It has been 6 months since I originally revealed my "80's to Awesome" kitchen makeover and have been fielding dozens of questions about my "new" kitchen, which is by far the most popular post on this blog.  I thought I would take this chance to let you know how everything is holding up, and answers the questions I seem to get over and over.

So, many people want to know how the paint looks, if it is suffering wear and tear or anything like that.  The answer is: FANTASTIC.  Honestly, I don't have a single chip or scratch on any of the painted cabinets.  The finish wipes down beautifully and the only signs of wear and tear have been on the hinges. I actually tried to shoot images of the cabinets today, but they look exactly the same as the "after" photos the day I finished the remodel.

I would do it again in a heartbeat.  I have ZERO complaints about the long term wear and tear or the look of any part of the remodel.

Other FAQ's:
How did you actually PAINT the cabinets? What technique did you use?  
My complete step-by-step cabinet painting tutorial is here.

What wall color is that?  
It is Laura Ashley Gold 3 (by Veldspar: LA709) I actually didn't paint the walls.. it is the color the original owners used. It is a little gold for me, but with my new kitchen I don't mind it.  It looks better now that the cabinets aren't oak.

What cabinet color is that?

Manchester Tan by Benjamin Moore.  It is NOT white, but in fact, cream.  The finish is "Pearl" (a specialty Ben Moore Finish only available in their high end paint lines) and it is NOT sealed with any polyurethane.  It has held up and cleans up beautifully.

How did you keep this entire remodel under $5000 including appliances, fixtures, backsplash, lighting,  countertops etc?

Appliances:

The appliances were a Black Friday deal (back in 2011) The deal was (in addition to a super low BF price) if I bought 3 Bosch Appliances, the store would throw in the mirowave free.. so I bought the dishwasher, fridge and stove. I also got a $500 rebate from Bosch for buying 3 appliances in the same line. The total cost (after the sale and rebate) was $2400 for all four appliances. ($1800 for Fridge, $400 for stove, $200 for dishwasher, and a free Microwave.) I then got an additional rebate for $400 for upgrading from my old non-energy star fridge and dishwasher ($200/each) which made the entire transaction $2000.   Lastly, I sold my old stove on Craigslist for $200, and donated the others to charity, which made my final out of pocket cost: $1800. It pays to shop on black friday!

Lighting: 

All my lighting fixtures all came off the shelf from Home Depot.  I splurged for LED can/recessed lighting, but I love the result. It was worth the extra 20-30$ per can for the bright pure white light in the small 2 inch cans. The molding on the ceiling if very popular, but it is really there to hide the textured ceiling damage from removing the old box light.  I love it now, it gets TONS of compliments in real life.

 

Plumbing:

The kitchen faucet is Price Pfister, a mid-range faucet and I have been thrilled with it.   I did all the electrical and plumbing work myself which saved me a ton of money. 

Backsplash: 

The pencil tile was a super great deal at Costco.  Once again, I installed it myself (using the Bondera system) and saved a lot of money.

Countertops: 

These were replaced by the previous owner when we purchased the house.  They aren't included in the $5000.  They would have been and additional $2-3000.  Here is what the kitchen looked like the day we moved in (after the tile was gone) and then again after the makeover.  

How big is your kitchen? How wide is that island? Can I fit an island in my tiny kitchen?

My kitchen is 12 feet wide (wall to wall) and the cabinets/fridge extend out about 11 feet (there is exactly 8 feet between the front of the lower cabinets and the front of the fridge door) The island is 2 feet wide by about 4 feet long.  In fact, is just one lower cabinet base box, with a countertop on top and 2 rounded shelves on the exposed end.  It is VERY SMALL, but leaves plenty of space to work around it and I can't imagine the kitchen without it.  

Do you want to come to my house and help me do my kitchen?  (My favorite question!) 

Unfortunately, I am a little busy with a soon-to-be newborn on my hands, BUT never fear! If you would love the look of new kitchen cabinets, but don't want to paint them or even do-it-yourself, Home Depot does offer 3 great options.  I personally LOVE Home Depot, they are my go-to home improvement big-box store and a lot of the supplies I used for my kitchen transformation came from them.  Definitely check them out.

Last Minute Easter Roundup

Unlike years past I haven't really jumped into Easter this year.  We did dye eggs and are expecting a visit from the Easter bunny, but I didn't decorate the house.  

 

Honestly, things have been crazy here and I feel bad that I haven't posted in a while.**   So instead of continuing the blog silence, I thought I would feature some of my favorite previous Easter projects.

