Colorful Kitchen Art (Plus How NOT To Style Shelves)

We're really starting to get somewhere on our kitchen stuff. The open shelving is almost done (we're waiting for one final bracket to arrive from Home Depot), and soon it will be time to style things up. Not that they don't look great already. I walked in the door after being out with the kids last night to find the previously empty shelves filled like this:

It isn't like Tyson to put dishes on shelves - not in the context of housework and certainly not in the context of design - so I was confused. I wanted to thank him for putting things on the shelves...but it looked AWFUL! I said, "Oh, thanks for putting the dishes on there, but I might want to, um, move things around a little bit, okay?"

He said, "I just put the plates were I needed them to help weigh the shelves down so the glue can set."

Oh, okay. Good.

An Unanticipated Blank Space

Tyson and I did have a difference of opinion about these shelves, which are to the left of the sink. I wanted three, and chose the placement of the shelves to accommodate three. He drilled the holes for the bottom two and then said he was done, and wouldn't do the top shelf. He only wants two (because he only wants to pay for and build and paint two? not because of looks, exactly?). Since he is the one putting in all the labor while I sit tippy-tapping away on my computer, I am acquiescing, and he will be doing things his way. I just hope I can make it look nice.

I will need to use some art for height and balance, so I've been looking around a little. I don't know if art is the best idea, though, because of the height, so I'm also considering just a decorative wall accent of some sort. Well Tyson, either way I'll be spending some money on the blank spot where I thought a shelf would go, but I guess it's a good thing that now I can spend it on something I can take with me when we move.

Local Color

I'd love to add some local art to my home, so I've been keeping my eye out for art relating to the place where I live. These colorful prints are from a couple of local foodie places here in Logan, Utah. The rooster on the left is from Caffe Ibis, a maker and distributor of organic coffee (artist unknown, print available for purchase here). The depiction of a bountiful basket of produce on the right was created by local artist Robert Bissland for the Cache Valley Gardeners' Market, and is available for purchase at the weekly market. The Garderners' Market print, particularly, fits in well with the other colors in the kitchen and adjoining rooms (yellow, turquoise, a bit of orange), while the rooster has some of the same colors but introduces some new ones. I only wish the border weren't brown.

Kitchen Specific Prints

This next one has a color palette that would be great in my open kitchen/dining/living area. The quote, from Julia Child, pretty well describes my family's attitude on things :). This one is available at the Etsy shop of blimpcat.

Just a few days ago I found these cute FREE kitchen-themed printables on Pinterest. You can download them here on overthebigmoon.com, and can even adjust the colors!

Which would you choose? If I know me, and if I know my current situation, I will go cheap and cheerful by having the printables printed at Sam's Club and popping them in simple white frames. But first I'll "shop" the rather extensive collection of art that's gathering dust in my garage and see if I can find anything there that works.

P.S.: You can check out my kitchen inspiration pics on Pinterest here: http://pinterest.com/venusv/kitchen/

Do The Wave (The Microwave)

We've been living with a gaping hole where the microwave should be for almost nine months now. Since I'm the Queen of Cheapskates, I've kept my eye out from time to time on KSL Classifieds (our punched-up local version of Craigslist) for a decent over-the-range microwave at a decent price. I just don't want to spend more on the microwave alone than we've spent on the entire rest of the kitchen remodel, ya know? I had pretty much gotten used to this awesome look, though...

But I was looking for a change. You know, something new (used). Something other than a couple of holes in the wall. Something other than a microwave with a digital clock that runs fast. How does that even happen?!? I have no idea, but it does. That microwave sitting on the counter progressively gets more and more ahead of the correct time. I have to reset it constantly.

In the end, though, it was Tyson the KSL addict who found the microwave deal. Local, gently used, and fairly priced. We picked it up on Sunday night and he installed it Monday.

Ahhhh, much better. It's a nice GE Adora microwave, originally installed in 2010. The lady we bought it from had remodeled and gone with the same make and model in stainless steel. It's nice that it's a GE, because the rest of our appliances are, too, so it kind of goes along with them (other than being nicer and newer). To purchase this model and color at Home Depot right now would be $298. We bought the used one for $100.

The kitchen has been pretty torn up since Monday as we have been working on putting up the open shelves next to the sink and under the cabinets. They are currently awaiting further coats of paint before installation. Here's the before photo for the area left of the sink. Hang tight for an after. I know, I know...how could it be improved upon?

And just for good measure, here is the BEFORE before. We've come a long way, but there's still more to do!

I'm curious, are you "pro" or "con" open shelving? Do you have it in your house? Or would you? What about over-the-range microwaves? Some people *hate* them!

