Friday, March 30, 2012

March's Project and Feature Friday: My Friend Darcy

I didn't have many (any?) local friends who love DIY projects and blogging as much as I do....until, my friend Darcy bought a "fixer upper" last fall.  She has tackled so many projects around her home and I'm impressed with the changes she's made.  Darcy is a mom to four kiddos and is also a professional photographer.  She posts beautiful pictures and blogs about her life and family at New Beginnings.

Here's Darcy and her cute girls.  She also has a two-year old son who didn't make it into this picture.

The day Darcy moved in, she had second thoughts about purchasing the house.  Check out her kitchen:
What's up with the two-tone and the dirty, ripped up floor?

Darcy did a project that I have been too scared to try...she painted her cabinets!

Doesn't it look so much better?  I know it was a lot of work.  But, her hard work paid off.


I like the hardware she chose:

She also took out the center of each cabinet and replaced it with beadboard.  She installed beadboard on the island too.



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Remember way back at the beginning of March, I linked up this post to Lisa's monthly before and after party?



I had HUGE aspirations to paint, stencil, build shelving and paint some more in this little niche.

What was I thinking???  I was a little too ambitious this month.

I did get some stenciling done.

Here's the bottom section completed.

Here's the top and I started on my shelving project:

I was having problems stenciling in the tight space and I couldn't get the corners to look right.  I kind of gave up and thought I could just live with the imperfections, but they were way to big and glaring.

So, I decided to paint over the stencil.

I had some leftover paint, Martha Stewart's Plumage, out in the garage that I tried.  I didn't love it. 

So, I'm back to square one!!!  This month was a bit of a failure.  I've tried stenciling in the past and it never turns out like I hope it will.  Lesson learned...NO MORE stenciling for me!

Here's to better luck in April!

Stop by the Before and After party at Shine Your Light to see some bloggers who had more success in completing their projects. 

7 comments:

Cassie Bustamante said...

stencils are so hard in corners! when i stenciled a small wall in my hallway last year i ended up hand painting the edges as best i could to match the stencils. you couldn't really tell, but it was tedious!
and darcy's kitchen is beautiful! thanks for sharing!

The Bold Abode said...

Wow! What an improvement! I want to paint my cabs...but I'm sceered, too!

I love the stenciling! It looks great! But I hear ya on the corners...and things like that can drive you nuts!!!

Lisa @ Shine Your Light said...

Darcy's kitchen looks great...isn't it amazing what paint and hard work can do? What you did stencil of that niche looked great, but I totAlly get the frustration of the corners! But don't give up on the Zamira stencil! So far my flat, easy, corner less curtain panel is coming out pretty good! Thanks for linking up to the party....I think it's good to share projects that didn't come out as planned and talk about the difficulties of them. A learning experience for all is us! :)

A room with a view said...

Great kitchen makeover! Sorry about the stenciling - that is a lot of work to have to undo but if you are not happy then you will figure what works best for you there.

pam {simple details} said...

Aww, Suzy, I think we've all been there! Can't wait to see how your niche ends up. The kitchen is so bright and fresh, what a difference!

Tiffany said...

Stenciling is great until you try to go around a corner. I'm doing it in my powder room and find that I have to go back and freehand a bit. I'm sticking with it, even though I can only do a bit at a time because I get so frustrated/bored with it that I have to stop.

natasha {schue love} said...

That kitchen makeover is great! Love the hardware!