The Story of a Grill...

If you've known me longer than 15 minutes, you know I think grilling is the most bombay way to cook. Grilling is, hands down, the best way I've found to create crazy amounts of flavor while simultaneously cutting out calories (and reducing dirty dishes - which I'm all for). Being a frequent griller, I've sort of hit a brick wall: My grill.

It may be dirty, but at least it heats unevenly

A Member's Mark 2-burner Gas Grill that I bought at Sam's Club a couple years ago ($200 range). Don't get me wrong, this grill has served me well in its time, but it took some figgerin' out. Here's the deal. Two burners is great if the grill is pretty small. This grill actually has a fair amount of real-estate inside. When I bought it (before I knew what I was doing) I thought that was a good thing. "Holy cow, look at all this space, and only two burners to boot!" Basically, I was saying, "Wow, they found a way to defy the laws of nature!" Because that's what it would take for two burners to evenly heat a space that big. I can literally place my hand over some parts of the grill without feeling any heat, while other spots produce food that looks like it was in the pocket of some poor Pompeian man who decided to hike Mt. Vesuvius one fateful morning.

Long story short, I started grill shopping. Because I spend so much time on the grill, I wanted a unit that had more to offer. In my quest, I stumbled upon this beauty:

Who's that in the back? Oh well, who cares.

The Stok Quattro (surprisingly still under $300). As if the jump from 2 burners to 4 wasn't enough to get me excited, this grill also has a few surprises up its sleeves, which I'll get to shortly. This picture was taken about 30 seconds after I finished putting it together, and about 45 seconds before I lit it up and got cookin'. Let's take a tour.

Now obviously the first thing you notice is the two big circles on the grate. What's that all about, you say? Inserts. This is the man's way of accessorizing. Use the grate for straight-up grillin' or replace it with whatever tickles your fancy that day, whether you want a skillet, vegetable tray, or pizza stone (all included). I'm literally gitty with the possibilities. What did I choose last night?

The vegetable tray. What a genius idea this is, right? My body is in a constant state of craving for grilled veggies, so owning a grill that has an app for that (er...insert) is perfect for me. Let me show you what you can do with this.

Now I don't want anyone to say, "Well I can't make that because I don't have a veggie tray." Oh please. Stop creating barriers for yourself. Cut your vegetables into big pieces and then cut them smaller after you've cooked them. Sure, it's an extra step, but it's still a way to hold you over until you're able to buy this awesome grill. ;)

onions, zucchini, mushrooms 

Cut your veggies and put them in a bowl. Coat them with a fair amount of cooking oil (not extra virgin olive oil- it'll burn on the grill and taste horrible), kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, ancho chili powder (which everyone should have in their kitchen as far as I'm concerned. it's not spicy, it's actually kinda sweet and tastes awesome), chipotle chili powder (this is also something everyone should have in my opinion. although be light with it because it really is pretty spicy), and a little of your favorite barbecue sauce. I used Sweet Baby Rays, which I think is the best store-bought sauce available. Mix it all up and set it aside.

bone in pork chops

Put some cooking oil on a plate and coat your pork chops with it. You'll notice that I always talk about grilling being so healthy, yet every time I grill, I completely coat my food with oil. "What is this nonsense?!" You might ask. Well, it's not nonsense. The unhealthy part of cooking with oil is when your food sits in the oil and sizzles away. The food actually takes in the oil, which you later take in when you eat it. As with all cooking techniques, adding cold oil to a hot surface before adding your food will prevent it from sticking and any extra will run right off (don't use too much though, because oil will catch fire pretty easy with a grill). Sometimes you'll see people brush oil onto the grate. Yeah, then take a look at their brush. Completely melted/singed/burned. There's no reason for that. Just put it on the food.

Season your chops with similar seasonings used for the veggies, just no bbq sauce.

Turn your grill on and let it heat for about 10 minutes while your food marinates. Then, start cooking. It seriously does not get easier than this. Cook your pork chops to an internal 145 and you'll have the juiciest chop you've ever tasted. Lots of people treat pork like chicken and cook it to 165 and beyond. There's no need. SafeServ guidelines (those are the folks who regulate restaurants and such) say 165 for GROUND pork, 145 for the rest. Any higher and you'll end up with the type of meal that gives pork chops a bad name.

That's all there is to it. Add some grilled peaches and you're in business. The vegetables caramelize perfectly on the grill and taste amazing; the pork chop, well, does that look dry to you? 'nuff said; and the grilled peach (glazed with equal parts water and brown sugar, with a small dash of cinnamon) brings everything to another level. For any of you with a grill, I encourage you to try a meal cooking every single thing right on the grill. And I'm not talkin' about hamburgers and hot dogs. I mean a REAL meal. You'd be hard pressed to find a food that isn't made better by the grill, the only exception being ice cream (and that's only because I haven't figured out how to keep it from falling through the grate... yet). 

Of course, this whole insert thing does bring up ONE issue...

soaking vegetable tray

...dishes...ugh...

Greta-Induced Redecorating

Le sigh. It seems like just yesterday that I set up this vignette above the couch.  It's hard to believe that it was two months ago.  It's harder to believe it is already disassembling itself.  

