Monday Musings, July 27

Happy Monday, Nestlers!

So, what’s new since we last chatted? Grab a cup of your favorite beverage (no judgment here!) and let’s catch up.

Well, I am beyond thrilled with my kitchen. There was nothing wrong with the kitchen when we moved in, but it just wasn’t ‘my kitchen’. So, after a year of mulling, paint swatching, mulling some more, making decisions, changing my mind more times than I can count, postponing everything when we entered shutdown, and changing my mind again…I finally nailed everything the way I want it!

So, here’s the before. One of the big ‘wants’ on my list was to take out the desk, which I would never use and replace it with a hutch.

With a wall on one side and the fridge on the other, I was limited with the size of the piece I found. And, surely it was kismet, but this piece fits PERFECTLY (with some minor adjustments)!!!

I snapped these before pics just as the guys were coming in to begin the process of removing the countertop. I also had them remove the ‘ledge’, which opened up the countertop space.

And here is the ‘after’…

Some things I learned…

You save a ton of money by acting as the ‘general contractor’. This was the first time I ever acted as the ‘general contractor’ and I would absolutely do it again! I figure I saved a minimum of 20% by doing this.

Trust your judgment. I had all sorts of paint swatches up trying to match by the backsplash and even though I had ‘professionals’ tell me the colors worked, I just knew in my heart of hearts that they didn’t. I stuck to my guns and went back to the drawing board more times than I can count.

Hire as many contractors by word of mouth that you can. The granite installer and electrician were referred by our plumber, the tile installer was referred by the painter. If you have a contractor you trust, ask them who they would recommend.

Instead of replacing our cabinets or even refacing them, I found a company that sands them down, primes, and then sprays the new color for a flawless finish. It is a franchise called NHance and we have nothing but good things to say about our local franchise. I just couldn’t justify trashing perfectly good, solid wood cabinets just for a color change and saved oodles of money going this route.

I spent the weekend wiping out all the cabinets and drawers and putting stuff back. I spent a good deal of time organizing and even found a few things that needed to be rehomed. 😉

I am so excited to get cooking in my new kitchen! I will have all my fledglings back in the nest for a couple of days this week and plan to give the kitchen a workout.

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One of my ‘regularly’ baked items for the past 6 months have been these high-fiber cookies. They were developed over much trial and error and…without going into TMI…they do what I hoped they would! Pop on over for the recipe if you, like me, may need a little nudge to get things moving.

For my knitting friends, I’ve ‘curated’ all my knit blanket patterns in one place to make it easy for you.

Send a shout-out to Neila O’Neill for winning the Easy Chicken Cookbook.

Are you familiar with Harlan Coben and his books/tv shows? We discovered him through his 3 Netflix TV series at the beginning of our ‘staycation’ and then realized that he is a prolific writer. I devoured 2 of his books over the past 2 weeks, gifting myself a couple of hours yesterday to sit on the screened-in porch to finish Don’t Let Go. I am excited to get by the library today to pick up more of his books…the perfect diversions I am seeking right now.

Seems that many of you are spending time in your kitchens putting up pickles and jams with the summer’s produce. These easy, jar-by-jar dill pickles have been the most popular post on the blog for weeks. Pickled Jalapeño slices and Golden Plum Jam are also getting a bunch of traffic as well.

One down, one to go. We are pulling out the Planning Your Apartment Checklist again as we ready Rob to move into his first apartment.

Composting kitchen waste is a great way to cut down on your food waste, with the added benefit of enriching your soil.

Enjoy your Monday, my friends!

Hugs, Lynn

Thanks for making my day by SHARING!!