Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Paint....It's A Beautiful Thing!

Hello and Happy Hump Day.  It feels so good to have kicked this bug I have had!  I am feeling more like me now!!  First, I wanted to answer a couple of questions regarding the chicken coop and run.  The coop, is completely secured.  There is no possible way that anything can get to my hens when they are in the safety of their coop.  But the run that is surrounding the coop, was needing some more security.  The chickens that were taken by coyotes though, had either flown out of the coop, or were already out to free range.  Now the hens have had their wings clipped, and cannot fly.  Plus I secured the roof of the coop so that the coyotes cannot get onto the roof and then into the run.  But yes, there are limbs of the avocado trees that would enable a clever coyote to still get into the run if it wanted to bad enough.  I have only let them out when I am out there working.  I am still going to cover the whole top of the run, to provide even more security. 
So...moving on now, I want to talk about a new blog I found only a couple of days ago.  I found her, because she found me.  I always like to go say hello when I have a new visitor to my blog, and when I went to visit her, I was struck by so many similarities between us.  Plus, her house, and in particular her kitchen, were so similar to mine.  Both of us living in old Ranch style homes.  We are both big fans of red, and use it a lot in our decor.  We both quilt, crochet and knit.  We both have grown daughters, and 3 grandchildren. We both married very young, and are still married 30 plus years later.  I just loved visiting Elizabeth at Home Is Where The Heart Is and will be a regular reader from now on.  There were two things that she had done in her kitchen that really shouted out to me.  One, she has a door that leads out of her kitchen in nearly the exact same spot as we do.  Hers was painted a beautiful shade of green.  The rest of the kitchen was not green, but this door stood out in such a pretty way.  I immediately remembered that I had bought a quart of pretty green paint a while ago, simply because I loved the color.  I had no plans for it, and have not used it yet.  But when I saw that door, I knew exactly what I would use it for!!!   Another thing she had done, before they bought their darling new vintage appliances in buttercup yellow, she was wanting to spruce up the kitchen and she painted the knobs on her stove top red!  Well now why didn't I think of this?  What a fun pop of color!  So, knowing I still had some leftover red paint, in the same color I painted my paper towel holder and napkin holder, as well as my lids to my big jars, I got to work painting my black stove top knobs red to match!!!  What a change.  I love it!!!
I forgot to take before pics of the door, but here is a photo during.

I was only going to put a patch on to see how I like it, but I loved it so much that I had to keep going.  I took the door knob off and painted the whole thing!
I have been looking at those ugly brown doors so long now that I think I just don't even see them anymore until they are in a picture.  You can bet I will be doing a lot more painting of doors here!  What a difference!!!
I absolutely love it.  Such a fun and fresh color.  It is by Glidden and it is called Sea Glass Green.
And the red knobs are put back on the stove top.  Wanna see?
Oh my goodness.....such a simple thing.  But what an impact!  Maybe one day I will have that 6 burner Viking with red knobs....but until then, I love this little thing that makes my ho hum stove look great!
Elizabeth, I hope you don't mind that I copied your ideas!  When someone does something that I have done, I always take it as a big compliment.  So I hope you will too!
I love my Le Creuset cookware, and have several of the dutch ovens and grill pans. Also my Le Creuset Tea Kettle, and this little tomato dutch oven that my Mom got me for my birthday one year.
The red knobs match the jar lids I painted a while back.  I made another big batch of granola yesterday to fill this jar.  We love to eat this as cereal, or on ice cream, or my favorite way is in my yogurt!
I am in the process of re staining my kitchen cabinets, and when I am done I will put new hardware on.  This will be a nice improvement too.  I am lusting over an apron front sink to replace my stainless steel one.  And then some solid surface countertops will be in order.  It won't be a new fancy kitchen.  But it will be a nice charming fix that will make me happy.
Now I want to tell you about another blogger whose blog I have only recently found.  Her name is Taci. She is a talent with yarn, and makes the cutest things!  She has nominated me for an award, and although I don't really accept awards, I am always pleased to be recognized.  Instead of nominating others for awards, I prefer to pay it forward by alerting you, my readers, to blogs that I have found and enjoy, so that you can too.  Please go say hi to Taci at TACIStudio and see her fun blog.  I will list 11 things that you may not know about me, as she has asked me to do.
1.  I grew up in a house with all brothers.  3 brothers, as well as my Uncle Johnny who grew up with us as well.  All boys!  And I loved it!!!!
2.  I have taken a lot of Spanish classes and when I was young and working in the restaurant business, I got to use it a lot, and spoke it quite fluently.  Unfortunately, if you don't use it, you lose it.
3.  I am a bit claustrophobic and hate to be in a room with no windows!!!   Elevators included!!!!  UGH!!!
4.  I was a springboard diver in high school.
5.  I hate crowds!
6.  I have no sense of direction.  WHATSOEVER!!!
7.  I have always wanted to go to culinary school.
8.  I am very much a type A person.   Awww...you probably already knew that, didn't you?
9.  There are 5 living generations of women in my family!
10.   I love the water.  Pools, and lakes mostly.  Love to swim and be in the water.
11.  I sometimes think I was born 100 years too late.
Taci, thank you for the shout out!!!!!  I am so happy to have met you, and I love your blog!!!!
Th...thhhh.......tha....that's all folks.
XO  Kris

