Elemental My Dear Photoshop.

Red Rubber Ball

Elyzabeth reporting.

If you follow this blog or are one of my FB friends, you've probably seen some of my very cool Photoshopped pictures recently. Why is that, you ask?  I'm so glad you did, because I've been taking this awesome class in Photoshop.

I've had the Photoshop Elements program for some years and have been able to do a few cool things with it, but not nearly as much as I wanted to. You would think, since I have the program, I would have signed up for the PS Elements class and not the straight Photoshop one, but just between you and me and the rest of the internet, I didn't really know the difference. Now I am so much older and wiser than I was a month ago.

I can hear you all crying out, "So, Elyzabeth, tell us what IS the difference between Photoshop Elements and Photoshop?"  Once again, I'm so glad you asked. PS Elements is geared toward the casual user, with lots of guided processes to walk you through various techniques. PS has a much more robust offering and skips the whole part where they make it easy on the casual user. After only one lesson (create a red rubber ball picture), I figured out that there are quite a few things that PS can do that PS Elements does not.

Trevor Hog's Head

Photoshop Elements is not an inexpensive program, but Photoshop is way out of my budget. However, a bit of research on the internet and I soon discovered that Adobe was kind enough to make the CS2 version of Photoshop available for a free download. The old CS2 isn't the same as the CS6 that I'm learning in class, but close enough that I've been able to recreate all the lessons at home.  Click here for the  Adobe CS2 Download

Lyza Marbles

I used Photoshop to create the two signs that we put up in the kitchen, Le Rue Sainte-Anne Bistro and La Reine Elisabeth Bar a' Vin. You can see pictures of them in our previous blog from March 22nd.  Hmmm... Sainte-Anne and Reine Elisabeth. "However did you choose those names?" you might be asking.  Okay, you probably aren't.  But hey, it's our kitchen, I can use whatever names I want.

On Stone Steps

I am still an almost complete novice when it comes to the world of photo editing, but I've been having so much fun with it!  I haven't decided if I will take another class after this one is done, or move on to some other creative learning. I'll keep you all informed. In the meantime, enjoy my many varied and creative uses of Photoshop.

Check out our FB page to see the before and after of the picture of me here on the stone steps.  Facebook Elyzabeth's Timeless Creations

Regards,
Elyzabeth

The Devil Is In The Details

Panoramic View

Ann reporting.

Elyzabeth and I had a vision of what we wanted our kitchen to look like.  We wanted a kitchen that was light, airy, comfortable, and, above all, a kitchen that was useable.  We do cook, can, freeze, make most things from scratch and even smoke our own bacon.   In other words, we did not want a do-not-touch-me showplace kitchen!  BUT, we did want it to look nice.

Warm and Welcoming

In order to achieve the look we wanted we used quite a few design elements from French country kitchens.   These details include such items as using a different surface for the island versus the other countertops,  the placement of the free standing cabinet (which really isn’t free standing) to eliminate wasted space, the hanging pot rack, and leaving appliances we use frequently on the countertops  instead of storing them in an appliance “garage”!  We left the interior of the upper part of the free standing cabinet natural to blend with the natural butcher block top of our island.  We felt we needed some warmth to counteract all the other black and white elements in the room.

Lobster in the Sink

We decided a white sink would be much too glaring to plunk down in the middle of that long expanse of black countertop so opted instead for a black acrylic one.  It is a double sink – albeit not a standard double.  One side is larger and deeper to accommodate large pots and the other is smaller and shallower making it very convenient for cleaning vegetables.   The addition of a gooseneck faucet in the same black and copper of our cabinet hardware just pulls the entire look together. 

Bistro Table

To totally pull off our French Bistro look – we added a bar height bistro table (in black, of course) with bar stools in the bay window eating area of the kitchen.  As a touch of whimsy – the barstools are covered with fabric that extols the virtues of Cajun food.   We really don’t want to take ourselves too seriously, right?

And, as the pièce de résistance, the two signs in French pictured below.  I think we really pulled it off – don’t you???

If you haven't read them before, check out our previous kitchen blogs, from March 6th, 10th, 11th and 14th, for some before and during pictures.  Then, please drop us some comments below to let us know what you think of the new kitchen.  We are hoping you will like it as much as we do.

Keep Reading!

Ann

Taking a Stand

Elyzabeth reporting.

I know you are all on pins and needles waiting for us to finish our kitchen remodel saga, but I thought I would take a break and show you all a little project I've been working on.  I decided to do a little woodwork and make use of some of the fallen pine branches.

As you may or may not know, our house sits on over an acre of land. All but the part near the house is pretty much as mother nature grew it. We've got an assortment of wild palm trees, cypress trees and long needled pine trees. This whole area used to be swamp land until sometime back in the late 1950's when a developer had the brilliant idea to drain the swamp and sell the land.  Yep, we are living in the middle of "You want to buy some swamp land in Florida?"


