Kitchen remodel – Karla's Cottage

Inside the cabinets I just repainted

By Karla Nathan / May 17, 2023

While cleaning and repainting my kitchen cabinets, I did mini redoes on the displays inside.

Three of them have glass doors. The very top shelves were where I kept pretty things rarely used.
That stuff had been up there for…well, a bit.

It all needed a dusting even though it was behind glass. And I came across things I didn’t even remember owning. Those got pulled out and will go to my booth to sell. Because if they hadn’t been touched in a decade, why do I need them?

My pretties got a little bit of a shuffle, a wiping, then a thinning out.

Except for these. Oh, yes, they got a cleaning off, but that’s it, then they went right back on display with no changes.

This is a partial set from my mom’s dishes. When she died, the whole set went to my Sissy, who shared them with Bobbie Sue and I. We each got two place settings.

All of the cabinets still look plenty full, even with the pruning I did. And I have more inventory to haul into Good Juju. Although, rose pattern china doesn’t seem to be a big draw there. I try to balance my foofy pretties with some more rustic items for that venue.

I’m liking that sort of combo in my house too.

See what I mean? This is on my mantel. Since we added the hearth room with the dark floors and stone wall, I’m using a lot more natural type elements and darker colors. I’m still all about the Light and Bright with roses, but I like the cabiney-cottagey feel too.

I repainted my kitchen cabinets

cottage, Kitchen remodel

By Karla Nathan / May 14, 2023

My kitchen cabinets were built by my son, and I love them. They are solid and will last forever. But they needed some TLC and I wanted a new look. The tops are now a brighter white and the bottoms are a mushroomy tone.

I also painted the underneath part as well as the window frame behind the stove to the same bright, white.

It feels so much cleaner and brighter. Notice how often I am using the word, brighter? That is what I was going for, and I am quite pleased that I got my bright results.

While I was at it, I took stuff out of the cabinets, cleaned and rearranged them, washed this curtain and the ones on the window, and soaked every glass knob in soapy vinegar water.

The pottery on top of the cabinets got a trip through the dishwasher while I was painting and was ready to put back up there as I finished up with my paint brush.

The walls of the recessed area around this bank of cabinets are painted a very pale blue. I was tempted to redo them too, in a more sea glass shade.

Since I am still dealing with post concussion syndrome, I decided to just tackle one job at a time. But I did take down everything on the wall, wash it, and slightly rearrange the pictures. And I’m still day dreaming of an ocean blue to slap up there later.

The paint I used was Behr latex satin. Since I have been the only person to paint these cabinets, I knew all of the products that were on them, and didn’t have to sand or prime. I’d previously used latex and a water based top coat, so I knew that my satin coat would adhere nicely. That saved time. And my Grandfairy was helpful too, Sugarwings took off all the hardware for me then put it back on when I was done.

Here is an older photo of the room. See, brighter! Another thing that helped was replacing our light bulbs with daylight LEDs. Although two chandeliers’ worth of brand new bulbs felt like a major renovation cost (dang, light bulbs aren’t cheap!), they made a huge difference.

Daylight bulbs versus soft white changed everything.

I saw cobwebs that I hadn’t noticed, my husband could do his morning crossword without reading glasses, and my cabinets looked dirty. I’m glad I got the new bulbs, even though they made me feel like I needed to repaint the room and started this whole production.

I’m pretty happy with the new BRIGHTER look.

Painting a cement floor entryway

cottage, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), how-to projects, Kitchen remodel, paintings

By Karla Nathan / June 2, 2021

Years ago, I covered my steps in mosaic, on a whim. Not much planning went into it, and very little skill. My dad was ill, I was waiting to hear his diagnosis, and needed a big project where my fingers were busy, but my mind could wander. I didn’t have a design or the right supplies on hand, I just used what I had, and then had to make runs for more marbles and squares to complete what I’d started.

My dad was a lifelong gardener, and I think the abstract vine pattern just sorta formed itself while thinking of him.

Luckily, it hasn’t fallen apart, at least not too much. Even though it wasn’t done correctly. There are a few tiny cracks in some tiles, and a couple marbles popped out, and were glued back in.
The 100+ year old cement floor by it also had some issues. The paint on it had started to peel.

So I thoroughly scrubbed the floor and while I was at it, I went after the steps with a brush and vinegar and got the tiles to sparkle again. Then, I added a big scoop of plaster of Paris into some exterior latex paint and repainted the floor.

That gives the paint some “tooth” help it adhere to the cement.

I hope that it works, because I got carried away and started to paint vines on the floor to coordinate with the steps. That won’t be an easy patch job if the paint wears off, it will need a total redo.

We are not able to use rugs on the floor here because of this critter, Dorothy happily tinkles on any rug she sees, thinking I generously supplied her with a pee pad.

