Kitchen Valance and Other Details

Last weekend I revealed our freshly painted white kitchen cabinets.  Since then, I’ve been sprucing up the kitchen a bit more.  Those white cabinets made the room feel stark and cold, so a bit of colorful accessorizing was called for.  My specialty!

I showed you this fabric (Braemore Gazebo in Cloud) that I loved for a curtain, and lamented how it was wrong, all wrong.  Well, after some more consideration, I decided to go back to the fabric store and buy a half yard just to see if would work after all.  (I also saw a kitchen window shade over at Young House Love that they had made with the same fabric!  So, I figured it might work in my kitchen, too.)

After a bit of measuring and some sewing I whipped up this little valance:

My original concern was that the print was too large.  Yeah, it is kind of big, but I think it’s okay.  And my second concern was that the green color wouldn’t look good with our yellow walls.  But it coordinates with all the other green accents in the room, yay!  And I managed to get a strip that had some aqua in it, which was important!  I cut the valance so the aqua sections were front and center, while still squeezing in as much green as possible. :)  The gray also works well in here with our stainless sink and gray/black countertops.  I love it!

I trimmed it with a little piece of aqua grosgrain ribbon that I had.  I wanted to highlight the edge of the swag as well as bring in more blue.  Then I put a little tuck on each side to make the bottom swag up in a curved shape.  I just hung the shade up and then pinned them in place until they were doing what I wanted.  Then I stitched them in place from the back.  The tucks make the bottom corners kind of flip out, but oh well, no one will notice that unless they are looking at the following view. :)

I hung it using a tension rod so it would fit securely inside the frame.  Then I put the tripod on the ledge of the sink to get this shot for you. :)  While we’re up on the counters, here’s another look at my new kitty cat towel hook.  The tail is the hook part:

Speaking of new things, I also updated a few things on the other side of the room, too!  The first is an unlikely item from a cattle sale of all places!  My mother dragged me to the local cattle sale the other day.  I had never been to a cattle sale (didn’t have much need for livestock) and I was totally shocked to see rows and rows of vendors selling dry goods, produce, toys, clothes, old tools, tires, hubcaps, junk, parakeets, hens, and rabbits, too!  It was just a little much for a Monday morning!  But after the initial shock wore off,  I managed to find a cool vintage soda crate for my kitchen.  (We also bought a few crystal vases, a blouse, and had our watch batteries replaced... haha!)

I put it in that nice empty spot on top of the fridge (Sorry Michael) and stacked a little daisy arrangement on top.  I think the peeling paint and rusty spots are cool.  Plus it has dividers (for the soda bottles back in the day) so I could eventually repurpose it for craft storage or to organize my acrylic paint collection.  For now, I’m enjoying it as kitchen decor.  :) 

I have also been looking for a chalkboard to fit next to the fridge, and I finally found one!  This one is an 11 x 14 frame from Target.  I spray painted the glass insert with chalkboard paint and wrote out my weekly menu on it:

I am only responsible for advance planning of six meals a week.  That other day we can fill in as necessary with leftovers, takeout, or spontaneously whip up something!  :)  This little chalkboard keeps me accountable since I am bad to neglect my meal planning duties, which results in random things for dinner and multiple trips to the grocery store. :) 

Sometimes, it’s the little things that make a difference.  Like a new curtain… or a vintage soda crate! :)

What do you think?  You like the new kitchen accessories?

Kitchen Cabinet Reveal!

The day is here!  Cue the trumpets!  It may have taken 18 days but I am finally finished painting the kitchen cabinets!  My Mama came this morning to help me hang the doors.  And now my kitchen is ready for its big reveal… but before we begin, let me remind you what the kitchen used to look like:

Orangey and dark…

 

and now…

 

White and bright!

Ahhhh, can you handle it?

After your sneak peek on Thursday, I waited another two days before reinstalling the doors.  I attached new overlay hinges to all the doors, which took FOREVER.  Turns out I am kind of terrible at hinges.  I almost had a mental breakdown last night when the first door I installed wouldn’t stay closed.  But after a time spent googling, I discovered that I was over-tightening the outside screws.  It’s a very touchy matter, installing new hinges, especially on old, warped doors.  But eventually I found my groove and we were motoring right along.  (I also put these little clear rubber bumpers on the insides of the doors to reduce the slamming sound when they close and also to prevent the paint from chipping at the point of contact.  The new hinges actually came with little black foam bumpers but I like these better.  They are clear so they are nearly invisible against the white doors.  I put them on the inside of the drawer fronts, too.) 

