Kitchen Makeover

Winter is a time where I enjoy working on our house -- with Chicago winter weather outside, it just seems like a good idea to enjoy the nice weather while I can and save my home improvement projects for a time when the weather turns chillier.

This winter holds an ambitious list of home improvements, the first of while was to re-paint our kitchen/dining room area. Upon moving into our home in 2006, we painted the kitchen a rich brick red and added a wide crowne molding to accent the ceiling. Four and a half years later, it was time to brighten up our kitchen a bit, this time with Martha Stewart's Opal Blue paint.

See these photos of the painting process -- only 1 coat of primer and 2 coats of paint to go from brick red to a very light blue!

I worked up a combination of dark walnut wood furniture and black wall decorations to best show off the blue in the new paint. The chandelier is original to the house (circa 1999) and was originally a delightful hunter green and brown crackle paint. I purchased one of the Martha Stewart paint sample bottles for $2.49 (complete with a brush built in to the cap) and painted over the crackle to produce a matte finish.

Tips for painting a chandelier: Remove the light blubs and place painter's tape over any areas you do not want paint.

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