It has been a wonderful end to 2011 and a nice start to 2012. Over the holidays I have been enjoying much down time that I didn't realize I really needed and it has been heaven!
I have especially enjoyed using our new kitchen faucet, the Leland by Delta that was a warranty replacement for our previous and now discontinued Waterfall faucet that leaked constantly even after parts were replaced. Thank you Delta! It is a dream faucet and if you ever wondered if the pullout spray faucets are worth it, I recommend them highly. I love a gooseneck faucet due to ease of washing up big pots under it. The pullout nozzle has a magnatite locking system that snaps the spray head back in place firmly and with ease. I also love the feature that allows you to switch back and forth from a stream to a spray.
And of course I think it looks spectacular on our new Kohler Bakersfield white cast iron sink. The faucet came complete with a soap pump and I can't tell you how happy I am to be rid of the one on the counter.
We also opted for a stainless steel sink bottom basin rack instead of the nylon coated one we had and now I can place hot pots right on it. Just one more thing that makes cooking a breeze.
Now the view when I enter our home of our white and airy addition with it's stylish counterpart is perfect and relates back to our mudroom sink and faucet. Finally our home is starting to feel like the beach inspired home I have dreamed of. We still have a long way to go but I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel after many years.
I don't believe I shared a larger picture of the kitchen after I finished painting part of the cabinets white from a glazed cream but I was waiting until the sink and faucet were installed to show you. Once our living room renovation is complete and the dust has settled then we will will redesign and paint the island and paint the pantry and maybe the island stools. I still need to add new window treatments and am thinking of woven medium toned wood blinds that will add a nice texture and give visual balance to the Santa Cecelia granite counters.
As I had previously mentioned our 9ish year old Kitchenaid's dishwasher quit just before xmas and I wanted to scream as it has been repaired many times. Hubs didn't want a second hand unit and I didn't want to spend $450.00 on a new cheap model so we bought a new motor and he installed it himself and we save $200.00. It just didn't make sense to get rid of totally stainless machine with perfectly good interior and exterior if we could repair it ourselves. I would love to get a new stainless stove and fridge but there is nothing wrong with the ones we have and since they are white they blend in nicely with the cabinets for now.
As you may or may not know it is becoming common info that they do not make reasonably priced major appliances to last past 7-10 years. I have kept this vintage Oster blender base that was missing it's jar in my cupboard for years and years hoping to find a new jar for it and in the meantime I went through a couple of new cheap blenders that stop blending my smoothies effectively after a while.
I love it's shiny chrome beehive shape and my parents have the same one that outperforms any new blenders I bought and so upon a trip to our local Goodwill the other day I snapped up a new glass jar for it for a mere
4.99 + tax.
But we did splurge on our very first in 12 years, coffee maker and the choice to spend a little more has paid off by the reviews I read on this one. It's the Cuisinart DCC-1100C. We always had a french press but I broke the glass jar and to buy a new bodum it was going to cost $25.00 so I thought it was finally time to get a real coffee maker for my honey. I'm not a coffee drinker but I love getting up and making him a coffee and love how the aroma fills the house. After a lot of searching and researching reviews on line I was happy to find a great looking model in a white and stainless version.
I wouldn't call myself a cook but I make all our meals from scratch due to all my food sensitivities and look what my honey bought me for Christmas. They are my first set of professional knives, and I can't believe that I have waited this long to get some. I whipped up a homemade stew the other day with such ease and if you are looking for a great set of knives, they are the Kuraidon set from Home Hardware.
I also found two of these great linen look drum shades at Home Sense and really like them on my vintage lamp bases that I recently sprayed white. I haven't taken the plastic off because someone said he doesn't like them and well, it always makes me second guess myself. Ugh!
Yup that's wonderful drywall you see behind them, YES!
The room is coming along.
and we desperately needed a new rug for the back door since the last one was unravelling and water was seeping through the worn rubber backing so I was delighted when I finally found one large enough and that I liked at Home Sense as well for a really reasonable price.
and now I have to share with you what I am so excited about, this amazing lantern I found also at Home Sense in the clearance section for $45.00. It was on sale because one piece of glass is missing which is so easy to replace. You see I have always always loved the look of a large lantern over the dining room table but I have been unable to find any that were large enough or didn't cost an arm and a leg.
Then I found a not so pretty light for $14.99 at Value Village
and removed the light from it's cage so Todd can install it in our new lantern!
It will all get a coat of spray paint to match and so for an incredible $60.00 not including the cost of a new piece of glass we will have a one of a kind large scale lantern in our dining room that I think will look stunning.
The living room is furnished temporarily while Todd works on the floor in the dining room. I will give it a fresh coat of paint and then we can do the switcheroo again to finish up the living room.
Aaah the life of renovating!
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