Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Holy re-do the kitchen batman!

Wow.
When I woke up Monday morning, I wasn't even thinking about painting my kitchen counter.
or the walls in the kitchen.
or the kitchen cabinets.....
yet here we are, Wednesday, and the countertop is a beautiful shade of cobblestone {care of Rust-oleum Countertop coating...no they are not paying me to say that}and I have now taped up the kitchen in order to paint the walls a light blue {since the brown we painted on the wall 2 years ago now looks absolutely horrid next to the new cobblestone countertop}.
Tonight after the monsters children go to sleep, the hubs and I will be tackling the wall. And by tackling, I mean painting. You can't really tackle a wall........{cornball, I know}

So, I'm sure you're dying, just DYING, to know what I thought of the Rust-oleum Countertop Coating. Here's my thoughts:
PROS
1. It goes on super easy, the only prep work you have to do is clean the counter off 
2. It is cheap. $20 a can, and it put 3 coats on my countertop {I didn't really need 3 coats, but we'll get to that later}
3. It is a big step up from the ugly yellowish-brown countertops that have been in this house since it was born {1993} {yes, I said born}

CONS
1. It stinks Bad. Really strong odor. We had to leave the house and crash my in-laws for a surprise dinner visit {thanks in-laws!}
2. They don't tell you that you need a special sponge roller, so I used a regular roller the first 2 coats and kept getting little roller-fuzz all over the counter. After sanding it down and getting expert advice from a lady at Sherwin-Williams, we used a sponge roller and it looked much better. But I wish I had known about the roller before I started....so now you know if you ever decide to do it!
3. After the 3rd coat, I noticed cracks in the paint. I'm guessing this is from not waiting the 3 days to let it cure {oh yeah, you have to let it dry for 3 days....} before I did the last coat. Now that it is more dry, the cracks are still there, but it's not horrid. It's still a huge step up from what we had.
4. The texture of the paint is different on my countertop in certain places. I read up on this and others had this problem too. For some people it's an absolute deal breaker, but like I said, it's still a step up from what we had before.

Let me guess, you want to see pictures now? Well, I don't have the most amazing light in my kitchen so the pictures don't do it justice, but I'll post them anyway. Just know, it's much nicer than the picture =)

the top 2 are before, the bottom 2 are after

Like I said, the pictures don't do it justice. But pictures are important, so there you go. You are all invited over to come see for yourself if you'd like =)

And here are a couple more pictures of why I hate doing anything to my kitchen that doesn't involve cooking:


Clutter.
Mess.
Things that are supposed to be in the kitchen but are on my dining table and the stove top.
Ugh. It stresses me out.
But I do see the bright side in all of this: that I own a house. I live in a safe, clean, happy house where I have the ability to make changes as I see fit.
That is a blessing.
All of the mess and clutter and stress are worth it, fo' shizzle my nizzle.

Thanks for stopping by! Soon, I'll post pictures of the COMPLETED kitchen, YAY!

 

Friday, May 18, 2012

As random as they come

My brain has seriously been going a mile a minute. No, more like 10 thousand miles a minute. I always have a to-do list in my head. A few days ago, I said that to-do list out loud with the hubs in attendance. His response? "My goodness, that's enough to make any sane person crazy, is that really what goes on in your head?"

My response? All.day.long.

Such is life though, right? I mean, if it's not the laundry, it's the dishes. If it's not the dishes, it's watering the garden {next project, putting in an irrigation system so I can take the watering the garden off my to-do list}. If it's not the garden, it's changing diapers. If it's not changing diapers, it's putting a child in yet another time-out and lovingly explaining to him why he was put there.....for what seems like the 50th time that day.

I think you catch my drift. I've finally got a routine down though and life with a 4 year old, 2 year old and 3 month old is moving along at lightening speed. It's moving way too fast. As much as I can't wait for the 2 year old to be out of diapers, I don't want him to grow up! As much as I want the 4 year old to wipe his own butt after he uses the bathroom {vulgar, I know....I'm not apologizing though!} I don't want him to stop depending on me! It's ridiculous, a total contradiction. My life is a contradiction. But I totally wouldn't change a second of it.

So, here's a few pictures to show you what has been going on in the life of me the last month when I've been ignoring my beloved blog {I really do love my blog. I think about it every day. For realsies}

He turned 2!!! AHHHHHH!!!!

She got blessed at church =)

and learned how to look even more adorable

The hubs GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE!!!!!!!

and He turns 4 next month, AHHHHH!!!!

Well, it's a bunch of randomness, but it is what it is. And another random thought for you: I love instagram.  Alright, the end.

{Thanks for stopping by!! I LOVE your comments {nudge nudge, wink wink} !!!}