The Kitchen Cabinet Overhaul

Last year, when Ryan and I moved into our new house, the first order of business on our make-over-the-move-in-ready-house list was to demo a wall between the kitchen and living room and open up that space a bit. If you missed it, you can read all about that fun here. Ryan had one more project he wanted to do, but we were so weary of all our renovations (all the house projects combined took up four months of our 2016) that we tabled his idea until winter. He said it would be a good winter project.

But apparently a better winter project was having a gallbladder removed and overseeing the goings-on of a hip replacement. So it wasn't until March that we actually tackled this last project: the cabinet overhaul.

The cabinets in our kitchen are actually really nice. Good quality, nice and strong, well-cared-for by the previous owners. We'd thrown new hardware on them when we moved in and that was good enough for a while. But Ryan really wanted them to be darker. Espresso, actually. Allow me to say at the beginning of this post that we know darker cabinets aren't for everyone. Most people want them lighter to make the room feel brighter. But for our coffee-shop-feel kitchen, espresso was the way to go.

Allow me to ALSO say at the beginning of this post that Ryan did 99.9% of the work on this project. It wasn't that I was unwilling, but he had a particular way he wanted it done, and it was just better for everyone if he did that himself. (I get it. I feel the same way about my own projects. I'll do them myself.) So please direct all kudos to Ryan, because he earned every bit of it!

I've had a few people ask how this process works, so here's the outline for you! First of all, the before pictures:

The kit (plus supplies) he used cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $100, which is MUCH cheaper than purchasing new cabinets! It's a Rustoleum kit (same brand we used to overhaul our garage floors last year!) that you can purchase in a variety of colors.

One of the big keys to this project (which you already know if you heard the podcast where Ryan talked about it) is organization. So we started with this "totally-to-scale" drawing of our kitchen. (HA!!!) We numbered each cabinet and drawer so when it came time to put the room back together, we weren't guessing about the locations of drawers and doors!

We took the doors down and the drawer-faces off, and we labeled each one with a masking tape number to correspond with the map Ryan drew. (You know. The map where the fridge is sitting on top of the trash can and said fridge is also 1/4 the size of our lazy Susan cabinet.)

We also put the hardware from each cabinet (handles, hinges, all of it) in baggies labeled in Sharpie with the appropriate number.

The result was an unsightly looking kitchen, but for the most part, it was functional. Not efficient in any way, you understand, but functional.

Ryan started by working on the cabinet frames. This was a pretty tedious part. He had to tape off all the areas (on the walls, on the inside of the cabinets, etc) that did NOT need the product applied, just like if he planned to paint with regular paint.

Then he cleaned the frames with an all-purpose cleaner and used a product called a de-glosser that came in the kit. That product basically stripped off the finish so the color would adhere to the cabinets. He did the de-glossing step twice, just to make sure he got everything.  This was also when he filled any holes he found (from old hardware, etc) and sanded down the excess filler. THEN he could start applying the "bond coat," which was the color coat. It's hard to describe that part, because it doesn't quite act like paint, but it also doesn't act like a stain. It's somewhere in between. He applied it with a brush, though, like he would have applied paint. He had to be careful to make sure it applied evenly and didn't drip or get pooled in corners. He applied two, sometimes three coats to the frames and of course he had to allow for drying time between coats. After that, two (sometimes three, if he felt it necessary) coats of polyurethane went on top to give it some sheen and to  protect it.

Here are some photos of the frames in process.

A couple of things to note: first of all, he found the headlamp to be very helpful in this part, especially since he did a lot of the work at night and so there wasn't any natural light coming in to help him. We did have to unload a lot of the content of the cabinets during this part, because we didn't want to get any chemicals on our food or dishes. That was kind of a nightmare, but that's why he worked so hard to get the frames completely done first. That way at least I could have my kitchen back to cook! Another note: this really was a low-odor kit. I didn't notice overpowering smells from any steps in the process!

