What's Cookin'?

I really hate my kitchen.  Take a look... (Don't mind the kiddos hangin' out.  I was trying to keep them busy with snacks while I took the pic.)

Don't get me wrong, it could be worse.  It's a good size with a functional layout and oodles of storage.  However, I despise the orangey-oak cabinets and the busy laminate countertops.  Here are kitchens that I enjoy looking at...

Brown Design: lots of molding, contrast and textures

getdecorating.com: similar layout to ours...totally doable

Marin Kitchen Company: so airy and bright

DecorPad:  white, grey and dainty

So, the whites have it.  Our cabinet doors are coming down this weekend in preparation for a budget-friendly facelift.  We may be seeing the contents of our cabinets for a few weeks, but that's okay.  We're not hosting Thanksgiving.

How It All Began

A little background info:  Steve and I purchased our first home together nearly 8 years ago in Illinois.  It was a 1950's Cape Cod with red shutters, a leaning one-stall detached garage and leaky basement.  We 'practiced' a lot of home improvement in that house including painting, installing new flooring, replacing dated light fixtures, adding crown molding, knocking down part of a wall, updating a powder room to a half bath, demolishing the single car garage and building a 2.5 car garage.  We eventually hired out to get the wet basement fixed.  (Living in concrete dust with a 2-year-old while pregnant is NOT advisable.)  After all was said and done, do you know what we did?!  We sold it... By owner.  In 6 weeks.  In December 2007.  It was a huge relief yet saddening at the same time.  We put a lot into that home but decided a move back to Ohio nearer to our families was important for our growing brood.

Now, we live in a 2-year-old spec home.  While this home offers lots more space and the open floor plan that we love, we have lost some of the character that our dilapidated Cod had like plaster walls, arched doorways, molding and corner windows.  We knew this going into the buy.  I was pregnant and we already had a toddler.  We didn't want a 'fixer-upper'.  Move-in ready, here we come!  We could always change out the builder basics over time.

Fast-forward a year-and-a-half to the spring of 2009.  Our youngest had turned 1 and we had a little more freedom.  Steve and I were both feeling the itch to dig into a project again.  My idea?  Turn our cramped hall closet into a makeshift mudroom.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

We had an under-utilized hallway between our garage and kitchen crowded with THREE doors (garage, bathroom and closet). Unlike visitors, we enter/exit through this hallway daily. To set up digs for a mudroom we removed the closet door, widened the doorway and added recessed lighting. Eventually, we'd like wood floors but for now we patched the vinyl after Googling "how-to". Hubby used a bolt-cutter to cut the wire rack that previously hung lengthwise then hung it up in the corner. (We still need some wooden hangers.) This new room is the hardest working place in our house! We unload backpacks/lunchboxes, put on/remove shoes and even set things to 'go out' as a reminder here. In the corner on the floor is where we hide our mongo diaper bag.

Oh, and we did it for $152.  That's how it all began.

Tweaking

So, in true valedictorian fashion I looked up the definition of tweak... this was after I had already painstakingly chosen "House*Tweaking" as the title of my blog.  Not only can it mean to adjust or fine-tune small components to improve an entire system, but unbeknownst to me it can also mean to tease or make fun of.  As it is in my nature, I'll try to do a little of both to keep things interesting.

I've always been better at writing than speaking, but I feel anyone who reads this deserves fair warning.  I overuse commas, parentheses (I like to include unimportant thoughts and information) and the elusive ellipsis...  Also, I am NOT computer savvy.  The hubby nixed my idea of handwriting my posts THEN typing them. 

What is the purpose of this blog, you ask?  Good question.  Sure, I'd like to inspire others with my creativity, frugal decor finds and practicality, yadda, yadda, yadda.  But the truth is, this blog will serve many purposes.  I'm hoping it will be an outlet for the zillion ideas whirling around in my head.  I'm hoping it will quiet the hubby.  (He's been wanting me to do this for a while now.)  I'm hoping it will feed my hunger to read and write.  I'm hoping to learn something new.  I'm hoping it will miraculously keep me from wanting a third child.  I'm hoping it will win me a spot on Oprah.  I'm hoping it will be a great way to journal our home improvements.

Happy reading!  I will leave you with an image to be the next topic of conversation...