Decorating the Top of the Kitchen Cabinets.

Neutralizing the Kitchen

I've always wondered what to put on the top of my cabinets. There's just enough room for a dinner plate leaning vertically. I've tried just about every combination of everything you can think of, and I always grow tired of it after a few weeks.

I played around with the cabinet color on PicMonkey. In other posts you can see that they are much lighter and orange.

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Let's decorate!

This time, I'm using all black and white. These colors have stood the test of time for me. I have so many black and white things, I only had to shop the house to pull it all together.

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Let's start at the corner. I made this 'EAT' sign years ago. The duck and the cookie jar are thrifted.

More thrifted items. Notice I used white items inside the different metal baskets. The cabinets stop at the window and start again on the other side.

I made the bakery sign a few months ago.

At one time, I had removed the cabinet doors on each side of the sink. I liked it for a while, but then it started to feel cluttered.

The chippy baskets and the white dishes are simple.

Going around and across the top of the fridge...

Another sign... can you have too many?

This ends the cabinets.

I like this better than anything I've tried in a while.

When I brought this rusty basket in the house, my husband looked at me like I'd lost my mind... I know YOU understand.

I found a huge bunch of faux fern recently and I tried to make a wreath...

it's harder than you think!

My cabinets need painting or re-staining or something. The ones at the bottom are faded. The polyurethane is splotchy. They have an orangy look to them. I haven't made up my mind what I want to do yet. I love white cabinets, but I'm not sure I want to clean white cabinets. I don't hate these, but I don't love them either. For now, I'll work with them the best I can.

Check out our new mailbox. I picked it up at Michaels. I had a gift card and a coupon. I paid $12.00 for it. Confession, I saw this and walked around the store looking for stuff I could use to make one myself. 3 baskets, a board, some numbers... done???

And then I decided to just buy it... I rarely do that.

So what's your opinion? Painted cabinets? Stain a darker color?

I say when in doubt, do nothing...

I hope you were inspired!

Thank you for stopping by Thrift My House.
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Laundry Room Reveal and a Washer-Dryer Review.

Welcome to my Laundry Room.

I should say, welcome to the rest of my laundry room.

First of all, let me tell you why it's taken me 7 months to complete my laundry room makeover.

Last summer, I started making changes to my laundry room. My motivation was, we were about to get a new washer and dryer. 

I was in organizational mode.  I added all sorts of baskets to my cabinets for storage (you can see that here), and then I decided to get rid of the popcorn ceiling. One thing always leads to another. 

July 4th weekend, I sprayed, scraped, sanded (and sanded some more) and then painted the ceiling. What a mess! But I did it! And a few days later, the pain started... in my chest. Not heart pain, but a rib... hurt when you breathe, roll over in the bed, turn your head ... kind of awful pain!

I knew it had to do with the ceiling project I had just finished, so I did what everyone else does... I googled.

And I found out it was Costochondritis.

Here we are 7 months later and I'm finally pain free. 

Was it worth it? I hate popcorn ceiling and I'm about to remove some from another bathroom next week. But this time, I'll work smarter, not harder... my husband's going to help.

                        Before                                          After

                       

Now, come on in!

I made the laundry sign on an old board. I like how the sign "decorates" the shelf without taking up any room.

I painted the walls my favorite gray. 

Woodlawn Colonial Gray by Valspar. This gray is beautiful with browns, especially the burlapy colors. I splurged a little on the curtains; they're from Target. The name is Tan Basketweave. I like long curtains in the laundry room. I always have.

Circling around, my Camellia bush sits just outside the window.

I picked up these shutters from Habitat for $2.00 a set. 

Remember the little wooden vases from a previous project I did back during Christmas? Here. 

I painted and attached them to the shutters and added this greenery.

I first painted the shutters black but didn't like how they looked in the room. Then I painted them white and they took on a life of their own.... I LOVE it! The peeling, the cracking... the chippy look was a nice surprise! These were shiny, white, new looking shutters, but not anymore. 

I picked the little shelf and basket up at Goodwill. 

I love the non color here. 

There's a little wall between the toilet and the sink.

I use this sink to wash out my brushes and paint tray. I try to keep the decor simple so that I have plenty of room.

 I still have this shoe bag on the back of the door containing cleaning supplies.

I have a roll out clothes hamper; it has 2 compartments. I keep extra hangers on one side. The counter holds my baskets and laundry detergent, etc. The two drawers hold manuals to everything we've ever owned. I keep my mops, etc. in the crack between the hamper and the washing machine.

This is where it all started. I LOVE my basket storage system. It works! It helps me find stuff quickly and put away stuff quickly.

After reading tons of reviews, looking in all the local stores, we decided to purchase the Speed Queen washer and dryer set. I knew I wanted "old school." When I mentioned looking a new washer and dryer in a blog post, several people mentioned Speed Queen. I'd never heard of them before. My friend, Andi, from Delusions of Ingenuity, was a big help. She sent me pictures, info, and her review of the pair. The online reviews were very positive compared to the latest and greatest newfangled sets.

I've had them 6 months now and we love them. 

They're both stainless steel on the inside, they wash and dry fast, and the lint trap is in the door, NOT on the top. I even washed my king sized quilt in the washer, and it did fine.

So yes! I recommend Speed Queen.

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I tell ya, I'm loving the grays, whites, and browns lately!

So what do you think? Do you have any major projects going on? Have you ever stopped in the middle of a project because you hurt yourself?

I hope you were inspired!

Thank you for stopping by Thrift My House.