Santa at Avila Valley Barn

We made one last stop before making the drive from the Central Coast back to the Bay Area after Thanksgiving-- The Avila Valley Barn. What a great way to get instantly in the Christmas mood! I imagine that it is a great spot all year, but during our visit it was decked out with Christmas charm. And the farm animals were a big hit with the kids.

When we came to Santa and the Mrs., there was no line so we snapped some quick iPhone pics.

A Little Shelf Upgrade

When we moved into this temporary house, I took on several little house projects that make a rental feel a little more like home. This may be the most little, but it also takes just a little amount of time to complete.

All of the shelves in the kitchen cabinets are plywood with a raw edge. They do what they are supposed to do very well, but they are not pretty. Before putting things away on the shelves, I lined them all with plastic shelf liner.

BEFORE

Then I covered the raw edges with decorative tape. I bought this version of Washi tape in Target's dollar section. It is sticky enough to stay put, but will pull off easily when we are ready for a change or a move.  

Ah, that's better... even if only a little bit.

Bouncy House Birthday

V's birthday is the day after M's birthday. Every year we have done a joint celebration of some sort on a day near the birthdays and a little something special for each on their actual day. This year, the little something that each of them requested was not so little. V's special request was a trip to the "bouncy house place" in WA. Fortunately, North Bend does not have the corner on warehouses full of inflatables. Gramma came with us and we had a great time.

All topped off with these yummy pancakes.

And so we had another thrilled child. In V's words, "the bestest birthday EVER!"

Great America Birthday

When we asked M what he wanted to do on his actual birthday, he answered right away. Great America. We took all three kids and made an afternoon of it. The day was hotter than predicted and there is a lot of heat-radiating asphalt at GA, but we had a very fun time. And we did not mind at all getting soaked on the water rides.

 

The girls enjoyed meeting (and hugging) every character we passed. So sweet.

And we took the requisite picture in front of the fountain. I know there are decades old photos of my brother, cousins and me in about this same spot. Some things have not changed at all.

M said it was the "best birthday ever!"

The Beach Birthday Party... at the Park

We had a great day celebrating M's and V's birthdays last weekend. This week, he is 7 and she is 5! M wanted to have the party at the beach, so we threw a beach-themed party at a neighborhood park. It was a beautiful day and a lot of fun celebrating these two.

We had some fun snacks and yummy desserts. Those flip flop cookies were easy and turned out so cute! And bears at the beach cupcakes... thank you, Pinterest.

There was a bit of organized play, with a relay and a pop the balloon full of candy/toys activity. The kids spent most of the time playing on the park equipment and splashing in water feature.

And there were gifts, of course... special, personal cards and gifts.

It was a great day, all around, and a big hit with the birthday kids!

Kitchen Transformed

The kitchen is done! Well, actually, the kitchen is so long past done that my friends are reading this and laughing. AND said kitchen is in a house in which we no longer live, but that is a story for another post. For now, let me just wrap up the transformation of our builder kitchen into something really special. The photos are not great (sorry-- very little natural light and nothing but cloudy days), but the difference is dramatic.

The photo below most accurately portrays the paint, tile and counter colors. The orange/gold cast is gone!



The quartz counters are true love. The first time I spilled sugar, I really enjoyed cleaning it up! No grout lines, no raised-edge sink. Not to mention how beautiful they are.

The original cabinets were made new with paint. We made just one change to the cabinet layout, in bumping out the cabinet above the fridge and boxing it in to give a more custom, finished look. This required redoing the crown molding and moving one of the can lights, but it makes such a difference in that wall full of cabinets.



We replaced the over-the-stove microwave for a pretty, powerful vent hood. This is a visual upgrade, but more importantly it is a major upgrade in utility. The vent on the microwave was completely inadequate. Our upstairs no longer smells like dinner all night. I found a great source for this hood, with hidden controls and high end metal grates. I was nervous to purchase site unseen, but it arrived just as described. (All looks inaccurately green in this photo.)



We eliminated the raised bar on the peninsula in favor of a larger, single-level surface. This brought some more light into the kitchen. I also redesigned the shape somewhat, eliminating one of the odd angles. (Again, very inaccurate color. Hello bright blue wall!)






The beautiful tile is Ann Sacks, and was a challenge to find. No simple subway tile would work, as there is no true white in this house. But the time and extra expense were worth it in the end.

And the hardware. We replaced the dozens of identical brushed satin nickel knobs with antique pewter knobs and pulls. They are substantial in weight and have great variation in color that provides a nice contrast on both the light upper and dark lower cabinets.

We used a single basin Silgranit sink. It is indestructible, always looks good and coordinates beautifully with the counters. We added instant hot water and filtered cold drinking water through that graceful little faucet on the left and installed an air switch for the disposal. The new pull down faucet works... and, yes, that is new for us.



It was a process, not without frustrating issues, but we are very happy with the result and each of the choices we made. How I miss this kitchen now!

Here is one more shot for the side by side before and after effect:



Sources:
Counters- Cambria Quartz in New Quay
Tile- Ann Sacks, Capriccio 3x6 in Dove
Range hood- VentingDirect.com Windster WS-38U30
Faucet- Moen Brantford
Hot Cold Water Dispenser- InSinkErator F-HC2200BC Indulge Antique, Brushed Chrome
Sink- Blanco 441287 Diamond Super Single Sink, Truffle
Drawer pulls- Amerock BP53702-WN Kane Cabinet Pull 96mm Ctrs - Weathered Nickel (ordered through WoodworkersHDWE.net)
Knobs- I believe I found these locally at Lowes
Paint- Benjamin Moore Satin Impervo in Stampede 979 for lowers and color matched to wall color on uppers

Kitchen - Starting at the Beginning

We have made some pretty big changes in our kitchen that I am excited to share.



First, let's back up to the before. We have been living with this kitchen for almost 3 years and are really happy to see the death of a few "features". It is not that we had a terrible kitchen. It is only a few years old, with a good layout and a good amount of storage. The cabinets are a simple shaker door and the uppers reach to the ceiling. All things that make our renovation more simple and less expensive. But the original owners did no sort of upgrading and it is builder-grade boring, or worse.



The major headache for us has been the counters-- large, ugly tiles with about a 1/3" grout line. That grout line grabs everything and shreds anything we try to use to clean it and there is no way it is sanitary... ick.



One of the first things we did when we moved in was to paint over the MANY accent walls, painted in various mustard/orange/pea green hideousness. The house is bright and light, with all day sun exposure. It is great, but the warm light and off-white trim/wall/ceiling paint in combination with those accent walls, the warm wood floors and everything in the kitchen made for an overall orange/gold cast in the house. Awful. Changing the wall colors helped and we had high hopes that changing the kitchen colors would go miles in a more neutral, less orange, direction.



So, the plan:
- Paint all of the cabinets.
- Lower the bar... literally. We are lowering the bar so that it is even with the counters and will open up what is somewhat of a pass-through kitchen. Hard to envision? Just wait!
- Box in the fridge with a bit of a cabinet.
- Replace counters, back-splash, sink, faucet...
- Replace over-range microwave with a new stainless hood.

Here is the plan: