Suzannah Hamlin Stanley's Blog, page 67

Kitchen organization, The Minimalists, & finally finished a project. #stanley90sreno week 13!

So my dad needed his saws back for a bit, so we're stalled on our flooring installation for a weekend. Oh, well! We found plenty to do despite being snowed in after about 11am Saturday!

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Kitchen makeover: Painting oak cabinets (step-by-step!) and new hardware

This day is finally here!! I've been dreaming of transforming our oak cabinets since we first found our new house and have been picturing this fabulous makeover proving that it CAN be done and you CAN update a dated kitchen on a budget.

The kitchen's not done yet, but the cabinets are painted and the oak is GONE. And I am so happy with them. Here's how we did it!!

I was terrified of painting cabinets, particularly oak, before we got started. I'd seen lots of tutorials online where people have s...

Major flooring progress, cabinet completion, and dining room chairs (VOTE!) - #stanley90sreno week 12

We are just giddy about our floors!! Over the past week and a half we've installed them in the bedroom/end of the upstairs hall, dining room, kitchen, family room, and office! We are more than 50% done and they are looking soooooo good. I've been sharing real time updates in my Instagram Stories so you can follow along there as well!

We also finished up our cabinets (crazy transformation, I will be sharing about it in more detail later this week) and are debating about our dining room...

Husband's take on my 'west coast clean and fresh' design style

As I shared earlier this week, we now have our FLOORING and getting that installed is making the whole place feel much homier. I feel like I can finally think about where furniture and art go--so key to feeling at home here!

So, I'm really thinking about the decor. As I shared a while back, my primary design goals have changed a little since talking to the husband about what we want our home to look like. But we both want white walls and dark floors, and a lot of black fixtures instead of...

Our flooring is HERE!! Now I have to decorate. #stanley90sreno week 11

The biggest update of the past week is by far that our flooring is here. Finally! We have been living on the subfloor (painted) since we moved in and haven't brought much of our stuff in from the garage, so it's really felt more like camping around here (especially since our furnace is still broken so we huddle around space heaters a lot of the time!).

But last week, with the snow melted and delivery folks working again, we got our flooring shipment and started laying laminate as soon...

Essential grain-free, gluten-free baking tips, perfect for holiday treats!

We're deep into the Christmas season!! Are you doing any baking this year for family and friends?? Maybe spending some time with folks with limited diets or food allergies? My mom has asked me to make a dessert for our Christmas dinner and I have lots of ideas!

I've been eating a grain-free, gluten-free diet for 7 years if you count my raw vegan days, but I've been learning grain-free baking for the past 4 years on a mostly Paleo diet. I've had lots of successes (see my recipes...

How much should you share in a holiday card?? Here's ours!

Every year I wonder about this. We're two adults, no kids, no big family dog or dramatic changes in appearance most years, and other than our wedding 5.5 years ago, my book being published, and buying our townhouse and our current fixer upper house, nothing super duper huge has happened.

At the end of 2015 I was feeling pretty discouraged, especially thinking about what to share in our holiday cards. We had tried to buy a house that summer and it didn't work out. Husband applied to physical th...

Finally, our DIY butcher block countertops! And DIY faux beam install! #stanley09sreno week 10

Oh boy, we conquered some milestones this weekend! On Thursday and Friday I was feeling like a total Scrooge about the snow because our flooring delivery was scheduled for Thursday, and the shipping company's warehouse was practically shut down and is now all backed up for residential deliveries. We were SO excited to get our floors here and in. We still feel sort of like we're camping or living in a construction zone because we've only brought in the bare minimum stuff to sit on the painted...

Healthy holiday gift guide

We usually forget about January and New Year's resolutions coming up until right before January 2, don't we? We give tins of cheddar and caramel popcorn and go holiday shopping after work instead of to the gym or making dinner and packing lunches, right?? We stay up late at parties and work really hard at work to gear up for taking some days or a week off.

I imagine some people enjoy every part of this season, including abandoning habits in favor of celebration! But it's not that way for every...

Back at it! Cabinet knobs and kitchen painting. #stanley90sreno week 9

So, last week at this time we were feeling a little worn out and less excited than before about all the house projects on our list. Turns out taking a weekend off (a night away plus lots of Christmasey things!) gave us a serious energy boost. We were really excited to get back to the to-do list around the house this past weekend!

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