When we were finished, I climbed down from the ladder and stood back to admire the new doors.  That’s when they attacked me!  It was like white monsters coming at me from above!  Aaaaah!  But I beat them down and they receded into the background.  (<—mental breakdown again?)  I think after having dark cabinets all this time, and then after having the doors off for two weeks, the huge expanse of white was a little shocking to my brain.  The sky is falling!!! 

But I went away and when I came back (with flowers from Trader Joe’s) the cabinets and I made peace.  I’m not crazy about the exposed hinges.  I think the concealed ones looks mighty nice, but I didn’t want to go through the ordeal of installing those fancy ones.  These lend my kitchen a little of a country farmhouse feel, which works for me!   (I hope to add a beadboard island with farmhouse turned legs eventually, so that will coordinate nicely.) 

The paint finish turned out great.  I definitely recommend Benjamin Moore Advance satin paint, it has a nice hard shell-like finish and is plenty shiny.  I’m glad I didn’t get semi-gloss like I first planned, for I think it would have been too shiny.  The color is Simply White and it’s definitely off-white, which clearly contrasts next to the white stove.  It’s a little creamy which I think looks great with the oil-rubbed bronze hardware.  Plus it plays off the neutral flooring nicely. 

I really love the new cup pulls.  I wish there was some way to put those on the cabinet doors, too, but I decided to reuse the little knobs we already had because they did not offend me like those bar pulls. :)

I even painted my kitty towel hook oil rubbed bronze to match.  :) 

And when I was tidying up and decluttering the cabinets, I had what my mother likes to call a “flash of an idea!”  My red Betty Crocker cookbook was an eyesore in my soft yellow and green kitchen, so I decided to cover the binder with green contact paper!  Eureka… am genius.  It looks splendid with its green Lang counterpart there next to the knife block.  And I even made little round title stickers to unify the set… it’s not as though I don’t know which is which, but they are totally cute!

So, obviously someone gave the Sarah a paintbrush (it was Sarah who gave it to her!  No one else to blame!) so now she’s going to need a new rug and a new curtain.  Go figure.  She’s already needed new hardware and a new oven mitt, not to mention those “photo shoot flowers”.  That girl is out of control!! :)

I am currently considering a Dash and Albert striped rug to go in front of the sink.  This fluffy cream rug was swiped from the master bathroom for the photo shoot.  But I think something like this would look swell:  (Michael thinks it looks like an Easter egg??)

That’s the Dash and Albert Aquinnah rug as featured in Kate’s kitchen from Centsational Girl.  She has great taste! :) 

My birthday is next month, so if you’d like to give me a Dash and Albert rug that would be acceptable. ;)

Meanwhile, I am also planning to make some kind of valance for the window.  I have one that I use in the winter when the trees are bare because the sun shines right on your face while you do the dishes.  I took it down for the summer and now I find I am wanting a new one.  Typical Sarah. :)

So my first idea was to make one from this fabric which I double heart love:

It’s Braemore Gazebo in Cloud.  Look how gorgeous it is with that rug!  Go, look, I’ll wait…

Here I’ll make it easy for you with this photoshopped version with valance and rug:

Yes?

We went to check it out at the fabric store today, and lo and behold it was featured in their drapery section at the front of the store all sewed up into full length panels.  I skipped over and starting squealing “Oooh, Mama, this is it!  This is the one I was showing you!”  :)  Sorry fellow shoppers… I cannot contain my excitement for botanical printed linen. 

I was hoping the green would be more yellow, and there would be more blue than gray and that the print was suitably sized for a kitchen window valance.  Of course it was all wrong… so I had to walk away.  After perusing a few more stores and coming up empty handed, Mama and I decided that I could paint my own version of the fabric since it was just a small piece that I would need.  So I bought some white fabric to use as a base for my design.  I’ll let you know how it turns out!  Or if it’s really bad, you’ll never hear about it again. :)

So, technically I already did a before shot at the top. but you know, I’m not going to let that suffice.  Here is my favorite before and after comparison OF. ALL. TIME.

It is just so gorgeous.  But what is with that black dishwasher?  :)  haha

I love this kitchen… is it really mine?!  The only thing I don’t love is that I waited five years to do this! :)

Okay I must go tend to these photo shoot props now…

Thanks for stopping by!

P.S. For part one of this project, check out Painting the Kitchen Cabinets:  A Saga.

