Still here ~ Still painting

I'm still here, and still painting and working on the kitchen. This weekend, I went shopping for a new light fixture for above the kitchen sink. I really wanted a can light. So, my teen son, Matt removed the old light fixture. It was NOT going to go back up. Look at these wires! A fire hazard waiting to happen.

It's the ugly old fixture with paint on it. The paint was from years ago when I wanted to replace it. I never bothered to wipe the paint off. Now I can toss it out in the garbage. There is a back box in the soffit, so we didn't want to mess with it to put in a can light. That would involve going up in the attic with no working space (very close to the roof edge). Plus, there's no boards in the attic, just beams. We would have to pay someone to do the work, and for one fixture, it's not worth it. Too many other things to spend money on. So, we found a little fixture that looks like a fan light. The metal coordinates with the new fan, too. It gives enough room for a new curtain rod, without hitting the curtain. The big bonus, the light fixture was under $10. Can't beat that for an update!

I've finished painting the cabinets. I even installed some under cabinet LED lights. I had to drill some holes in the cabinets to run the cords, but that was easy. The difficult part is what to do with the cords inside the cabinets. I wanted all the lights on one switch, so I had to run an extension cord back up to above the microwave. It really brightens the counters, without adding heat. I'll live with the cords running in the cabinets to have the extra light. :-)

I put a new curtain rod up. The old one was just a white metal standard rod (ok, it was falling off the woodwork). The new one is a black metal one that was on sale at Menards for under $13. I hung it lower to show the painted trim of the window frame. I didn't want a header on the valance, so I used the top pocket to thread the valance on the rod. A new look, but without buying anything but a curtain rod. I am still debating of getting some simple weavers cloth straight curtains, but might not do that. The lace valance filters the light through the window, and the new light fixture bounces light off it nicely to brighten it up. We really don't need anything that covers the window entirely, as the kitchen is on the upper level (we have a 1970's bi-level) and our neighbor has no windows on the side of their house.

Last night I put a fresh coat of paint on the kitchen chairs. Now to paint the walls. I have Matt helping to tape all the edges so that I can prime them. I want to get all the paint stuff off the counter, so that's my incentive to get it done this week. I will want to re stencil the walls, but that can be done without a lot of mess, and a section at a time.

~*~Laura~*~