Kitchen Nook WANTED - My Top 10 Nooks/Entryways

The more and more I look at my kitchen the more I want to add a little nook.  Now that I am doing daycare I want a place for parents to put their kids' bags and coats.  Plus the organization would be really nice.  I don't care if my house gets messy from toys but when it's stuff I can control it drives me nuts.

Here are a few nook/entryway ideas I love:

 

All these pictures make me excited to eventually work on this project...however I am not sure one would even fit in the spot I am looking at in the kitchen.  We'll see what happens!!

Our Kitchen

I promised I would post pictures of our new kitchen island.  Like I said before I originally wanted a custom island but am now glad we did choose to go this route.  We saved a lot of money and it's really nice...thanks again to both of our amazing parents.

Our kitchen is nice but not quite what I would call perfection.  It's lacking some character.  One we purchased our house it was one of my favorite things about it but now I feel it needs a little love...it's dull and boring.

Can you say "Backsplash"

 

BACKSPLASH Please!!!!"

Perfect spot for a nook

Need different accessories

My list of must haves are (in order of importance):

Change light fixture (it doesn't work...so this is a huge must)
Add a backsplash
Put garbage in a cupboard (I hate it out for everyone to see...it's kind of an eye soar and it takes up space)
Add curtains and change cheap blinds
Create a nook for sitting and hanging daycare items
Add a few more accessories/pictures
Purchase new rug

Uff...that list was longer then I intended.  The accessories and rug are extras if I find something I MUST HAVE.  I have a tendency to jump around to room to room doing projects.  I would like for once to finish one room then move on to the next.  I am thinking the kitchen could be that room...my husband will probably think otherwise. :( 

Bye Bye Ugly Red Brick Fireplace

I cannot begin to tell you how stoked I was to finally get rid of the (non-working) red brick fireplace.  It was so gross...dirty and ugly.  It's finally gone and this is how we did it. 

The before:

I told you it was GROSS!!! haha.

Because I am super scared of spiders I asked Chris to clean the fireplace.  He was surprisingly excited to help.  Usually he hates my projects. To clean the gunk and grease he used the product Dirty Jobs (with bleach)

Our next steps were to caulk any holes and cracks around the fireplace, then began priming and painting.

I used one coat of primer on the whole fireplace and used two coats of paint, flat black in the inside and semi-gloss white on the outside.  I probably would have been okay with one coat of paint but I wanted to make sure the paint was even and I didn't miss anything. 

This was our end result.

I still need to get some new decor.  All the items on the fireplace are from the guest room (the green kind of clashes with the gray).  I think that means I need to visit Home Goods soon.  If you have a Home Goods in your area it's a MUST for home decor.  It's the TJ Max of home goods...but so much better. :)

What do you think?  I am so happy with it.  It changes the whole room...it's so bright and clean looking!  I still want to change the mantle (it's a gray marble) and tile the hearth (I painted it white temporarily).  These will be good jobs when my father-in-law visits.  He's much handier then we are.

The Not So Pretty Fireplace

Our fireplace is a huge eye sore. Chris and I go back and forth on what to do with it.  I hate it!!  The decor I prefer is more modern and our fireplace is far from that.  The brick is seriously hideous.

Ugh...

Hehe...

I would love to knock it all down and start over however neither Chris and I are very handy nor do we have the budget.  To save us some money and so I don't have to look at the thing anymore I decide I am going to paint it white.  I love white fireplaces.  Painting it seemed the best option for us (for now).

When researching online for examples I got some great inspirations.  Check them out (click on the picture to view each blog):

Stay tuned to see how it all turned out...

Weekend Wrap Up

It was a busy weekend of house projects and cleaning.  I did happen to go on a play date/breakfast with some wonderful ladies and their kids Saturday morning so it wasn't all work. So far I am a head of the game with my resolutions.  We finished putting together the kitchen island and cleaned and painted both the interior and exterior of the fireplace.  I can't wait to show you the fireplace. 

I am really excited about the island (thanks to our awesome parents).  It will add more storage space for us and add a nice work center for cooking.  The table we had before was nice but it was too low and of course there was no storage.  We purchased the island at Amazon.com.  It was a pretty great steal.  I would have loved a custom island but again we are on a small budget so this will have to work.  I am definitely happy with it.

This is not my kitchen.  I will post some pictures soon.  The light in our kitchen does not work and it's late so the kitchen is pretty dark. 

This weekend no big projects just cleaning.  I need to focus my cleaning efforts on the upstairs and attic. Both floors have been neglected lately.  I will post pictures of the fire place later this week.  You have to see the change!

Happy New Years

Happy 2013.  I hope everyone had a wonderful New Years.  We celebrated with my sister's family in North Dakota.  It was incredibly low key...just the way I like it.  We played dodge ball and lighting or bump with her three boys.  We had lots of laughs and the kids seem to really enjoy it.

This year my New Years Resolution is to take more time for myself with friends and have some date nights or even date days with Chris.  Since Bram has been born we've gone on one date...yes one!!! He's 14 months old now and we've only gone out alone to eat once.  We feel like we burden people by asking them to babysit.  It would be different if we had family around but we don't so we choose to stay in and snuggle on the couch (which really isn't so bad :) ). 

I have so many projects I would like to accomplish this year.  Of course we have a limited budget so I am not sure if we can accomplish all of them.  Here is my goal list:

Kitchen projects:
Put together island (Christmas presents from both our parents)
Add backsplash

Formal living room project:
Clean and paint inside of fireplace
Paint outside of fireplace 
Create a picture gallery

Laundry room projects:
Add new flooring
Paint

Stairway:
Add picture gallery

Master bedroom projects:
Add frame gallery
Create a tufted headboard
Hang TV and shelves

Front yard:
Landscape (biggest and most expensive project)

Organization:
Organize and store Bram's clothes
Go thru old bins and donate things we no longer use
Organize and clean all closets
Reorganize kitchen cabinets

My goal is to put together the island this weekend, clean and paint inside of the fireplace next weekend, and paint the outside of the fire place the following weekend.  Lets hope I can accomplish my goals!!  Let the fun begin!!