something we should've done long ago

Well, I think it's quite obvious that we did not finish the dining room makeover before the new year. January 1 came and went with a big whoosh and we only had bare wainscotting to show for it. With the holidays and getting hit by a bug going around, we just didn't have the energy most nights to work on it. But we're getting there. Two coats primed, just gotta fix some rough spots, and then onto the paint!

Today we did a silly little update that has a big impact on us - and it's something we should've done loooooong ago. Cabinet pulls!

We've tolerated these things for far too long. It's not just that they're dated ... they're also gross and gunked up and resistant to cleaning. But because we plan on replacing the countertops and painting the cabinets in a couple of years, it felt silly to invest in pulls that worked with the stained cabinets and might not jive with the "new" kitchen of our hopeful future. But ever since we replaced the pulls in the wet bar and library, the kitchen pulls bugged us every time we looked at them or opened a cabinet. 

Just in time for saving our sanity, we got some Christmas cash from generous grandparents and a gift card from Mike's parents for Lowe's!! Good-bye, old pulls!

We grabbed a variety at different home stores, brought them home, screwed them in and hemmed and hawed. The nickel and silver varieties were too shiny, and the oil-rubbed bronze seemed to darken the space more than we liked. Then Mike moved the pulls from the wet bar into the kitchen. They're "heirloom silver" and feel wonderful to the touch. We had tried it in the kitchen before and didn't really like the color there, but we loved the form and how it looked in the wet bar. This time around? 

Much better! In the photo, they look more silver, but they take on a hint of bronze under the kitchen light. 

The space has definitely brightened up, and we have stupid grins on our faces when we touch them. It's just a cleaner look, and while no one would call our kitchen updated at this point, it feels decades better to us!

Don't mind the little mess

A before shot:

Do we miss the upper left cabinets since we removed them? Hell no!

We also saved $30 on these pulls with some online coupon code wizardy. That $30 off pretty much paid for the wainscoting paint, with a few bucks to spare! Now that we've done it, we feel silly for not doing it before. Yes, it cost a little over $100 to do (pantry and fridge cabinets, too), and it might feel dumb to spend that money on something "trivial," but it's also hardware you use multiple times every single day. The kitchen has a long way to go, but these pulls makes the wait while we save just that much easier. You're not going "ugh" every time you touch or see that little thing bugging you. 

Of course, once you replace one thing, then the source of your irritation moves onto something else. Like the door handles throughout the house. That's going to be a wee bit more expensive! And it'll have to wait. We've got a dining room to finish!