How To Update Builder Brass Light Fixtures On The Cheap

A couple weeks ago I took our master bathroom light fixtures from brassy to classy for mere pennies. If you've ever wondered how to update builder brass light fixtures to oil rubbed bronze or another finish without running out and buying new ones, keep reading. But first, witness pretty much the best "before" picture ever. I promise we don't live in a crack den, but yes, this is what our fixtures have looked like for the past several months:

Brass PLUS Chrome!? Not In My Home!

Yes, we lived with bare bulbs in our combination brass/chrome master bathroom vanity light fixtures for the past six months while waiting for the weather here to get warm enough for spray painting. It was really even worse-looking than pictured; the fixture wasn't really attached to the wall. It was just dangling by its wiring (a big no-no, as I'm sure you realize). I didn't have a closeup before photo of the actual light, so I took one of the as-yet-unpainted light from our hall bath so you could see in detail how lovely the shiny chrome-brass combo really was.

Brass vs. Brass

Now don't get me wrong. I have nothing against brass. I have a sweet little collection of vintage miniature brass bells, for instance. I even considered brass hardware for my kitchen cabinets, and would have used it if I didn't think it would scare future buyers away. I bought a huge amount of ornate custom cast brass light switch plates and outlet covers at an estate sale - I'm hoarding them in my garage just waiting for the perfect place to use them. (Say, like, this li'l old house right here?) But those items would all be nice, real, heavy brass with some age and patina. Not these GOLD brass fixtures that were so popular in days gone fairly recently by.

(Note: I'm pretty sure oil-rubbed bronze is going to face the same fate eventually - we'll all be on to the next thing and scorning ORB as sooooooo 2000s. So be it. For now, it is a pleasant update from shiny brass. I also considered re-doing these fixtures in straight black, but I decided I liked the subtle shimmer and metallic look of the ORB.)

There's a genuine before photo of what they looked like in place. This is our master bathroom as it looked when we moved back from Pennsylvania last September. We've since repainted the walls and trim and put in new flooring. And now the vanity lights. You'll notice the lights also used to have the glass shades pointing down like bells, and when we put the fixtures back up we switched their orientation so the glass shades now point up like goblets. That wasn't really on purpose, FYI, but I think I like the change.

How To Update Brass Light Fixtures With Spray Paint: The Details

At first I wasn't sure how to spray paint my light fixrtures or if it would work, but then I remembered my sister had done it to hers years ago and that gave me the confidence to jump on in. With a little Googling I came up with some product recommendations and tutorials.

The standard recommendation was Rust-Oleum Universal Metallic spray paint in Oil Rubbed Bronze.

From the Rust-Oleum website

I simply took the fixture down, removed the bulbs, taped off any parts I didn't want painted, and followed the directions on the can. I put the fixtures down on pieces of cardboard and/or tarps, tucking the wires underneath so they wouldn't get sprayed. The screws I punched through pieces of cardboard  (styrofoam also works if you have any on hand), so I could have all the necessary parts exposed at once for spraying. If you were spraying something that was going to be touched and used a lot, like doorknobs, you would also want to sand first and possibly do a clear coat after, but since these fixtures will never be touched I just went straight to the spray paint.

Three Important Tips For Spray Painting

1- Wear socks or shoes that you don't mind getting overspray on.
2- For the best finish (both in looks and durability) do multiple thin, even coats with dry time between coats as directed on the can. Your first coat will look pretty ratty. Avoid the urge to keep spraying for better coverage. Let it dry and then go again.
3- Spray gently back and forth across your item at an even distance, keeping your hand moving. As Sherry from Young House Love once said, "If you're a-sprayin', your arm better be a'swayin'" Now try to ever, ever get that rhyme out of your head! Sorry, it's stuck there forever. But you should thank me, because it's good advice.

I'll add a bonus one: do multiple thin, even coats. Oh, did I already say that? Good. It's very, very important if you want your spray painted item to have a professional-looking finish.

My spray painting results may have been profesh, but my photography skills are not. Oh well, just keep swimming. I'm pretty pleased with the results, especially for the money ($5 bottle of spray paint that will still spray many more items). Speaking of many more items, the rest of the brass to be painted includes the vanity lights from the other two bathrooms, the hardware from the stair banister, the dining and living room light fixtures (if we decide not to buy new ones), and the door hardware throughout the house (if we decide we are that ambitious).

Next on the list, though, is installing the new microwave we just got for over the range, and finally installing the open shelving in our kitchen. I'll show you some of that later this week.

I'll also be back to show you the photos of another house I love. This one doesn't need any explanation and will all be in one post. Tyson doesn't really like to listen to my house-hunting talk, so I'll just blab to you all, okay?

So, I'm curious, what metal finishes do you have in your house, and how do you like them? Any mixed finishes within one room? Anyone else have a good spray-paint transformation story - light fixture or otherwise? Or perhaps a spray paint blooper? Do tell!