Saturday, November 29, 2008

My Vineyard

Wow! Its been a while since my last post...mostly caused by grief from Gustav. Hurricane evacuation is a growing trend here in south Louisiana, you should try it! My family and I tracked the storm's path in sunny Florida. Naturally, all projects were put on hold. When we got back almost two weeks later, (Hurricane Ike seemed like it was headed for our home!) and saw everything was fine, (for the most part -- my mom's gazebo was a tragic loss) it was back to work...on home renovations. To be more specific: a kitchen remodel.

It had wallpaper that mimicked tilework. Every other "tile" had a raised rose etching on it. On closer inspection, the wall looked like a checkerboard pattern, and this was repeated on two walls. The counter was pink (which was chosen by yours truly in the early 90s), and the window coverings were seafoam green vertical blinds. It was beautiful! In the 90s.

We wanted the kitchen to have style while keeping the project low-budget. First a design was necessary. Or more importantly, what colors appealed. If we stayed true to the rest of the house, reds, golds and other fall colors would be used. That plan actually lasted three full days. Clearly, finding colors that would appeal to every member in our house would be a problem, and I'm not the picky one. I'm not!!

My sister found some real tiles that looked great to us all, and from there, the project took off. We considered different ways of dealing with the countertop, from a stainless steel film to spreading stone. It had to be durable and it had to look good. We chose paint. It couldn't just be flat color -- been there, done that. I personally wanted it to blend with the rest of the house and our new dishes. I chose a mahogany butcherblock look. My sister suggested a chandelier (as a joke?), but once the idea took root, we found one on sale. Cue Hurricane Gustav! Upon our return, it was time to replace the seafoam vertical blinds, and we put up white shutters.

My role in this was mostly painting. The walls, of course, but I also created a "wall grille" behind the stove, a mural complete with a grapevine and the mahogany countertops. The theme that developed: a vineyard. Its beautiful! We went from pink, seafoam and burgandy to lilac, gray-green and white. Here are our before and semi-afters. Tell us what you think. Are we worthy of Rate my Space?


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