Kitchen Progress in Pictures!

I finally cleaned up the kitchen enough that I'm not totally embarrassed about posting pictures of it. It still has a long way to go, but most of the prep work is finally done.

Just so you can all see how far we've come, here is a before picture.



And here's some with some progress!



It doesn't look like I've done too much for as long as I've been working on it, but the insides of the cabinets HAD to be painted too. They were this hideous orangey-peach color. Thanks to Kasey for the paint color - Cottage White :)



This is the trim we put in on the long wall in the kitchen. The plate rail came out of the Spittle's new old house. They turned their dining room into their school room and the bookshelves wouldn't work with the plate rail up. Lucky us!!!



And finally, a closeup of one of the lights that is going above the sink :)



Maybe in a couple of weeks I can post pictures of the final product!

Kitchen Progress

I've been neck-deep in paint, caulk, trim, paint. Did I say paint???

We started the kitchen re-do about 2 weeks ago. It feels like it's taking forever! Mostly because all of the stuff that used to be in the kitchen is now in the dining room. And all of the stuff that usually lands on the dining room table is now spread all over the rest of the house. And apparently, in our family, when one room is a mess, it becomes OK for the rest of the house to be a mess too. I feel like I'm living in chaos!!!

Anyway, so far I've painted the insides of all my cabinets. They were a hideous peach/orange before. All of the drawers are done and back in, but for some reason, the stuff that goes in them is still piled in the dining room :) One side of all the cabinet doors are done and the other side has one coat of paint. Britney has run the wires for the lights that will go above the sink and installed the trim to hide said wires. We also put up some trim on the long wall in the kitchen that resembles wainscoting. Part of this came out of a house some friends of ours just bought. They took it down and it was just sitting in their basement. Score for us!!

Tonight I painted the thing I've been dying to paint. I think it's what will make the room. The island that has been the thorn in my side since we moved in is now...BLACK! I love it. Love, love, love it. True, the function of it didn't change at all, but at least now it's pretty :) I also painted our window sashes black. It was dark out by the time I started painting those and they seem to just disappear. It's really cool!

I know you're all wanting pictures to go along with this much overdue post, but I just can't bring myself to put some up tonight. The kitchen is a disaster because I was also making cupcakes today for the picnic we're going to tomorrow and couldn't find a place for everything. So, it's all over the counter. Maybe tomorrow you'll get a picture. For now, I'm going to sleep!

Recipe Wednesday

As promised, two recipes today!!

Cheesy Nacho Bake
1 lb. ground beef
1 an (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes, with juice
1 can refried beans
1/4 cup water
1 pkg. taco seasoning
3/4 cup sour cream
6 oz. tortilla chips (7 cups)
1 1/2 cups shredded Colby & Monterrey Jack cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Brown meat in large skillet; drain. Add tomatoes, beans, water and seasoning mix; cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in sour cream.

Place half of the chips in a 9x13 baking dish; cover with half each of the meat mixture and cheese. Repeat layers.

Bake 20 minutes or until heated through. Garnish with salsa if desired.


Quick and Easy Brownies

2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Melt the butter and mix all ingredients. Bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes in a 9x13 inch greased pan.

I'd love to hear from you if you try one of my recipes!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Imagine my surprise when my normally up with the sun son and daughter let me sleep in until 8:00!! I couldn't believe it when I finally woke up. I came down and gave them both giant hugs and told them thank you so much for letting me sleep! It was the best Mother's Day present ever :) The only thing that topped sleeping was the homemade cards that they had been working on all morning. I love Mother's Day!

So, to Bebe and Nana, Happy Mother's Day to you too! We wish we could be there with you today. We love you!

It's been a very busy week here. With school winding down, spring finally here and another remodeling project underway, I've just felt a tiny bit overwhelmed. Sorry for no recipe Wednesday...Maybe there will be two next week!

My first Mother's Day in 2002 with Britney's mom, sister and my mom.

Because I couldn't pick just one...

