Crusty Drawer Bottoms

Someone who lived here once upon a time lovingly lined all the drawers with that gripper drawer liner.

Then someone (same someone or different someone) removed it several years later and installed ugly wallpaper.

Then someone removed most of that.

Except the one drawer which I took a picture of. BTW the wallpaper in that drawer is the same wallpaper that's in my daughters bathroom....yup.

So these drawers were gross.

Sticky adhesive left behind and crumbs stuck to the sticky adhesive.....

 I really tried to clean off that raised adhesive but after several minutes on one drawer with little success I gave up. I just wash them out. Then I pondered and pondered and realized I had a roll of laminated cloth in my craft room.  

So I measured and cut and measured and cut and on like that for 10 drawers and here's a sample of the finished product:

That's better.

Kitchen in the New House

So the kitchen in this new place of mine doesn't quite meet my standards. 

The Cabinets are Thermafoil, which means they are MDF Shrink wrapped in plastic.

Probably looked OK when they were first installed. I use the term OK loosely. Now they are a peeling mess. All of the lower cabinets and drawers are peeling like crazy.

Here is a close up now:

Peeling Laminate Cabinets (Thermafoil)

Someone did a little tape job on the one on the left.

I noticed they were in rough shape on our  second walk through before we put in an offer.

I didn't care at the time.

And then I cared... A LOT.

First idea was to replace the doors. 

I started searching online and saw where that plastic coating can be peeled off these babies and after a nice paint job they look hugely better.

I like not buying new doors.

I started with the island because I wasn't ready to start the WHOLE kitchen right now.

The island can look different than the rest of the cabinets cuz well... it's cool to have your island look different...right?

So  I peeled: 

 It was actually really easy.

I sanded and primed and painted.

My husband and I added some trim to the island to make it look more.....fancy.

Paint color is Sherwin Williams: Tricorn Black

Hardware is from Target

Don't mind the dirty countertop. I never fully prepare for pictures!

So there you have it. Makes me happy to be giving this place some TLC.

It's had 4 owners (5 counting us) in 11 years and has just gotten beat up in that time. 

No new paint or fixtures or anything in that time because people have gone in and out of here through the (invisible) revolving door.

Now we may not be here for a long time either but it will be in better condition when we leave than when we arrived. Houses deserve to be loved...and all that  mushy stuff.