Simply White

There are those amongst you who will be disappointed, while others will breathe a sigh of relief.

I chickened out on the cabinet color.

Yup, for the first time in my adult life, I backtracked on a color choice. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Tropical Bay, however, after publishing my last post, actually within the hour, together we decided it was just too much for the kitchen. Because the project is so massive, we really wanted to get it right the first time, however, we realized a mistake when we saw it.

So, as the title implies, we went with Ben Moore, Simply White, but not without some serious discussion, and a few trials with paint we already had.

The lighting is horrible, but on the face frame I have three different colors, as well as on the end, the color I selected, very quickly I might add, for the cabinet interiors. Still we were in a quandary--nothing seemed right. Bruce suggested I call Cheryle for advice, and the first thing she said was why not white? Well, because Bruce does not want it--does that work for you? Nonetheless, with me on the floor of the hardware store looking at BM whites, Cheryl working from home, went through her colors. How about this one, I would ask? No, that is too green, or too blue, or yellow--you know the kind of thing an interior designer would notice. In the end, she suggested Simply White, which if I were to describe it to you would be a soft white. Done.

As far as I'm concerned, she hit a home run--it is just wonderful. Bill, when we told him we were wasting his $50, said, GOOD, you will be happier with this choice. I think both he, and Bruce, were trying to support my choice, while secretly thinking I was going a little overboard. Or, as Cheryle described it when she came over later--too cute. Well, it was cute, but probably cuter than my old kitchen could support!

Meanwhile, Bruce worked at Church Street yesterday, while I did the re-painting. I wanted to show you how extensive his work will be for all 27 doors...

First off, you are probably wondering how he cut a hole in the middle of the door aren't you? Using his table saw, he called it a "plunge cut." You've got to be mighty confidant of your skills to do something like that! In the forefront is the door that already has the trim that the glass will set into. The non-painted door has on the edges the pieces of wood he will be adding to each door in order for us not to have horrible hinges like this!!!

A step that is making me very, very happy. As well he is re-working the vent piece above these cabinets. It is sure nice being married to a master carpenter. :)

So, first it was the color that needed changing, followed by the sheen. Originally I had semi-gloss in the blue, but Bruce thought that showed all the cabinet flaws. So, I purchased eggshell finish in the Simply White. Except, after re-painting everything, it had virtually no sheen in the Valspar paint I got from Ace Hardware. Before we went any further, a trip to Sherwin Williams, my preferred paint store, and yet another gallon, this time in satin, which then required yet another coat, but, this time it is perfect! Just enough sheen, without showing too many flaws.

Which meant that part was solved, however, I'd used a baby roller on the larger parts of the cabinet which left a weird orange peel finish. Sanding by Mr. Peck to remove that. Good grief, are we ever going to get it right????

Why, yes, we are.

Early this morning we were at Lowes purchasing more supplies, including a tack cloth, new paint brush for the finish coat, and a different primer. As well, instead of the horrible mess made by the orbital sander on the face frames, I'm going to try a liquid de-glosser which allegedly removes the need for sanding. We shall see. After we got an outdoor set up, I washed the upper cabinet doors with TSP, before B adds all the extra wood pieces.

Those painting shorts have sure got a work out this year, haven't they?

Next up, I used that same TSP to clean the bottom cabinets pictured above, after removing all of the hardware. Good grief it was gross under those handles, which were only 54 years old! I only wish this room looked this good tonight.

As I was emptying all this stuff,

into the above pictured room, I had a wonderful surprise. Oh my goodness, I still can't get over it.

As most of you know, I grew up in Orlando, going to Blankner Elementary, Howard Junior High, and Boone High School. Except, after 10th grade, my Dad bought a house in Melbourne to be closer to his work. Good grief, really, who could blame him after commuting 140 miles a day for NINE years? So, I left all of my friends, and went to Melbourne where I ended up with only one friend--Peggy Batchelor, whose brother, my sister Nancy eventually married. Because my Dad didn't think girls needed to go to college, I needed an alternative, and it came in the form of x-ray school, located in Orlando, or more specifically, Winter Park, a neighboring city. The advantage of which was to move back to be with my darling Bruce. So, good there, although science is my weakest subject, I made it through, and passed the National licensing exam. Meanwhile, I had a wonderful friend before moving named Kathy Lashley who lived close to what was then known as Colonial Plaza. Except, every time I came to Orlando during my final two years of high school, I didn't see much of her, concentrating of spending my time with you know who. Much to both of our surprises, she also chose x-ray going to school at another hospital in town.

So, while preparing for what is known as the Registry, we studied together. I loved that gal. Oddly enough, just last week while going through all that paper work, I came across a framed photo collage she made from our visit to Austin to see she, and her husband, when we were driving back from our year in California!! Remember those frames with all the little cut outs for different pictures? Matt was nearly two, and she prominently posted his photo in the middle with the caption, "My happy face."

Anyway, just as I was emptying those cabinets, the phone rang. It was Kathy, in Orlando to visit her aging mother-in-law, who just so happens to live in the same complex as Dave and Michelle, meaning it is just around the corner!! COME ON OVER, both Bruce and I exclaimed!! It has been way longer than 20 years ago since last we saw each other in person.

What do you have a long lost friend do when they come for a visit while your house is a wreck? Help, of course!! Underneath the stuff you see in the above cupboards, was some shelf paper at least 20 years old. She helped me pull it up!!! And I was not embarrassed to ask for help--she was that kind of friend. We spent a delightful three hours catching up on our lives and families. To add another twist to the tale, she married a boy who grew up about two streets away from here, in Cheryle's neighborhood, and again, during my paper clean out, I came across two class photos from when I was in the 5th, and 6th grade last week, and he is in my class. In fact, I think he was in my class most every year I was in grade school! There were 37 children in my class; unthinkable today, however, looking at all of the kids, I know most of them went on to successful careers and lives, so how much class size matters, I'm not so sure. Anyway, Kathy and Baxter got along famously.

Speaking of Baxter, after Kathy left to attend to her mother-in-law, he was freaking out over the noise of the nail gun. I let him out back, and in the first time since we've had him, he chilled outside while we were inside.

This is about as far away from the kitchen as he can get!!

Now, he's sitting behind me in my chair as I write, Bruce is using a hammer in the kitchen and it is dinner time. Fortunately I made some stew yesterday afternoon that will tide us through for another meal....

Angela also came by to see the cabinets, pronouncing the color wonderful, which is saying a lot! So funny that for a few years Kathy has been reading this very blog, and knew of Angela, but today met her in person. It's a wonderful life, isn't it?

P. S. While I was performing mammograms for all those years, my boys were in their teenage years and beyond. Did they ever think I had a great job, however, I assured them that yes, my job was great, but not because I saw so many breasts, it was because of the uniqueness of each woman. and her breasts. Here's an article I saw in the Guardian that is revolutionary on that subject, although the photographer used a much smaller camera than I did.

P.P.S. Kathy is still doing mammograms in North Alabama where she's lived for the last twenty plus years!