Painting the Kitchen

Published, Jan 25,2015

Well, I don’t know about you, but I enjoyed our recent and brief respite from the bitter cold last weekend. We were visiting another one of Tennessee’s “top five” cities—Knoxville. Yet another gymnastics competition took us to their downtown area, too. In fact, all of Tennessee’s “top five” host these competitions—oops, make that four-and-a-half out of the five.

There is a small, pre-season competition which is hosted by Clarksville Elite, but they hold it at the Foy Fitness Center on the APSU campus. It doesn’t begin to compare to the scale and scope of the meets held in Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga, though.

I just think it’s strange that a city that boast about its convenient central location, that we haven’t done something to take advantage of that location. I am sure greater minds than mine are working on it. I’ll just worry my pretty little head about domestic matters—like making hotel reservations and researching places to dine and shop while we’re attending the next event.

As for other domestic matters, I have once again tackled the less than enviable task of painting the kitchen. This is a process that was much needed, but became impossible to ignore after our recent renovations.

I don’t think I mentioned is before, but I asked Glen (our contractor for this project) move the cabinet surrounding our refrigerator about six inches to the left. It’s something I thought of a while ago, but doing so would have exposed an area of the floor which was not covered by the laminate floor that my husband and I had installed. The thought of trying to retro-fit the flooring into that exposed space was too daunting, so we waited.

We have a side-by-side refrigerator, which I normally wouldn’t have considered, but it met my single requirement: it was the largest capacity I could find which would fit into the space available. It fit, but (a little detail one should apparently consider) the door on the right hit the door jam on the adjacent wall and wouldn’t open. That’s when we came-up with the solution of removing the door jam and cutting it to a length that allowed the refrigerator door free movement—sort of. It still hit the door to the laundry room whenever we had to open it wide enough to open the crisper drawers.

Eight years of door banging had me ready to jump on this possibility of moving those cabinets when we had to replace the flooring. Glen told me it would be an easy fix, so I added it to the list. What a difference the move has made. The space we lost—to the left of the cabinet—was a concern, because I stow a rolling cart, which holds my stand mixer, there. Now it protrudes into the walkway a little more, but not enough to matter to anyone.

The repositioned cabinets gave us more room to open the doors on the refrigerator.

 

The new flooring and laundry room also provided an opportunity to make a few more changes to the space, too. I brought home a piece of furniture I had in Hodgepodge, but had been keeping in storage; it was always one of my favorite pieces and, consequently, I didn’t discount it when I closed shop. (My subconscious mind obviously had plans for it.)

My subconscious desire—the black bookcase/cupboard.

So, I told you all of that to tell you this: I started painting the kitchen again. When I moved the white cabinet from the kitchen into the laundry room, I took that opportunity to paint the wainscoting, trim and wall before positioning the new bookcase there.

the white cupboard in it’s new location

 

Fortunately, I love the color of our kitchen, so I am just going to freshen-up the look with some cleaning and the same colors. This way, I will be able to take my time—thus far proven, as I began the process just after Thanksgiving—without having to be met with an offensive contrast of colors. Of course, this could also work against me when I consider my ability to procrastinate.

One last note, since I apparently have a few things on my mind and the time on my hands to consider them . . . at length . . . I’ve decided to begin blogging again. This may not mean much to you, but it is a big thing for me. I consider it an obligation, of sorts. If you tell your readers you’re going to do something, then you need to do it. So, if you like reading about our renovation projects and general shenanigans, you may want to check it out. I will also be providing a few more photographs than space allows here in “The Leaf.” By the end of the weekend, you’ll find me at www.hodgepodge-home.blogspot.com.

A personal note—thank you to the friends who encouraged me to get back to my blog. I appreciate the support and confidence.

May 27, 2012—friends, truffle pigs and alfredo sauce

As I was leaving the shop tonight, I was chatting with Kimberly Santiago, a local artist who has written and published a book, A Collage Playground. I am fortunate to have her as a tenant in our historic building on Franklin Street—you can actually find her studio on the Strawberry Alley side of the building—but even more fortunate to call her “friend.”

Just a few years older than myself—I don’t think she would mind me saying that (one of the many reasons to admire her)—she has allowed herself to become my sounding board and confidant. She is willing to collaborate with me in business matters and share her experiences as a mother, wife, and business person. Everyone needs a Kimberly, but to be honest I’ve surrounded myself with her kind—Jane, Rogate, Monica, Sherri and Sheila are the tip of that proverbial iceberg—friends whom have ventured into business ownership and are willing to share experiences. I can’t imagine making it through my days without them.

I hope you have someone like them in your life. We all need friends to help keep the checks and balances of our lives.

 

So, right, back to the story . . . as we were leaving the shop, we were admiring the weather (as women of our age are prone to do—far more frequently than I care to admit) and wishing we hadn’t spent the entire day inside. We both agreed that the appropriate next move would be to make every effort to complete the work we anticipated at home—preferably on the patio.