Today is the Remodeling Roundup over at the Remodeling Guy. But, I have 2 projects...because I can't pick just one :)

One of the things Britney has dreamed about since we got married and bought our first home (and surround sound system) is having a true home theater - you know with the 110" screen and theater seating, preferably in the basement where there is little to no light. There are big plans for our basement here, but for now, it's full of the corn boiler and other projects that I never seem to get around to...

So, for now his Media Room is the old maid's room just off of the kitchen. The only before picture I have is from just after we moved in. Our old TV died just after our furniture arrived from Georgia, so in true redneck style, we just left it and put the smaller TV in front of it until we could haul it away..





We've since gotten new furniture and a new working TV. The ceiling is wallpaper that was painted to look like an old copper ceiling. It's OK, but drives me nuts! But for now, it will have to do until we can do it up right!



We added picture molding about one foot below the ceiling to help bring the height down a little. All of the ceilings on our first floor are over 10 feet. Not exactly comfy, cozy, home-theater-ish.



We painted, walls and trim. The walls are Ben Moore Phillipsburg Blue and the trim is Ace - Beautiful Brown Eyes. Both are in eggshell.

The windows are mistreated! My first ones ever and it took some creative thinking, but we got there. I still need some big lamps for the sofa table and a few more things to go on the wall AND to finish painting and hanging the doors on the closets, but we're almost there!



And just because this is the most involved remodeling project I've ever done...The windows - again :)

Recipe Wednesday and a Remodeling Roundup!

It's a cool, rainy, dreary day here in MN. The kind of weather that makes me wish for a warm, yummy desert. So, today it's Apple Crumb Cake! This has to be one of the easiest recipes I've ever made, but it's always a hit where ever I take it. My friend Kathy gave this recipe to me probably 9 years ago and it's still a favorite! Now excuse me, I need to go run to the store...

Apple Crumb Cake

2 cans pie filling
1 box WHITE cake mix
1 stick of butter, softened
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Pour pie filling into 9x13 baking dish. In a separate bowl, combine cake mix with butter (will be crumbly when mixed). Add nuts and lemon juice. Pour over pie filling. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until top is golden brown.

I've also used blueberry, cherry, and strawberry pie filling. Every one of them is delicious, but apple is my favorite!

Now onto the remodeling roundup part...

The Remodeling Guy is hosting a remodeling roundup on Friday - May 1. I've been meaning to post about it for about a week, but I've been busy trying to get my projects finished!!!

Be sure to link up with RG on Friday and show off all of those awesome projects you've done - or even some that are in the process or that you're still just dreaming of. It's sure to be a great place for inspiration and you may even win a prize or two!!

Happy Hammering!

My Childhood Bedroom

Today, Misti over at Studio M Designs is having her first Mr. Linky party where we get to show off our childhood bedrooms. I want her first party to be a huge success, so I decided to join in - even though I don't have any pictures. This is one of those times I wish I could run over to Mom and Dad's and grab those wonderful shots of our bedroom from 1984!

My sister Jill and I shared a room until I was 16. Our room went through several redecorating phases, but I think the room I remember most vividly was our "heart room." It had white walls with bright royal blue trim. Yes - royal blue. Our beds were white, but I don't really remember what style they were. I think they could've been bunked but we never had them that way. You know - because bunk beds are dangerous and all.

Our comforters were white with different colored hearts all over them and my mom had stenciled hearts around the top of the room - in all different colors to match the comforter. I remember many nights lying in bed and counting the hearts until I fell asleep.

We also had this awesome (at least I think so now) old vanity with a huge round mirror. I'm sure that when we got older, we were too cool for it and needed something much more fashionable. But now I wish we still had it. I could come up with some really great ideas for that piece!

The last thing I remember were these blue pieces of lattice or something similar that were mounted above our headboards and there were little hearts that were supposed to look like flowers peeking out around the "fences".

I'm sure if I found pictures of it now, I would think it was a pretty ugly room :) But there were lots of great memories made in that room - and lots of great sisterly fights too! Thanks, Mom, for making our room fun, and I'm sure for putting up with all of the "wants" that we had!

So, how about you? Go on over to Misti's and tell us about your childhood room. Or better yet - post pictures if you have them!!!