Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations!! How we did it!! and Manic Monday!!

So, this Manic Monday's post should be sponsored by Rustoleum, seeing as my weekend recap is all about one of their products, but it's not, but I will still give you the lowdown on how my weekend reno's went, and stay tuned tomorrow for After Pics!! Be sure to head on over to Life As I Know It, and link up for Manic Monday's....

So, we pretty much pulled it off again this weekend, although the after pics won't be up until tomorrow, as I have yet to even take them. But at this very moment my kitchen is put back together. So here's a breakdown of how our weekend worked out:

• Friday 5pm - Eric gets home from work, and finishes taking the cabinet doors off the hinges(we started doing this Thursday night and taping off the areas we didn't want paint to get as we knew it would be time consuming and it definitely was - all in all cabinet door removal and taping took over 5hrs). We first drew a diagram of the cabinets assembled in our kitchen numbering each cabinet door on the back with painters tape (so there was no guess work when it was time to put it all back together). I bought paper cups to put the corresponding hinges in, also numbered with the corresponding door (Rustoleum's diagram pretty much layed out how to do it so check out there web page for the specific hows to's)

• Friday 7pm - start deglossing the cabinets - this step is labour intensive, but I kept reminding myself much easier then sanding all the cabinets - you are supposed to degloss everything then wipe it all down and let it dry for an hr - but by the time I was done wiping everything down, it had been an hour
• Friday - 8:30pm - First coat of the bond coat....loving the color - need to let it dry 2-3 hrs (which is pretty much how long it took to paint all our cabinets, the cabinet frames, two vanity cabinets and two vanity doors).
• Saturday - 12:30 am - Apply Second coat of the bond coat to the backs of the doors and cabinet frames
• Saturday - 2:30 am - Apply the first coat of the bond coat to the fronts of the cabinet doors (which Eric did on his own as I had fallen asleep, what can I say I need my sleep...)
• Saturday - 9am - Apply second coat of the bond coat to the fronts of the cabinets, and start decorative glazing the cabinet frames (this step we only applied two the front of the cabinet doors and frames, and it definitely helped define the wood grain, and made the cabinets less flat). The decorative glaze needs 8 hrs to dry. So during those 8 hours we did all of the above steps to a pantry, two wooden chests, two dressers, two nightstands, a massive headboard - minus the door fronts as we ran out of workspace (so that's the 90% finished part as we still have to do the door fronts, the drawers are all done just not the fronts of the doors)
• Saturday 9pm - Apply Protective Top Coat to the backs of the doors and cabinet frames, let dry over night (or 12 hrs)
• Sunday 9am - Apply Protective Top Coat to the front of the doors and let dry 12 hrs, which we only did 10hrs before rehanging the cabinet doors (as they felt dry to the touch as seemingly were as there's no sign of smudges or fingerprints on the doors)
• Sunday - 7pm - rehang cabinet doors, and install new hardware - loving it!! Looks soooo good, our kitchen was made to be this dark.
• Monday Morning - Hubby is putting some molding underneath the cabinets to hide our new under-cabinet lighting

So, all in all I LOVE LOVE LOVE the look of my new cabinets, I was worried it would make my counter tops look super ugly, as they have a lot of green in them, but I like the counter tops a lot better now, and the new handles look amazing. So stay tuned tomorrow for the after pics.... Hope everyone had a great weekend!!!

Amy

Before Pics - Kitchen Cabinets and Vanities

Ok, so here are the before pics of my kitchen. We are going to use Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations on them this weekend and transform them into cabinetry that looks nice. Our decision to do this came rather easy. Our house is only 4 years old, and the cabinets are in good working order (albeit I would love to have an Ikea kitchen again as I miss my pull out drawers) but these kitchen cupboards leave much to be desired.... like space.... they way the shelves are spaced is not what I would consider ideal, however, I would like to rehaul our entire kitchen once we are done with childlocks, and don't need to worry about little heads getting banged on the corner of my coveted granite counters (because why redo the kitchen without that little upgrade - lol). So check back Tuesday for our after pics, we have our whole weekend scheduled around the painting procedure, which I will detail Monday. We are tackling our kitchen cupboards(adding molding on the bottom of the cabinets to hide our under cabinet lighting we purchased and replacing the handles with the stainless steel ones pictured here, two bathroom vanities(and replacing the handles), our freestanding pantry, an entire bedroom set(huge headboard set and two armoire dressers) and two wooden chests (pending that we have enough to cover it all). So here are the before pics....

Sorry about the angle... the only way to get in the whole kitchen was this far back....like I've said before totally not a photographer....

Main Floor Bathroom Cabinet (already taped off...)

Master Bathroom Cabinet....bye bye ugly handles....

So, be sure to check back on Monday for the breakdown of how the weekend went down, and my review of how this product works, and then on Tuesday for pics of the finished product!! I'm sooo excited to start, and more importantly be done ....

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Amy

ABC's Of ME!!!

