Facelift!

Facelifts are great, aren't they? After adding a little color here and there, things look a lot better! Oh wait, did you think *I* got a facelift? LOL, heavens no. I'll leave that to those who feel they can't grow old gracefully.

So what am I talking about then? The Homestead!

When I moved into The Homestead four years ago (Can you believe it's been that long already?), I inherited some very, very old appliances -- think 25 to 30 years old.


Looks good, right? Almost everytime I used the range, I had to jiggle the burners in order to get a connection so they'd heat up. The drip pans were corroded so bad that they really needed to be replaced. The coils didn't sit flat like they were supposed to so one side of the pan was always cooking too fast or burning. The oven didn't bake evenly, and the self-cleaning didn't work. But hey, I made do.


The best part about the stove was the dashboard light. It gave off the perfect amount of light during the evenings when I really didn't need to turn on the ceiling lights. Stoves on the market now don't have those lights. As you can see, there were drippings behind the glass that made it look like I never cleaned the dashboard.

A couple months ago, one of the 8" burners quit working entirely. Of course it was the one I *always* used. Ever try to use a frying pan on a 6" burner? LOL I was relegated to using the 8" burner at the back of the stove. Remember the jiggling I told you about? A couple weeks ago, I was doing the jiggle dance and by golly if the socket didn't start sparking... and sparking... and sparking, even after I stopped jiggling. It was at that point I decided it was time to get rid of the archaic piece of crap put her to rest. I may have been able to get it repaired, but 3 of the 4 burners needed help and I'd still be stuck with a three-decade old stove.

So I did what any respectable woman would do. I went shopping! ☺ The delivery was made last Sunday. I won't mention the idiot delivery guy. The delivery guy tried to talk me into letting him bring the appliance in my side door, which 1) if I let him do, it would've gotten wedged in the door and 2) would've never gotten between the cabinets if he got it around the corner. He was worried about the stove not fitting between my hedges! I knew from when I bought my refrigerator a couple years ago that if *it* fit through the hedges, the stove would fit... AND the front door is 4" wider than the side door! Finally, I told him I'd put a sheet over it so it wouldn't get scratched. What does he say? "Oh, we have appliance blankets in the truck." Duh!!


Doesn't it look great with the exhaust hood the BF installed last summer? It also matches the refrigerator!


I couldn't get a good photo of the refrigerator since it's on the opposite wall of the stove. The sink and dishwasher are on the same wall as the stove:


Someday, I'd like to do something with the ceramic tile on the wall. Not sure what because other than the yellow color, they are beautifully embossed tiles.

OK, that concludes my kitchen facelift, tour. Up next is the dining room facelift tour!

I'm not sure what the previous owner(s) of The Homestead were going for when they installed a flying saucer very contemporary-looking light fixture in the dining room. It matches nothing in the house whatsoever.


Every once in a while, I like to visit the closest Habitat for Humanity Restore. This time I found an awesome light fixture. Behold....


Even though the shiny brass finish matched the rest of light fixtures in the house, I decided I wanted something a bit more modern. So I set to work.


Took everything apart. Covered sockets. Taped off wires. And then...



Spray Paint!
I was going for a rubbed oil bronze look. When choosing the paint, I made several trips from the lighting dept at Menards to the paint dept. I'm sure the guys who watch the security cameras were wondering what I was up to! I finally decided on a Hammered Dark Bronze paint.

Four days later, the facelift was complete. The curing time (waiting) sucks seems to take forever! OK, maybe not but it sure felt like it.


The BF sweated and toiled in order to installed the fixture. He said we did a great job. Me in the painting and him putting it up, LOL.



Looks 100% better, doesn't it?

Remember I mentioned the Habitat for Humanity Restore? It's a great place to find inexpensive used home remodeling supplies. If you have a creative mind like mine, it can be a treasure trove of goodies! They had two light fixtures like the one I just upscaled. I'm not sure why, but one was $20 and mine was on sale for...


That's right. $10!! So, for less than $20 (including paint and a few screws) I have a "new" light fixture. When I was running back and forth from the paint dept and lighting dept, I did take note of how much similar light fixtures cost. On the low end, a brand-new one was $99. I did good, eh?






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