Let There Be Light

Lights

The electricians installed the ceiling lighting and Addison finished the drywall. He taped the seams and applied the drywall mud, let it dry, sanded it, applied more mud, let it dry, sanded it, etc. etc., until he had a nice, smooth finish. It is a tedious process that is fun for the first few minutes, then quickly gets old. I did a partial coat of drywall mud, joking that it was like icing a cake. I soon found, like many tasks, it is harder than it looks.

Drywall Mud

We taped sheets of plastic over the doors to keep the drywall sanding dust from permeating the entire house. Unfortunately, it didn't help much. There was dust everywhere - in our hair, on every surface, and even in the refrigerator. I was constantly cleaning to no avail.

A First Coat 

Another Coat

And Another

With the upper cabinets gone, I primed and painted the room. The painting was my job. We each had our tasks. In the South, they often paint the ceilings of the wrap around porches light blue. I was told it is so birds don't nest in them thinking it is the sky. I like the look, so I tried it in my kitchen. I used the paint color 'Atlantis' by Pratt & Lambert (satin finish). I always use P&L paint because the colors are beautiful and the paint is very durable. The finish has an iridescent shimmer that reflects light.

When I designed the kitchen I went through a folder of pictures I had torn out of magazines over the years and looked at countless photos on the Internet. I found that over and over I was drawn to white cabinets with shades of gray either in the counter tops, tile, or walls. Since my cabinets were going to be creamy white, I chose Pratt & Lambert 'Old Silver' for the walls.

Primed Walls

Aqua Ceiling

Gray Walls

The ceiling color is very subtle against the gray. You hardly notice that it is anything other than white.

Paint Finished

The stove was gone, but luckily I still had a sink and dishwasher - at least for a little while longer. When it came to food, if you couldn't toast or microwave it, you were out of luck. We ate a lot of take-out.

Microwave or Toaster?

What all can you put on toast? We discovered quite a lot actually. My favorite was avocado. Addison preferred peanut butter, bananas, and chocolate chips, and Maddie chose Nutella.