Kitchen Remodel, Kids Room DIY and the Ever-Clever Closet

Below is my Aunt Val's kitchen DIY. Sorry; no before pictures, but basically here is what went down:  old traditional wood cabinets (25+ years old) in need of a major face lift, dated counter tops and dated flooring.  Kitchen cabinets were all painted creamy white, crown moulding was added along the tops, a couple of the cabinet door fronts were replaced with glass, new light fixtures, new flooring, new counter tops and paint.  Sounds like a lot, but by re-using the kitchen cabinets and updating them with paint my Aunt Val saved thousands of dollars.  The kitchen feels light, airy, relaxing and brand new!  It's a bright and cozy space that she truly enjoys being in.

The next space I wanted to show you is the grand children's bedroom.  A classic, simple DIY that's kid friendly.  The room was painted taupe, with rich brown window draperies that were also used behind the bed on both sides.  A recycled chandelier was added (my favourite!! I think every room deserves a chandelier) and two crisp white end tables with shelving at the bottom to host the kids reading books and other knick knacks.  The black and white accessories give the room a traditional pulled-together feel.  A fun animal print comforter adds a punch of color to the room...it's really the sweetest kids room I've seen in a while.

The ever-clever closet!  Below is my Aunt Val's closet space in her bedroom.  She has a fairly large bedroom, enough that she was able to put up a wall where the existing closet shelves were, to create a walk-in closet.  Take notice below that the wall doesn't go all the way to the ceiling.  She designed it to leave a gap for the natural light from the closet window to spill over the top into the bedroom.  The French door also provides natural light with a privacy screen...great if used as a dressing room or maybe to hide any clutter :)

 

 Lastly, recycle-cycle as I'd call it.  Below, is left-over Christmas garland cut up and hung in the living room window.  You can leave it up year round.  Looks great!  I thought this idea was worth sharing!