Profound Makeover 101 – We Can Go Back and Fix Anything

A kitchen makeover (if you can call simply painting cabinets a “makeover”) under the guidance of a long time, special friend brings with it profound moments.

Our new mantra, for instance …

“Don’t worry. Just do it … we can go back and fix anything.”

“… a little sandpaper … some more paint … we’ll cover up any boo boos.”

I appreciated this cheerleading from H as I slapped blue-grey-green paint onto otherwise beautiful (albeit old and a bit battered) wood cabinets. Have to admit, I had second thoughts for the smallest of a moment about preserving the natural look of the wood. But a “well-if-that’s-what-you-want-look” that really meant “don’t-you-dare-look” from H kept me on course.

I shook off the doubts, picked up the sandpaper, and went back to work. We cranked up Casey Casem’s top 40’s countdown of the 70’s and 80’s (I♥️Radio app). and went to work. The music took us back in time while my cupboards got with the times.

Glad I stuck with the course as I love the results.

Ignore the green towel on the counter. Ugh! It spoils the picture a bit but I’m too lazy to take another one since at this precise moment, it would mean having to do the dishes first.

Mostly, I’m pretty bold and have no problems taking risks.

A little too often though, I’ve spent a life time fighting through nerves that keep me awake at night, wishing I could have done things better or differently. I can be especially fretful when it come to anything that pushes me beyond my skill level and out of the comfort zone. Finding ways to improve a 110 year-old-house on a teeny tiny budget and with little no-how definitely pushes all the “fret-about-this”, perfectionist buttons.

Thankfully, there’s H. “Just try it,” she urged regarding painting my cupboards … her immediate inclination the very moment she set eyes on them. “These will look so good painted. You’ll love it.”

It was only after we started that I found out that she’d never actually painted kitchen cabinets before. Other, smaller, pieces of furniture, yes. And lots of rooms. I’ve sat in some of those rooms mid-project when our kids were young and watched her put her mad-skills (she’d tell you to interpret “mad” however you want) to use and create a world of picket fences and bright flowers for her daughters to dream and play in.

So I had no doubt that if she didn’t know what she’s doing, she’d figure it out … or find a sledge hammer and give us a reason to call in the pros. But again, I didn’t worry, because H is one of those friend’s who balances me with her willingness to try anything at least once, mixed with a dose of curiosity. (This is a total side track, but it’s curious to me that curiosity is spelled the way it is.)

I say “almost-finished” because we’re taking a look at appliances now. The yellow-tinted fridge may have to go one of these days. Also, I have a makeshift island that needs an update now. One project always seems to create that ripple effect, doesn’t. Also, I’m finding a few of those boos boos mentioned earlier, so I think it’s going to be a while before the sandpaper and can of paint are fully tucked away.

Makeover Lessons 101 – Take a risk, we can go back and fix anything.

I sincerely hope this is true, because barely has the paint dried on the cabinets but I’ve been pushed into a new risk taking venture.

Tilly is an Aussie

Meet Tilly (although, we’re also toying with the idea of Tully for a name, which I like better … but that’s before I remembered that Tully is one of the main character’s in Firefly Lane … Hannah Krista novel … Netflix Series. As much as my heart goes out to Tully of the series, not sure we should name our dog after an extremely co-dependent, self-destructive person. But … I really love the name. We’ll see.)

Back to risk taking.

I did not want another dog. My Guy did. So after some compromising, here’s Tilly/Tully. I’m sure she’ll make great blogging fodder, as she’s already made life quite entertaining (and tiring) in the last 48 hours.

Entertaining for us. Not so much for the cats.

Simba’s reaction to a barking fur ball. He disappeared to the second floor only to sneak down to his food bowl at night.
Sophie took over our bed. She’s the Queen and her Diva attitude is in full force now that we’ve dared to bring a dog into her kingdom.

Not sure I’m up to training another dog (we’ve had several over the years) but she sure is sweet. After all, you don’t get something good without a little risk. Sandpaper and paint might not work for puppy booboos., but with some patience and consistency, we can go back and fix anything. Right? And of course, there is all the blogging fodder that she brings into the picture!

You weigh in. Tilly or Tully?

Have a wonderful week … and keep your fingers crossed that we will too … at least when it comes to getting some sleep!


Thank you for reading “Small Stuff”.  This is the second of two blogs sites that I write.  You can find more on my thought&faith blog at rashellbud.wordpress.com. Wishing you a beautiful day full of the Small Stuff that transforms life into BIG STUFF.

