I thought it might be fun to invite anyone in Blogland to link up and proudly display the Progress they've made in any area of their home or life. This party is all about encouraging other bloggers to reach their goals!
Progress can be a "Before" and "After" photo, a list of ideas you'd like to implement, or a post detailing the strides you've taken to reach a goal, whether it be for work, home, or personal reasons. (Did you start a couch to 5k program? Did you choose bedding for that guest room makeover? Are you working on a summer reading list? Have you been working on an activity list with your kids this summer?)
Before you link up with me, please take a minute to review my party rules:
1. Please be sure to enter the link to your specific party post, NOT your blog's homepage.
2. Please include a link to this post somewhere within your entry. If you'd like to include my button, you can swipe the code at the beginning of this post.
3. Please leave me a comment with your party link as well. Check to be sure that it posts correctly on the list! IF you can't get your link added, let me know and I will add it for you. Also, I like comments too. (wink)
4. MINGLE. A party is not a party unless you visit! Please take a few minutes to visit at least one or two other links on the list and leave a thoughtful, genuine comment.
Really, I can't say enough about going out and visiting some of the other links. It will hopefully bring some traffic to your blog. It is totally okay if you need a day or two, but I'd like for each participant to visit at least one or two of the other blogs by the end of the week. I think that's a doable request.
Okay, that's enough...link up and have fun encouraging one another. I am excited to share my own Progress below!
My progress this month sort of involves another Dilemma, which is my very outdated Kitchen and my plans for said Kitchen.
I plan on learning to use a drill and testing one cabinet's hardware with spray paint while T is at work. (Sssh. Don't tell.) I know I could just measure and buy new hardware, but I need to this on a shoestring, people.
I'm thinking nickel or chrome (brushed) for a classic look?
This wall used to contain one large framed painting, Van Gogh's Cafe Terrace at Night, which I adore...but it wasn't working there. I've been collecting white platters and plates to decorate this wall with.
Some friends suggested going for chocolate brown walls above the chair rail to make the white cabinets pop, but I think I'm going to go in a lighter direction. That room gets pretty dark in the afternoon, and the hallway the leads into the dining room from the Kitchen is already as dark as a grotto. I have khaki walls in most of the other rooms downstairs, and I am considering going a shade or two darker in the kitchen.
Aaannd....new light fixtures. Please.
Nothing says "my kitchen is visiting from Back to the Future" like a turquoise ceiling fan.
I'd like to replace it, but want to make sure it jives with whatever I choose for the light above the window (see it in the background?). Maybe something like one of these IKEA pendant lamps for above the window?
Stuff like new window treatments and accessories will come as the project (hopefully) moves along.
So, there you have it. I do have a plan of action, which is more than I could have said a few weeks ago. I'd say that's Progress!
{What about you? Can you Show Me the Progress?}
I can't wait to see how your cabinets turn out. We changed our pulls a few years back & it made a world of difference. We used to have ones similar to yours - brass. We switched them all out for nickel cup pulls on the drawers and simple nickel knobs for the doors.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'll work up a post - if I saved any of the 'before' pictures :)
If you hate those brass cabinet pulls, why not try painting them? I like the design of them and a different color will give them a new look.
ReplyDeleteI think there's a very similar ceiling fan to yours hanging in my bedroom. I'm not crazy about it but I do like sleeping under a fan. For a kitchen, I'd say get it out of there! We had a similar exhaust fan to yours before our kitchen remodel. You may just have to live with that. I like your ideas for replacing the other light fixture.
You've got some great ideas. I hope you can get going on this soon!
Looking forward to updates on your cabinets! I wish I could link up to your new super fun linky but as of current I'm not too sure about posting pics of the house though we are painting and do some small renovations. I thought I could do a post about the start up of my little blog but just thinking through it, it was sounding pretty boring:-) Looking forward to seeing the link up posts!
ReplyDeleteI'm with Paula on the spray painting if you can't replace. I bought some Krylon Satin Nickel and it looked like the real thing when I painted some knobs recently.
ReplyDeleteI cannot live without me ceiling fans. I would totally keep it if you think it helps! I love the pendant lights too though!
Can't wait to see your plate wall!
I tried to link up, but it won't let me. Don't know what's wrong. I'll try again later.
