{Revealed}

It was about two months ago when I first showed Jared this lovely blog. The Lettered Cottage. Layla and Kevin are from Alabama and they are DoItYourself rockstars. Their lovely lettered cottage is both gorgeous and inspiring. When I showed Jared that they had pretty much done everything themselves (including redoing their kitchen cabinets), he was immediately enthused. Revived. The old "jar and holl" fix-it team was back in the game! We haven't been fans of the oak-ed-ness theme of our kitchen for quite some time now - well, ever since we moved in, to be precise. So, while I was in Oregon, Jared began the perilious adventure. He took all of the doors off, lightly sanded them, primed them. And over the next few weeks, him and I spent our evenings painting, and painting and painting. We argued. I cried. Because I hate messes. And clutter. And stress. And this project was all of that. But this Friday evening, we put on the hardware - the long awaited finishing touches. And I clapped! And squealed. And danced. And we opened sparkling bubble-E to celebrate the closing of this HUGE undertaking. We high-fived. Kissed. Toasted. Then we collapsed in bed. We've been resting (sort of) ever since.

Now, of course, there are other finishing touches we still have to do. We still have to paint the wall (the color white behind the antique-white cabinets just doesn't cut it anymore). We need a new light fixture. And I will be forever repositioning and adding to the decor. But, for now, we're feeling quite accomplished that we made it through. Alive. Whole. Most importantly, still married.

Here are some pictures:

{BEFORE}

{AFTER}

{OUR BUBBLE-E TOAST - FRIDAY EVENING}

ps: yes, Bella is still alive.

After the cabinets were painted (one coat of primer, plus three coats of Antique White), we glazed them to enhance the grains in the wood and to make them more antique.

We certainly aren't pros, and our finished project definitely isn't perfect. But if any of you have questions, feel free to email me at swissarmy.romantic@yahoo.com, and please, please visit Layla and Kevin's FAQ page to see their step-by-step instructions here. They painted their cabinets black, then distressed the edges, but it's essentially the same process.