The Appliance Saga Continues...

So, I called the company that I bought the liquid stainless from --they were really nice & even offered to send me my money back--- to find out what product we'd need to get the paint off of our stove. (If you didn't read yesterday's post & are unsure of what the "appliance saga" is, you can read about it here. )




Here's the "painted stainless steel stove" above. It doesn't look as terrible in photos but in person it looked totally, well, painted. Anyway, they recommended a product, CitriSolve and we got it at Home Depot and my poor husband went to work undoing what I'd had him do the day before. (He really puts up with me. )

After letting it sit for 30 mins, he scrubbed it and was able to prettty much just wipe & scrub all the paint off. (Which took a couple of hours.) The only problem is that since it took so long to come off, the solvent was left on for too long and took off some of the stove's white factory finish on the bottom handle. (I'm more than okay with this because I'm just so happy to have it back white.. we'll just touch that up with white appliance paint.)

And here is is this morning: brighter & whiter than it's been in a long time! (It really got a good scrubbing ;)


It's not too too terribly far off from the Big Chill vintage reproduction stove (below). Does anyone know if there are replacement handles you can have put on your stove that might look a bit more vintage? (I feel like that's what's mostly keeping mine from being attractive.)

as far as the fridge is concerned, many of you suggested I cover it in chalkboard paint & Linda from Lime in the Coconut sold me on this image:

Thanks so much everyone!! When Dave was at Home Depot picking up the paint stripper, he also picked up some black chalboard paint. It won't help in lightening back up my kitchen, but at least it will be a fun & easy alternative to the fake stainless. We'll keep it until we can afford this:

Or this I love too: Anyway, thanks everyone so much for your suggestions & thoughts. I have to admit I am a stainless steel lover (finger prints and all- I think it's beautiful) but taught myself the lesson that it's not always right for a space. I was so excited to hear so many of you say how you loved your white appliances! Will be posting soon on the chalkboard fridge!!!

xoxo,

lauren

ps- my dishwasher (a dying old thing that's really more like a dish "disinfector" because you have to clean everything before you put it in) is going back to the same gray-green as the cabinets again... It honestly didn't bother me when it was green so back it goes!

Stainless Steel Appliance Paint... or How I Ruined My Kitchen

There will be no pretty "after" pictures in this post. I seriously ruined my kitchen today. Wanting stainless steel appliances and loathing my "bisque" fridge and dishwasher, I started researching cheaper options. I got SO excited when I read about the product, a "liquid" stainless steel! (I haven't listed the brand because I don't want to put a company down or cause it to lose any business, but if you really are interested in the product, you can email me and I can give you more details.) I thought: at least I should give this stuff a try for $50 before buying new appliances. Well, I bought it and here's what I got:

It actually looks better in the above pic than it does in person. It looks more like this:

It's really dark and looks just like what it is: painted appliances. I really fell for the photos on the website. To be fair, I'm sure they applied it much better than we did and so the appliances pictured probably look much better, but I really should have known better. I think it's a great idea and it really might be for some people, but it's not for me. I'm actually embarrassed of my kitchen now.

Coming home tonight (we were out waiting for it to dry) and seeing my kitchen "finished" I wanted to cry. hahha I know how stupid that sounds but it's my favorite spot in our house and now all I see are these fake-fake-fake appliances!!!!! They used to just sort of recede... I forgot about them knowing one day we'd replace them... now they're so in my face I can't stand it!! (Before I thought, "it's got to be better than bisque".. well it's not. at all.)

BUT, I have found a little silver lining. Even though the finish looks terrible, I'm able to envision my kitchen with stainless steel appliances and I'm not sure if that's what I want any more.

I know it's pretty much standard in beautiful kitchens but I'm not so sure how well it will work in mine to get the feeling I'm after. I love all my white beadboard on the walls and the fridge in stainless really makes it feel smaller and interrupts the beadboard. (pic above before, when range was white.) I'm considering a new or craigslist white fridge to replace my bisque-turned-fake-stainless one... which, in the end will be much cheaper than all stainless appliances. Now I'm leaning more towards something like this:

I know "real" stainless reflects much more light than my fake painted stuff and so in that way, it will be lighter & maybe not interrupt the flow as much... but still.. white is now calling to me. After doing a little research, I've decided my "dream fridge" is one of these vintage reproduction fridges by Big Chill....

Oh my goodness how I want one....

And how perfect would the matching stove be?!!!

Ok, so anyone have any other ideas??? I've got to do something!!!! (I'm attempting to scrape off the stainless paint from the range tomorrow... the fridge isn't worth saving..)

xoxo,
lauren

Front Door Makeover

Here's our sad little front entry when we bought the house:

We've been those neighbors that move into a neighborhood and have JUNK out all the time because our house has been undergoing so many renovations: demo stuff from the basement, carpet remnants, yard debris, and just trash... I've had paint samples along the side of the house for a few months and I've been feeling so embarrassed!! I always joke that I need to put a big sign in my yard : "MUST SEE INSIDE!" hahaha Anyway, we're finally getting somewhere with the outside & I thought I'd share. Dave painted it a warm deep gray (pulled from some of the stones) and we went with a warm white trim. (It used to be this yucky beigey-nude color.) We added in a ton of shrubs & plants but it's still not enough (There were only 2 dying bushes in front of my house when we moved in.) so we have plans to add more in as soon as we can afford it. Anyway, here is again before:

And here is is now:

I thought the crazy orange door would be temporary for the Fall (yes, we have our cheesey Halloween stuff out now!! :) but I'm kind of loving it. I pulled the orange from some of the stones that are orange. (Same ones from the family room, remember?) and as crazy as it is, I think it actually works and it may stay for a little longer. (Will have to say what Maria of Colour Me Happy thinks!!) Coming home to it makes me happy. Here's a close-up of my vintage Halloween sign:

And my really cheesey "stone" crow I found at Michael's. hee hee I'm giving him a coat of black paint to, hopefully to look more like iron...