Kitchen Sneak Peek

Two weeks and two days ago I began the “Painting the Kitchen Cabinets Saga” and I know you all are on the edge of your seat, awaiting the big reveal.  SO AM I!  I’m not quite done, but I decided to give you a sneak peek to tide you over until the weekend. 

I haven’t just been sitting around watching paint cure… oh no!  I’ve been caulking more seams at the wall and floor (you can’t really tell it’s unpainted since both the caulk and paint are white), cleaning and rearranging the cabinets.  That’s one good thing about having everything on display for two weeks—you find things you forgot you had and don’t really need anymore.  So, we’ve been going through the cabinets and getting rid of stuff… Michael loves that part!  :)  I will be glad to get the doors back on so he will stop trying to throw all my cute stuff out! 

We also installed a new stove hood.  Our former hood was off-white which matched our former oven, but the new one is white, so I either had to paint or replace the grungy hood.  I convinced Michael to buy me a new white one for my birthday (which isn’t for a month!) and then I convinced my Papa to come and install it for me!  Thanks, Papa!

First things first, we turned off the electricity to the kitchen.  Then we unscrewed the four screws (or so) holding up the old hood.  This lovely sight was revealed:

I ran off to get my camera and hollered back down the hall to Papa, “Don’t do anything while I’m gone!” as if he could single-handedly install the new hood in the time it took me to run to the office. :)  He just laughed at me for taking a picture of something so un-picture-worthy.  But I assured him that photo-evidence was necessary for my blog.  You’re welcome.

After the paparazzi were finished, we connected the wiring to the new hood and screwed the whole thing in place.  Then we put the light bulb back in and turned the power back on.  Voila!  I finished up by caulking the seam at the top and touching up the paint around the edges.

It’s so nice and clean, I am going to try to keep it that way!  Now everything matches.  And soon we’ll be rid of the annoying inside cabinet view.  :)

I know I said I was going to give them a whole week to cure before I put any of the doors and drawers back into “heavy use” but I just couldn’t help myself!!!  It’s been five days since I finished painting the cabinets and the anticipation was getting to me!  I decided I could just put the drawers back, since it’s really hard to open them without handles, and I figured this was a task I could handle without assistance (my assistant is coming on Saturday).  I was trying to be super careful, but at one point I did drop a drawer front into the drawer and it nicked a tiny spot on the back.  Grr!  Oh well, there goes my perfect kitchen! ;)  That’s good, because I was going to have to shed the kid gloves eventually.

Here are four of my new white drawers:

Ahhh, I love them!  I have been wanting these oil rubbed bronze cup pulls since we bought the house, I really didn’t like the funny bar pulls that we had before (<— first world problems).  So, I am smiling!! :)  I always check Ebay for my cabinet hardware as you can get super deals from online dealers.  These were a mere $1.59 and the matching hinges I got were only $1.29 a pair; they are from Classic Door Hardware.  We have the same style pulls on the office drawers.  They are my favorite. :)

So, what do you think?  You like the new look?

This is getting me really pumped to see all the doors re-installed!  Stay tuned!

Painting the Kitchen Cabinets: A Saga

Ever since we moved in to our house, I have dreamed of painting the kitchen cabinets.  I was never a fan of the orangey oak look.  There’s only one window and the wood cabinets make everything feel dark. 

At first I wanted to paint them “butter yellow” and of course Michael looked at me like I was crazy (I get that look a lot) and then kindly told me that he didn’t like that idea very much.  (Michael is always honest and usually he’s nice about it. :) hehe)  So I put that idea on the back burner, because even though he didn’t like it, I still did!  After a while I decided that maybe yellow wasn’t the best choice… I would probably get tired of it after a few years and then I’d have to paint the cabinets again!!  Although, this one is very serene and classic, maybe for my someday country home:

 

Traditional Kitchen by Portland Interior Designers & Decorators Donna DuFresne Interior Design

A few more months go by and I had talked myself out of painting the cabinets entirely… because if it ain’t broke, why fix it?  But this past year I have been seeing lots and lots of white painted kitchen cabinets in blogland and Pinterestville.  I love this one:

 

Traditional Kitchen by Minneapolis Interior Designers & Decorators Martha O'Hara Interiors

So, this time I suggested to Michael that I paint the cabinets white… and still he insisted that he liked them the way they were!  Never one to be deterred, I hung on to my dream.  And then in May, a friend of mine was over to help me bake a cake for the incomparable retirement party and we were discussing painting the cabinets.  She was totally on board and encouraged me to do it!  When Michael got home that evening, I mentioned that my friend thought we should definitely paint the cabinets… and a couple of days later he came to me and said that maybe the cabinets would be nice painted. 