 

As it has been a particularly stressful week, I immediately started formulating the plan. I’d start boiling the water for the pasta, then start the grill, grab my laptop and begin writing my article on the patio. So far, it’s working. I feel much better. Letting go of some of the stress of the day just by being outside on what is quite likely the final day of comfortable weather for the foreseeable future.

 

Even with all of the mulberries on the ground and the inevitable flies which accompany them, I am relaxing. Then our dog, Brogan, begins snarfing up the mulberries, which will lead to a stinky dog, if you know what I mean. Since he sleeps in my room, I beg and plead with him to stop—finally convincing him to lie down. He, naturally, lies down in the grass, where he can continue the snarfing, thinking I cannot observe his surreptitious efforts. Stress is returning, but still manageable. (My daughter refers to it as “truffling,” as he reminds us of those videos we’ve seen of Truffle Pigs hunting for their prize.)

 

 

Then my mind waders . . . Oh look! Is that a Robin or a Towhee? And would you just look at those swallows? I wish they would fly down around my head, arms and legs—they would find plenty of their prey feeding on my blood. Do I have time to add that final layer of paint to those Adirondack chairs? Then the clanging of the lid on the pot of vigorously boiling water returns me from the day dream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back inside, the kitchen has really heated up with the boiling pot of pasta water. I add the whole wheat pasta to the water and start warming the Alfredo Sauce. It’s out of a jar, but practically gourmet, as I swish around a little white wine to loosen the sauce still clinging to the jar. I finish grilling the chicken breasts and turkey smoked sausage. We love this meal—especially on a busy work/school night. I chop the chicken and sausage, toss it into the sauce. My daughter helps whip together a healthy green salad and we sit down to a semi-family meal (my husband is out of town). We enjoy good conversation and a few laughs. I find myself sitting there, feeling a little self-satisfied in the knowledge that this is something we do nearly every night of the year. The stress is almost all gone; I then remember I haven’t written my article.

 

 

Rats! What will I write about . . .?

May 6, 2012--finishing the chairs

Well, last weekend did not turn-out quite as expected. 
I started Saturday morning with some of my fine downtown business friends.  We volunteered to put the flowers the City had purchased into the planters on Franklin Street and Strawberry Alley.  I want to take a moment to thank Mitchell Cherry (Ingredients), Sara Esterby (The Runner’s Hub), Anne Head (Rogate’s Boutique), Linda Shephard (Edward’s Steakhouse), Clifton Whittaker (Downtown Artists’ Co-op) and Ryan Bowie (The Roxy) for coming out to lend a spade for the beautification cause!  The flowers are lovely; plus, it shows the dedication your downtown businesses have for a holistic approach to the Downtown Clarksville improvement efforts.

Now that I’ve got the public service announcement out of the way, I can get on with my whining.
So, shortly after we were done cleaning-up the mess of flower planting, I came into the shop to do a little work before heading to the flea market.  That’s when it happened.  I made the simplest of movements—one I do every day—and pinched a nerve in my back.  Oh, the pain!  After first promising God that would take better care of my temple if he would allow me to return to an upright position, I began the process of standing erect again.  It took what felt like an eternity, but I did it.  Though in pain, I still needed to go to the flea market, so off I hobbled.
After a semi-quick tour of the market, I headed home with what little loot I could manage, knowing that when I returned, I wanted to paint our Adirondack chairs.  After Darren realized I wasn’t to be deterred, he helped me move and flip the chairs and I managed to get the first coat on both of the chairs.  I don’t remember if I mentioned it, but he had already coated them with a stinky coat of oil based primer in white.
 

Being that white is a difficult color to cover AND I like the layered look, I decided to apply a “mostly covered” coat of the Provence.  Now, in case you’ve missed it, the best thing about Annie Sloan Chalk Paint™  brand decorative paints is the fact that you don’t have to prime or sand.  The priming was done by my husband before I had decided to use this paint on some outdoor furniture.  That being said, however, I was able to use this paint right on the oil based primer (usually you have to use oil based paint over oil based primer).  All I had to do was wipe away the leaves and other debris and start painting.  Applying the Provence in a haphazard manner, I left quite a bit of the white exposed.

If I hadn’t gone on to reinjure my back later that evening (go figure), I would have applied the second coat within a few hours or on Sunday.  As it turns out, I wasn’t able to add that second layer of paint until Thursday morning.  I believe I had mentioned I would use French Linen, but I decided on Country Grey instead.

Country Grey was applied in a technique we call “drop and drag,” to achieve a touch of the color here and there. 

The final finish looks as though several layers of paint—applied through the years—have worn with age.  Instant patina!
Now, instead of standing out like a pair of brand-new Keds® among some mistreated Chuck Taylors®, they blend with all of our other old, rusty and chippy patio furniture.  I am smiling!

If you’ve got plans to paint some furniture or do some other improvements to your outdoor areas, I’d love to hear about it!


PS--Now that I have been living with the chairs for a few weeks, I've decided to add a wash of french linen over the chairs.  The color is too "beachy" for our natural surroundings--I need to tone it down.  I'll post an updated photo when I am done.