Change it up Without Tearing it Up - Kitchen Before and After

Do you want to change your kitchen, bathroom or even your laundry room?  Are you afraid of the dusty mess and maybe the added expense you may encounter if you start tearing up say your kitchen? Does your kitchen need to be updated?  This is a very common and here is an example of just such a kitchen!

This kitchen originally had white thermofoil raised panel cabinet doors with plastic laminate on all the exposed surfaces such as the ends of the cabinets and the toe kicks.  The homeowners first attempt to upgrade prior to us arriving was to have someone come in and do a faux painted finish directly onto the surface of the cabinets and doors.  {not recommend}  Over the course of a very short time this finish was showing signs of wear on and around the areas that had the most direct contact with use, such as around the knobs.  Not to mention that the foil on the face of many of the doors were bubbled and De-laminating ~ essentially peeling apart. 

So the options to fix this were as follows:   
1.  Leave as is ~ do nothing and just live with it

2.  Leave as is and replace all of the door and drawer fronts, moldings and re-finished all exposed ends

3. Remove and replace all cabinets and countertops, which would also allow for kitchen to be redesigned to maximize storage and function.

So for this particular job the homeowner choose option #2, and there were multiple benefits to making this selection.  {no construction mess or dust, able to keep the existing granite countertops and no need for any electrical or plumbing to be done to name a few}  This is how to change it up without tearing it up!

~Before and After Views ~

Veggie Burger from Juice Pulp

I started juicing fruit and veggies just over a month ago with my Omega J8006 Nutrition Center Commercial Masticating Juicer, Black and Chrome.   When you juice fruits and vegetables in this type of juicer you end up with a substantial amount of vegetable and fruit pulp.  

Up until today I had been saving the pulp and putting it in my Soilsaver Classic Composter  And though this is going to make for amazing compost, I have been feeling like something more could be done with this pulp than just tossing all of it to the composter.  So I decided today to experiement with making veggie burgers and this is what I came up with and they tasted great.  Better than any store bought veggie burger I have ever had. 

Carmen's Juice Pulp Veggie Burgers

 Ingredients

1 can black beans

3 cups juice pulp

3/4 cup chopped onion 

1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

2 eggs (could use egg substitute)

3 garlic gloves crushed

1 tsp. sea salt +/- (I didn't really measure this)

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

2 tsp. Chia seed

2 cups (+/-) crushed gluten free rice chex (you could also use bread crumbs or crackers)  The amount will vary depending on the consistency of the pulp and how moist it is.

Dry Seasonings I used were as follows and could vary to taste:

1 tbls.  parsley flakes

2 tbls.  Italian seasoning

1 tbls.  rubbed sage

1 tbls.  cilantro leaves

1 tbls.  grill mates / montreal steak seasoning

Directions
-  dump drained black beans into food processor and lightly chop 
-  add in seasonings, olive oil, crushed garlic, sea salt, Parmesan cheese, chia seed and mix
-  add eggs mix
-  add rice chex about a half cup at a time until it reaches a consistency that you can make patties (kinda thick)
-  divide and make into patties
-  heat up frying pan over med heat with olive oil and cook until crunchy brown on each side.  Makes about 8-10 burgers ~Serve with sliced avocado and enjoy!

  

Mailey my TUBE DUDE Dudette

As a participant in the 2012 17th Annual Jewels on the Bay Showhouse I attended the opening event brunch to honor David and Ilene Denton & Reverend Fredrick and Linda Robinson.  During the brunch there was a raffle and I won a custom design of my choice Tube Dude. Here is a picture of me at the luncheon next to the display Tube Dude...

Here are a few posts on my room at the Jewels on The Bay Showhouse!
 click on links here
Laundry Rooms can be beautiful 

Special Place for the Dog!

ABC7 TV Debut / Carmen Christensen

Wallpaper Wednesday I love flock!

As long as I can remember I have been fascinated and drawn to texture.  With that said I love flocked wallpaper - this from a person who hasn't always been fond of wallpaper.  Though I must say I have an acquired appreciation for it, wallpaper is one way to bring texture to a space.  And when you have a large graphic print that is flocked, this is for me the perfect combination.  Here a just a few quick examples of this....Enjoy!

This Tree Bark velvet flocked wallpaper is my fav of the day!  

New Age Ventilation

Here is a really stylish way to have ventilation in your kitchen with out it encompassing your kitchen space...a great way to look away from the traditional kitchen hood.  I find these hoods from Elica to be simply stunning in their innovation and just wanted to share.

photo credit elica

Who cares what “they” say! It’s “YOUR” house!

So often when I am working with new clients there seems to be this common concern, almost right from the start that centers around what they should do based on resale.  HUH?  I mean really, you haven’t even moved in yet and already you are worrying about selling your new home.

Alright, so I get it, that at some level you need to be concerned about the possibility of selling your home and what your return on investment will be ~ protect your nest egg.

What I have a problem with, or should I say what I can’t seem to understand is this…  If you are buying a home with the intentions of living in it and/or owning it for more than 5 years, I say this in the gentlest of ways…..  Who CARES what the next guy wants or might want to buy.  Live in YOUR home, do what YOU want and most importantly make it function for YOU and YOUR needs. Create your "picket fence" home, whatever that means for you...

On the flip side if you are just buying a home to flip it then just whatever, I don’t really care cause you will be shopping at one of those big box I don’t care if it falls apart after I sell it stores. {If you are one of “them” I suggest you just breeze thru the pictures and ignore the content}

Ok so here is the deal, if you are buying a home, buy it for you and stop worrying about “them”.  Doesn’t it make more sense to live in a home that functions for you and meets your needs, rather than working around some silly thing that “they” say you are suppose to do or have.  A perfect example of this is the infamous “Garden Tub”.

I can’t tell you how many times when I ask my clients if they use it, their response is most often no.  Or after they move in they realize it is just a tub, not a spa bath that heats the water and doesn’t take all day to fill and once it is full the water is cold.  So either put in a true tub that functions for you or why aren’t you getting rid of it and maximizing the space in your bathroom…can you say walk in shower with dual heads people!

I am just saying that if you look around your home there  is so much wasted space with things such as garden tubs that never get used that “they” have dictated what “is” and what “isn’t” a priority.

Design your home to meet "YOUR" needs, not what "they" say.