Milk paint for the kitchen cupboard

Before color...

Milk paint (linen)

I finally got motivated to paint my cupboard!  I decided to use milk paint, and so far I'm really happy with the results.  I'm not a lover of painting.  I read blogs by all these DIY'ers who make it look SO easy and fast, and it's totally inspiring, but when it comes down to actually doing it, I tend towards hesitatation. 
So anyway, I bought this hand-made cabinet last January, or February (2011), and in September, it got moved from kitchen to basement, and there it sat, untouched, until now.  It's almost done, and I'm hoping  it will be back upstairs by Easter...we'll see  : )

January 15th 2012

Meet the new workhorse!  It was a long time coming, but we finally sprung for a new Quadrafire woodstove!  Of course it was the coldest day of the winter so far, but the boys came thru, and they got her in!  (gotta love men with skills, lol) Unfortunately, we couldn't really fire her up to full potential, but tonight, we're going to be toasty! 

New View

On Saturday,  J & M took out our 2 atrium doors (old & leaky), and we replaced them with a slider, and 2 new smaller windows on either side.  We thought it would feel less open, but it doesn't...not at all.  I'm really diggin' it. It's not done yet, (trim, paint, etc), but you get the idea.

Retro Deck Furniture



Isn't this great? Found it on Craigslist. $300!  I thought it was a steal.  The woman I bought it from had gotten it from her parents as a wedding gift like 30 years ago, and she only used it, on a covered porch, for about 7 years.  It was then moved to the barn, and the cushions to the attic, for storage.  She even freshly painted it before listing it.  That was worth it for me right there!  I've been looking for a set like this for years...



Wine and Roses

Summertime...and the livin' is easy......



Happy Summer!



Testing out the new chairs!

Dining Chairs

Here is what my dining room looked like with my black windsor chairs.  They are really wide, so if you were the one sitting in one of the middle chairs, you could pretty much plan on being stuck there for the duration of dinner.  They were also very tall, and I couldn't reach over them to place food, etc. on the table.

So, even though I wasn't really looking to replace them just yet,  I found these on Craigslist, and I snapped them up.  I'm really happy with them...Now I just have to sell the above.

My new 'handmade' kitchen cupboard

I found this cupboard/bookcase on craigslist. Although i was looking for something old & painted, I really liked this, for 2 reasons...number 1, it's hand-made, and number 2, I think after it gets a coat of paint, it will look  like the old kitchen cupboard i was imagining! Now the hard part...deciding what color to paint it?

Pepperoni & Funghi for John, on Whole Wheat

Making Apizza

Afternoon wine

Bathing Beauties...

Clover