The final version....

I love my new kitchen. There are a few things I'd change,

but it's so much better than it was.

The "farm house" window frames are a part that I really am pleased with.  I found a tutorial online.
I framed up all the other doors in the vicinity as well.
The drainboard sink was a request of my husband.  We REALLY wanted a vintage one, but they are super expensive.  This new version was $50 on craigslist.  The hanging lights were installed last year and all the appliances are the same.  We pulled up the floor and reused it.  We had purchased 6 extra boxes so we had enough to cover the pantry area.

The backspash is Ann Sacks.
I purchased it on Craigslist for $50.  It was leftovers from a remodeling job in the ritzy part of Portland.  I also found the Ann Sacks bullnose tile at The Rebuilding Center.  I love that place!
the only thing I splurged on was the stainless exhaust fan.  I found a killer deal on ebay!  Shortly after I purchased it they raised their price. 
I'm happy with the results.

I'm sure I will find something to change in the near future.

Out with the old and in with the new-ish

Goodbye brown stripe.  I buy all my paint on the mistint shelf.  This can be a challenge.  I know my color wheel and am getting pretty dang good at tweaking the colors just so.  The blue/grey on the walls and the teal-grey-green on the cupboards are both "custom".  The savings are huge....but I'm learning it doesn't always work.  Although the recycled the cupboards were sanded the paint just isn't durable enough for the daily use. It didn't want to stick!  My dad always swore by the stuff he called "liquid sandpaper".  It just didn't work well for me this time.  I really needed his expertise.  But unfortunately he is getting too elderly to take to the worksite anymore.  I tried a clear a final clear coat,but in the long run I think I would go with a more durable enamel rather than painting 3-4 coats of a cheaper paint. whew.  Too much work!

These upper (left)  I created.  First attempt ever.  I learned my lesson with these quickly.  My large vintage square is my savior through out this whole job, but not lining shelves up was my mistake.   Although I wanted open shelving, it makes it impossible to put doors on in the future (because they didn't line up with each other.) Keep this in mind. 

New pony wall.  This should of been easy right?  It wasn't as solid as we wanted.  I didn't realis that that you have to frame in glass blocks so I bagged the staggered glass blocks  for the top.  I love glass blocks and I scored a bunch at Habitat for $2 ea.  I was bummed.  But I really like how the wood turned out on it.  I salvaged the tongue and groove from a 100 yr. old house on our farm.  I have wainscotting made with it around my adjoining dining room.  another possible issue is the fridge is pretty snug in it's original spot.  We just won't ever be able to buy a bigger fridge.  The flooring you can see (blue vinyl)  That is the original manufacturers flooring that was in when we purchased our snug little repo.  The "repo" experience was pretty good.  We have so many stories and are quite savy now......but we learned alot!  If anyone ever needs any advice about contracting your own Manufactured home placement or buying a Repo.....feel free to me here.We've been told to write a how-to.  I think we might do that here.

goodbye to the kitchen

The deconstruction.  Considering the lack of quality of this manufactured home cabinetry, I was very surprised how DIFFICULT it was to tear apart.  On top of the difficulty, I was trying quite hard to keep the dust down.  I didn't plastic it off from the rest of the living room.   BIG MISTAKE.

good bye disgusting fan hood & un-useable corner cabinets

 good bye strange pantry

The stripe is where I repainted with the uppers still intact.  It was kinda funky for a few weeks.  I don't miss that "brown".  Now the hunt for ingredients continues.  Below is my first find.....

Actual wood uppers and lowers.  They were on Craigslist for $60.  I can't believe the guy tore these out to put in "new" from Home Depot. 
I also couldn't believe that we fit them all in my short bed Ford. 

kitchen Re-Do

I hated my kitchen.  We had put in a new floor...again.  The cabinets were pressboard covered with a vinyl.  Standard issue for a manufactured home."Oh I can do that" I said to myself.  So I started collecting ingredients.  That's the way I approach most projects.  I scrounge and "score' before I buy it and sometimes takes a while.  My first find were cabinets from a 60's ranch house that were on Craigslist for $60.  The owner was taking them out to put in cabinets from Home Depot.  How is that and upgrade from Maple to pressboard?