Also let me clarify in case you're wondering what's gotten into me: I love tasteful Fall decorations but for the 2 weeks before Halloween I think (especially having kids & a Halloween party) that more is more!! I like to try to stay a little vintage but I can't help falling for real-looking skeletons & ghosts. I COVET this ghost ring from Grandinroad (below) HOW COOL IS THAT?!!! SO SPOOKY!!! i'm going to try to make my own for our Hallween Party... IN the clearing in the woods in our back yard....

OK, sorry, now back to the entry. Anyway, we hung the caged outdoor hanging lantern (around $200) that echoes the one in the interior entry and found the welcome mat with a similar pattern at Ikea. My Boston Fern is now outside because I couldn't handle him inside. (He was way too messy and it's so sad that even watering and misting wouldn't keep him happy!!) I repainted the house numbers in black (all crossed out for safety purposes) and have plans to add the metal lion door knocker that I've had for years.

Will show more pics of the front of the house soon! Have a great weekend & happy almost Halloween!!! Mu-hu-hahahahahah ;) ;)

xoxo,

lauren

Door color: Behr's 'Maple Leaf' (#250D-6)

Siding Color: Ralph Lauren 'Master Room" done in Behr exterior flat paint

Trim Color: Behr's 'Cotton Whisper' (#W-F-300)

The Beauty of Pesto

I know I mostly write about design-related things, but this is also a place where I collect inspiration about the simple & beautiful things in life. The little things that make us happy... And not very much makes me much happier than good food. One of my favorite things to do in the late Summer & Fall is to make pesto. (image above from greenbabyguide.com) We had SO MUCH basil this year. (I pretty much managed to kill or seriously distress everything else we planted besides the basil.)

It's grown as tall as Christian! I took these photos about a month ago with full intentions of posting them sooner, so you'll notice that things look a bit warmer & greener than they are these days. My little assistant was wonderful and I'd highly recommend one for basil-picking:

He even came with his own bucket! Along with good food, I love spending time outside with my family. Christian & I had so much fun checking out all the final flowers in the yard as we snapped up our basil:

My "weeds" have ended up being some of my favorite flowers, like the Rose of Sharon that pops up everywhere. (And I can't kill them- yay!!! I'm honestly so terrible with plants that even my mint doesn't look so hot.)

And will this honeysuckle never stop?!!! We still have some blooms even in October! (Not that I'm complaining :)

We caught a shot of this little butterfly (or pretty moth? I'm no biologist.) on some sedum...

And these purple flowers just popped up (requiring no love) and made me really happy:

Ok, so back to the basil...

Once it was all collected in the bucket...

... And we had mounds of it...

We cut & washed it in my Grandma's collander. I pulled the chair up to the sink for Christian and he was just so excited to help.

And I broke out the blender:

Here's my Basic Ingredient List in case you don't already have one:

-Olive Oil--> and I'm not picky about very many things but olive oil is one of them... I used to be "Lauren Maestranzi" remember? ;) We always use Filippo Berio ( & love it when you can get it in the big can) and I'd say it's the most authentic "gorcery store" olive oil you can get. If they don't have it, then go with Bertoli. (and I don't go extra virgin with my pesto either.)

-Fresh Basil

-Pine Nuts

-Shredded Parmesan Cheese

-Fresh Minced Garlic (lots!)

-Salt & Pepper

-Italian Parsley

Yummy add-ons:

-Lemon juice

-Feta

-Spinach

-Olives

(I haven't listed any amounts on here because I just usually eye it. You can make it thicker by using less oil and more pesto & cheese or you can stretch it with extra oil. It's totally up to you. (I usually use just enough olive oil to get my blender to blend.) Anyway, then just blend it all up and remember at the end to salt to taste. Now put it on something yummy like pasta (loving tri-color in my pesto lately) and/or grilled chicken or even spread it on some french bread with some shredded parm melted on top in the oven.

I usually make it in huge batches and separate it out into smaller batches to freeze for easy stress-free meals later on. (Now that's simple beauty ;) (image from icookpasta.com)

I think we all know that in reality, not every meal can be lovingly prepared and/ or planned and homemade -at least not in my reality- but it really is nice to squeeze in these special meals where you have fun with your family preparing them. Some music, a nice glass of wine, or letting little ones help and make messes... I love it when meal prep can be fun: it's one of those things that needs to happen almost every night so why not make the best out of it? Even eating can be simple happy & beautiful.

xoxo,

lauren