LOvingly called by me "Salvation Salvage".
Why? Cause I'm old and can't remember the actual name ;)
Plus, it's my salvation.
This is a little known place if you live outside of Birmingham, Alabama.
It's a BIG TIME known place if you live near Alabama...
okay, lets zoom back to my birthday.....
my hubs has known for quite some time that my kitchen is the most irritating thing in my house. (to me at least) (because I tell him every day....poor guy)
Hey...I love to cook in a beautiful kitchen.
The kitchen has.....
12 years old, melamine cabinets (gag response), green granite.... well, you get the drift.
I put melamine cabinet right up there with wire shelving.
Who in the world came up with either of those ideas.
UGH
So, for my birthday, he, in his infinite wisdom (I'm not making fun because it was quite a nice gesture), took me to Home Depot.
He wrote down on a card 8,859.00.
I honestly had no clue where he came up with that number.
So, "W"'s pretty businesses minded, if not the smartest business man I know. So I figured he had a number in his mind that he wanted to spend on this kitchen.
um, it was the day I was born......(it took me a week to figure that out...I'm blonde...a true blonde)
but wasn't that just so sweet? what in the world did I do to deserve him? (or he to deserve me ;)
Now remember...I'm ONLY going ot put lipstick on a pig. Not go overboard and do something ridiculous that we would NEVER get our money out of when we sell.
And let me tell you....I'm a damn pretty good make up artist when it comes to a pig's face ;)
and...
if the truth be known, I'm actually pretty cheap (unless it involves shoes or bags)
(different story)
..enter my obsession with Louboutins......and LV....oh and expensive sunglasses.
like these....
i couldn't help myself
don't hate....just feel the love my friends.
(these go in the catagory of "W" will never know what I spent on them...."
as a matter of fact...in my opinion....they're fake ;)
I did tell my friend "E" that if I loose these to find the nearest gun and shoot me....
Back to the kitchen....
The condo is 12 years old and really I just don't know how long we will stay there.
The prices on our condos are going up but in a mid range priced condo, how much are you REALLY going to recoup from sinkin a lot of cash into your kitchen. I know, I know, I know....kitchen is THE very most important part of your house. but. I want to get out of what I put in to it.
So,,,,as I'm chatting about, I will tell you the whole long story, (because it's early and I feel like writing)....
We went to Home Depot....yes, you know the mega store who claims to be oh ya great prices on everything?
But, before I did that, I visited my friend out at True Source in Marietta, GA and picked out Carrara honed marble and subway tile backsplash
(DONOT try to talk me out of Carrara....I know it etches....I know it stains....I know ALL aboout it)
and I don't care. It's what I want...
Remember...I'm an EX-designer.
Okay, back to Home Depot. Customer service is truely outstanding!
They came on in, measured around, had samples, the whole shebang.
All I wanted was to reface the cabinets in this 57 linear square foot kitchen....
nothing else.
Here are the pics of the kitchen as it is now....
I am serious when I tell you this is the kitchen...yuck.
So HD gives me the spill about how great their cabinets are, what they do, the warranty (which I could honestly care less about) and oh, how they use their "own" people, not subs to do the work......
I wanted a simple grey refaced kitchen....
y'all.
14,000 smackers.
can you say, jaw drop, smoke coming out of my ears, wanting to find the nearest bat and smack the guy over the head with it? I mean really? Really, really, really?
I was really nice to him but wanted to put on my cowboy boots and stick em where the sun don't shine.
Shame on HD. As a matter of fact, Aurthur Blank is getting a letter from me.
But, again, the salesperson could not have been nicer. Oh, he did take 300.00 off after I tried to work him down. really? my goodness.
DON'T GO TO HOME DEPOT FOR CABINETS PERIOD....
So. A gal that I know who is a decorative painter and has been for 20 years contacted me and wanted to take a look and see what she could do.
She paints anything and EVERYTHING. And ya'll she is the best in Atlanta. I'm serious.
I said PLEASE!!!
Her name is Suzanne Burgess
(I promise I'll blog more about her at a later date)!
Typically one would not paint melamine cabinets but really ya'll there are SO many great products out there that will literally cover anything.
Ya know, I'm not crazy about the look of the doors, but it was something I could live with.
So....she came on by the next morning
9 a.m. prompt on the nose.
We looked, we pondered....I told her what I wanted, you know some make up for a pig.
She happened to have a grey makeup paint in her car, brought it up and damn, shazam.
PERFECT color. Perfect.
So we went on through with what to do.
We are simply going to paint the cabinets. They will be primed, painted and then sealed with a satin finish.
I cannot quote you the price she quoted me becase as an administrator of a 10,000 member re-sale FB group I get a few perks...let just put it that way.
But, I would think if I didn't get perks, it would be about 1/10 of the price of that ridiculous HD price....
So....here is my goal.
Grey painted cabinets, White carrara marble (don't talk me out of it), brass pulls, carrarra subway tile. and adding hardwood to parts of the condo, including the kitchen.
so pumped.
Good thing about my girl painting the cabinets??? She's doing it while I'm in Napa next week!!! HOT DOG.
Ok,,,back to the main topic. geez I can chase that rabbit all around the field can't I?
Southeastern Salvage.....
The greatest place on earth. No I'm serious.
If you live outside of Bham, Alabama, just plan a girlie roadie. (with a very large van)
I went in because another obnoxious item in my kitchen is a box light. Yes. ABOXLIGHTFIXTURE,,,
Oh my bleeding ex-designer heart.
everytime I look at it (and the bugs that capture inside) I almost puke.
I just can't even look at my ceiling. I hate it that bad.....
Southesastern Salvage has some terrific lighting at like you won't even believe prices....
This is what chose for my kitchen...They are big, possibly overwhelming for the small space, but really I think they are going to just make a terrific statement!
I bought two of these (they are lined in white)
68.00 each. yep.
so I decided to go around and take a few shots to blog about!!!
here we go!
very cool desk - 498.00
Longest table I've ever seen- 988.00
LOVED this retro chair - 798.00
these were SO comfy - 798.00 (and great looking!)
for the DIY table maker - table tops
y'all....the price on this door was 1,500.00....that's oh about 3,000 less than you would get it somewhere else.
I liked these little shaker style chairs - 129.00
great looking table under 500.00
Pine console - I think it was around 498.00
check these 20 x 20 pillow covers....with zip closure - 8.00 each
and more
they also have a 16 x 20 lumbar pillow for 12.00....
f
TONS of these nail head dining chairs - 189.00
I will say that the quality of the stuff that I've bought here is great!!! Considering most of the things I've gotten for 10x the price from Restoration Hardware arrive broken. This is a really great alternative if you have a small budget (or even if you have a big budget but just don't want to spend the money!)
Here is the link.
I have only been to the Birmingham store so I cannot vouch for the other locations.
All I know....is this place is DA BOMB
I'm going to document the kitchen renovation so get ready!!!
so excited!!!
oh, one more thingy!!! I've been working on Watercolour technique!! (very difficult btw)
but I do want to show you my first piece!!!
I named him "Who are you? who who? who who?"
J/K
Not sure of the name but you WILL be seeing more WC's in the future!!!
heehehehe!
have a terrific day y'all!
kb
