Do We Dare?...

Lately I've been dreaming of a kitchen remodel.  Our kitchen is definitely throwing the vintage, cottage vibe right now with the red cabinets.

Most people love our red cabinets...  I just don't think they're modern enough for us and I have a love/hate relationship with them.  I'm thinking we still need a pop of color in our kitchen...  do we dare go blue?

Mind you, I've never been afraid of color.  Aren't these kitchens beautiful?  We will also do a re-do on the countertops, sink and lighting...  this will be a major overhaul that we can hopefully take on within this upcoming year.  

Sandy Beaches...

Not quite. This week, we're tackling every door in our condo. YEP, we're painting every door, door frame and door molding. We're also going to replace the door hinges [the previous owners painted them and we're not fans].

Each night this week Mike and I are going to sand away! We made a quick trip to Lowes for supplies: more door molding, wood filler, ScotchBrite sanding pads and dust masks. We want everything prepped and ready to go for my parent's visit this weekend.

My dad will likely be turbo-charged and ready to paint [he's a little hyper :)]

And no, we're not doing this for the fun of it... the previous owners had mis-matched door molding through out the condo and the doors were painted an awful off-white, yellowish color! Ugh! Time for a crisp look with Behr Snow Fall White in a semi-gloss :) Ahh, the little things in life that make me happy.

Dear Condo [we've come a long way my friend]...

In just 8 months to be exact...

Phew... we're getting there :)

Trying to Fit the Mold [Part II]...

Two weekends ago we decided to do our door molding. When we ripped out our base molding, the door molding went along with it. Why - the previous owners of our condo didn't think matching the molding was important. We literally had three or four different sizes of door molding and floor molding. It was terrible.

When we brought Morgan home there were several areas of exposed drywall... he LOVED the drywall. I was forced to spray the drywall everyday with BitterApple so he wouldn't get sick.

After a SOS phone call to my dad, he and Mike installed the door molding.

Morgan & his favorite drywall corner...

New Door Molding

Dad & Michael Working Away!

Staple, Staple, Staple!

Trying to Fit the Mold...

Cutting the Molding with the Saw

Mike carefully balancing our 16 ft of Molding :)

Dad Working Away! I bought

him this saw for Father's Day :)

Molding pieces drying after 2 coats of paint.

Molding in the Master Bedroom

The molding adventure began when Michael and I borrowed our friend Robert's truck... PS, the truck is lifted and massive!

We picked up his truck and went to Reel Lumber in Anaheim. Picked up the lumber and loaded it into the truck. The pieces of molding come in 16 ft. lengths... VERY long! We strapped it on and off we went. As soon as we picked up speed on the 55 freeway, the molding caught air and begin to lift up from the truck! We almost lost it! We had to pull over to a gas station and tie it down again. We traveled at 45 mph from Anaheim to Rancho Santa Margarita... driving slow was no easy task for speedy Michael. :)

Eventually we got it home and unloaded the pieces into our garage. The next day, my parents came over and the measuring, cutting and painting began. We've been working on the molding for 2 weekends now and we are so pleased with the look. We ordered 6 inch mdf molding and absolutely love it. Our place is finally coming together.

Another reason for getting the molding done is to prepare for our PUPPY! There is no way we could be sawing and under construction with a little dog running around... it would never work!

Hope you enjoy the photos above. Thanks Mom, Dad and Mike for all of your hard work on the molding. I won't be touching a saw anytime soon :)

Vanity Affair...

Original Sink

Mike Moving the Original Sink

My Dad & Mike Plumbing

Almost Time for the New Sink

TaaDaa!  Our New Vanity & Mirror.

Now I have plenty of room for all of my stuff!  The other sink is very cute but not very functional.  We needed more room for our toiletries...  ok, we needed more room for MY stuff.  

We purchased the vanity at Lowes and thanks to my cousin who works for Lowes we got a pretty sweet discount.  

We decided to move the original sink to the 2nd bathroom.  The 2nd bathroom didn't have a sink at all!  So we did a quick swap and the other sink fits perfectly in the guest bathroom.

Just an fyi...  Mike is a really good plumber and I have that saltwater fish tank to thank for that.  Who would have thought that a fish tank would qualify for great plumbing experience.  :)

Living Room Before & After...

Before

Before

After

These are the before and after photos of our living room.  As you can see mustard and ketchup aren't our favorite colors.  We went with barnished clay on the main walls and denim for the accent wall...  no more Ronald McDonald!