{"id":403,"date":"2015-08-05T03:37:09","date_gmt":"2015-08-05T03:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thosejohnstonkids.ca\/wp\/?p=403"},"modified":"2015-08-05T12:44:17","modified_gmt":"2015-08-05T12:44:17","slug":"home-decor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thosejohnstonkids.ca\/wp\/?p=403","title":{"rendered":"Home decor"},"content":{"rendered":"

I like home design blogs. Mostly for the pictures because, let\u2019s face it, not everyone can write (unless we\u2019re talking about my niece Phoebe\u2019s blog<\/a>) and home decorating isn\u2019t the most compelling topic. At the same time, it\u2019s a little like punishment because our house will never look like the ones in the picture. First, we don\u2019t have an unlimited budget (despite what Those Johnston Kids think!). Second, we\u2019d rather spend our limited budget on doing stuff rather than buying stuff (http:\/\/thosejohnstonkids.ca\/wp\/index.php\/2015\/07\/24\/call-me-ishmael\/<\/a>). Third, I don\u2019t think people actually live in the rooms they show on the blogs. Really. Or if they do, they don\u2019t have children or a dog or three cats. Or me. One consequence of living on my own this summer is that I\u2019ve come to realize that it\u2019s not just the kids who never put anything back where they found it.<\/p>\n

However, another consequence of living on my own is that I have time on my hands. Which brings us back to home decorating. I still don\u2019t have a budget, but I have time and little else to focus on other than my adoring dog.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_20150703_202130\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Naturally, the long weekend seemed like the perfect time to start. Before he left, Michael removed part of the wall between the kitchen and dining room and dry walled and primed it. I painted the dining room before I headed west, but I still need to finish the kitchen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Day 1 \u2013 Saturday<\/strong><\/p>\n

My to do list was actually pretty simple:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Grocery shopping (the cats were yelling at me for food)<\/li>\n
  2. Home depot (new knobs for the cabinets)<\/li>\n
  3. Clean the cabinets & replace the knobs and prep the room for painting<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Number 1 & 2 were pretty easy, both are within biking distance. Number 3 proved to be the most challenging. Our house was built in 1963 and we bought it from the original owner. The cupboards are a mix of wood and veneer and were probably part of renovation project sometime in the 70\u2019s. The cupboard doors are wood \u2013 covered in about 30 years of grease and dirt. I managed to clean four of them before I needed a break. So I made brownies and watched a movie.<\/p>\n

    I call that a productive day.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Day 2 \u2013 Sunday<\/strong><\/p>\n

    My to do list was deceptively short \u2013 clean the cabinets, replace the knobs and prep\/paint. How hard could it be?<\/p>\n

    I don\u2019t remember what I did all day, to be honest. \u00a0Alison came over in the afternoon and we went to Home Depot (I saw a range hood on sale the day before that wouldn\u2019t fit in my pack). Naturally, that had to be installed even though it wasn\u2019t on the list. It\u2019s a relatively simple process to replace an existing range hood, although it involved a number of trips up and down the stairs from the fuse box to the kitchen to see if I\u2019d flipped the right switch. As it turned out, switch #14 met with success \u2013 I wouldn\u2019t electrocute myself. Yay!<\/p>\n

    Installation complete, I finished cleaning the cabinets and changing the knobs. All of them but ONE. The previous owner of our house, Jim, did a lot of his own home renovations. Generally, this hasn\u2019t turned out well. We\u2019ve discovered joists that have been cut and left unsupported, walls repaired with wood and cardboard and a LOT of plaster, and dishwasher wires running through the ceiling to the basement to plug into a socket. However, he also left us a 70\u2019s orange velour furniture set so I guess you take the bad with the good.<\/p>\n

    He also had a thing about installing stuff so that it can NEVER be removed. As it turns out, he added a towel rack on the cupboard door. To ensure the screws attaching the rack didn\u2019t poke through the door, he added a piece of wood. He attached this wood over the screws that hold the knob on so you can\u2019t remove the knob without removing the wood. Only I can\u2019t remove the wood because it\u2019s attached with some sort of industrial cement.<\/p>\n

    I don\u2019t have OCD \u2013 but this really bothers me.<\/p>\n

    \"IMG_20150804_230150\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Day 3 \u2013 Monday<\/strong><\/p>\n

    My to do list was now down to painting. Alison offered to come over and help. After a quick change into some of Michael\u2019s nicest clothes, she took over painting the small front foyer, while I did two walls of the kitchen. Two coats were up in no time \u2013 as Michael will tell you, Alison and I are speedy, if somewhat lackadaisical, painters. Naturally, we had to go for ice cream.<\/p>\n

    After Alison left, I stayed up late to finish the painting because we Johnstons are eschewing bedtimes this summer!<\/p>\n

    And this is what my redecorated kitchen looks like now\u2026<\/p>\n

    \"IMG_20150803_190714\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    I may need to tidy up a bit before I submit this to Houzz. I can\u2019t find the brownies.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I like home design blogs. Mostly for the pictures because, let\u2019s face it, not everyone can write (unless we\u2019re talking about my niece Phoebe\u2019s blog) and home decorating isn\u2019t the most compelling topic. At the same time, it\u2019s a little like punishment because our house will never look like the ones in the picture. First, … Continue reading Home decor<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thosejohnstonkids.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thosejohnstonkids.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thosejohnstonkids.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thosejohnstonkids.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thosejohnstonkids.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=403"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thosejohnstonkids.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":410,"href":"https:\/\/thosejohnstonkids.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403\/revisions\/410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thosejohnstonkids.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thosejohnstonkids.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thosejohnstonkids.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}