Cabinets!

We have cabinets installed in the kitchen!  Wahoo!  Maywood is really starting to look like a HOME!  Painting the cabinets was a big project, and I give almost all the credit to Michael.  We painted all the cabinets for the kitchen and laundry room.  Michael worked so hard on getting them done before we went to New Orleans while I was a work.  I was able to help with the first coat on the lower cabinets, but he did all of the second coats and all of the upper cabinets.  We were so surprised by how many cabinets we actually have.  Our kitchen seems so much bigger than before!  We painted in his parent's garage.  It was a stinky process, but nothing compared to the scent of the stain we used to stain the wood for the living room ceiling.  I would say one of the worst smells  is the "gas heater" smell that is put off of the garage heater we installed.  Its been super disappointing to us that it smells so bad.  When we were in New Orleans we were reminded of the smell everyday because it has soaked int our clothes and personal items.   Nothing like a constant silent reminder of the 'to do' list everyday on vacation!  I apologize to Jim and Diana now--I hope the smell is gone by April when you come home!  Then again, you are in  FLORIDA all winter, so can I really feel that bad???  Ha!  Yes, of course I do feel bad!
Back to the cabinets!  We used an oil based paint for the lower cabinets (they weren't able to make the upper cabinet color in oil based paint) because it is so strong as far as paint goes.  We were hoping to use a smaller, fine-finish sprayer to paint the cabinets so the process would go a little quicker.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to get the oil based paint to the right consistency to use it.  It either wasn't smooth or we could see the sheen of the paint thinner through the paint.  So, we used an old fashioned roller and brush.
When choosing the colors of the cabinets we wanted to do something fun and unexpected.  We loved the idea of paying a tribute to the classic Okoboji cottage in our kitchen.  So, we decide to add some COLOR to our upper cabinets.  For those who know us really well, you know this is a BIG step out of our comfort zone--especially Michaels.  We chose the colors 'gauntlet gray' for the lowers and 'garden spot' for the uppers.  Our official opinion now that they are painted:  they look SWEET.  Well, we think they do!  It looks especially awesome with the 'way too nice for Kira & Michael' appliances we got.  All the appliances are used (classic Michael!), but everyone we know who actually cooks says they are the bomb.  I can't wait for people to come cook us some meals using them!  Because of this we drove to Omaha to get the range, Cedar Rapids (thanks Dan for picking it up!!) to get the dishwasher, and Spencer for the fridge (which we don't have just yet).  Talk about not shopping local...oops!  Ok, enough babbling, I know you are excited to see pics, and I'm sooo excited to share, so here you go!  Let us know what you think!    

Gauntlet gray and Garden Spot!

Michael's ergonomic work station!

Yay! Yay! Yay!