{ Amazing Arabesque }

 

I am going to rap up the kitchen details all in one long post today since I am sure you are probably ready to be done talking about it and move on to something else, no?!

 

I literally have had SO MANY complements on the tile we choose for our kitchen. I know I said this before but truly I am IN LOVE with the kitchen and I think the biggest reason for the pure joy that I feel when I walk in there is that gorgeous beveled arabesque tile from Mission Stone and Tile.

 

 

 

This tile was generously provided to us by Mission Stone and Tile for the One Room Challenge that we participated in and I feel so blessed to be able to have their gorgeous product in my home.

 

 We started at the right end and worked our way up and then over. From there we filled in the gaps. We made a little video of how we attached the tile to the wall. You can see that post here.

 

I really was stuck on choosing what color grout to use and it really was helpful for me to paint the wall in my color options prior to putting up the tile. I mentioned this before in my post but honestly this is the BEST tip I would recommend if you are like me...aka...super in-decisive.

 

 

In the end, I knew the white was too plain, the dark gray was too busy and when I looked at the light gray, I heard angels singing, it was perfect! I know dramatic, right!?

 

Grouting is messy. Super messy but it only lasts a little bit and then you clean it up!

 

 

 The game changer for the whole look is when Mark filled in all the gaps, and edges with the caulk. If you didn't catch it in our reveal post, there was still a lot of caulking that wasn't completed yet. We just needed one more day and didn't have that but since then it's all been finished and it really completes the look, not to mention adding the outlet covers makes the whole project absolutely complete!

 

 

It wasn't hard for me to choose the style of tile that I wanted because I have been drooling over this arabesque tile. When I looked at Mission Stone and Tile's shop, I really fell in love with a few of their other options. If you haven't checked it out yet, make sure you click over to see their products.

 

 

 

A tile backsplash is a game changer for your kitchen, and for a small investment the improvement to your room is major!

 

The other project that we worked on that has really changed the function of our dining room. Fact is, our dining space is tight and cramped

 

Here is an old pic of what we were doing before.

 

 

 It's cute in all but to get into those chairs on the left side by the window took talent and coordination. They didn't scootch back and you really were trapped there until you were done because who wants to get in and out of that?!

 

Plus with the chairs back there we had to move the table further over toward the island which really made that aisle between the island and the chairs on the right side of the table very small. It was annoying to have more than our family eating at this table in this dining room.

 

Then we came up with the idea of the bench!

 

 

 Literally we use this bench every.single.day. My little guy prefers sitting on the bench to eat his meals and it's perfect for lining up a bunch of little butts when we have extra kids over.

 

The best part is, we can fold it down when we need more space!

 

 

 

Those little X shaped legs have hinges on them and fold right up into the bench so that it lays flat against the wall.

 

 

 We can push the table up to the windows and gain a lot more room. Those curtains really soften the room too. The whole thing turned out SO much better than I anticipated!

 

 

 

 So that's the last of the details on the kitchen update. If you happen to see something and have questions, please drop a comment and I'll make sure to give you the best details I can!

 

This room is truly the heart of our home and if you can remember again how it looked when we first looked at the house...shiver because it was bad...it's unbelievable sometimes that it's the same room to me!

 

How about a quick reminder??

 

 

 So much better!

 

 

 Thanks for sticking around through this whole kitchen update! I'm ready to show you a few more things I've been working on around the house lately so stick around, I promise it wont be kitchen posts for a bit anyway!

 

 

 

 

 

 



{ HOUSE CRASH | Jen's Relaxing Home! }

I stumbled across Jennifer's blog not too long ago and I fell in LOVE with how she decorates her home. It all feels very clean, airy, sophisticated, and yet lived in. I hate when you look at photos of peoples homes and think that there's no way people actually LIVE there. One thing I always look at are the couches, could you throw yourself down and have a good nap there, if yes then I will look further if not then I think the "house tour" is ridiculous and I quit looking. I don't want to look at a home that I cant imagine a family living there and enjoying it and all the pretty-ness ha!

It's been a while since I did a HOUSE CRASH so I thought since I've been catching up on all of Jennifer's pretty spaces, I would share with you too! These photos are actually of their old house - they are currently renovating a new to them house and I am really excited to see what she comes up with for the new house since I really like the old one so much plus her inspiration pages are great.

This entryway is perfect. I love the mirror and the table (did you notice the dipped legs?).

 

 

Their bedroom is very cozy feeling. I have plans to do an accent wall as they did behind their bed. I love everything about this room.

 

More of their gorgeous home tour can be found here.

 

 

The nursery has such a calming feel about it. I am in love with the colors she picked too.






I love getting inspiration from other people and what they do in their homes. Jennifer's home is beautiful and I am looking forward to reading more about their current home's renovations! Click the link above for more photos of her home.
 
Happy Monday to you!


{ Deets on the Plank Wall }

Man, time sure does fly by, huh?! I meant to get this post up last week about the plank wall but my side biz has been busy, which is a great thing but not so great when I don't have time to spare to hop on the computer to get these posts up! If you didnt read my last few posts, we participated in a one room challenge (click that to see our reveal post) hosted by Linda from Calling It Home. She does these twice a year and it really gave us a kick in the butt to get our kitchen to the point that we I really wanted it to be! 

I wanted to start with the plank walls since we've had SO many emails, comments, and questions even when people have stopped in to see the room in person. First off, as if I didn't already say this a million times now I'm going to say it again, I freeeeeking LURVE these walls. It adds dimension to what was previously a plain wall and it makes the room feel a lot larger. 

Let's get to those questions though...

What kind of wood did you use? 