He did all the work for the drawers and doors out in the garage. The steps were the same as outlined above, and I did help with the cleaning/de-glossing steps for the doors and drawers. Please make note of his very creative makeshift work space!

Another note: there is also an optional middle step between the bond and the poly called a decorative glaze. We tried it and because our cabinets were so dark, we couldn't even see it. So we skipped that step. He observed in the instructional videos that if you go with a white or very light color cabinet, that middle step does give it some more personality. I think he was relieved he did not have to do it, because this was a long-enough project as it was!

One last note about the kit: many of the online reviews mentioned that the protective topcoat in the kit wasn't that great. Ryan did a test area behind the stove and didn't like how it went on, so we bought a can of Polycrylic Protective Finish by Minwax (clear satin) and were pleased with how it went on and looked once it dried. 

So....wanna see the after??

Yes, they are darker, but with our vaulted ceiling and lots of natural light (after pictures were taken at night so there's not as much natural light flowing in), it doesn't feel dark and confining.

And yes, now he has his sights set on new appliances. LOL!!! (To be fair, everything but the microwave was original to the house being built and we fear we're living on borrowed time with a couple of them. We'd like to replace them when the sales are good, rather than necessity dictating!)

So to just wrap up this overhaul experience, Ryan did say he feels the process was worth it. Obviously the DIY project saved us several thousand dollars compared to buying new cabinets. We wouldn't have even done that. This just lets us put our stamp on the house in an affordable way. But even Ryan, with his unending patience, was tired of this when he was done. LOL! He knew going in that it wouldn't be a weekend project, and he had mentally prepared for that. But it still took a lot longer than he planned. Only being able to work on it at night and on the weekends probably didn't help.

But we love the look, and here are the befores and afters side by side if you want to compare!

(Click on photos to enlarge if you like.)

Thanks, Ryan, for working SO HARD to make our kitchen reflect us even more! You're amazing!

Tuesday Giggles

We may have had a low-key week last week, but NEVER FEAR!!! We found stories for you!! Podcast Tuesday is here!!

 Listen to Spill the Beans here.

Tamar inspired me with her post yesterday, where she shared a stellar autocorrect moment her phone offered this week.

Ohhhh autocorrect. It's a love/hate thing, isn't it?? So funny and yet so maddening all at the same time. I thought it would be funny to scroll back through my phone and see what I've saved on there, not just from the world of autocorrect, but also random photos and memes that I keep just to make me laugh on a bad day. Who doesn't need a good Tuesday laugh, right?

Before I launch into my finds, I have to tell you about one of my most embarrassing texts that I wish I could blame on autocorrect, but it was really just a Bekah fail. This was back when I worked at the station. Jamie Grace had recently released her song "Hold Me," and if you've never heard it, it's just a fun, peppy tune. My friend Amy and I really liked it and joked that it was "our song."

One day I heard it playing during lunch, and Amy was at her desk, so I knew she could hear it, too. I texted her "Hey, it's our song!!!" She never responded, which I thought was odd, and when I saw her a few minutes later, I commented about that, and she just gave me the most puzzled look. "I didn't get a text from you," she said. I zoomed to my phone to see who I'd sent that to, and it just so happened I texted an author Lynne recently had on Mid-Morning. I'd had to text him regarding the show and somehow ended up replying to his text instead one from Amy. I was MORTIFIED, but so glad I didn't text him with the lyrics: "Oh, I love the way you hold me!" Ummmmm would have had some 'splainin' to do on that one!

(I did text him an apology, however, and he was gracious.)

Okay. Back to autocorrects and more. This one was from my early days of being a housewife...a little text from Ryan and a reply from me:

This one requires a bit of explanation. This is a screen shot from Facebook back in 2015. Wayne Seybold was the mayor of Marion (and also an Olympic figure skating competitor back in the 80's!) and someone apparently missed a letter in this message. It made me giggle, though.

I call this piece "Ryan learns to use the selfie stick."

I think I may have used this picture before, but it bears repeating. Last year's Mother's Day cake when Mom was determined to celebrate everything happening in everyone's lives in the month of May. It was a big cake.