All of which brings me to back to the pine.  We have a lot of fallen branches, which given the amount of thunderstorms in the summer, are a bit of a fire hazard.  We've been gathering them up and using them for firewood.

I've been working on hats again lately and I decided I needed to throw together a few more hat stands out of the scrap lumber we have lying around.  And then it occurred to me that I could make a much nicer hat stand out of fallen pine instead of scrap lumber.

I have to say that I love the way they turned out.  Fortunately for me, my husband has a pretty well equipped work shop.  We did all the wood cuts quickly and easily with his big radial arm saw.  I chose parts of the limbs with some interest; knot holes, broken bits and branches.  Stained a nice mahogany and with two coats of urethane, they look amazing.

The part I love the most is the way the surface ends up looking like it has been carved. Well, I guess that's because they have been carved, just by nature, not by people.

By the way, the top picture above, with the rustic brick background is one of the results of my new uber-photoshopping skills.

If you are interested in owning one of these or a similar hat stand, I will be putting some up for sale in our Etsy shop soon.    Feel free to check us out any time at https://www.etsy.com/shop/AnnElyz or you can just click the link at the top of the right sidebar on our blog page.

Regards,
Elyzabeth

White As Snow, Black As Ebony

Ann reporting.

Our black and white kitchen looked so beautiful except for the horrible old laminate countertops to say nothing of the big gaping space next to the refrigerator that I had covered with a board.  At least the board was useful and allowed me to use the space.

Old Laminate Counter Tops, Before

BUT we had all sorts of problems with obtaining new countertops.  Everyone we talked with wanted to install granite.  Granite was not in our vision.  We wanted black quartz!  Nothing doing though.  We even called the manufacturer of one type that we would have loved, however, after talking with a representative - we found that no one in this part of the world stocked the product.  What to do?  After a lot of thought, we came up with the most awesome and affordable solution.  We decided to go with a stained and finished butcher block.  After all, we did know where to obtain butcher block and how to install it, right?  The Ikea butcher block we used for the island had turned out perfectly.

 New Ikea Butcher Block Counter Tops

How did we get from the stacked boards in this picture to the beautiful black countertops we wanted?  It took a lot of elbow grease, sweat equity, and hard labor but the results were certainly worth it. 

Freshly Installed Finished Counter Top

First we cut everything to fit including the cutout for the new sink.  Then we sanded and sanded and sanded!  We followed that up with a coat of sanding sealer and the fun really began.  I used three coats of Minwax Black Satin Stain and Poly.  I did one coat each day. I rubbed the tops with 00 steel wool between coats.  

Right Side Finished Counter, With Tile Backsplash

Despite all my care and caution and using very good brushes, there were still brush stroke showing in the finish.  I, personally, think this was due to the length of the counters - certainly not the fault of the painter.  So once again, we're back to sanding to remove the brush strokes.  Once, the super sanding was complete, we had the beautiful color we wanted but not a good finish. 

Left Side Finished Counter, With Tile Backsplash

  
Minwax Rub On Poly came to the rescue.  We did a test board to make sure this would work out the way we wanted.  It did!  So, we installed the countertops before applying three coats of Minwax Rub On Poly.  Again, rubbing with 00 steel wool between coats is mandatory.  They look wonderful thus fulfilling our vision for the kitchen.

Our next kitchen blog post should be the last one we write about the kitchen.  We can give you the big reveal and show the whole finished space.

Keep Reading!
Ann

Cabinet Space, The Final Frontier

Some More, Before

Elyzabeth reporting.

Remember the issue I mentioned about the air conditioner/heatpump unit that was installed next to the kitchen, with the giant intake panel on the kitchen wall? We needed a new unit anyhow, so we had them move it. Part one is up in the attic now and part two outside behind the house. The empty space became our much needed pantry.

The crew needed to replace part of the under flooring in, and in front of, the new pantry space. The old unit had been leaking moisture for quite some time and the plywood underneath the old flooring was pretty spongy.

Almost There

With the AC unit and air intake panel gone, we could move the refrigerator all the way to the right. This allowed us to add a few much needed cabinets to that side of the kitchen. The upper cabinet we added had been hanging out in the master bedroom closet when we bought the house. It was just the right size to fit between the existing wall cabinet and the fridge.

On the low side next to the refrigerator, we added a three drawer unit and a skinny cabinet. These we purchased new from Home Depot. They are their in-stock bottom-of-the-line product, which fortunately has a door front style that matched our cabinets perfectly. We bought them in the natural wood, light oak finish, because we needed the wood grain to match what was already in the kitchen. If we had purchased it already in the white, it wouldn't have been wood, and wouldn't have had wood grain. These we treated like the rest of the cabinets, with a sanding, a coat of Kilz, and two coats of white semi gloss paint.