A note to my “silent” readers … thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to read my work. I’ve learned that many of you are shy about commenting or hitting the like button, but I want you to know that I appreciate your visits and invite you into the conversations whenever you are ready.

Wishing you peace in all things … Shelly

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Cabinet Reno, Bird Wars, and Prized Friends

When a friend tells you, “I’m coming back and we ARE going to paint those cabinets of yours”, you catalogue it under sounds fun … we’ll see what happens.

Then, when she and her granddaughter (one of our favorite small people on the planet) show up in frigid temps and a few steps ahead of a snow storm … you think, “How did I ever get friends like these?!” Another pair of friends showed up last fall and helped paint the hallway entrance and now this …

If I’d known that buying a hundred and ten year old farm-style house was such a magnet for people who love to do projects and who volunteer on their own, My Guy and I might have bought one a long time ago!

Here is a sneak peak of some of the process.

This is the “before stuff” and a rare sighting of H who, while fond of friendship, creating beautiful things, and knocking down walls with sledge hammers … which we stopped her from doing on this project … is NOT fond of being in front of the camera. I had to ignore her though because she is a beautiful person and because I caught a shot of her in the midst of her creative mojo.

I’m not any more fond of the camera but this is the best way to give a sneak peak at paint color. Also you can see H in the last photo, detailing those shaker doors. I’m so thankful for her steady hand … and her steady friendship. Painting while taking incessantly and dancing around each other and open cans of paint, we reminisced on the fact that we’re not far from 30 years of friendship. Of course this comes with the revelation that this year will find me celebrating a birthday and an age that starts with the number 6. Oh well …

Living a long drive (or short flight … whichever is most convenient at the time) from each other, we don’t get much time together any more, so her efforts to spearhead this project are more than meaningful. During our meet ups, we usually find a moment to marvel at how the unlikeliest of personalities have weathered three decades of friendship and lots of shenanigans. We met when our kids were small … kids and parents alike, have grown up together. So many stories … some tears … gut splitting laughter …stories that get repeated over and over … down on our knees prayer for our families … pushing each other into things we wouldn’t otherwise try … junk food … fancy dinners (if you don’t count the broken Christmas ornament that fell on the Cornish hens) … dead possums … all the stuff of a prized friendship.

Oops … some more contraband. I think H will approve of this picture though because it highlights her pure genius. After determining that the weird globby stuff on the side of the cabinet was glue and after endless sanding, she came up with the hair dryer trick. Worked beautifully. (Sadly, thinking of the girl who used Gorilla Glue on her hair … google it … I think the hair dryer has its limitations. 😉)

Where’s My Guy in all of this? Well, he’s the reason … thank you, Honey … that the doors are off the cabinet. And he’ll be the reason that they’ll go back up.

I think I should have mentioned that there isn’t a true AFTER shot yet. I’m working on a goal to post every Tuesday before 8:00 PM so maybe you’ll get to see My Guy and his handy work of reattaching doors NEXT week.

One reason that we didn’t quite get to the final touches before my self imposed blogging deadline (which I’ve missed by an hour) was all the entertainment outside of our window. That snowstorm I mentioned did come and it awakened ravenous hunger in the critters at the bird feeder. I have more pics for another day … but here’s a glimpse of some of the battles that grabbed our attention.

Hurried home from work to throw together dinner and get this published. Happened to catch this picture just in time to add to the blog.

He was determined to get all the doors up before we ate, which he did. Now we’re all pooped. H and VR leave tomorrow (so sad to see them go) but we’re thrilled about how far we got. New knobs and a few touch ups will take place this weekend and in a mere seven days time we’ll have our refreshed kitchen.

While you wait for the pics of the final results you can speculate about what we chose for knobs. Lots of deliberation went into this simple addition … almost as much debate as the paint color. I’m excited about what we chose and what it will add to the final results.

Until next week …

Shelly

PS

A little more of the fun we have. Can’t let good snow go to the waste, no matter what project is waiting.

** The heading is a WordPress free image and is not my own photo. All the rest were taken by me and are the property of this blog and Sausmus Photography.

Thank you for reading “Small Stuff”.  This is the second of two blogs sites that I keep.  You can find more on my thought&faith blog at rashellbud.wordpress.com. Wishing you a beautiful day full of the Small Stuff that transforms life into BIG STUFF.

A note to my “silent” readers … thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to read my work. I’ve learned that many of you are shy about commenting or hitting the like button, but I want you to know that I appreciate your visits and invite you into the conversations whenever you are ready.

Wishing you peace in all things … Shelly