Dad's Kitchen: Part II

Back in March when I visited my dad (before my last trip, which was at the beginning of July), I was on an oil-rubbed-bronze kick. And guess what? I'm not done yet. On my last visit in July I tackled even more parts of the kitchen. Last time, if you recall, I finished up new light fixtures, a new dishwasher, and a new kitchen sink faucet. However, there was one fairly sizable project that I didn't get around to doing. It might have been a lack of time, it also might have been my dad's credit card waking up in the middle of the night with cold sweats screaming, "Don't take me back to Lowe's!"

Here's the kitchen as I left it in March. Notice anything missing? I sure did...

Here's another shot of the kitchen that shows the new light fixture along with a white knob on the cabinet in the background. Did you figure it out yet? 

I wanted to install kitchen knobs for the cabinets and pulls for the drawers! I would say "replace," but only two of the cabinets actually had knobs (the white kind pictured above). I headed to Lowe's to check out what I had to choose from.

Because I was already on my oil rubbed bronze kick (you can't stop me!) I went for the same color knobs and pulls. That way they would match the faucet and light fixtures. While at Lowe's, I first looked for the right color. Next I looked for an acceptable price. For knobs and pulls, $2 a piece is GREAT; five dollars is pushing it. Seven dollars is no-way-jose. I went with a simple bronze round knob, 1". At $2.47 a piece, they were right in budget.

Brainerd 1" Bronze Round Cabinet Knob from Lowe's

So let's survey the kitchen pre-knobs. Here we have Hemingway investigating my supplies.

And my bags of hardware on the middle island. 

Couldn't forget about the little cabinet hiding way up above the fridge!

Of course right when I began I made a mistake. Luckily I didn't get too far with it.

See how I made the knobs too low? Whoops! In the picture below, I'm holding the knob where it should be. So I pulled the knobs down, filled in the holes, and started over. The good thing about my dad being, how should I put this, much less DIY-inclined than I am, is that he doesn't care if I mess up. Whew.

After that setback, I started to make some progress. In the picture below you can see a comparison - one old white knob and one new bronze knob. (Along with the pretty new light fixture and faucet! Ahem.)

Here's an even better side-by-side comparison. Old. New.

The white knobs really looked odd in the kitchen. The bronze knobs help to tie in the deep red countertops. 

And magically fast-forward to finished (at least with knobs)!

With all of the knobs in place, I was ready to move on to the more complicated part - drawers.

As you know from this post, I'm a huge fan of cup pulls for drawers. I have them in my own kitchen. They cost the same amount ($3-$5 each) as knobs, but they lend a lot more character to a space. They're more tricky to install though because you have to make sure the holes you drill are perfectly spaced. For a novice like me, it's a pain in the butt. 

I picked out these Gatehouse 64mm Aged Bronze Arched Cabinet Pulls from Lowe's. They were only about $3.50 a piece, which is a great price for pulls. 

Gatehouse 64mm Aged Bronze Arched Cabinet Pulls from Lowe's

I take full responsibility for the mess on the counter. And don't worry - I didn't liquid nails any of the pulls on out of frustration (you can see some on the counter in the picture below). Ha ha. That's for the next part of part II of the kitchen upgrades. Make sense?

I was seriously happy to be done with the pulls. Sooooooo happy.

And there you have it. All done with pulls & knobs. Now the drawers and cabinets are easier to open, and they look much better! Believe it or not, I have another kitchen update to share with you before I show you the true "After" pictures of the kitchen. Stay tuned!

P.S. In case you're wondering, that was 22 knobs and 14 cup pulls total. Whew.

