There is not a backsplash above the cabinets, but there was this old grasscloth wallpaper. We debated tiling, but thought it would make the rest of the space look old and dingy. To bring a little color into the kitchen, we ended up painting the wallpaper and I love the texture it brings to the room. Plus, it saved us so much time and money as opposed to tiling.
We painted the legs of the existing dining table to create a more beach cottage look. Such a different look! The table is actually great quality and has sentimental meaning to my mom, so I am glad we could make it work.
Here is my $15 gallery wall. Not my favorite project ever, but it was only $15. I wish I had splurged a little on nicer frames (these are from the Dollar Tree). It serves the purpose, ties in the satin nickel accents in the kitchen, and we won't sweat it if one of the frames gets broken. Maybe we will upgrade down the road. One thing about this project that did work out well was having the photo prints made at Staples. I wanted inexpensive color photos printed, and ended up having color copies made instead of photo prints. The quality is still pretty good and I think when the photo is behind glass, it is hard to tell it is not a photo print. They will only run abour $.40 a copy, as opposed to the $2.50 for a photograph which can add up when making a gallery wall.
It looks SO much bigger and brighter. Never underestimate the power of paint! The majority of the budget was spent on this room, as my parents opted to hire a professional painter to paint the cabinets which I think was a wise decision. He is a commercial painter and even he underestimated the work this job would take. The cabinets are original, super dark faux wood grain, and there are tons of drawers/cabinets. Brian and I were going to tackle this project, but I was worried our paint job would chip with use over time. Since this is a rental, durability is key!
Here is how the budget breaks down:
- Kitchen cabinet painting: $600
- Backsplash paint: $15 - Painted in Valspar Mellow Spring
- Cabinet hardware: $30 (DLawless Hardware)
- Dining chairs: $60 set (Craigslist) - Painted in Valspar Mellow Spring
- Bar stools: $60 set (Craigslist) - Painted in Valspar Secluded Garden
- Gallery wall: $15 (Dollar Tree)
- Kyrlon Looking Glass Spray Paint: $8 (for old window)
- Frame above stove: $7 (HomeGoods)
- Tray on table: $10 (HomeGoods)
While the $805 total is a little hard to swallow, I think it is a decent price for such a transformation. Plus, I can sleep at night knowing a renter isn't dinging the cabinet paint left and right. ;) Have you guys ever tried to paint similar cabinets? How did it go? Any tips of tricks to share?