These Salted Caramel Birds' Nest Cookies have been a big hit on Pinterest.

And here is last years' Easter Mantle (shhh.. I didn't even do an Easter Mantle this year!)

 

I love these twine wrapped eggs:

And this super fun and easy Easter spray painted bean vase filler:

 

Even though I didn't go all out this year, the girls did have a good time using the cheap dollar store dying kit:

The eggs came out pretty cute even if they aren't Pinterest worthy!  

And the most important part is that it still feels a lot like Easter!   I hope you have a wonderful one!

 

 

**So..

Yeah..

It has been a while since I have had a new post.  But life has thrown me for a loop.  Really, this pregnancy has thrown me.  For some reason, my third pregnancy has been filled with time-sucking, irritating, frustrating, disgusting and bizarre complications that I have never experienced with my first two.  

 

I have spent more time in doctor's offices in the past month, then the last few years combined.  

Combine that with spring break, and the fact I want to spend as much time with my girls before they are bombarded with an attention-grabbing newborn means I have stepped away from the DIY projects, and my blog, for the time being.  

We expect this new baby to arrive by the end of this month (OH MY GOSH!) and it is just sinking in.   I hope my regular readers will bear with me, and any newbies to TheKimSixFix will understand this isn't my typical pattern.  

The blog is still alive.. it is just on a temporary per-maternity break!

Apple Pecan Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Filling

When I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I KNEW I had to try it.. immediately.

And I am so glad I did.
 

Between the pecan and apple cake, sweet cream cheese filling and caramel frosting, it is like I died and went to heaven! 

 

I will be honest when I say this recipe isn't exactly easy.  There are a lot of steps and a lot of dishes, and a LOT of calories, but it is really really good!  I did modify the recipe from Ali at Jam Hands to make it slightly simpler, but without sacrificing taste.

 

First, you must prepare the cake batter (which also requires peeling and chopping apples)

 

Preheat oven to 350º

 

Combine the following ingredients:

•     3 cups all-purpose flour
•     1 cup granulated sugar
•     1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
•     2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
•     1 teaspoon salt
•     1 teaspoon baking soda
•     1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
•     1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
•     3 large eggs, lightly beaten
•     3/4 cup canola oil
•     3/4 cup applesauce
•     1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 Stir in:

•     3 cups peeled and finely chopped apples (about 1 1/2 lb.) 
•     1 cup finely chopped pecans 

 

Next prepare the cream cheese filling:

•     1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
•     1/4 cup butter, softened
   
•     1/2 cup granulated sugar
•     1 large egg
•     2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
•     1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Add 1/2 of the cake batter to a greased/floured bundt pan, and spoon cream cheese filling in a line trying to stay away from the pan edges.  Swirl filling through batter with a knife.  Spoon remaining 1/2 of cake batter over the top.

This is what my swirled filling looked like after baking:

 

Bake at 350º for 1-1 1/2 hours (until knife comes out clean) and let cool completely before frosting.

Finally, prepare the caramel pecan frosting, by bringing the following to a boil over medium heat:

•     1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
•     1/4 cup butter
•     3 tablespoons milk

Remove from heat and whisk in:

•     1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•     1 cup powdered sugar

Pour over cooled cake and top with 1 cup of pecan halves (I also poured/spooned a little frosting over the pecans to glaze them) and then dust with powdered sugar:

 

I told you it was a lot of work.. but just look at it.  You should be drooling!   And it tastes as good as it looks!  

Time to hit the gym!

A Simple Green St. Patty's Mantle

 

I decided to do minimal decorating for St. Patrick's Day this year since it falls so close to Easter.  But I didn't want to do NOTHING. My kids love trying to trap the leprechaun, and I didn't want to pass it over completely, so I decided to go with a clean simple green mantle this year thrown together with stuff that was already on hand.

 

I did end up re-using a lot of the accessories I used last year on my mantle, and the only new thing I purchased was a large green felt shamrock that I double-sided taped to the mirror:

 

On one side of the mantle was a green glass wine bottle, some green apples and a potted plant:

 

My favorite little green owl, a 'faux jadite" vase and a depression glass plate I got from my grandmother were on the other side: 

That little vase looks so festive on a St. Patty's mantle, especially when you know it used to look like this:

 

A simple, clean way to quickly decorate for St. Patrick's day without being awash in shamrocks and leprechauns!   I confess, I also did hang my green coffee filter wreath on the door again this year.  Waste not, want not! 