A sign on the door of a restaurant in town. I made Ryan drive around the block so I could get a picture.

My billboard model days:

I am not going to post the screenshot of this because there are some not-Shafferland-friendly-words written by other people that are captured IN said screenshot, but this line was my favorite. It was on a scanner page on Facebook, on a post about a gas station robbery. A girl wrote, "He is a regular at the gas station I work at but I haven't seen him since I came back from maturity leave." LOL!!!!!!

First of all, this is TRUTH.

Texts between Ryan and me while I was gone at a retreat.

And finally, the last one came from last weekend, while Ryan and I were on our county tour. This came from when I was holding the table at the coffee shop and Ryan was trying to order our coffee:

Hope you enjoyed!! :) 

Pheebs and Rain and Rest

Saturday morning, when I woke up, I had "that feeling" in my throat. You know the one I mean, right? It's scratchy but not sore, and your voice sounds funny but not bad, and you're mildly achy but not sick? That one.

Ugh.

I refuse to get sick. I'm still mentally recovering from being sick from October-December last year. No more. I said no.

But I think one of the best pieces of medicine is this little cutie patootie right here, and it just so happened that she came over for the whole day!

Ryan had to work, so Pheebs and I alternated resting on the couch with going for long walks. The weather app kept saying rain would be coming, and I hated for her to be all cooped up inside all day, so I took her out for walks often, each time thinking it would probably be the last, and then the rain kept holding off, so we kept enjoying more walks!

Here's a peek into our lazy day:

She's just a gem (unless you ask Braeya) and we love having her. It was a treat! And it was so lovely to just be able to rest with her.

Right about the time Miss Pheebs left, the rain settled in, and it was Ryan's favorite kind of rain: gentle and calming. He was excited to be out in the garage (still) working on the cabinets in the perfect weather.

When I woke up yesterday, I felt some better, but I knew I wasn't out of the woods yet, so after church, we just pulled out Mo and rested the entire day. I took multiple naps and drank a lot of water and coffee, diffused my oils, and took extra vitamins. The rain came in full fury in the afternoon, so I snuggled up under the blanket, with Cupcake Wars on TV and just took it easy.

(And I asked Ryan why the 70ish degrees we enjoyed couldn't have made an appearance the PREVIOUS Saturday when we were running in the freezing rain all over the Notre Dame campus!)

Hope your weekend was filled with much rest as well - despite the weather and the potential germs. :)

Linking up with Tamar!

The Shafferland Shuffle

Last week of March!! Is it spring break week where you live? If so, I hope you're getting to enjoy warmth! :)

* Last Sunday was the height of rest around here - for everyone! Naps, reading, scrapbooking, just enjoying the day. The only thing that would have made it better was a nice, long walk!

* Monday we woke up to crazy rain/storms, which is, I suppose, appropriate for the first official day of spring. Also exciting markers of the first official day of spring? Buds on trees (I'd so feared our pretty white flowering tree started too early and would die off when the freeze returned) and free ice cream cones from Dairy Queen! We got the new guy when we went, which I knew would either result in extra small cones or extra big ones. We lucked out! :)

* Tuesday was another therapy day for Mom, and she's doing really well! I attended, like always and helped by drinking coffee and watching. (Don't you wish I could assist in all your endeavors?) I go because I have SUCH A CRUSH on the guy who does her therapy. I did some child-care that night, and then enjoyed the most amazing sunset. I was so happy to see it! I miss pretty sunsets.

* Wednesday was a long, hard day here in Shafferland. Hard conversations and lots of prayer. I should clarify that we had hard days independently, which is awkward, because then we were both too tired to really pick each other up very well! That evening, Ryan went to the garage to keep working on the cabinets and pray and I spent some time reading Scripture and praying. (And crying in the bathroom. Full disclosure. LOL.) We weren't so sorry to see Wednesday go.

