It's Just a Spring Clean for the March/April/May Queen

Ok - so I've decided to enter into the Apartment Therapy 2010 Spring Clean challenge.  I love our place but I'm not happy with how much stuff I have; my goal is to simplify our living space over the next two months by decluttering, redecorating and renovating.

I took some before pictures this morning to show you what our 700 sq. feet looks like at present:

This shot is taken from "upstairs" and is of the main living area

(it's a sunken living room... sunken by one little step down)

We bought this cabinet to house our booze and everything 

else we didn't want sitting around cluttering up our lives. 

But then we got married and Matt's mom
gifted us our lovely wedding dishes;

now I want to display all-white everything,
so the rest of this stuff needs a new home.

This wall is parallel to the black cabinet.  

The quilt was stitched by my great grandmother and

I sat in the hot sun at a farm auction
to bid on the dresser years ago.  

Matty bought the wine rack for me when
we first started shacking up;

it matches the rest of the Crate and Barrel
collection he already owned.

Unfortunately, I think we should put the
dresser and wine rack in storage

and purchase one substantial piece
that serves the purpose of both.

 

You can't really see the filing cabinet to
the left of my grandmother's desk; 

even though I bought it, I hate it.  The little bookcase is
Matty's and it's cute but needs an update.

This area needs de-cluttered in a big way however
I do like the wall collage.  That will probably stay.
The desk chair needs reupholstered; so does the flowered chair 

but since Pinks currently uses its back
as a scratching post, I think I'll hold off on that.

These shelves hold treasures quite dear to me
but I hate the display.

And don't you love the gorgeous plant
I placed on the white stand? Um, yeah...

I love, love, love my Anthro lamp shade but
I really need to replace its missing dangle bead.

Just a close up so you can see the book of Dylan lyrics 

that one of my Bffs bought for me back in 1987,

the duck decoy that my dad hand carved, 

the book of Charleston House needlepoint I covet, 

and the pictures I took of the plates that
commemorate America's first baseball game, 

played right here in Hoboken.

This track lighting MUST GO.  It ain't me, babe.

Anyone have a replacement suggestion? If so, PLEASE post it. 

I'm thinking something in the pendant or chandelier arena.

Ok, and now it's time for the big reveal and time 

for you to meet my white whale, my albatross.

Please don't judge us - it was like this when we moved in, 

sans Keurig and wine bottles (a girl's gotta drink).

This is going to be a big project: new appliances, new flooring, 

new sink, new countertops, new backsplash and a custom.

DIY makeover of the cabinets.  Well, some of the cabinets.

Starting above the fridge, we're removing
all of the cabinets on that wall

and around the corner because
they are a big waste of space.

 The ones above the fridge are pretty much
inaccessible without a step stool;

getting rid of them will allow for
the purchase a taller refrigerator. 

The corner cabinet on the top and that little door 

next to the fridge on the bottom are cavernous: 

the only space that's currently usable 

is the space directly behind the door.  

 The ones above the stove are going, too, which opens up

that area to house a microwave/exhaust fan 

which in turn, opens up more counter space.

These are the only cabinets that will remain.

We're not just sanding them down, we're 

refinishing them to a super chic distressed black 

and replacing the solid panel fronts with glass.

Take a look at those cabinets from a different angle so you can envision what I'm about to describe:

because we're getting rid of the cabs above the stove, it's the perfect opportunity to morph these cabinets

(two doors up and down, plus the two pull drawers) from ordinary stock kitchen cabs into a trompe l'oeil work of art.

I'm going to make this area appear to be a freestanding custom-made hutch (that pic is not exactly what I'm going for, but it gives you an idea). Sound crazy?  Don't worry, it's a cinch. Once the cabinets are revamped, I'm going to paint and distress a piece of bead board to the same effect as the cabinets and employ it as the backsplash in that area alone. 


Then, we'll add a distressed piece of butcher block as a departure from the rest of the countertop surface (FYI: we're presently in a heated debate over what material to use as our countertop: Matty wants solid granite, I want custom concrete. Wanna weigh in?). Finally, to pull the look together, we'll add halved faux rounded "feet", which will rest on the floor beneath the bottom cabinet.

And voila - hopefully when we're finished,
we'll have a look that resembles 

this one, which I borrowed from the 
Goddess of All Things Design, 

my idol Layla from The Lettered Cottage.  
Here's her unbelievable kitchen revamp:

Well, that's if all goes well...

I know, it's a lot to tackle in a few months 

but as my IRL friends know, that's how I roll!

I've never made even a singular attempt 

to do anything on this scale 

(unless you count the time I tried to DIY a kitchen floor 

by drunkenly applying peel-and-stick linoleum kitchen tiles)

therefore ANY suggestions/feedback/inspiration 

you can offer is greatly appreciated!  

I invite you follow my journey here at 

LaPointe of It All, as well as over at 

Life As We Blog It .

Who knows, maybe I'll end up 

with my own HGTV show: 

"On Da DIY Fly with A-L-I" !!

Holla back now, ya'll hear?