My design makes this into kind of a painted, pee proof rug.

Yep, I know it’s pretty busy. Especially when you add in the hand painted roses on the wall. But it is a very small space and not visible from the rest of the house.

(by the way, there is only a small window of time when the hooks are not layered four deep in jackets, backpacks, hats, leashes and more, I just did spring cleaning and the re-piling up has not yet begun)

After the vines dried, I brushed on a brown glaze and wiped it off, let that dry and coated the floor with semi gloss Polycrylic. I’d rather have used a stronger topcoat but I was worried about the odor and my baby puppies. So, I stayed with water based.

Fingers crossed that the paint lasts a few years!

I am still redoing rooms, and moving things about

collections, Corona virus, cottage, family, Kitchen remodel

By Karla Nathan / August 23, 2020

A couple years back, I decided I needed a big hutch type piece to use in the kitchen for extra storage. I found a large base cabinet, and a tall book shelf with glass doors that worked.

But wasn't just quite right.

THIS piece is very much right!!!

And very old and well made. Look at the construction of the drawer!

This is what I had before (it is now in the studio, which means a big shuffle up out there and a cabinet from the studio being moved to the breezeway, and well, more shuffling).

See, it holds a lot, but wasn't just quite right. I did like the way I could see all the of the dishes behind glass, but all of this and more fit into the newer, larger hutch.

I might miss the display area behind glass when it is time to dust. The new one has much, much less of that.

But it holds soooooo much, much more inside the doors and drawers below that I am very happy with it.

My Apple Watch has been broken for months. And I have been too cheap to replace it. But when I saw this, I didn't have second thoughts about being cheap, I'd looked for so many years for a hutch that had this much storage space.

Plus, I have been on an organizing, cleaning, and storage redo blowout lately.

When this came into the house, I decided to take every single thing out of all of the other kitchen cabinets and rearrange every bit of it.

Maybe it is my way of dealing with grief.

Maybe it is from being cooped up in the house for so many months.

Either way, my many redos have been helpful. I've fixed up Ryan's room, the gazebo area, both little grand fairies' rooms, the breezeway, part of the studio, now this. I'm running out of house to redo.

Even though I knew this hutch was ideal when I first saw it, and was ready to buy it in snap with no thought, I did have a horrid moment when I realized how heavy it was, and how many other big pieces of furniture would have to be moved to make space for it.

And remembering that Ryan, my "Machine", was gone. He was so strong, and so helpful, that was his nickname. He just kept going, working hard and making it look easy.

He was always around to carry and move things for me.

I was knocked over with pain as these thoughts went through my mind.

There are going to be a lot of those moments. A lot of that pain.

But we go on, don't we?

My very strong, older grand fairies came over to help. We used pads to slide the piece through the house. Between the two girls and my husband, they hefted it out of the truck and lifted the large top piece onto the base once they got it into the kitchen. It is even heavier than it looks, and we all missed Ryan while it was being moved.

A kitchen makeover

Kitchen remodel, redos

By Karla Nathan / September 24, 2019

When we bought this house, the previous owners had used dark paint throughout. And this is how it looked with the renters in it.

Not so inviting, huh?

This is how the previous owners had it. Over crowded, with a fridge so big it partially blocked the doorway. But good bones, beautiful granite and backsplash, newer flooring, and solid cabinets that had been refinished

To sell it, I thought it needed to be brighter.

We also thought a counter depth fridge would look better, plus the ice maker didn’t work on the old one. The stove had broken, and there was no dishwasher, so we purchased all three brand new.

A cream and tan, indoor outdoor rug helped lightening it up too.

We added a new faucet, I scrubbed and polished everything, then painted the inside of the pantry a fresh white.

The walls are a soft gray, the baseboards a clear, clean white, and the woodwork was oiled and polished.

But most of all, the renters’ debris was GONE. They left a huge mess, dirty dishes, rotting food, stuff smeared everywhere.

I kept it simple, basically, pristine and neutral, not decorated, but a basis for a new owner to decorate how they wish.

And you know that was hard for me! I wanted to keep going and make it the way I like things, but I restrained myself and kept the room something that others could see themselves in.

More storage space for the kitchen- sometimes making something work turns out even better than what you thought you wanted

cottage, Kitchen remodel

By Karla Nathan / May 15, 2017

Last First Friday when West Bottoms was in full swing, I spotted this wonderful hutch at Good Juju, and thought it would solve all of my storage issues in the kitchen. Still, I dismissed the idea, thinking I didn't really need to be making changes or spending money on the house right now.

Throughout the month, as I juggled the avalanche of plastic containers, and struggled with the leaning towers of mixing bowls stuffed into my kitchen cupboards, I kept thinking about that piece.

By the time the West Bottoms opened back up for the big, monthly shopping experience, I was convinced that I couldn't live without it and was fretting that someone else had bought it.