* Thursday morning I had to get our tires rotated, and I totally forgot to take my book to read while I waited! So I had a stare-down with the tires. They won. I got a beautiful surprise in the mail when a friend sent me a subscription to the Magnolia Journal! :) That was such fun. And at the end of the day? Got to hang out with the kiddos I've been watching some. It was fun!

* Friday I spent most of the day in the kitchen, baking meals for our friends and family who had surgery lately. It was so much fun to put together a little blessing basket for them, and then when Ryan got off work, we went on a delivery tour! We ate our own dinner so early and so fast that we were kind of hungry, so Ryan made a bowl of popcorn. It turned out to be a REALLY BIG BOWL. we ate every last bit. Don't tell.

* When we woke up yesterday morning, neither of us felt really great. Not full-on sick, but just worn out. So Ryan went to work, and I got busy around the house, and then GUESS WHO CAME TO HANG OUT FOR THE WHOLE DAY???? If you guessed our Phoebe-girl, you'd be right! I felt more justified resting on the couch with her in my lap! :) Always a treat to have her!

The Saturday Six

One.

Listen to the podcast here.

So if you hang out on Pinterest much, I'm going to guess you've seen one of the creations from this week's Conversation Cafe guest, Shannon Long. She is a blogger over at Sweet Blessings, but she has created these Scripture writing plans that are all over Pinterest. I've been using them this year (they're just collections of Scripture references for each month, and you look them up and write out the verses) and have been learning much through this practice! I wanted to hear the story behind them, so she was kind enough to join me, tell a bit of her story and how Scripture writing impacted her during a really severe health crisis! We talked for about a half hour - hope you can take a listen and check out her plans!

Two.

 What a beautifully and succinctly written post that addresses the truth that God is using each of us RIGHT NOW. It's not about grand dreams of how He may use us in the future, though certainly He will use us then, too. But now matters just as much! I loved this, Jessica! Thanks for writing it!

Three.

 If you're a book lover, do you love finding out little snippets of the story behind the story? This week I read A.H. Gabhart's newest novel, Murder is No Accident (review below) and I stumbled upon this article that gives a peek into how she chose one of the main settings for the book. It gives no spoilers, I promise, and is fun to read!

Four.

This 3 minute video parody showed up in my Facebook feed this week, and maybe it showed up in yours too. But if not, and if you're a fan of the HGTV show House Hunters, you've got to watch it! 

Five.

So, last weekend (as you saw), Ryan not only surprised me with tickets to see the GVB - with David one last time! - but he also treated me to David's brand new CD, which is a hymns project. I was raised on hymns and certainly went through my rebellious teen phase when I felt they were so not cool and didn't want to listen to them, but apparently I'm old now or something, because I dearly love them again, and this album is SO GOOD. Hymns projects always interest me because it seems there are about a dozen hymns that are must-have-standards, and you're guaranteed to find at least three from that list on any collection. And that's true of this one. He's got How Great Thou Art and Amazing Grace on the list. But he also has several that I've never heard on any hymns project, and that's what I love about this one! Only Trust Him and Until Then and Victory in Jesus, which is Ryan's favorite. (David does a duet with his equally talented daughter on that one!) So of course I have to say if you're looking for some new music, PICK DAVID!!!!

Six.

Source

After a few weeks of reading and reviewing non-fiction  books, I was excited to slip over into the world of fiction this week. Anyone else ever need a virtual vacation to a book world now and then? And Hidden Springs would be just the kind of town I'd love to visit for a low-key vacation, but my goodness. Seems like every time a new book comes out, someone's died in town, so maybe I don't want to visit!

Except I do dearly love this little fictional town and all the people in it. It's the kind of series that makes me giddy to see a new book coming out, because I so want to go back and see everyone again! Murder is No Accident is the third book in A.H. Gabhart's series (Hidden Springs Mysteries) and it was as suspenseful as books one and two! (Follow the links on "one" and "two" to read my thoughts on those books.)