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post, Kris. I have read Home Is Where The Heart Is blog too. I seem to remember her posting about the red knobs, unless I'm thinking of someone else. Some days I can't remember! I love your green door, it's so pretty and fresh looking. I enjoyed your list of things about yourself!

Whosyergurl said...

LOVE that door! I am a fan of that shade, too.
Glad you feel better! xoxo
Cheryl

Patty Marker said...

I love the little touches and ooh, la, la, I love that door. I knew some of the eleven but not all. We are a lot alike but then I already knew that. Glad you are better. Now I'm off to visit those two new to me blogs.

Bethany said...

Ooo what fun redos! And you're right--it's a simple thing but it makes quite an impact!

Kelli said...

I love the color of your door. I am going to remember that color because I can see it in my house one day soon:)

Linda @ Itsy Bits And Pieces said...

I loved learning a little more about you, Kris! Your changes make a wonderful difference in the kitchen!!

Linda said...

The new green door is perfect...isn't it amazing that a bit of paint can change a room so much! Great post!!Have a wonderful evening!!

Taci simmons said...

Hi Kris,
You are so generous with your kind words.,thanks for telling folks about my blog...and the feeling is mutual. I also love your blog and think you are very talented.
Love the door, the knobs and most especially learning more about you.
I'm also very glad to have "met" you ...this blog land sure has brought so much joy and good friends to my life... I'm so happy!

Teresa Kasner said...

Kris, I love that you painted your dark wood door green! We had dark wood trim in this farm house for years and then we had the interior painted and I had all the old dark trim painted white and I just love it! I also love that you painted your stove knobs red. You are amazing!! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

Betsy said...

I'm so glad you're feeling better Kris. Such a great post just full of good ideas.
Taci and Meredith both nominated me for the same award. Wasn't that sweet of them? I'm so glad to have "met" everyone here on blogland.
Blessings,
Betsy

Holly said...

Just painting that door made such a huge difference! I love it. Can't wait to see your kitchen after the cabinets are refinished, you are one busy girl. Love ya.

priscilla said...

Can you come help me paint ? :)
Love your new kitchen touches.. Became followers of the blogs you mentioned , they are both great ! Thanks !!

Mereknits said...

Kris, your door looks amazing, such a great idea. I loved learning more about you. Taci is such a generous friend, I just love her.
Hugs to you Kris,
Meredith

Carol said...

Love your painted door and the red knobs. So pretty! I can't wait to see your kitchen cabinets when you are done with those. I hope you post a step by step on your process. I'm dying to either re-stain or paint my older oak cabinets too. They look a lot like yours. I'm a little nervous though and am having trouble getting my husband on board :)

Pam said...

