Before & After :: Mi Casa

Dear Internet,

Let me welcome you into my home.

If I knew you were coming I would have cleaned up a bit, maybe even done a couple of dishes and then spray my house with Lysol so you would think I just cleaned... but I didn't' have time to do all that and I'm way beyond trying to make a good impression.

So here is my kitchen, well, at least part of it. Wet wipes... legos anyone?

One of the first home projects I so lovingly added to Nate's honey-do list was our bar. The bar just happens to be one of the main focal points in our home and it was feeling sad, and blah, and it needed some love- desperate love.

And who am I to withhold love from any person and/or bar?

Before the bar was just plain thin pressed wood.
It was OK, but it was sad. Very sad. Remember?


I/we had a plan for it. And that plan included:

- bead board..... $30
- 11/16 in. x 2 1/2 trim..... $30
- custom decorative trim..... $20
- new corbels..... $32
- a little distressing (my kids did that for free)
- and white paint with an antique glaze..... $10 & $15

We put the plan into action and this was the end result:


First thing we/Nate did was frame around the bar with the 11/16 in. x 2 1/2 trim. (we used larger trim for the bottom)

After the trim was in place we cut the bead board to fit,
slapped on some liquid nails,
and then used some small finishing nails to ensure it stays in place.

My brother-in-law, who is an amazing carpenter, helped us out by making us some custom decorative trim to place in between the lip of the 11/16 in. x 2 1/2 trim and the bead board. Not only does it give it that extra little somethin'-somethin', but it covers up and mistakes you might have made, say like accidentally cutting the bead board a little crooked. ;)

If you don't happen to have brother-in-law who also is a pro-carpenter, no fear. You can pick up some decorative trim from your local home improvement store.

The last thing to put up are your corbels. The price of corbels varies in all ranges. We got ours for a great deal of $8 each. I wanted to keep it clean and simple and I think that's exactly the look the corbels give it.

After that you just fill in any of the nail holes and gaps with a little putty and paintable caulk, sand and distress, and you're good to go!

Total cost of the whole project = $150(ish)

I say, totally worth it! It changes the whole feel to the house.
Not sad, not blah, and it's definitely feelin' the love.

Things I've learned:
- When buying a house make sure a Home depot is at least within a mile radius.
- Sponge brushes are my friends.
- Don't use home depot paint.
- Glazing is hard.
- Making it look like Macie didn't paint the whole thing is harder.
- Keep lots of paint thinner on hand.
- It's good to have a husband who's handy.
- Having a hot handy man is the next best thing to a good looking pool boy...
- Just minus the speedo.
- Unless your handy man likes to wear speedo's.
- Mine doesn't.


More before's & after's :: Mi Casa's to come...
(I can only post them as fast as we get them done and at the rate we're going it's not very fast)