Ooooh, I like the idea of brushed nickel on the handles & I'm pretty sure any plan you had for the light over the window would work w/ the fan as long as you're keeping them in mind. I know sometimes you can buy a fan & light set that matches when you have more than one fixture in a room. (I know b/c my sister & her hubs got a set at Home Depot I think for their new house) If you plan it right, you might get a pretty good deal. I'm excited to see what you do with the kitchen!
ReplyDeleteAmanda,
ReplyDeleteI have joined the party! Here is my link... I think it hooked up OK but since you asked for it you shall get it! :-)
http://maryjoy-lifemoments.blogspot.com/2010/07/happy-dance-time-weight-loss-journey.html
I love your cabinet ideas and the lights are gorgeous!!! So many decisions...have a blast with the process! Thanks for the party!
Yay! I will try to join this party before Friday. Thanks for leaving open a little longer!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the chocolate brown in the kitchen. I think that would be too dark in there. Don't know if you are a green girl, but I love my green kitchen! I can dress it up for all the seasons easily by changing up a few accessories.
I look forward to seeing what everyone is up to. Thanks for hosting!
I made it! It took me a long time to get here, but I finally made it. I love your parties--they're always fun, because everyone mingles. So even if the party is small, it's still lots of fun.
ReplyDeleteYou've got GREAT plans for your kitchen, I think! It'll be fun to see what you end up doing with your cabinet pulls. It's definitely worth a try to see if you can paint them. And if I were you, I would most definitely keep the ceiling fan. Getting rid of ceiling fans seems to be all the rage these days, but they really do help cool things off. Perhaps you could change just the light kit on the fan to something that would coordinate with one of the IKEA pendants.
One other thought. I think you're right to avoid chocolate brown in your kitchen. Yes, your white cupboards would pop, but I think things would get too dark in a hurry. Have you thought about blue? I'm looking right now at the background of your blog--that's a beautiful turquoise-ish blue that looks great with white. I have an old Benjamin Moore fandeck, and there's a color in this family that's actually named "Serenity"! It's BM #2055-60. Have fun!
ReplyDeleteI linked up and posted one of my brass makeovers as well. Darn that brass that covers every old house! Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteHey, Amanda, thanks for your comment today. I could not agree with you more about all the parties that people join up with. It's gotten to be a party epidemic & who has time for all of that. Craziness! I hope things settle down eventually & people just get back to normal blogging, but I suspect it's just going to get more ramped up as more bloggers join in.
ReplyDeleteAmanda, I'm not sure how big your table is, but we actually have two similar pendants {purchsed at Lowes} above our table. Our table is very long though, so it works. Just a thought though, in case you have a long table. Having two works with the scale of the table. I can't wait to see your progress!!
ReplyDeleteAmanda,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for hosting such a lovely party...I really enjoyed visiting with all of the great ladies and sharing in the peek into their progress!!! Just made a bunch of new bloggy friends thanks to you!!! :-)
Hi Amanda! first, thanks so much for stopping by and letting me know about ur pahtay! I am totally linking up. I love the name of this party b/c everything in my house is not really a before or after but comletely a work in progress so i feel like i fit right in here :)
ReplyDeleteas for ur kitchen - i love hte brushed chrome look for fixtures. thats what i have in my new kitchen against white cabinets and it fits so well. i hear u on the yellow. we have dark brown walls against white wainscoting in the powder room and it's awesome but it's a bit of a commitment for ur wall. i also get the wanting to do more than khaki look. have u considered a light brown - not chocolate or khaki but something darker than a camel or what about an olive green. thats always very pretty against white. Good luck!!
doh - here is my link http://raisinglittlelions.blogspot.com/2010/07/dining-room-progress.html
ReplyDeleteI can't believe they stuck you with a turquoise ceiling fan!!!
ReplyDeleteI would definitely spray the hardware a brushed nickel color.
ReplyDeleteHave you thought about a light but smokey gray for your walls? It would still pop against the white cabinets and moulding, yet it neutral enough that you could really change the feel of the room with colored accessories. You could also keep any yellow accessories that you currently have in the space as the two colors look great together.
Just a thought!
P.S. Thanks for the party. It's my first!
http://sometimesonatuesday.blogspot.com/2010/07/place-we-call-home-officeguest-bedroom.html
:( I am having trouble posting a link and adding your button, but I was able to add your regular blog button.