It lasted a solid 2 weeks before Greta noticed it and ever since, it has been a battle.  She was especially interested in the guitar at first, so that has spent a lot of time chillin' on the piano when she is romping around the family room.  The two smaller framed photos of Chris and I went next.  It was quite cute watching her get so excited as she pointed to us in the pictures.  And then soon, she wasn't pointing, she was holding.  And then she started jumping up and down with them and that's when I knew I had to move them to higher, unreachable ground.  Soon after, the candles flew out of their sticks and they have now found a new home on the piano, too.  So what I am saying is--this vignette is no longer and I am done fighting this battle.  I am also saying that the top of our piano is looking junky and that has got to change, too. 

Luckily, my girl, Sherry, along with a few other fabulous favorites issued a challenge I cannot pass up--the Pinterest challenge--which basically inspires everyone to actually make one of the hundreds of things they have pinned and share it next Tuesday.  What I am working on will fill that void above the couch, in a more Greta-friendly way (I hope) and I'll be sharing all those details next Tuesday.  In the meantime, I found a home for the guitar and a couple other frames that were kicked off their shelf.  

Enter the big blank wall across from the piano in the family room:

Prime realty for a happy little grouping.  After surveying all my art I had available from the former gallery wall on the staircase and the vignette, I decided to keep it small and simple.  The guitar (Chris actually plays his guitar, so I like to incorporate it in decor to keep it handy) and the intaglio print of my parents along with a color chart I did with watercolors a while back:

I moved the pieces around on the ground before hanging them and finally went with this set-up.  When the color chart was above the staircase it was hanging vertically but here, horizontally, it lined up better with the width of the print's frame.  The color chart above the print looked too matchy-matchy with the shape of the guitar--small on top, big on bottom.  Now it feels balanced and effortless--although, you can see read, it took a little thought. 

Funny little fact, Chris was actually very concerned about hanging anything on this wall because he didn't want to block the walkway from the main floor down to the family room.  ???  It took a lot of convincing on my part, before I got the green light to hang anything here.  

After I got the grouping up, he did a test walk through and declared, "I cleared it!"  And we had a good laugh.  Do any of you have to constantly move decor around to keep little hands away?  Do you find it as fun as I do?  What can I say, I like to change things up.  Are you participating in the Pinterest challenge?  Gah!  I can't wait to see all of these "pins" come to life.

Giveaway Gold: Obi-Wan RYOBI

When RYOBI caught word that we were having issues with our drill a few weeks back, they were happy to help us understand how a drill should work. In true Jedi fashion, Ryobi promised to hold up infinitely better than our drill and that it wouldn't stop when it hit a stud like our current drill did. What?! Could it be true!? A duel between the two is in the works, my friends. Although, I already know how it is gonna end. But those details are for a different post. *cue Star Wars theme*

Good news, RYOBI also wants to hand over a drill kit to one of our readers. Woot.

This Ryobi 18 Volt One+ Drill Kit includes a sa-weet cordless drill, two 18-volt Ni-Cad One+ batteries and a 1-hour diagnostic charger, and a handy bag to carry it/store it all in. The drill itself has a 1/2 in. single-sleeve keyless chuck with spindle lock for easy bit changing and 2-speed transmission and 24-position clutch for high-torque applications. It features a 1,600 RPM speed with variable speed settings to accommodate each job you tackle.

Sounds legit, right? You be the judge.

The Nitty Gritty--

Prize: One RYOBI 18v Drill Kit (the one featured right here valued at $92)

Number of Winners: One lucky stud/ette.

To Enter: Leave a comment with the phrase "Help Me Obi-Wan RYOBI" and let us know any future project you would love to use this drill for. For instance, I can't wait to tackle some sort of entertainment center in our family room with ease. (Yikes. We have had a cardboard box blocking cables for nearly 4 months now.) Don't forget to leave your email address so we can get ahold of you if you win!

Details: Prize ships to anywhere in the United States. Giveaway closes Thursday, August 4th at 9pm MST. Only one entry per person. The winner will be chosen using Random.org and announced on Friday, August 5th.

Good luck...eerrrr...may the force be with you.

Guilt-free Shopping? MMkay.

I love free money.  It gets me out of the house and onto one of my favorite activities: treasure hunting.  Yesterday, Pier 1 was doing a little promoting and giving all of their facebook fans $10 off a $10 (or more) purchase.  I sprung on that and set a few ground rules for myself.  Mainly--I was only going to spend $10...errr nothing.  Period.  Since there was nothing I was waiting to get from Pier 1, I wasn't going to go there and spend $40, just to get $10 off and only spend $30.   Although, that is a good deal if you had your eye on something, I tried my luck at finding what I could get for ten bucks or less.  I succeeded.  And just in case you want to run to the store and take advantage of free money, here's some ideas of what you could get for free:

They had an array of placemats on sale for an additional 20% off.  This one was $3.00 before the markdown and incorporated lots of colors found in our home.  I loved the idea of getting a few of these to add a splash of color to our table when guests come over. 

