Kitchen Renovation Plans

A minor renovation on my eentsy-weentsy kitchen in my weird little condo has been a savings goal for a while now. Incredible size limitations prevent any true structural changes or appliances wider than 24," so the changes will be strictly cosmetic. Its sole saving grace is that the cabinets are classic and white and not some god-awful oak veneer or something. I replaced the knobs long ago with oval brushed nickel ones from Target (updating that horrid shiny brass hardware goes a long way for very little!) and this weekend I scrubbed the tops of the cabinets (as mentioned yesterday), with so much force that a day later I can't lift my arms above my waist (as not realized until today). But it was worth it for my beautiful, clean new display shelves:





The "before" having been a jumble of appliances, tupperware, picnic baskets, egg cartons and various other flotsam and jetsam, this "after" is quite nearly a miracle.

In a similar divine-intervention-required way, I plan to turn the little drab grey hovel (flecked grey formica countertops, grey tile backsplash with black trim, grey dingy once-white walls) into something bright and colorful (I did already put up the framed butterfly shown, which is very real and quite dead and was caught and pinned by my grandfather):

There's good light from two side windows, and the white cabinets and (staying-white) appliances reflect it well. Of course my space is only eight feet square (sigh). I'm thinking a mosaic backsplash in oceanic colors, and mirrored or decorative tin tiles behind the stove. countertop. I am incredibly enamored of Silestone countertops and especially their cobalt blue options, but recently learned that blue is least favored for kitchen colors because of its suppressive effect on appetite. Who knew? (Also, not such a bad thing if you're home alone, right? But I suppose you want other people to want to eat your cooking). So, I'm leaning more toward Dali which is white with recycled glass bits:

"Enjoy," "Dali," and "Stellar Marine" by Silestone USA

I'd love to carry the hardwood from the rest of the condo through the space but I think it might just be too small. I'd like to do a 12" stone tile on the diagonal to try to make it appear at least slightly larger. And a white sink, most likely. I know everyone is into stainless for everything but I just think the kitchen is too tiny to pretend it's industrial. I'm sticking to cottage charm if I'm going to have any luck of turning it around to a renter or buyer!

I'm also working on creating my own triptych as the backdrop for the glass and silver collection atop the cabinets. Here's a rough workup:



...and the work in progress:



...More on creating your own acrylic masterpieces at another date.

Hope Springing forward treated you alright today! Let me know what DIY projects and renovations you're taking on or just dreaming about! Do you play around and create covetous lists on Polyvore?

Fun fact: Losing just one hour of sleep makes people much more dangerous on the road the next day (so be careful out there)! The exactly parallel effect occurs when we Fall Back - there are the same percentage fewer accidents as there are more after the clocks Spring forward again!

Dream Interiors: Home Office

Hello lovely Wicked Thrifty readers! Sorry to have disappeared on you for so very long. Living and work have kept me extremely busy lately. There are some major changes in store for my life and for this blog, too... first of all, you may notice I just said "me." Yep. The Royal We was definitely fun to write in, but after that (single, granted) negative comment I really started to wonder if it bothered people. According to the poll, a third of you loved it, a third of you didn't care one way or the other, and a third of you hated it. Not a very helpful poll :P But, since half the time when I was writing I had to go back to edit "me" to be "we," perhaps it was time for the change.

As far as life goes: that new title I'd mentioned a few times finally materialized (perhaps it was the Dress Smart book? Or a year's-plus worth of thinly veiled impatience?), so work has gotten even busier. Plus, during the past month I've been trying to climb back on the super-healthy bandwagon after noticing the scale creep up and the bad habits start to turn into a lifestyle. DANGER! Also, my fiance is moving into my apartment in two months-- I've lived there over five years now, so it's a major, major change involving the need for a massive yard sale and re-thinking everything. Not to mention that he wants to sell ASAP because he hates the place, so it's going to be a scramble to renovate and redecorate in order to attract either a renter or buyer so we can move into a place that wasn't built in 1860 and might have a closet to speak of or a doorway he might not smash his head into.

So... to that end, I've been obsessing rather inordinately over home decor, as well as food and exercise. Much less than fashion. (Although I do suspect that as soon as Spring shows itself, my singular fiend will be for a new wardrobe, having filled out the coffers with a dozen wool skirts but realizing the lighter options are meager!) You can expect that this blog will focus much more on those kinds of things (and my health-nuttiness when it comes to eating!)-- I hope you'll stay with me!

Today I thought I'd share a little inspiration board I've been working on (with clippings at home, re-created via Polyvore) for my "someday" home office.

This rug has been calling to me for many months. I could definitely also go zebra though (faux, of course). The general theme is obviously super-girly, hot pink, a little bit French provincial and a little bit goth, with feminine details but BOLD color. No pastels here, thank you. Most of the items pictured are decidedly NOT thrifty, but when and if I actually have a spare room to make into an office, I'll DIY most of these projects... Surely I can find a crap thrift store armchair and cover it with some sort of amazing flocked velvet. Tables with beautiful legs and lines can be sanded down and painted black or stained a deep, deep ebony. I'm sure I can create some kind of funky chandelier and spray-paint the whole shebang magenta, too. No doubt the curio will be the biggest investment, but maybe my fiance's friend will be done with his cabinetmaking course and will want to show off his new skills for a song... My biggest desire for this room, though (and actually for every room in my house) is a gigantic mirror with some kind of awesome frame on it. Sadly, large mirrors are hard to find and inordinately expensive. *Sigh.* Let me know if you have any suggestions for a great source!

A girl can dream... and will! Happy home-decor daydreaming to you, too!

New Name

Hello lovely readers!

Just wanted to beg and plead that you switch your reader and (hopefully!) your blogroll over to the new url: www.wickedthrifty.blogspot.com!

We haven't actually moved but who knows how the redirect will work.

So... why?
If you're not from Boston, you may not know "wicked" as a synonym for "totally" or "absolutely." But really, it is. And a great one at that. ...And then there's the whole us being kind of a recovering goth, witchy type (think Stevie Nicks... and stay tuned for news about our new planned Etsy endeavors!) ...And also the matter of the lovely blonde Swede-in-California publishing under nearly the same name, a few months before this one.

So there was an epiphany, and it just made sense.

The focus of the blog will remain on beautiful clothes under $30, but we may switch it up a bit with some more home posts like this one and also about our decluttering process when the fiance moves in in May, along with some ideas and recipes for eating non-factory-farmed food and organic when possible without killing your food budget. Lots of tasty treats.

Hope you stay with the blog. Thanks for your comments- they mean so much!

Please take the poll on the right, just to satisfy curiosity ;) Thanks!