I Don’t Do Facebook…I Painted My Kitchen Instead

Not participating with Facebook is interesting.  For one, some folks find that almost impossible, almost as impossible as, say, not owning a smart phone.  I casually mentioned my said absence to a barista wanting to sign me up for coupons (“Just *like* us!”).

“Oh, I like you all just fine!  I’m just not on Facebook…”

She practically sputtered into my latte, “But the whole world’s on Facebook!”

Yes, I know.

S’ok.  Really.  I’m also not on Google Plus or My Space or (…I can’t even think of any others…).  But, I *AM* on Twitter.

I know my limitations.  140 letters and nowhere really to get lost.

I have trouble getting lost.  Distracted.  And before I know it I’ve spent countless hours on the computer and not much of it for the glory of God or to further His Kingdom or to encourage or minister to anyone at all.

Sometimes it’s lonely.  I want to go to the party.  I want to see the pictures flying around of a new baby.  I want to be involved with the announcement that there IS a new baby.  I want to LOL with new and old friends and…well…be relevant.  I want the “like”.

But more importantly I want to live in integrity.  If I say I want deeper relationships but only skim them online, I’m a liar.  If I say I want to read more books but spend all my time skimming the internet, I’m deceived.   If I say I just don’t have the time for (fill in the blank) but actually spend precious minutes behind a computer instead, I convince myself soundly of hypocrisy.

Do you ever feel addicted to the internet, to the call of distraction, of mindlessness?  I do.  I try (TRY) to choose my internet meanderings and the time there wisely.  Sometimes it is really hard.  I want to have “friends”.

But I don’t do Facebook.  So I painted my kitchen instead.

Here are the BEFORE pics.  Lovely kitchen, but the dark cabinets were soaking up whatever limp light I could get into the room.  My husband and son added a couple more lights in the ceiling, but I knew that a paint job would just help immensely. Plus, I am honestly not this formal.  I want our guests to kick off their shoes and feel at home.

And here are the AFTER pictures:

I removed the cabinet doors from above the stove.  They always felt so imposing to me.  They are now open shelves.  I also made two of the cabinet doors into chalkboards.

I painted yellow above the cabinets, too.  I figured that with the yellow, green and red, I now could have a real honest-to-goodness APPLE kitchen.  I removed some of the upper doors and mixed my dishes up with cookbooks and things like jars of buttons and dried roses and beehive smokers.  Things I love.

Isn’t the green yummy?  It is Benjamin Moore’s Daphne Green.  The yellow is Concord Ivory.

I won’t even tell you how long it took me to do this project.  But it was here a little, there a little.  I cleaned, I sanded, I primed, I put on three coats.  My 13 year old son took off doors, removed and cleaned and replaced hinges, and set them back into their proper places.  And my other children kept babies from finger painting in it all.  It was a group effort 🙂

The doors under my sink went buh-bye too.  I knew I’d find a way to put burlap in my kitchen someplace!

The cabinets between my kitchen and dining room were done as well (did I mention how long this project took me? No?).  One thing that happened was that I got rid of the chinaware and wine glasses and everything else that was *supposed* to be in those cabinets but I never used.  Instead I put in tea cups, bunches of quilts, old photographs, kid-made treasures.  Who says a kitchen only has to have “kitchen” goods in it?

The upper cabinets were painted with a color called Cottage White (from a paint company I long lost the name of) that I had Benjamin Moore copy for me.

And….I KNOW!!!  CHECK OUT MY DANDELION MURAL!!!!  The most dearest sweetest friends worked on it for me for months. While sitting on the FLOOR.  That big expanse of cabinetry just said, “canvas” to me and I sheepishly asked one day, “Would you ever like to do a mural?”.  Because I love botany and herbs, I wanted a plant.  And the humble dandelion is one of my favorites; she’s like the black sheep of the herb world, y’know?  You can barely make out the puffs blowing off into the wind.  In case you’re curious, the lettering on the left spells “Blessing”.

I just love love love this mural.  If I ever move, it is coming with me somehow.  It’s like getting a hug from my friends every time I see it.

They signed their names on ladybugs.  How adorable is that?!

Lastly, here is the little nook area by the kitchen.  These cabinets, like the rest, were all dark brown.  And another friend gave me this chair.  I love it!

A painted  window seat in the corner…

…and the backside of the kitchen.  I love the playful colors and remodel.  All it took was about $100 in supplies, and TIME.  Did I mention time?  I suppose I ought to also mention how much I hate painting.  Honestly.