I cannot believe that is 2013 already. Time seems to speed up as we get older, which my father warned me about a long time ago.
This month we celebrated our fifth anniversary! Woo hoo! And then in March we will have our first wedding anniversary. DH gets to plan that day because my fantasy football team, Tyrion's Impalers, beat his North Baltimore Chaps. A little friendly rivalry is good for a young couple, right?
We've made some changes around the old abode since I last wrote (oh so long ago.) The most noteworthy is continuing to improve our kitchen. We have been working very hard to stick to meal plans and save money by avoiding take-out, which is hard because I have an intense love for Indian food.
Our kitchen is much smaller than our previous but that's where a keen eye and organizing come in handy. Or, in reality, moving stuff around a lot and seeing if it works (thank the gods for my incredibly patient hubby).
I started searching around for small, white kitchens. The first one that really struck a chord with me was the kids over at
Seventh House on the Left.
What especially drew my eye was the open/glass door cabinetry. I've been ogling that in a few places lately.
So, one night in November, full of pluck and 9pm resolution I grabbed my drill and attacked the kitchen.
As I mentioned, the paint job is not the best
— who doesn't love painting right over hardware so repeatedly that things are rounded and it takes six tries to even find the groove in the screw in which to drill? I definitely am not bitter...
And for awhile they stayed like that, making the kitchen seem a lot larger, a nice trick for our small square footage.
But, it started to seem a little plain. Not inherently clean and utilitarian but unfinished and "bachelor-paddy". So I thought we needed some color and something to bring out the older styling of the room.
We have a wonderful independent store here in our area called
Trohv. It's the kind of place that when you walk in you wish you could live there and use all of the cool accessories. Including beautiful wrapping paper.
I loved it's retro pattern and light teal color, airy but defining. The white details connect it to the rest of the kitchen. We had a gift card from a dear friend so we bought two rolls (hoping that would be enough since I hadn't gone to the store with the cabinets in mind) which came in around $10.
For a few weeks I let the paper lie flat so the application wouldn't be as difficult.
And finally I got up the gumption to get my butt in gear. Once again, I am very lucky to have married a man with the patience of a saint. I tend to be stubborn, loud, and independent in home projects. I hope by the time we buy a home I will be more like James, a team player.
I originally planned to measure and then cut but I realized that since the cabinets are not completely level and vary in many spots, the best method was to press it and cut. Enter my friend the X-Acto knife and adhesive tape. Since we're renting the place, it can't be permanent so I may have to re-apply tape now and again.
Pardon the blurry quality of these photos, I had to use my iPhone camera.
The hardest part was aligning the details so it looked like one solid piece instead of the three separate per row. But, if you turn head just the right way and in just the right light, you can see the little pieces of tape. Oh well!
All in all, it took about an hour to put up (including the false starts and changing of methods.)
It was love at first sight! I especially enjoy how it brings out the
Butterprint Turquoise Mixing Bowls in the upper left (a gift from my lovely MIL.)
And the finished product! Our kitchen feels so much better! It is more home-y, a little retro but just enough to not being kitschy. After all, that would have to be called a "kitshchen" (I love bad puns so much!)
Title: Birdsong