And I’m thinking: “What the what?!”

(scrambles for pen and paper)

“Can I get that in writing?!” 

Husbands, I tell you.  They just need time. ;) 

So, here we are… cabinet painting time, at last!  After much research I decided to use Benjamin Moore's Advance paint, which is a self-leveling alkyd that is water-based but acts like an oil.  Like traditional oil paint, it dries to a smooth, hard finish that is very durable, but it is low odor and can be cleaned up with soap and water.  After careful consideration I settled on “Simply White” which is white with a hint of creaminess.  As for procedure, I basically followed the technique for cabinet painting over at Young House Love.  Here is the timeline:

Day 1. 

Make a shopping list and go to Lowe’s for supplies. :)  Then go to fancy paint store for fancy paint only to find they don’t keep it in stock because no one buys this paint, (What?!  No one from blogland shops here?) so they have to order it for you.  Come home and clear kitchen.  I am not painting the inside of the cabinets because 1) they are laminate, 2) I don’t have the patience and 3) who would really notice anyway? so I left all the food and dishes in the cabinets. 

Remove all extraneous items from countertops.  Remove all hardware from doors and drawers.  Remove doors and drawer fronts.  Make sure you label your doors and drawers in a way to help you remember where they go back. This will save you time when you are reinstalling them.  I labeled mine on the back where the hinge plate will go.  Lay out doors.  I chose to do all my painting in the basement where I have a ping pong “work” table and I can shut the door to keep the cat out of my fresh paint.  I ended up using three additional tables to fit all 19 doors and 9 drawer fronts.  I used little foam blocks to elevate all the pieces.  Begin cleaning doors with soapy water. 

Day 2.

Go back to paint store and pick up special order paint.  Clean cabinet frames with soapy water.  Putty all holes and imperfections in frames (I bought identical new hinges so I’m reusing the old holes, so those were left alone.)  Sand putty.  Caulk seams between cabinets. 

Here is where you insert a step that I skipped.  I didn’t sand the frames or use deglosser on them before priming.  Sanding dust would get all over everything in the kitchen including all my dishes, so I wanted to avoid that mess.  And deglosser is full of stinky, dangerous chemicals and I didn’t want to stink up the upstairs to the point of us having to move out… so, I simply scrubbed the cabinet frames clean and then roughed up the sides with a sanding block.  I am using Zinnser Bull’s Eye 1-2-3 water base primer which supposedly will adhere to glossy surfaces and even laminate without sanding or deglossing.  I used this primer when I painted my vinyl backsplash and everything has held up just fine, so fingers crossed!

Tape off edges of walls, appliances and floor with painter’s tape.  Since there are two open doorways into my kitchen and I have two furry beasts who like to get into trouble, I cleaned the kitchen top to bottom before painting and blocked the doorways with sheets tacked to the wall until all the wet paint was dry.  I wasn’t risking cat hair in my kitchen cabinet paint!!  And I certainly didn’t want to give Bandit a bath in the event that he rubbed up against a freshly painted corner.  :)

Apply primer to cabinet frames and the baseboards of the cabinets.  Let primer dry 24 hours.  (The particular primer I’m using says to wait 2 hours for maximum stain sealing before painting, but I’ve read that you should wait a whole day for best results, so I opted to do that just to be on the safe side!  Plus I was tired of painting anyway!)

Day 3. 

Caulk baseboard seams (because I forgot to do those on Day 2).  Prime under the upper cabinets.  Finish cleaning doors with soapy water.  Fill in any holes or imperfections in the doors.  I am reusing the old hardware holes, so I left those alone.  Sand doors with 150 grit sandpaper.  (I only sanded the flat parts on the front and back since I was going to degloss them, too.)  Wash doors again with soapy water to get rid of sanding dust.  Clean the doors with liquid deglosser.  Wear protective safety equipment!  (I used the regular old-fashioned kind of deglosser because that’s what was available at my store, but I recommend you find the low VOC one, because this stuff is toxic and flammable and I do not like it!  I was paranoid the entire time I was using it that it was going to spontaneously combust and I would be consumed by a fireball.  Then who would finish the kitchen cabinets?!)  Let deglosser dry.