Lists are Fun

Today is my last day in Alaska, and I've gotten a ton of stuff done for my dad. Here are some lists of what I've accomplished over the past week:

House Stuff (although some of it is work stuff too):

• Installed Apple TV with login to Netflix for streaming movies and TV shows
• Signed up for faster internet speed
• Signed up for an Apple iTunes account for buying apps on iPhone
• Resolved voicemail password issue
• Organized contacts and account information in iPhone
• Created online banking accounts
• Setup a mint.com financial account
• Installed cup pulls and knobs in the kitchen (22 drawers and 15 doors)
• Installed a kitchen backsplash
• Refinanced mortgage
• Purchased new stainless steel garbage can for kitchen/moved old garbage can to laundry room
• Organized part of the garage/threw away three car loads of boxes/garbage
• Vacuumed
• Moved books to upstairs library
• Sewed patches onto three pairs of pants and new buttons onto one shirt
• Ordered three new shirts from J. Crew and bought some clothes in town (for dad)
• Hung up house numbers on tree at the beginning of the driveway
• Covered up "Keep Out" sign with a much nicer sign (also at the beginning of the driveway)

Work Stuff:

• Setup new point of sale computer
• Setup point of sale area with backup battery surge protector and cord cover (no tripping!)
• Put together desk in new office
• Setup computer in new office
• Assembled shelving
• Cleaned and organized
• Organized gift and card for an employee leaving the state

Now I am super tired and I hope I can sleep on the plane. I get back home tomorrow morning and then I have work on Monday. School on Wednesday. Back to it.

House Numbers

I'm back in Alaska this week helping out at my dad's house and his store.

I braved the swarms of mosquitoes to put up new house numbers at the beginning of his driveway. There was a tiny, little sign with numbers, but it was difficult to see. The numbers are from Lowe's and were about $3.50 a piece.

First I found a good tree that was visible from the road.  

I gathered all of my supplies.

And I nailed up each number with two nails a piece. 

Here's what they look like from the road, as if I were in a car. 

Now package deliverers and other visitors will find the house more easily. Mission accomplished. 

Loui in Pari

The other day I was returning something at Target, and it was under $5, so I just got cash back. Later that day I was digging around for some quarters and I realized that the cashier had given me one US quarter and one franc. I know francs aren't used anymore, but I think this might be a sign.

I have to go to France.

I have wanted to go since, well, forever. In college I became particularly interested while studying the Lascaux caves. I like to call them the Louscaux caves. Just kidding!

I also want to visit Versailles and eat as many chocolate+bread items as possible. I'm excited at the prospect of listening to French people talk all around me. France! France! I have to go.

Wrapping Up the Semester

Last night I presented my final project for an operations class. Next Monday night I have my final final - in accounting. After that I have exactly two weeks off from school, the first two weeks of May. I am hoping to take at least one trip during that time, but I'll probably only take one day off of work and make it a weekend thing.

This week I continued my gluten free (just for fun, I like a challenge) baking adventures. I tried making oat flour blueberry muffins. They were good, if a bit gummy. the recipe was either from or inspired by the documentary Forks Over Knives. I didn't have any baking soda so that probably contributed to their strange consistency. http://www.snack-girl.com/snack/forks-over-knives-review/

Next I'd like to try these chocolate chip cookies: http://pamelasalzman.com/chocolate-chip-oatmeal-cookies/ They're also made with oat flour. I prefer oat flour to wheat flour (recent social trends aside) because it makes me feel more full earlier on so I end up eating less. Overeating is one of the worst feelings in my opinion.

Given that I'll have some time off from school, I'd like to finish some things around the house. I'm interested in:

- Scrubbing/sealing/caulking the grouted tile backsplash in the kitchen
- Grouting/scrubbing/sealing/caulking the other less finished side in the kitchen
- Hanging the remaining curtain rods in the bedroom and dining room (I bought special plaster screws as opposed to drywall screws for this purpose last weekend)
- Sewing the dining room curtains out of the Ikea bedspread I purchased a few weekends back

This is not a very ambitious list so I hope to finish everything. No excuses!

Here's a picture of the blueberry muffin batter! I've been attracted to recipes that use maple syrup (the real kind) versus refined sugar because the sweetness is more subtle. And supposedly it's better for you.

Someone Likes Spray Paint!

