The Kitchen

Okay, so….When I first moved out on my own and got to pick my own furniture I had a love for the dark, white to me was  just ‘yuck’ when we bought our condo I honestly had no idea where to start or what to do first as it was just this blank canvas in my eyes covered in orange paint.

Right off the bat we bought new appliances for the kitchen, minus the dishwasher as it still had the foam on the inside. The cupboards in my eyes were just too dark for being so far away from any window source. Unfortunately we literally have two windows and a sliding door for natural light in our condo. Making it feel bright was really important to me. That being said we didn’t have money to rip out the kitchen and really for the property value gutting a condo just doesn’t seem like the best bang for your buck.  Where we live is a nice walking distance to downtown, cool view of Mt. Baker when you head to the rooftop but majority of our building is renters and not high end rental units. We have to keep our condo competitive in the price range without going broke just trying to compete.

After the appliances we headed down to Lowe’s in Bellingham, WA to grab some AirStone. Unfortunately you can’t buy AirStone in Canada. *sad face* It took me 3 or 4 nights to install by myself, it would of been easier if I had some more space to cut the stone but overall it was a pretty easy install. We than removed cupboards which hung over the seating area as I felt it really blocked light and kept it too closed up in a small condo.

We finished and bang I was really happy with it all, but after the two years we have lived here I really lightened up the rest of the condo and the kitchen just doesn’t seem to go, its like the sore spot to my eyes, the incomplete zone to my style.  Here I am writing this to you as I have just finished sanding and taping off my cupboards, I’m dipping my brush in the paint can and painting the cupboards!! *Gulp*

I finished! I am completely happy with the decision to paint them! I used Benjamin Moore Paint. The white is called ‘White Dove’ the gray is called ‘Whale Gray’.

 

We changed the knobs out and added handles to spice the look up a bit! Total costs with buying new paintbrushes, trays etc was $157CAD

Here’s the before the paint look… 

And the day we bought it…

Look forward to your thoughts!

xoxo Courtney

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“White Chippy Table”

I had to share this, I can’t hold in my excitement in on this table and I know there will be more to come on this little gem! I am fortunate enough to live in walking distance to our adorable downtown core, which has just the most magical feel to it. I mean they do shoot movies on it, that must confirm my thoughts right? There is this one store called Spruce Collective. This store is a dream come true for vintage and rustic lovers. The ladies that work in the store are just as amazing as the items in the store. I stopped in over the Christmas holiday’s, opened the door and saw the table under all the Christmas decorations on display. I couldn’t get my eyes to look away. The paint chipping away and those handles ; just my favourite colour ever!

I went home, talked about it; talked about it some more. I was running an errand early in the morning on one of my day’s off and decided to stop in again and look at it (I’m learning to walk away from items before impulse buying). It was still the little chippy table I remembered. I got all the measurements went back home and got my future hubby out of bed to tell him it would be perfect for what I wanted it for. We got ready to head out for the day and stopped in the store and paid. I went back the next day to pick up with my amazing mother since she has a larger vehicle. I swear I need a truck or something, I’d probably buy way too much stuff if I did. I own my own business with my mom so I work a lot from home in the evening, during the day I work a full time job in the accounting field. This desk needs to make me feel happy to work on after a full day already. I wanted it to be my style, this also is out in the open of our condo (I will post pictures soon of our layout). I would love to hear ideas or examples of what you guys think I should to do for a set up, ghost chair? Talk soon!

xoxo Courtney

Check out Spruce Collective on Instagram @sprucecollective

A little Introduction

Hey Guys,

I’m sure this is not reaching out to too many people but I truly appreciate you coming to read what I type. My name is Courtney, I grew up in Maple Ridge, BC and was picked up and moved across the country to Whitby, ON at the age of 15. I’m currently back in the Fraser Valley in the gorgeous British Columbia and don’t spend a second complaining about living here. My fiance and I bought a condo in April of 2014 and it was a dream since I literally was just finishing school six months prior and never thought a bank would provide me with a mortgage. I jumped for joy when all was approved and I could be proud to call it MINE. Slowly as I started filling it with our furniture and buying new stuff I realized how much I loved furniture with a story and furniture that didn’t come from a box I had to put it together. My style quickly changed and progressed. My sister also lives in Tennessee and I like to think she started to influence me. I want my blog to just be about me loving the south and showing what can be done to make it feel that way even living up in Canada eh! I hope to share some of my design changes, some recipes I’m inspired by and maybe even some artwork!

Thanks again, check back soon

xoxo Courtney