I thought this was a cool way to get to know me a bit better, so I thought I'd fill it out:

A. Age: 28
B. Bed size: King size, well worth the upgrade!!
C. Chore you hate: cleaning out the kitty litter
D. Dogs: two, Lucky (my baby - a pug jack russell cross) and Dakota (a yellow lab)
E. Essential start to your day: a hug from Hannah!! I truly cannot wait to see her in the morning, it's my favorite part
F. Favorite color: baby blue
G. Gold or silver: white gold? does that count?
H. Height: 5’10
I. Instruments: None
J. Job title: Momma, but I was a personal support worker before I got hurt
K. Kids: Hannah, 2 yrs 2 months!!
L. Live: Ontario
M. Mom’s name: Cathy
N. Nicknames: Ames
O. Overnight hospital stays: Surgeries as a kid, the night I got hurt, having Hannah
P. Pet peeve: reminding my hubby to take out the garbage or empty the dishwasher ( you do these things everyday, why do I have to keep asking)...ugh
Q. Quote from a movie: hmm I don't really watch movies for quotes, but I have a ton of quotes I love from books - check them out in my Book Reviews Page
R. Right or left handed: Right
S. Siblings: one younger sister, and two sisters-in-law
T. Time you wake up: 7:30 usually, I have to get up half and hour before Hannah so my blood pressure can regulate itself, so usually 7:30
U. Underwear: whatever I pull out of my drawer....
V. Vegetables you dislike: carrots, beets, peas, pretty much all of them except salad....lol
W. What makes you run late: losing things like my keys or phone, sometimes Hannah wanting to put her own shoes on,
X. X-Rays you’ve had: jaw, head, neck, shoulders, spine, hips, knees, wrist, elbow, uterus, ankles
Y. Yummy food you make: skor bar dessert, tuna casserole
Z. Zoo- favorite animal: I like them all I think....

What are the ABC's of you?

Amy

Book Review Journal #2 - "At First Sight" - Nicholas Sparks

"At First Sight" - by Nicholas Sparks

This book is about a young couple, that meet up and fall in love in at first sight. They end up getting pregnant right out of the gate and Jeremy makes the decision to uproot himself from his successful New York career and move to Boone Creek, to follow Lexie, who thinks it's important for their child to be raised where she was raised. So rather quickly he packs up his New York apartment and moves down to Boone Creek, but by trade Jeremy is a writer. His writing mainly focuses on disproving frauds and hoaxes, the whole nature versus nurture, and comes from a scientific explanation for everything kind of stand point. However throughout the course of the book, Jeremy is faced with writers block, and he seems desperate to write a good article, all the while dealing with some tumultuous struggles between himself and Lexie. Jeremy seems to be going to desperate measures to come up with a good story, and finds himself turning to Doris (Lexi's grandmother) for inspirations. He is forced to make a decision that will change the course of his career. He's faced with deciding what is worth more to him, what he has believed to be true all these years, or what is true?

I can totally relate to Jeremy's position, as in my pre-injury career I was working in a line of work that I was VERY passionate about and believed that I was doing wonderful things for the people around me. Sure there were bumps along the road, but when aren't there? I really used those bumps as opportunities for growth, and didn't let them steal my passion or bog me down. Unfortunately, my career choice became my demise. I was assaulted by the very person I was soo passionate about supporting. I felt I had done him soo much good, and I was faced with soo many contradictions all at once. Nothing made sense anymore. How could this happen to me? I had done everything according to plans and they had literally blown up in my face and landed me in the hospital with a severe injury that would end my career. My passion, my life. All gone in a flash. It's a really hard feeling to relate to but it sure spoke to me in this novel.

You have to learn a new passion, and you look back at everything so differently. Suddenly those "bumps along the road" weren't learning opportunities, they were warnings to run as fast as you can. Signs of cracks in the foundation you were working so hard to build.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone who has seen how tragedy can transform who you are to who you will become, and how fresh perspective really does have a significant bearing on bringing things into clearer focus when they are becoming hazy.

One of the quotes that I loved from this book was:

"Though he sometimes reflected on the trials he and Lexie had gone through before marriage, he knew they had emerged from them stronger as a couple. When he looked at Lexie now, he knew he had never carried for anyone as deeply. What he didn't know, what he couldn't know, was the hardest days were yet to come." (pg. 120)

When I first read that quote, it made me think that parenthood was going to be a challenge for them, or that their baby was going to be born with problems due to the umbilical cord issues. I really didn't imagine that the book was going to end the way it did. In an effort not to spoil the ending for you I'm not going to say what happens, but to me, it certainly was true that you really never do know how things are going to turn out. You are going to be challenged in life in ways you never imagined possible. You will be faced with impossible decisions, and forced through tormenting emotions. Life is hard, but man it sure is amazing. The good thing about being through something horrible is it makes all the good things that much greater. It's a process to get yourself in that head-space where you can even see the good through the bad, but you really do emerge on the other side of tragedy for the better, and if you haven't gotten to the point where it seems better, keep working, digging your way through the trenches. BUT, don't ever stop being aware of the realities of those trenches, because just when you think you are through something else will be ready and waiting to claw you back down, you have to dust yourself off and carry on. Reminding yourself all the time of the amazing things surrounding you.

At the end of the book things came full circle for Jeremy, and ironically enough, his full circle left him in the same position I feel I am in today. So incredibly in love with life because of the people that are in it, and open to all possibilities, but painfully aware of the unfairness that has frayed the edges.

Amy

Top Two Tuesday!! Top Two Songs On Your Ipod

So today was another crummy day around our household, after our crazy busy weekend, my hubby ended up in the hospital last night with kidney stones....poor guy... so sorry for the skimpy post today, but after I myself had a rather crappy day too, I'm going with a blog hop for Top Two Tuesdays, so head on over to The Undomestic Momma and play along

And the topic was the top 2 songs on your ipod!!

So my top two songs are:

1. Pink - "Fuckin' Perfect" - I LOVE LOVE LOVE this song super loud!!

2. "How to Save A Life" - The Fray - after Grey's Anatomy reminded me how much I love this song, this makes my top two!!!

So, that is my top two tuesdays today!! Head on over to Undomestic Momma to join in the fun!! Hope you are all having a better day then me....

Amy