The Retro Cottage Kitchen and a "Painted Wood is Pretty" linky party!!!

Edited to add:  Remodeling Guy is having a Spring Round Up today and invited me to join!  You should too.  And go here to see other fun spring spruce-ups.  You'll love

his blue-stained deck!  And then there's Kelly's Korner----a blogger whose baby I've prayed for, but whom I've never met--- and well, she's having a 'Show us Where you live' party.  I'm just partying all around I guess.  My spring project also included a linky party, so when you've enjoyed all the links at the other sites , come and see the pretty painted wood projects here.

Welcome to my fresh new kitchen and my first ever Mr. Linky party.  I hope you'll join us and tell your friends about all the painted fun going on here at lifeingrace today.  I've included way too many photos in this post, but Mr. Linky is somewhere at the bottom of this montrosity.  If you have any painted wood projects that you've done or are considering doing, take some photos and link up with us!

I'm almost ashamed to show you the 'BEFORE'.  I am obviously not a professional blogger, as I forgot to take 'official' before pictures.  So, I dug through my photo archives and found a few illustrations of why 'painted cabinets are pretty'.....and why you should take before photos.   Here's a photo ofthe cabinets before:

and here they are 'AFTER'!!!  I couldn't be happier with how it all turned out.

And although the results look dramatic, it's all cosmetic changes,

 I like to paint, but I hired some help to keep it from taking a month to finish.  I painted while

he painted.  Then I painted at night.  And early in the morning.

And in my dreams.   Between the two of us, we painted nearly

every surface in this kitchen.....two or three times, including

the walls, the ceiling, all the trim , and all the cabinets.

This project is dedicated to Valspar primer, which claims to work

without sanding at all!  And I'll vouch that it does.  I would

not have wanted to do this project without it.  This is what

the cabinets look like after a coat of primer.  

I can hardly believe how much paint can change the look and feel of a room.  I

feel like the queen of all the world in this new kitchen.  This room

sings to me.   It inspires me.    I feel connected to 

all apron-wearing, vintage tea-towel collecting, homeade bread making

women everywhere.  

I had several kitchens that I used for inspiration.  I wanted a Nantucket/1950's/Eclectic/Cottage/French look, with an ambiance of fresh, elegant and casual.  My genius friend and neighbor, Leigh Ann, gave me the fantastic idea of taking the cabinet doors that I had purposely removed from the upper cabinets and adding them to the back of the plain-ole-plywood island, for visual and architectural interest.  So I (meaning my painter Rick) did just that.

It may be one of the highlights of the project for me.  And I love the

contrasting colors of the island with the other cabinets.  It adds depth and character, along with the feel that the room has been done in stages.   It looks 

fresh but feels old and new all at the same time.

Removing the upper cabinets doors proved to add just the feel of 'open' and 'elegant' that I was looking for.  Nothing is more beautiful to me than dishes.   I've seen other open shelving cabinets that are very sparsely and purposely filled with exactly the right amount and color of dishes, but we live here my friends! So all my dishes had to go in....perfectly matching or not.  I drew the line at the coffee mug full of bacon grease.

It's safely hidden away behind closed doors!

The chalkboard walls that I painted a few years ago

flow seemlessly with the new color scheme.

This little corner is a favorite with the lamp and the bird prints.....and of course, the homeade cookies.  You will rarely find that cake plate

empty at this house.

And how much fun do I have pouring my coffee beans from

that flirty orange tin?  Oh yeah, big fun.
And coffee stirrers never had it so good....their own little urn! (given to me

graciously by my angel friend, Donna)

When you're remaking a room cosmetically and on a budget, the details become crucial. I
love these vintage glass knobs that I found at Hobby Lobby.  And the white vintage milkglass compote (which has old fashion POWDER dish detergent in it), along with the splash of color in the potted fern bring just the right balance of
color, texture, old, new, and beautiful.

What once was dark and depressing.....

is now transformed to light and beautiful.

 Speaking of 'lights', these bookshelf lights from IKEA could well be my favorite purchase at $4.99 each.  If you don't have custom

lighting, fake it.

I hope you have enjoyed the tour!

The breakfast room is still a work in progress.....but it's taking on the retro cottage look like a charm!

For those interested, here's a list of the colors I used and where to find some of the items you see:

blue bottom cabinets:  Woodlawn Charm-Valspar/Lowe's

white upper cabinets and trim:  Roman column--Sherwin Williams

dark green island:  Cliveden Forest--Valspar/Lowe's

wall color:  Hemingway--Valspar

Ceiling color:  I'm too lazy to walk to the basement to look

Bookshelf lights:  IKEA

antique glass cabinet knobs:  Hobby Lobby

colorful tins:  IKEA

panels in breakfast room:  IKEA

bird prints downloaded from here

vintage milk glass--local antique store

chocolate chip cookies--homeade by moi

fresh dogwood blooms--God himself

Still on the wishlist:  white granite countertops, farmhouse apron front sink, subzero fridge, Viking stove, wide-plank walnut floors, one-level VERY large island, sous chef, and  'Alice'

from the Brady Bunch!

Oh, and I almost forgot.  You must paint the ceiling.   It's a must do.   A shade or

two darker than the wall color.  

Now I think I'll just sit in here all day and listen to Little Richard sing "Good Golly Miss Molly"!

Now it's your turn.  Show us some painted wood.  The rules for linking are as follows:

1.  Link to the actual post you want to feature and not just your blog in general.

2.  Link back to here so your readers can find the other 'Because painted

is pretty' projects.

3. Leave a comment when you link and by all means, enjoy!