New Corner Cabinet

We also replaced the funky corner quarter-round open shelf that was in the corner by the window with a cabinet. Finally, we put together a very custom unit on that odd bit of blank wall space. We put together three wall cabinet units; the glass door unit, top, an open shelf unit, middle, and a solid door unit, bottom. When we painted these, we left the blond wood color on the inside of the glass door cabinet. The whole thing added quite a bit of new storage and we love the way it turned out.  It's become one of our favorite things about our remodel.

Custom Built Wall Cabinet

By making use of previously wasted space, we gained quite a bit of new cabinet storage with no real changes to the existing footprint of the kitchen.  

We took quite a while to decide on what to do about the counter tops. For some months, we left the old laminate tops and put a bit of board across the top of the new lower cabinets. Next time I will show you our unique and very affordable counter top solution.

Regards,
Elyzabeth

Living On Island Time

Popcorn Ceiling

Elyzabeth reporting.

One of the first things that happened for the kitchen remodel was the removal of the "popcorn" texture on the ceiling. The only good place for popcorn in your house is in a bowl, with butter.

We had the crew remove the popcorn on all the ceilings in the house, re-texture and add a fresh coat of paint. They also installed new ceramic tile flooring throughout the downstairs. That set the stage for us to start on our part of the fun and games.

New Pot Rack

First, Mum and I switched out the black recessed lighting fixtures for new white ones. They just looked better. Then we installed a brushed stainless pot rack right over the island. Anyone who has been in our kitchen in the old Phoenix house will recognize the style. After looking at numerous styles of racks available, we chose one that was identical to our old one.  Fortunately for us, the ceiling joists were conveniently located so that we could anchor the thing into the wood and still have it centered over the island.  This insures that we can load it down with plenty of pots and pans and not have it crash down on us someday.

The Island, Before

Next, we gave all the kitchen cabinets a fresh coat of white paint.  First we removed all the doors, sanded and then gave everything a coat of Kilz. Last, we finished with two coats of interior semi-gloss white.

The old tile top from the island went away forever and we decided to add a new butcher block top to it. We bought it unfinished from Ikea. It's their NUMERÄR counter in beech. Very affordable and worth the drive over to Sunrise to pick it up. The only finish on it is several coats of Watco's Butcher Block Oil.  It gives a nice hard, non-toxic finish and a lovely gloss.

Island During

There were no handles on any of the cabinet doors, so we added them.  These are an oil rubbed bronze finish, which is essentially black with a faint copper sheen to it. The island cabinet doors have hidden hinges, but the remainder of the cabinets have visible hinges. We saved those and painted them all a flat black which matches the handles and knobs pretty well.

Finished Island

In this picture you can also see the new ceramic tile. It's a creamy taupe color in a smooth finish. Our last home we remodeled, we went with a textured finish for the tile and later discovered how hard it is to keep that clean. Dirt settles in every contour and crevice.

Stick with me and tomorrow, I will show off some more of our awesome and affordable kitchen remodel.

Regards,
Elyzabeth

The Old Kitchen

Elyzabeth reporting.

Mum and I have been working on the kitchen, slowly but steadily, for the last six months.  We have finally just about finished out an awesome DIY remodel. I thought I might devote a few blogs to the before, during and after.

Kitchen View Front to Back

The kitchen was a miserable mess when we bought the house. The cabinets were solid oak in good shape, but the tired white wash finish was badly dated. The counter tops were a blah brown laminate, except for the island, which had a crumbling tile job. The faux wood laminate flooring didn't add much to the ambiance either.

AC Vent and Ugly Shelves

Worst of all was the bizarre placement of the refrigerator. It was sitting right across from the island, leaving a narrow space between them that left barely room to open the fridge door. The awkward placement was due to the location of the air conditioning/heatpump unit.  That was in a closet space at the back left side of the kitchen. There was a giant air intake panel situated low on the wall. This meant that nothing could be in that space, leaving a large chunk of the kitchen floor space completely wasted. The area wasn't made any lovelier by the ugly shelves stuck between the fridge and the intake wall.

Sink and Corner Cabinet

The other bit of wasted space was the area on the right in the back of the kitchen. There was a good four feet of wall space completely unused. In one of the pictures of the house that was in the real estate listing, I saw they had a bakers rack on that wall. I wish I had saved the picture, just to show how junked up it made the kitchen look.

Bay Window Dining Nook

We were not fond of the odd quarter round shelf unit in the corner by the sink either. Before the remodel, we were using it as a spice rack, but it just looked cluttered and awful. It definitely needed to go away.

What did we like about the kitchen? Lots of things really. It is a large space with plenty of natural light.  At the front of the kitchen is a large bay windowed dining nook. The island is a nice size. The layout, aside from the air conditioner and refrigerator placement was really very good. The appliances that came with the house, black and stainless, were good quality and in good shape. All in all, the bones were there and worth a redo.

Tune in next time, and I will share with you some of our updates and refinishes.

Regards,
Elyzabeth