Develop repetitive strain injury in arms from all that sanding/washing/paint brush holding.  Develop back pain from leaning over doors and leaning sideways under cabinets.  Take advil. :) 

Get a second wind and prime the backs of the doors. (Start with the backs, so when you flip them over to do the fronts if anything gets scratched, it will be the back.)  I brushed the edges with a 1 1/2” angled brush (I like Purdy brand) and rolled the flat planes with a 4” foam roller.  Four doors in I realized that all my sharpie numbers on the back of the doors had been eaten off by the deglosser!  So I had to stop and figure out where all the doors went and re-label them.  This time I just wrote the number on the drop cloth (or table) in front of each piece.  I’ll just be sure not to move them until they are ready to hang!  :)  Let your primer dry 24 hours.

Day 4.

Flip all the doors over and prime the front side.  

Apply second coat of primer to the baseboards (they were black so it took two coats to cover) and cabinet frames just to be sure you cover all stains (especially important since I didn’t sand/degloss!)  Let everything dry 24 hours.

Day 5.

Flip all the doors back over and apply the first coat of paint the back side.  I was so excited and a little scared to start using my fancy, magic paint.  I started brushing it on and it was just like… normal paint.  What gives?  I was expecting something to feel or look different.  I did pay $60 a gallon for this paint… where are the sparkles?  Where are the leaping unicorns?  Is this just normal paint?  Time will tell, I suppose. :)

Again I brushed the edges and the grooves in the molding and then rolled the flat planes.  It took about two hours to paint the 19 doors and 9 drawer fronts.  This is the part of the process where you hurry up and wait…  The back of the can said the paint would dry to the touch in 2-4 hours and to recoat after 16.  So, I honored the paint gods and let the doors dry until the next day.

Day 6.

Vacuum and dust the kitchen again and rehang the sheet “doors” to keep out the pets.  Apply the first coat of paint on the cabinet frames and baseboards.  I used a brush to cut in the edges and a 4” roller for everywhere else.

Apply a second coat of paint to the back of the doors. 

(At this point, I was really getting bored and tired of painting… I was even dreaming of mopping the den… anything to get out of more door painting!!  But I persevered and kept up my daily schedule.   It takes about two hours to paint the frames and two hours to paint the doors, so it’s really only four hours of painting a day… and after the frames are done, you just have the doors left and that’s only two hours a day.  YOU CAN DO IT!  The sooner I’m done, the sooner the kitchen reveal—my favorite part!) 

Let this coat dry 16 hours.  After several hours the paint is dry to the touch and the finish is hard and smooth.  Looking good! :) 

Day 7.

Now, assuming you are happy with the coverage on the back side of your doors, you do not need another coat.  Mine could have used a third coat, but since this is the back and no one will be studying them, I figured I could go ahead and call them done.  Wait an additional 24 hours before flipping your doors over to the front.  That way your paint has time to cure (a little) and hopefully doesn’t get scratched up while you are painting the fronts.  I needed a day off anyway! :)

Day 8.

Vacuum and dust the kitchen again!  Aaaargh… this is the problem with trying to paint cabinets in a kitchen that you are still using!   Better safe than sorry, so clean up first!  Apply a second coat of paint to the frames and baseboards. 

Carefully flip all your doors over and settle on the foam blocks.  Be gentle, that’s barely cured paint on the other side!  I had a couple that stuck to the blocks and peeled a little of the primer off the front side.  So I had to lightly sand and touch-up the primer before I painted those spots.  Apply the first coat of paint to the front of your doors.  You can really see the brushstrokes melting away as the paint levels out.  It’s pretty cool!  I found that the brushstrokes leveled faster than the roller marks, but it’s faster to roll the big areas than brush them, so I continued with my technique.  Now let ‘em dry for 16 hours!

Day 9.

Examine the cabinet frames and decide if a third coat of paint is needed.  I decided that two coats looked good, so I took all the painter’s tape off and put all my appliances and kitchen paraphernalia back on the countertops.  Hooray—it’s a fully-functioning kitchen again! :)

The next step was to apply a second coat of paint to the fronts of your doors.  When I went to begin, I noticed a lot of grain lines/stains? bleeding through my first coat!  Aaaaargh!!  I figured I could just keep slapping paint on top of it and hope it went away OR I could bite the bullet and put on another coat of primer.  This development really annoyed/depressed/exasperated me and made me wish I had just left the stupid cabinets wood!!!  But, I am a big girl, and I can handle setbacks with a lot of whining and some cookies grace.  I decided to just do the primer again in hopes that it would seal whatever was seeping through and I could get back to my original timeline which was now a day behind.  Grrr!  This is why it is important to seal all the bleed-through with primer BEFORE you start painting.  Preparation is ultimately the most important part of the process, Sarah!!!  Anyone can slap a coat of paint on something… but if you skip the prep you will regret it!  I did two coats of primer on the frames and I didn’t have any bleed through.  So… after you begrudgingly go back and prime some more, wait the agonizing 24 hours for the primer to work its magic before painting.

