Monday, July 18, 2011

Kitchen Remodel

So... When we bought the house, we were pretty impressed with the size of the kitchen. But the style of it, wasn't quite our style. For my first house, I really didn't mind. It was awesome that the flooring was hard wood, and the kitchen cabinets were painted. But after some time the floor began to warp a bit, I started to actually notice the color of the cabinets were really dark and unusual, and the storage was awful. Half my pots and pans were out in the garage.
check out that awesome funky color!
I got the bright idea to paint, yes paint, the kitchen cabinets a new color. Like there wasn't enough coats of aweful paint on them already. Well, I decided that I would try the two-toned cabinet thing, with the uppers being white, and the lowers a grey color. I started by painting everything with the primer... everything that you could see from the outside. I was pretty much over painting by the time I got to the second cabinet. I opted to leave the insides of the cabinets that weird dark brown-ish/purple-ish color. Interesting to say the least.
There was soooo much paint on these cabinets and their hinges, they would actually squeek as I opened the doors. I called this "custom"!
Then Shannon, in his creative mindset, decided to "open up" the kitchen by removing the "L" shape from the cabinets. All this did was leave me with less storage space, and a huge hole in the flooring, that we decided to cover with a black rug. Again, more "custom"! This kitchen is definitely one of a kind now.
I painted the one cabinet grey, and called it quits! Primer white is the new "it" color!
At the most perfect timing possible, our friend Tony from Dream Cabinets, came to us with a spectacular deal on a new style of cabinets he's installing. We jumped on this in a heartbeat!
We totally gutted the entire kitchen from top to bottom. I could barely stand being without a kitchen sink!
yes, that purple/brown color was everywhere! Eek!
Tony went above and beyond customizing our kitchen the right way! I got my dream kitchen, with dreamy granite, and a center island that I adore. I have so much space now, I can't even fill it all. Our friends helped us by giving us great deals on the granite, flooring, and installation of everything. I'm so grateful!
The granite color is called Bianco Antico! I wanted something that didn't have much yellow or beige in it at all. I wanted more of a white color, that would really open up the room and keep it bright, but still match the cabinets and appliances. It's mostly a white color with specks of black, a bronze, peach, and even has clear crystal specks! Check out the awesome cut, it's called Roman Ogee!
We moved the fridge all the way over against the wall to create more counter space! Love it!
No more trouble trying to dig in the back of the dark pantry to find whatever it is that may be lost  back there, I now have a 12" deep dry storage. It's bright & lovely, and easy to see everything that I have stored in there.
This was my old pantry. Yuck!
New Pantry Wall Before:
New Pantry Wall After:
Can't believe all this came together in the matter of just 3 weeks. And of course we couldn't have a new kitchen, and not get new table & chairs. The kitchen table can now seat 8!!!! I'm hoping to host Thanksgiving this year! *hint hint everyone*
Loving the new floor! Diagonal cut totally opens up the entire room! I love how the dark color just adds the perfect texture & color!
And, as of last week, we have the latest addition to the kitchen... A 23" flat screen TV hung on a mount, just above the counter. I can swivel the tv left to right, and watch TV as I'm preparing dinner, etc.
Thanks to everyone, all our friends that helped make this kitchen come together so perfectly!!!
Let's have one last look!

BEFORE:

DURING phase 1:

DURING phase 2:

AFTER!!!!!!:

Monday, May 30, 2011

Shavawn + Christopher :: Engagement | Temecula, Ca

My friend Shavawn is marrying her best friend Christopher in Jamaica on June 6th. It's going to be such a magical event. I was lucky enough to grab them for an evening to capture some fun engagement photos. We had a great time visiting the vineyards of Leonesse & Oak Mountain. I also managed to get Christopher to off-road a bit to this lovely field we spotted during our drive. Thank you for sharing your eveing with me, and I can't wait to witness your marriage on the gorgeous beach of Negril, Jamaica!





Monday, May 2, 2011

Shavawn's Bridal Shower {family style}

My friend Shavawn is getting married in just one month... Where, you ask?! JAMAICA! That's right. Shavawn and Chris are getting married June 6th in Jamaica. And I have the pleasure of being her Maid of Honor. Shavawn's Aunt-In-Law threw her a bridal shower that included family, and I was able to come along and share the day with her. I brought my camera to hopefully snap a few good memories for her, and this is what I captured.
Fantastic job Laurie on all the hard work, it was a great day!


Her fiance Chris surprised her with gorgeous wedding earrings

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Happy Baby Shower Ashley!

My girlfriend Chrissy threw a baby shower for her sister-in-law Ashely. Chrissy had the cutest centerpieces and an amazingly creative cake! Ashely has just a couple months left before their baby boy is due. Can't wait to meet him. 

 
 

Monday, April 25, 2011

Kobe {hawt}dog

I Heart Faces is doing an entry this week featuring pets. I wanted to share this cute little guy with you. Meet this tough guy, Kobe :)
I was going to enter this into the contest..... but I realized it's closed now. I'm sharing his cute face & blue eyes with you anyway, just to put a smile on your face.


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Monday, March 28, 2011

*GIVEAWAY* YellowPlumBlossoms

I'm so excited that Jennie at YellowPlumBlossoms is doing a giveaway this week over at Women Who Do It All. Make sure you go over and enter to win. A $68 value, you can win one of her awesome Ruffle bags. 
Check out Jennie's other goodies over at the YellowPlumBlossoms Etsy Shop

                                     Rainy Days Bag:

Soul Blossoms Bag:

                                                                                                       Tutti Frutti Bag: