Painting & a mail station

Here are some photos of our mail/message station in the kitchen. We mounted a plain cork board and I also create a magnetic chalk board which we hung on the side of our refrigerator. My mother-in-law had an old frame that she wasn't using so I took it off her hands. I first painted it with some left over paint then I removed the backing, replaced that with a thin aluminum sheet which I had painted with chalk board paint. 

 

On the other side of the kitchen I saw some great prints off etsy and thought to myself, "I could do that!" I used watercolor paint, I changed up the color some of my inspiration but I think they turned out great! Purchased some cheap-o frames from target, and then done. It only took a day. Pretty crafty!

 

Gotta Love Stripes!

Dave and I have been steadily working on the house. It might not seem like we are doing much of anything because I haven't made a post in almost a month! I've been painting closets, doors, etc. But we have our carpenter lined up to start on our cabinets in our kitchen. We got our granite picked out and once we get our awesome tax return back we will be able to get it all finished. I know I am so ready to have a real kitchen! I've give everyone a sneak peak real soon about the kitchen, but this post isn't about the kitchen. Dave and I might have actually, maybe 95% to 98% be complete with one area of the house! Can you believe it? After 5 months or so, we could be done with something, decorating and all! Can you guess what it could be....the HALLWAY! It was actually quite complicated especially when you are dealing with an older home that has settled over time and your ceiling isn't the same height throughout the entire hall. Wondering what I am talking about? Well, I didn't want to have some boring taupe hallway. I wanted something that was subtle but not a sold color. When I saw this post on my favorite blog, YHB-they did it in their bathroom but I knew thats what I wanted in our hallway. Yup, thats right, Stripes.

Dave was skeptical at first, but it really turned out well. For the color choices it was easy. I went with our lighter tan color, Valspar Lovely Buff that is in our living room (our LR isn't worthy of having its picture taken yet so you'll just have to wait and see) and Valspar Woodrow Wilson Linen which will be the color of our cabinets. The two colors complimented each other very well. We wanted even stripes so we followed John & Sherry's helpful post on how to paint chic and subtle horizontal stripes step by step. Dave had to do a little extra math because of our ceiling issue and with the help of our handy laser-leveler and painters tape, we now have a chic hallway. Here's the break down from start to finish. 

Before...

Dave was getting a little tired of all the taping so I told him I would paint the but I didn't know he would catch me in the act of painting, bad picture I know. Thanks Babe.

We have Stripes!!!

Look at all the painter's tape we had to use, a trash can full. I feel wasteful.

After...

Pretty cool, huh? All we need to do now is get a new light fixture. Oh, and I'm still crossing my fingers for hardwood flooring in the hallway, we shall see. Keep looking for more updates on the house and please comment! We would love see see what you think! 

Happy Painting and Happy Weekend!