Nope, it was still there. But it was over 10" longer than the wall I had in mind for it. Dang it! Now that I'd decided that I couldn't live without more storage space, and had shown up with a truck and a willingness to open up the pocket book, I WANTED A SOLUTION!

Well, Good Juju has about anything you'd need. I just had to get creative. I needed a piece with a big cabinets below, that measured under 59", and had a top with glass doors for the pretties.

No luck, in finding something that fit all the criteria, but this piece sure caught my eye. It was 58" wide and really deep, I knew I could fill it up with all my kitchenware overflow. All it needed was a top piece.

And here one is, found one store over at Serendipity for $70, all it needed was paint to tie the pieces together.

Now, this isn't as fancy as the one that caught my eye and got me thinking that I had to solve the space problem in the room.

But the kitchen looks good with a hint of primitive style. I like the mix.

And while this is 10" shorter and fits the spot, it doesn't feel smaller because the base is huge and deep. And the topper has a lot more room than the one with the pretty, arched windows. Sigh…I did love those arched windows….

I lined the back with vintage wallpaper to fancy it up.

I think I'll be very happy with this solution. All my favorite tea party or dinner dishes are easy to get to, no longer jammed in tightly like they were in the previous, narrow cabinet that used to be in the kitchen. And I think that the display shows off better than it would've in the hutch that I'd day dreamed about for a month.

My boy, Ryan, helped me put it together (it was heavy), and he also screwed the top piece to the bottom one so it wouldn't be tipped over.

Now, I could've taken my time looking for just the perfect piece, but that isn't how I roll. Once I get something in my mind, I follow through right away and move on to the next thing. This might not be the exact look that I had in mind, but sometimes you don't really know what you want till you find it and see that it works even better than what you planned for.

An Autumn dinner party and some views of the new room

celebrations, cottage, Hearth Room, Kitchen remodel

By Karla Nathan / October 21, 2016

While I was setting the table for a dinner party my husband was throwing for co-worker friends, I thought I should get some pictures of our new space while the area was cleaned up. (You know how fleeting that window of time can be with a houseful of kiddos!).

This is from the new room, looking into the kitchen.

From the new front door in the hearth room looking through the space into the living room.

And from the kitchen into the living room.

From the kitchen into the new room, with a view of the mantel.

I can't wait to have a Christmas tree set up in there! I'll be counting down till the holidays just like the grand fairies do.

This one is taken from the stairs.

And here are the stairs. They are covered in rose pattern wallpaper, that I glazed over to blend in better. The bold, rose pattern stood out too much before. Now, it is subtle and muted.

The ceiling is 15', and my son put in the pine floors, with my husband's help. In front of the fireplace and both new doors, is a pebble mosaic that I did. Ryan hung all of the shelves and curtain rods.

It is nice that we all had hands on in creating something for the space, even though the big job of it was done by a contractor and his crew. It feels good to have a part in doing some hands on work ourselves.

I had planned on putting curtains on the doors, but Honey voted against that. She prefers being outdoors for most of the day, but likes to keep an eye on what we are up to. Recently, she learned how to open the door knob, so she comes in whenever she feels like it.

Now, if she'd just learn to SHUT the door behind her. You'd think she'd been raised in a barn.

This is from the living room looking into the kitchen. I still can't believe how wonderfully open it is, and also, how well the new floor matches the original 90 plus year old floors once all were sanded down and re-stained. I beat up the new floors with crow bars and hammers to help the aging process a bit.

This party was also in celebration of finishing the room. That very day, the last of the construction items were crossed off the list. What a good feeling.

You know what will be an even better feeling? The first day we light a fire in that new hearth and cozy up by the flames to read a good book. I'm a Spring/Summer person myself, but this redo could be the impetus to switch me into becoming an Autumn gal.

Little Decor Details- adding age to a new room

antiques/junking, cottage, Hearth Room, Kitchen remodel

By Karla Nathan / September 12, 2016

Beth gave a brass door knocker to me for my birthday last May, and I had not used it yet. When I was finishing up little things for the new room, and painting outlet covers and switch plates to match the walls, I decided to paint this too. It is now on the bathroom door, and gives the little grand fairies a lot of pleasure in BANGING it when the room is occupied by one of the sisters.

On it, and on the vintage brass outlet covers, I used a spray bonding primer in white, let it dry, and then washed the pieces with the "sandcliff beige" color I'd used on accent walls. Afterwards, all got a spritz of clear polyurethane.

Nowhere I looked had a vintage 3 toggle switch plate. So, I glued a little bit of old, metal trim onto a wooden plate, and painted it in the same way. Not many of my electrical covers match, I have a few different styles, so it seems to fit in just fine. I think it looks much better than the white plastic one that came from the electrician. That was way, way too shiny and new in our old house. I did what I could to make the new addition look like it belonged with original the house.