In this third installment of Hidden Springs life, we meet teenager Maggie Greene, a budding writer who finds much joy in tip-toeing into the tower room high above Miss Fonda Elwood's grand old house. Miss Fonda is in a senior living facility now and is not always accused of being lucid, but before her mind slipped entirely, she'd told Maggie she was welcome to go into the house anytime she wanted. Maggie feared the rest of the town (starting with her mother, who was hired to keep the house clean, and ending with law enforcement, who are hired to keep trespassing at bay) won't see the invitation from the dementia-riddled lady quite as openly as she does, hence the tip-toeing.

Sneaking in and out works well until the day she Maggie hears a scuffle on the floor below the tower and emerges to find a body at the bottom of the stairs. She calls 911 to report it, but quickly panics at the idea of explaining how she came upon the body, and flees the scene.

That puts Deputy Michael Keene back on the murder-mystery-solving scene, which he rather hopes will end soon so he can start feeling like life in the little town is uneventful once again. He'd rather reserve the title "eventful" for his love life, but unfortunately that's the part of life that seems to be at a standstill.

As the days go by, Michael becomes increasingly aware that the woman at the bottom of the stairs did not trip on her high heels and fall to an untimely, but natural death. A second body, some threats, and a whole lot of suspicious folk leave him scrambling for answers before things get any worse. And while he wishes the happenings of the town would leave him too busy to think about the lovely Alexandria and her confusing waffling of interest/non-interest in him, she seems to override every thought he has.

The book packs a lot of action into a short amount of time, and it also brings in great faith and life lessons alongside the suspenseful mystery. (Full disclosure. I started this book after lunch one day and promised Ryan I would not stay up late to finish it. And then I couldn't put it down. He laughed when I read the last page before going to bed. I couldn't help it!!! I had to know who did it!!) I hope there is at least one more book to take me back to Hidden Springs! I still have a few questions I'd love to see answered!

* Revell send me a complimentary copy of this book but did not require a review in exchange. All opinions are my own! *
 

Do the Thing

What I'm about to say is not new. In fact, it's (I'm sure) not even the first time I've blogged about it. But it's one of those things that bears repeating, because for as simple as it is, we all seem to forget it. I needed a reminder this week, so maybe you do too.

This week was heavy in Shafferland. Nothing bad happened - no need to worry - but it was just one of those weeks when adulting piled up on us and no one likes excessive adulting. Hard conversations, hard decisions, lots of questions, lots of prayer, and a batch of chocolate chip cookies to survive the thing. (You've been there. You know it!)

I was actually in the middle of baking said batch of cookies - for Ryan, of course - when I went out to check the mail. Have I mentioned that the mail is my most favorite moment of the entire day? I think our mail carrier thinks I'm certifiably nuts because she knows I'm watching for her and sometimes even rush out to greet her as soon as she arrives. I'm such a toddler about mail!

Anyway. So I went to get the mail, and much to my surprise, I found this in the box:

What? Where did this come from? Is it really mine?

But it was right there with my name on a label. No mis-delivery.

Someone gifted me a subscription to the Magnolia Journal!

I had no idea who had done it, but I was one grateful girl, and after lunch, I curled up on the couch with a blanket, my coffee, and the magazine for a relaxing, heart-soothing hour.

Since I didn't know who to thank for this lovely gift, I took to Facebook and said how grateful I was, and I was so happy that my gift-giver spoke up! She wanted to thank me for helping her with something and so thoughtfully surprised me.

A couple of hours later, when I went to see Ryan at work, he handed me a card he'd been asked to pass along my way. I opened it and found the nicest note inside. Just kind, affirming words from a friend who wanted to brighten my day.

Suddenly the hard, adulting-filled week felt lighter.

Nothing huge, right? But isn't it astounding how small things like notes and thank-you gifts can lift the spirit?

I am trying to be better at paying attention to the little nudges in my soul when people come to mind. A quick text or a card in the mail or a batch of really good cookies to share - it doesn't have to be major. It's just good to reach out with an "I see you," or "I appreciate you." It goes a long way.

I'm reminding you and I'm reminding myself: when someone comes to mind, reach out. Do the thing. Show some love. We all need it!