ReplyDeleteI'm in the process of creating no-spend toys for Christmas strictly made out of stuff around the house. So far I have made a rag doll, puppets, and today I made a padded doll house. Next up wooden dominoes.
Love the new look!
Oops, forgot the link http://binkiesandbriefcases.blogspot.com/2010/07/sweater-puppet.html
ReplyDeleteI totally understand about wanting to change your cabinet hardware. Painting them is a great idea. Just be sure to clean them well and rough up the finish with some sandpaper. You could also paint your ceiing fans. I can't find the link but I saw where someone had used some pretty giftwrap paper to Mod Podge their ceiling fan blades. It was really cute. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI like the new pendant lights you picked out. And I would agree that nickel would look great.
ReplyDeleteAnd I was think a gray blue would look good in there.
Hi Amanda,
ReplyDeleteHave fun choosing your paint color. That is always so difficult for me to do....too many choices! I have a dark kitchen also and I chose a terra cotta color for the walls and have been happy with it. Maybe one day I will get enough nerve to take a picture of my kitchen and post it. It still needs a little work before it is ready for prime time.
Take care,
Marlee
Plans are very important :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I think you've got a great one! I love khaki next to white! We had that combo in our last home and it always seemed so fresh to me.
I am so sad that I had nothing to join the party with. I have been a slacker when it has come to all of my plans, they seem to get on hold for all of my other spur of the moment projects! I think your cabinet hardware would be amazing painted ORB! I have to agree that I think dark brown would be too dark for the kitchen, my favorite way to pick paint colors is to get samples in all the colors I think I might like, tape them to the wall and leave them for a week because then I can see what the paint color will look like at different times of the day when the light changes. Good luck, I hate picking out paint colors!
ReplyDeleteA turquoise ceiling fan? Really! I read lots of blogs where they spray paint everything - even the children if they are still long enough. You might remove the hardware and spray paint it. Cheaper than buying new.
ReplyDeleteI kind of want a turquoise ceiling fan now that I know they exist! *lol*
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see how you redo your kitchen! Mine is in desperate need with 30+ year old original cabinets and icky light fixtures, but it's on the bottom of the list and probably won't get touched until we can do a full overhaul. Someday {fingers crossed!}
I think some brushed nickel hardware on your cabinets would look great! I've got a similar color in my kitchen (and living room), and I'm also getting a little tired of it. My plan is to go for a lighter, more neutral color, too, so I'm interested to see what color you choose. The pendant lights you've selected are super. Looking forward to seeing more updates.
ReplyDeleteAlso, thanks for hosting this party! This is my first time joining, and I can't wait to do a follow up post with even more progress!
Thank-you so much for hosting your "Work in Progress" party. Now I am committed to getting this done :) Your kitchen looks like a fun project. Before buying anything, I would try spray painting the cabinet pulls/handles. You could take the fan about and spray that, too. I think I like the warmth of brushed bronze. I like the chair rail, and would keep that white. It will be fun to see what you do. Thank-you, again.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comments Amanda and for inviting me to the party. Good luck with your kitchen!
ReplyDelete~Megan
Sorry the links didn't go through the first time but I think I have it now. Thanks for letting me know!
ReplyDelete~Megan
I would totally consider spray painting the hardware. What have you got to lose? You can always repaint them.
ReplyDeleteI love the pendant light on the left. So cute!
I added my link :)
ReplyDeletehttp://jenniferleaniojournal.blogspot.com/2010/07/kiras-room-in-progress.html
Our whole house is "in progress" though because we just moved-yikes.
I saw your party at Beckie's and decided to link up! It's just perfect for my current post.
ReplyDeletehttp://thethriftress.blogspot.com/2010/07/sneak-peek-freecycle-bed-frame.html
Thanks so much for hosting. I'm a follower now!
Sarah
I can't wait to see what color you paint the white wall. I bet those white plates will "pop", with whatever color you choose. Thanks for stopping by Places of My Heart this morning. I hope I linked up right, this was my first time. I will be watching for your progress.
ReplyDeleteKaren
I totally feel your pain on the brass fixtures. Our ENTIRE house has brass.. everywhere! Door knobs, ceiling fans, you name it! Have you ever checked out Anthropologie's hardware? They usually have cute stuff on clearance at the local stores and online! I also really like the yellow in your kitchens. I've always been fond of a yellow kitchen! Have a great weekend! :) P.S. I love your weekend bloggy reading!
ReplyDelete