I saw this fire hydrant yesterday, and I couldn't resist posting it. It looks like someone loves spray paint as much as I do. But you know, it helps to put some cardboard or newspaper or something behind what you're spray painting. I'm just saying...

Dad's Loft/Office/Library Before & After

This is part of a series on my dad's house in Alaska. Read more here. I'll resume 650 square feet posts on my condo when the series is complete.

Let's visit the loft space of my dad's house! To me this is the coolest room. My dad had these really old Lord of the Rings posters from the 1970s just hanging out all rolled up in a closet somewhere. I pulled them out (at his request) and put them in these great, inexpensive frames from Walmart.

Mainstays 24x36 Wide Poster Frame, Black

I tried putting one on the wall here:

But then I realized it would become sun-bleached so I moved it to the stair well. Here's another poster at a different part of the stair well:

 

And another further down the stairs:

This one is my favorite. These posters are awesome. Like, dad I'm gonna steal them from you awesome.

I grabbed a smaller frame for this Captain America print (notice the light shade hasn't been changed out yet):

Which was perfect for the room chock full of comics. Luckily, Grammie helped me organize them. 

But, before we get to the comics and bookshelves, let's check out the desk. Looking tidy, right?

The new Mad Men desktop background.

And a view of the calendar my boyfriend gave my dad last year.

This is the light shade I decided to use up there. I didn't spray paint these fellas because they're on a separate floor from the living room and I ran out of time. At least everything's consistent within the various rooms. 

Here's a sort of "during" picture:

And here's the main room after all of the organizing was done. Can you believe that is only a fraction of my dad's books and comics? He has the best collection of anyone I know.

Grammie carefully filled up this vintage comic rack with comic books. My dad said this was the exact same kind of comic rack he used to buy comics off of when he was a kid!

On the side of the room opposite from the bookshelf/office room, I setup a reading area at my dad's request. We carried that chair up the stairs ourselves. Ugh.

This is the table I used from Walmart. It doesn't get great reviews, but I thought it was awesome. The drawer works well, too.

Mainstays Cardinal Hill Side Table, Hazelwood

I also added this pharmacy-style floor lamp. I have no idea what pharmacy-style means, but I have a lamp just like this in my house. I like the shape and color.

Canopy Pharmacy Floor Lamp, Oil-Rubbed Bronze

Here's my dad and Sitka enjoying the area:

Now, dad, all you have to do is actually READ all of those comics. Um...yeah, see you in 100 years!

Dad's Bathroom Before & After

This is part of a series on my dad's house in Alaska. Read more here. I'll resume 650 square feet posts on my condo when the series is complete.

My dad's bathroom was pretty easy to complete since he did all of the cleaning/organizing. I changed out the rug and shower curtain to these guys from Lowe's:

allen + roth Bonaventure Striped Fabric Shower Curtain

allen + roth 17" x 24" Beige Cotton Bath Mat

I also changed out the shower curtain rings:

Elegant Home Decorative Shower Hooks, Antique Brass

Voila:

Easy, right? Welp, that concludes the tour of the renovations/decorating I completed on my dad's house in Alaska. It was a lot of fun. I hope my dad enjoys it!

Dad's Guest Bedroom Before & After

This is part of a series on my dad's house in Alaska. Read more here. I'll resume 650 square feet posts on my condo when the series is complete.

The guest bedroom was pretty easy. The room used to be empty, so I didn't bother taking any before pictures. My dad and I pulled in his old bedroom furniture just before his new furniture was delivered. Then I added a mattress pad, new sheets, pillows, and a comforter. I picked green for mostly everything just to keep things simple.

In this picture you can see the new curtain rods, curtains, and bedspread.

A view of the second window with newly added curtains:

The curtains were from Lowe's, and at only about $13 per panel, they were a great deal.

Style Selections 84"L Green Bernard Window Panel

My last touch was a little lamp from Walmart. I couldn't find it online, but the shade + base was under $15.

The perfect little setup for guests!