Day 9.

Apply another first coat of paint to the door fronts.  Here is a look at my excellent technique. :)  After 8 days of washing my hands over and over to get all the paint off, I finally decided to wear gloves! 

   

Fingers crossed that all the stains are sufficiently covered… wait 16 hours, again. 

Day 10.

Everything looks good, no more stains bleeding through, so apply a second coat of paint to the door fronts.  Hurry up and wait…

Day 11.

Examine your doors and decide if a third coat of paint is needed.  I decided that two coats was enough, but I had a few touch ups where a stray cat hair had landed in the paint, and also a gnat decided to get stuck on one of the doors, too, so I just sanded them out with 320 sanding block and repainted.  Ideally, you should lightly sand between every coat, but I didn’t bother because my cabinets are not in perfect shape to begin with.  Who is going to notice all those tiny imperfections?  NO ONE!  :)  I kept telling myself that it doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to look good.  

Day 12 - 17.

Benjamin Moore recommends you wait at least 3-5 days for your paint to cure before you restore your painted items into “heavy use” so I am waiting a whole week to rehang my doors.  I am not taking any chances!!  So now you just sit back and relax and wait…

I will be back in a week to reveal the final results of my kitchen makeover!  In the meantime, here is your takeaway message for painting kitchen cabinets:

1. Preparation is the most important step.
2. Quality paint and primer are the second most important.
3. Do not skip sanding/deglossing.
4. When in doubt, re-prime. :)
5. Be patient… painting your cabinets takes time.  Expect to spend at least two weeks in disarray before your kitchen is restored.
6. YOU CAN DO IT!  Don’t let naysayers deter you; painting cabinets can be a DIY project!

See you next week for the big reveal!!

Update:  Check out the reveal here!

On the Flip Side

I was catching up on the blogs I follow today and I came across an interesting idea from In My Own Style.  She used a mirror to look around at her home with a new perspective.   Our brains are used to seeing things they way they always are… so this will allow you to see things in a new light!  I figured I could employ the same concept with a photo manipulation program, so I used Gimp to flip the photos of my house. And here is what I saw:

The kitchen:  I think it looks really cool.  I actually see the table and chairs in the corner of the frame which I normally would just look right past.  And I like them this way. :) Go figure!

The living room:  Again I notice the thing in the corner, the stair railing.  It makes it obvious that you just came up the steps into this room.  I also think this angle looks like the lamp is the focal point of the room.  Hmmm… that corner is kinda bland…  Also I think it looks bright and inviting!

The master bedroom:  This room basically looks the same to me.  Maybe it’s the symmetry of the nightstand and art on the walls.  But it also makes me feel that the corner is pretty dark…. Maybe Michael’s side needs a big lamp with a white shade to balance with the front one?

The guest bedroom:  This angle makes me realize that our bedrooms are set up exactly the same with the bed on the wall opposite the door.  Am I stuck in a rut? :)  I also notice the view out of the right window more in this view.  You can see the neighbor’s yard…

The den:  Here is where my love of symmetry pays off.  This room feels almost the same to me flipped.  Except perhaps I need something tall (like a leaning mirror or art piece) on the turquoise dresser to mirror the height of the mantle?  Or what about one of those tall ficus trees in that empty corner?  That would be lovely!  (Except Bandit’s cat tower lives there normally.. haha!)

The exterior:  I like this one the best.  There are lots of houses like ours in the neighborhood, some of them are flipped versions of ours, so I can imagine this one easy!  This view makes me realize that our crepe myrtle in the front yard is pretty pathetic looking.  Nothing to do about that but wait for it to grow!  I also see that the side of our house is pretty visible.  Maybe I should get a pretty potted plant to brighten up the space between the doors?  Or plant something colorful along the house foundation next to the grass?  It also reminds me that I still need to paint the shutters black!! :)

I can’t believe what a difference it makes looking at your home from a new perspective.  Of course unless you know my house as well as me, you might not appreciate the differences here.  But you can try it with your own house and see if it helps!