February in Review: Valentines and Sweet Treats!

I realize I haven't been posting as frequently as normal lately, but keeping up with my DIY projects while 7.5 months pregnant hasn't been easy.   Plus, to add insult to injury, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and have been spending a lot of time at my doctors' offices.  Not nearly as fun as home improvement!

 

I have been working on converting our home office into the new nursery, but I don't have much to show for my efforts.  I didn't think a post about cleaning out thousands of books and papers would be that interesting!

So what DID I do this month? 

 

My most popular post this month was my tutorial on staining oak cabinetry:

 

Of course February was all about Valentine's day.  And I worked on a couple of versions of school Valentines:

Flower Growing Kit Valentines

And the less expensive alternative: Flower Seed Valentines:

Speaking of flowers, I also showed you my daughter's old Flower Garden Bedroom which had previously been a home office (notice a trend here?)

Finally, February also included a lot of sweet treats such as our Cookies and Hot Chocolate Party:

 

Baked Brie with Honey and Pecans:

And my 5-Ingredient Fool Proof Bread Machine Recipe:

Boy.. Looking back at all those sweet treats really makes me miss my carbs!!  Only about 8 more weeks and hopefully I can eat them once again!  Fingers crossed.

Fool Proof Bread Machine Bread: Only 5 Ingredients!

I have always been a fan of my bread machine, but I have never been able to get consistent results.  Some loaves of bread are beautiful, crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside and others are like bread bricks.  For some reason, some don't rise well and end up dense and heavy and not very good. 
I have always followed the instructions on my bread machine manual (keep the wet ingredients away from the yeast), and I fear it has led me down the wrong path. Although it flies in the face of what everyone says you are "supposed to do" I stumbled upon this 'no fail' methodology and now, dozens of loaves later, I am confident this is the ONLY way to use my bread machine. 
I am including the standard 5 Ingredient White Bread recipe, but I have altered this method to make other recipes (such as this Hawaiian Sweet Bread) and they have ALL come out great.  
Look at these nooks and crannies.. Perfectly risen, light and fluffy.  Just like bread from the bakery! 

5 Ingredient White Bread To the bottom of your bread machine add: 1 cup warm water (or whatever your liquid you are using.  "Warm" means approximately 110 degrees  or 'luke warm') 2 Tbsp Sugar (or whatever sugar source your recipe uses.. honey, brown sugar etc) 1 (0.25 oz) pack Rapid Rise/Bread Machine yeast (2 1/4 tsp from the jar)
Allow the yeast to dissolve and foam for about 10 minutes and then add:  1/4 cup Oil 3 cups Bread Flour (or All Purpose) 1 tsp. Salt
Start your machine (I use either the Basic or White setting but if you are making a sweet bread you can also you alternative settings) and walk away. 

There is nothing like warm bread straight out of the machine.. Enjoy! 

Little Girl's Blue Flower Garden Bedroom

 

When my second daughter was born (in my 2009 pre-blogging days, before we owned the MoneyPit 1.0) we decided to convert our home office into my older daughter's bedroom.   We had previously painted the room "Beacon Gray" by Benjamin Moore and didn't want to paint again.  So what do you do to turn a baby blue room "girly"?  
Make it into a flower garden. 
We purchased a cute butterfly and flower wrought iron bed and added a trundle underneath.  Some inexpensive bedding and window treatments from Home Goods, a homemade bed skirt and a clearance Pottery Barn throw rug brought the theme together.
Lastly I added a faux garden gate along one wall.  I painted and used large rubber stamps to create the 'meadow.'
Then I painted and added 1 inch wide trim boards to the wall with small nails. Because I wanted to make this easily removable and not leave much wall damage, I hot glued the fence pickets onto the trim boards.  The fence pickets were actually just survey stakes I primed and painted.  You can get dozens of stakes for less than $10 which is a great deal vs. cutting points on each one yourself.

A quick and easy fix to the blue paint dilemma.   
If you liked this post you can also check out the girls' rooms in the Money Pit 1.0  and Money Pit 2.0 (where they finally get a pink room they always wanted!)  



Please excuse the photo quality and lack and step by step pictures.  This post is a little blast from the past.  My computer is currently at the genius bar getting repaired after one of my darling children tried to play a DVD unsuccessfully.   So I had to drag out my old computer and as I was perusing my old photo library I stumbled upon these old pictures and thought I would share them.