Like using vintage curtain fabric on the windows.

And re-using this old, iron shelf that had previously been in the kitchen. I debated hanging it up again (it is made from a chippy, iron porch rail and two rusty brackets, the rail is probably from the 40s and the brackets are new, but look old- plus they are birdies!!). It had been over the dining room window for ten years or so, and I thought maybe I was over it. But I realized that I'd enjoyed it for that long and still did, I was glad to add it back into the new room.

When I was a full time, antique dealer, my home felt like it had a revolving door on it. Things were constantly changing and I was always finding something better than what I had before. Stuff had stopped moving around as much as it used to, mostly it gets shuffled, not replaced anymore.

I figured I might be getting boring. And I shouldn't just reuse the same stuff over and over.

Then, it dawned on me that I'd found pieces that I really liked keeping and there was nothing wrong with having some forever pieces. Why get rid of them for the sake of change? I think I'd settled on these items because I loved them. And they all mix and match with other things I love in my cottage.

Also, as I unpack belongings, I am being picky about setting things out. Just because I own it, doesn't mean it needs to be out, right? I can have goodies stored away to play switcheroo with when I feel like a change. There still is a revolving door with stuff moving in and out, but now it is into a storage cabinet, not gone forever.

Rebuilding an old mantel

cottage, Hearth Room, Kitchen remodel

By Karla Nathan / September 4, 2016

In this photo, the room is close to being done. I still need a large, ornate, white frame for the smaller painting. Once it is on, I'll be leaning it against the mirror as it is now. Unframed, the scale is a bit off, it needs to be larger.

I have a mosaic planned for the floor, pics as it gets planned and completed.

The old mantel that a dear family friend gave to me 20 years ago and had been saved thinking…someday. Sadly, it didn't fit the space after all. But we saved it! The builder cut it in half, added a center block to widen it, then built up two blocks to heighten it.

But, in doing that, we lost the old trim on the piece. And the shelf board thing on the top had to be removed.

But I found a rough, piece of oak still with the bark on it that was long enough to use, and I stained it dark like the floor.

As the contractor was putting the boxes that would support the mantel together, I thought it would be sweet to turn one into a time capsule. I wrote on the interior with a Sharpie and grabbed a crystal heart button that fell off of Sugarwings' cape. The cape was one of the four Aunt Terry made for the girls for Christmas, and it represented a meaningful family moment for me. (I can pick up another button to sew back on the cape later.)

All of the wood was painted pure white, semi gloss after the pieces were assembled and I'd replaced the ornamentation on the mantel with some reproduction pieces.

After that, I painted a dark walnut glaze over the paint and wiped it off with a soft cloth to take some of the "new" away.

Ta da!

Next up, that mosaic floor and searching for a large frame for that leaning painting.

Inspiration for a painting

cottage, Hearth Room, Kitchen remodel, paintings

By Karla Nathan / August 25, 2016

Last month at Good JuJu I stumbled across the perfect curtains for the new addition. They are not what I was looking for, and I hadn't even planned on curtains. I thought I'd go with shades covered by lace sheers (I'd bought a boxful of vintage ones at an estate sale for $6, that just needed a little repair and hemming to fit).

But when I saw a pile of these, perfectly faded, soft colored, old barkcloth panels in great condition, I fell in love. I've had a thing for barkcloth since I was a kid and spent time in my Grandma's cabana room on the side of her Sarasota trailer. She had curtains and seat covers, all in mismatched tropical patterns, in that nubby, old material. Later on, when I discovered that cool, old fabric was made in ROSES too, I was enamoured with it.

Silly me, I debated the purchase of these for about a half hour of dithering, and almost walked away. I wasn't quite sure if they would fit the windows, and fabric wasn't on my shopping list that day.

Then, I came to my senses and realized that 6 long panels and one extra length valance of beautiful, vintage fabric for only $150 was a deal I should never walk away from. Even if they did not fit the windows, I could make pillows and slipcovers, it was a lot of material.

And I was right, they didn't fit the windows. Though, there is a deep hem, and with some finagling, I can make them work.

Once I had the curtains, my plans for the room changed up a tad. I needed a coordinating something or other for over the mantel and I decided to paint some pink roses in the style of old postcards to hang up there.

And the picture should have a bird in it.

Here are some of the steps of the work.

And here is the finished painting.

Trouble is, it was too small and too busy for the giant frame I had in mind. I needed an enormous anchor piece on that 15' stone wall, and this needed to be closer to eye level to enjoy, not up so high. I'll still use it on the mantel, but will set in directly on the mantel and lean it against the larger painting. I'll post about that one later.

PS- Before this gets framed, I hope to get some copies made for my shop. I'll let you know.