These are the before photos.

left side - pantry door

right side - missing cupboard doors

It works!

The headboard is done!

I was torn on which color to choose...

There is always something that needs adjusting.
This time the hold up was the husband having to get different bolts from the shop twice!  Luckily, we didn't have to get in the car and drive 6 miles to Lowe's twice.
The color is hard to see, but it's a dusty blueish grey. I chose this Olympic Satin Enamel.
THIS PAINT WAS SO THICK!  Like pudding.  Because of this, I had to buy a really nice paint brush.  Also don't for get the best nail filler called Fast & Final.  Now for the next project!

why does this make me happy?

I took this photo at large antique show.  This guy was making a butt load of money.  Made me think it was time to sell my old hardware.  I snapped this photo with my iphone.  I'm not sure why, but I love this photo.  So ordinary....it must be the colors and the knowledge of what it feels like to dive in these and look through them.  They are all different.  Some sappy analogy here somewhere, but I won't go there.

I have really enjoyed my iphone camera.  It's a great camera. You've seen some here.  I have a few other places that I share my photos. Instagram and Foap are my favorites. You can buy them on my Foap account.  Click the links to see my galleries. 

King sized continued....

If you have the desire to build things for your home you must invest in a nail gun and air compressor.  In this day of carpel tunnel and joint issues you might save yourself alot of pain and physical therapy charges.   I have gone through 2 - 18 gauge guns in my building lifetime (17 years ). My latest and favorite are these made by Porter Cable.  I got a great deal from Overstock.com on a Refurbished set.  The set had a 16 & 18 gauge nailers and a stapler.  I worked with a 18 gauge for years.  The 16 is the best for the actual building and the 18 is good for the final more delicate trim & etc.  This would be a good one......

Well, let finish up this project!  The above tongue and groove wood is what I came up with as ingredients. I wanted to use it because it would give interest in texture and pattern.  it's kinda special.  The bead board stuff came out of a family home that was de-constructed.  I've used it for a wall, and wainscotting.  This is the last of it. Although I don't have enough of either to just use one kind so I came up with this pattern. You could use any wood.  Mix it up.  Use wood that already has paint and make it colorful. Clear coat it with something.  I almost did that myself, but I didn't have time to "dilly dally".  It's freezing out and its time to get a headboard!  
It's easier to show you the photo of the tongue and groove wood laid out and then I can explain your best route of completion. I started by cutting the right and left sides with a random 1x4 that I had.  Cut to be flush with the top and bottom.  Glue and Nail ONE end only.  Then cut a board for the top edge.  When you get those 2 established (nailed) then you have a solid edge to butt up to get the decorative parts settled.  I needed to stretch out my tongue and groove boards so I created "spacers" with leftovers from the top and bottom boards.  I bought cheap pine 1x3's.....the rougher less pretty stuff from Lowe's.  The spacers then now are my template for "height" for the rest of the vertical boards.  Once you get your boards all cut - test them out.  I was in a hurry and didn't change my nail gun.  So I had some go through, but I figured the back side of the HB won't over be exposed so I just clipped them off.  Not always a good option.
You'll see in this close-up photo the small nail hole and some gaps that occurred.  All this type of thing can be filled with nail fill. ( Keep an eye out for an upcoming blog for "Hints and Tips" that I've learned and types of things I use. )

Get your ingredients all laid out before nailing.  This is spoken from experience.  I put the bottom on last to make sure all are forced up.  What I figured was that if there are any flaws I wanted them hidden behind pillows......so if you have a short board, make it short on the bottom side. 

Lastly I added the top ledge.  Below is a photo from above. From left to right : trim, plywood backing and then the top of the 2x4 leg.  All the boards are flush (even) on the top it was easy to cut a 1x4 to top it all off.  I added 1' hangover to each end.

top view showing layers of wood

Gluing that top board is important.

primer coat on the finished headboard

Most likely it will be lifted by that board so it needs to be strong!  Fill your holes and cracks.  I had one piece of bead board I put a line of caulk between as the gap was a little bigger and obvious.  I often will put one coat of paint on my creation before filling holes because you can see what fills up with paint and what can be ignored. Tomorrow's the final painting day.  I'll show you the results then.