The new door looks great and I totally love the red knobs on the stove! So cute.

I am claustrophobic, I am not a fan of huge crowds (especially when I am with my kids), I am directionally impaired, and I am a type A person. Now, if only I could knit! :)

Elizabeth and Gary said...

Dear Kris,
You are such a darling..and I am tickled red that you liked my green door and the idea of painting the stove knobs red. I have a little saying on my sidebar under our photo it says (We hope you enjoyed your visit with us and if along the way you see an idea of something you like, take it with you and make it your own.)
I am so thrilled you did! I love the green door and the white trim. Its so fresh, I also really love your floor. Many years ago Gary and I layed a brick floor in our kitchen when we lived in Fremont Ca. I loved that floor and one day I hope to have a brick floor again, but next time I will hire someone to lay all the brick LOL. Blogging has been so much fun for me, its the sharing of ideas and frindship that has kept me blogging.
Thank you again for such a kind a sweet shout out.
Have the sweetest of days, Elizabeth

Sarah said...

That door looks amazing!!!! I never would have thought to do that. We have a neat door in our family room (window shape and position) that leads out to the garage, but it looks horrible because it's a 70's brown. You've inspired me to do something about it when we do our family room reno. Now I can keep the door, but not the ugly! :-) And the stove knobs. Crazy cool!

Lynne said...

Nice door Kris! The green adds a great splash of color. The knob thing is a good idea too. I always liked those red knobs on the Viking.
Thanks for the heads up on the new- to-you blogs. Going to check those out. Enjoy your kitchen!

Nicolle said...

I am in love with your new door color. It looks you have an entirely new kitchen. You picked such a wonderful color! LOVE it!
xo

Sinta Renee said...

Fun little tidbits to know about you Kris! I am right there with you with elevators! and water, but I was scared of the high dive!

Pammy Sue said...

You said you were going to do it, and it didn't take you long! The door and stove knobs look great. You must be feeling so much better to have done all that painting. Good for you. I have been too busy with work to do anything this week except a little crochet in the evenings. Finished that blanket. Now I have to think of what's next. The snowflake squares will be done a few at a time, but I need something else to break up the monotony. I really don't like making square after square after square. At least there is only one color change.

Gracie Saylor said...

Kris I have just had a nice long visit with you and am so glad to get caught up on your news, especially the news that you are feeling better!

The snow at the cabin and the icicles were pretty amazing and reminded me of my years living in NY and MO. So glad you could just visit the Brrr and enjoy it for a bit before warming up at home with your beautiful fruits and flowers.

The dog leash is amazing, and I am going to tell my daughter about it. Thanks for the info!

I'm glad you are continuing to find new blogging friends. It is very exciting to me to meet so many interesting folks who share my interests as well! I am impressed with your painting and crochet projects, too.

Hoping you have another happy weekend.
xx,
Gracie

Linda said...

Hey Kris....great job...the green door looks great....I love when the bottom cupboards are painted a different colour than the top cupboards....
The red really pops out...
Keep up the good work...
More relaxing for me today...
Only 6 days left...and then the looong drive home...

Cheers!
Linda :o)

Patty said...

I love little pops of red in my kitchen too! I have a Le Creuset red teapot too! I am glad you did some things that made you feel good! I love the color of the door. I am really loving painting and want to learn to paint furniture.

Unknown said...

As far as I am concerned (retired painting contractor) paint is a miracle!! I love how it lifts our mood. Your door is so cool....what next the kitchen cabinets? Ha! Enjoy.

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson said...

Kris,
love, love the new door color! It brightened everything up so much. Loved learning more about you. Alot I knew, but some I didn't. I feel that way about being born 100 years to late sometimes too.
hugs,
Jann

Unknown said...

Green is a very refreshing color. Aside from painting your doors, maybe, you can also give your cabinets a new color as well using the right type of paint.

-Sol Hendricks @ DiamondCompanies