Our Kitchen in Print

I love writing this blog.  I love coming up with things and showing you how to achieve the same look/end product for less.  All of that requires lots of pictures tossed out into the interwebs of our nest.  While it’s great fun to get to see our house on a screen on the www, it’s EVEN MORE fun to see it on paper…magazine paper that is!!!!!! 

A few months ago I was contacted by This Old House magazine.  Katelin, the writer of their Budget Redo column, wanted to know if they could feature the kitchen in their October issue and golly gee, I said “of course”!  So, if you’re a subscriber (you can subscribe online too!), check out page 30!

I thought the kitchen’s debut in this month’s This Old House would be a great opportunity to check in on it and let you know how everything is holding up five months later (read the original reveal post here)!  How are things holding up to the test of time?  Well, most things look like they were done yesterday, a few not.

Paint –> I used Sherwin-Williams Pro Classic paint on all of the cabinets because I read on a few other blogs (some of which included sponsored posts) that it dries to a hard and durable finish and was a great option for furniture and cabinets.  (Read about painting the cabinets here.)  Well, sad to say but I’ve been disappointed.   *womp womp*
 
It’s not horribly peeling or chipping anywhere but there are a few spots behind cabinet pulls where the paint has worn off.  The door above is our most-used and there are a couple of spots where paint has chipped.  There are also a few spots where Gianna felt like stabbing the side of a lower cabinet with a metal spoon where there are chips…BUT I’d say in any painted surface vs. toddler war, toddler always wins.  With those few exceptions, I’d say it’s worked good for our cabinets and held up well for the most part, but for the steep price, I feel like I could have gotten just as good of results with the more affordable Valspar, which I’ve liked in the past.  As far as the hinges, you might remember I spray painted them white and, while I’ve had good luck with that working in the past, some of the hinges open in a way that has scratched off paint.  I’d say half look great and half are scratched.

Disguised Dishwasher –> I still love our hidden dishwasher and, though I haven’t tried to remove the wallpaper lately as a test for when it will eventually need to come off, it isn’t peeling or cracking and the paint still looks great.  I’m definitely going to use this camo technique again in the future.

Wallpaper Backsplash –> This wallpaper is legit.  It’s been wiped off over the sink several times with nary a peel or imperfection to show for it.  Lots of thumbs up over here for this stuff.

Pot Rack –> We are really loving the pot rack we hung.  Even though I think I still would prefer our pots and pans to be stored in a drawer if we had the option, the pot rack is super efficient, not to mention muy functional, and I like how it looks in this little kitchen.  It adds visual interest to an otherwise unused wall.

Spice Rack –> We also still really like our spice rack.  It’s convenient and practical.  I’ve been slowly replacing empty plastic spice jars with Walmart’s organic glass spices and liking that look better.

Our only concern about it is the fact that all of the heat from the oven hits those shelves as it rises.  Even though it seems to hit the bottom of the shelves and go around and up, it still makes us wonder if the extra heat our spices are getting are ruining them in any way.  However, we do turn on the fan when the oven is on to deter that extra heat from lingering.  Neither of us have noticed a difference in how our spices taste so hopefully, they’re are enjoying their stay up there as much as they’d be inside a cupboard.

I’m really glad we decided to take on the kitchen as the first big project in this house.  We still have at least nine months left here, maybe more, and while that’s still a good amount of time, the motivation to complete big projects like a kitchen deteriorates with every passing day.  By knocking it out first, we’ve gotten to enjoy it and experience life with two-toned cabinets, which we’ve both always been kind of afraid of.  We would have considered ourselves to be the one-continuous-color people before this kitchen.  As it is now, I’m thinking maybe we’ll be two-toners for life after this.  We shall see…  ;) 

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Stay tuned for all the details on our next One Room Challenge later this week!