We used 1/4 inch HD (high density) board. We tried the 1/8 inch board initially but it didn't have enough depth so we went with the 1/4 inch. They were $13 for a 4x8 sheet. We needed 3 sheets for our two walls. 

How did you attach it to the wall?

We used a stud locator to find where the studs were and then used an air nailer to nail the boards to the walls at the studs. We didn't use glue (as some people do) because if I were to change my mind about the planks and want them removed, using glue would ruin the drywall behind the boards and make a lot more work to get the drywall back to looking good (which now I can 100% say these planks aren't going anywhere!). The 1/4 inch board is pretty light weight so using the nails is sufficient enough to hold the boards in place. 

Where did you start?

Mark started at the top and worked his way down. The most important thing is to make sure your boards are level. NOT that they are in line with your ceiling because more than likely your ceiling isnt 100% level all the way across. So start with the top board and make sure to get that one level all the way across. Caulking the ceiling after you paint will fill any gaps and make it look perfect. After that you can work your way down and keep checking the level with each board. Wonky boards would not make a pretty room!

What is the width of the boards?

Mark ripped the boards with the table saw into 6 inch planks. I read A LOT of plank wall tutorials before we started and this was the measurement most people went with. I think it's perfect but really it's all in what you think looks best in your room. 

Did you do any sanding?

After I spackled all the nail holes (which really didn't take that much time) I used a block sander and went over the whole wall twice. I took the vacuum hose and vacuumed along each gap after sanding because it got really messy. This whole process went pretty quick and I think made it overall look better. Make sure you cover your kitchen utensils if you have any out or you will be washing everything to get it clean again. Speaking from experience. :)

What color white paint did you use and what was your painting technique? 

I painted a coat of Zinsser Fast Primer and then did two coats of Dutch Boy brand white paint called Delicate Pearl in a semi-gloss finish. I choose that color since it's the same color as the trim in our home so it matches up perfectly with the surrounding floor and window trim. 

My technique for painting was to paint the gaps and the edges with a brush and then rolled on the rest. 

I would say overall this wasn't a difficult project. It took about 3 after work nights to get all the boards up on the wall. If we did a wall with out windows or a door and didn't require so many cuts then it would have gone a lot faster! The priming/painting took me three days to do. That includes filling in the holes. 

It's a relatively cheap room update as well. I think for the effort and cost it was WELL worth the beauty!!

Items we used + break down of what we spent:

boards (3 sheets at $13 ea) $39

table saw (we already had)

air nailer + nails (we already had)

spackle (we already had)

block sander (we already had)

primer (we already had)

paint $12 (after rebate)

paint brush (we already had)

paint tray liner $0.69

paint tray (we already had)

Since we already had so many of the items (which are pretty common home improvement items that most people have on hand anyways) this project cost us under $52 to do and about 6 total nights worth of work. 

So what do you guys think? Plank walls aren't anything new but in our neck of the woods it seems like it's something we don't see very often and I am here to tell you if you are good with a tape measure, level, and have a few nights to spare you can get this same look in your house for pretty cheap!

Let us know if you have any other questions! Next week I will share details on that GORGEOUS tile back splash of ours...cant wait to share because this tile is truly so beautiful!! 

{ One Room Challenge | REVEAL DAY! }

First off, I have to start by saying THANK YOU to all of you that have left such sweet comments on all of our projects each week + Thank you for taking a little time out of your day to see whats happening around our house!

IT's REVEAL DAY!! I've been so excited to share these photos with you. I must admit we still need to finish a few last minute things, I thought six weeks was no big deal but one more day would have been helpful for us (coming from the biggest procrastinator on earth...I always need one more day ha!) 

So disregard the few things that still need finishing...I'm not even going to mention what they are...you know what they say, what you don't know cant bother you...or maybe I just made that up. Whatever, it works for me. I know you are all just stopping by for the photos so I'll just stop here and let you enjoy! 

All of the beautiful images were taken by my amazingly talented friend Sara from Kety Studio! 

Here is the bench with X shape legs! I love this bench and it works perfect in our small space.

The legs fold in and the seat part lowers to allow the table to be pushed back against the windows when we don't need the extra seating that the bench provides. 

 I LOVE walking into this kitchen!

 This amazing tile was given to us for this ORC by Mission Stone and Tile. You can find it and all their other awesome choices on their website here! 

This kitchen is the prettiest room in our house and I want to do these one room challenges for each space that has yet to be touched, although I have to admit my sanity and my family's happiness or our budget for that matter would probably not survive ha! But with that being said, I LOVE how this room has changed in just 6 short weeks. When people say the kitchen is the heart of the home , it is very true for us. We do life in this kitchen and now we get to enjoy it all the more with the finishings that we have completed in these last six weeks! 

and just to leave you with reality check of our life, do not be fooled by the "put together" look of our kitchen, it literally only looked that tidy for the 20 minutes it took my amazing photographer and friend to photograph the room and meanwhile this is what our living room looked like with all the tools and junk that needed to be removed to allow you to truly take in the space in a pretty way

this is life! 

and because we all love a good before and after...these are from the day we bought the house till today. In one year this room has evolved into home for us!

and this is the comparison from 6 weeks ago. It was a nice kitchen before but the finishing touches make is all the more better!

Thanks again for stopping by! If you haven't had the chance to check out each week of the #oneroomchallenge you can see all the past weeks below. 

week 1, week 2, week 3, week 4, + week 5

If you are new to the Raw House Project Blog and want to get a quick look at our house tour you can see that here!

Thank you Linda from Calling It Home for allowing us a space to share our home and for giving us the kick in the butt to get it done with a time limit! Visit all the amazing blogs that participated in the challenge here and here to see all the jaw dropping room reveals!