If candles are your thing, now is the time to stock up.  At only $1 each, you could walk away with an armful.

These large sponges would be perfect in a basket in the guest bath.  At under $3 a piece, you could grab a couple and mix them with the candles above and still be under $10.

These fake pears are the most realistic I have seen.  Ever. Greta even got a little excited when I picked them up.  The whole bag was $10.  Right on the money.  I could see them all piled together in a glass jar, sitting on open shelving in the kitchen.  Yes, I can picture it well.

This punchy red milk glass vase caught my eye.  Although, I think it was the price tag I saw first.  Pretty by itself, or with some simple flowers.  The frame on the right was also $10 exactly.  I remember it was really heavy and solid-feeling and would be a great little piece on a nightstand with a picture or a a little artwork in it. Gah!  I wanted it all.

These measuring cups (also $10) were not only colored green, but are made of all natural materials.  But considering we already have 2 sets of measuring cups--I put them down.  Sllooowwwlly.

These candles were incredible and I was shocked they were way under $10.  Just $7.48 for the mosaic one on the left and the ones on the right were barely over $6.  No one will believe that you got them for so cheap, let alone free.

So what did I walk away with?  Knobs.  Knobs! I absolutely fell for these little wood/ceramic guys on the right.  They were $5 each and I loved the idea of using them in one of our bathrooms.  I picked up two and got excited when I paid nothing and then got excited again for a half bath reno in my future.  As for the tiered basket on the left, I can't get it out of my mind. It is priced at $12, but Chris said that $2 for the knobs and basket is a steal....even if it does break my rule of spending nothing.  He said he would be happy to print out a certificate for himself and bring me home my basket.  *Crossing my fingers it will still be there* I can't decide if I want to fill it with fruit in the kitchen or rolled towels and soap in the bathroom.  Or maybe if you had lots of jewelry, it could be perfect for that too...I am just not one of those girls.  Anway, I'll let you know where it lands--because I overshare like that. 

There's my what-you-can-get-for-free wrap-up.  The coupon expires 7/27 (that's tomorrow).  So, if you have a Pier 1 close by, why not go for a little treasure hunt and grab yourself a gift? Guilt free.

Just click on this image and print.  Can't wait to hear what you got!

Our Stenciled Hallway

A little over a week ago, I got a stencil in the mail from Royal Design Studio.  I was anxious to give it a try.  Chris was... .... ...apprehensive.  You may remember (if you don't check out the house tour) that all of the bedrooms and bathrooms have stenciling around the ceiling and some of the baseboards.  It's tacky and completely early 90s.  Now imagine the horror when I told Chris that I wanted to stencil our bedroom.  He didn't go for it.  But after seeing the stencil, I didn't feel like it was a good fit for our room either.  So, we agreed on the hallway.  Last week, I showed you my prep work--painting the upstairs hallway the same warm gray (Ben Moore's Cape Hatteras Sand) as the rest of our main floor.  

And here's how it looks stenciled with the Allover Pattern Stencil: Moorish Trellis Large.  

It's faint, huh?  Our hallway is pretty narrow and I didn't want anything to be too busy, so I used a shimmery acrylic paint that's translucent to create interest and a lost-and-found effect.  Meaning, at some angles the stencil disappears completely, but when the light is hitting the wall just right, it almost looks like wallpaper.  Really low maintenance wallpaper that you can change whenever you want.    

Within the first hour, I realized that I probably picked the hardest thing to stencil--A hallway with lots of doors and small spaces.  I understood why people stencil one flat wall in their bedroom, or even a rug or a curtain panel.  Not me.  *Sigh*  I settled in for the long haul--about 3 days total--to get it done.  And you know what?  We love it.  Yes, apprehensive, anti-stencil Chris likes it, too.  So all of the time really paid off.  To be clear, it wasn't hard--just time consuming. So, I guess my biggest tip if you plan on tackling a stenciling project of your own would be to take. your. time.  

You want your corners to line up.  You don't want messy lines.  You want to be proud of your work, don't you?  So, take your time.  A couple nice things about the stencils from Royal Design Studio are they are made from mylar so they hold up and are wipeable and reusable.  Also, they come with little triangles in each corner to make it easy to line-up your stencil perfectly each time...which I always kinda wondered how that worked.  Now we ALL know.

Each time you place your stencil on the wall, you line it up with the triangles from the previous placement and trace the two new ones.  It made things easy and less confusing....even if it sounds confusing, it totally wasn't.   I still used a small level every other or every third placement to make sure I was keeping things straight. With a 50 cent foam brush, FolkArt metallic acrylic paint in Champagne (the same paint I used for my painting in the dining room), Scotch Blue painter's tape (I like the delicate surface one) and my handy level, I was in business.

Because the paint made only a slight shimmer on the wall when the light was shining on it, there were times I had trouble seeing where I had already painted, but the faint effect is what I was going for and I wouldn't change a thing.  Here's the view from Greta's room.

And one last angle that really demonstrates the magical lost and found effect: 

And that sums up how our hallway went from plain before to slightly-exciting-unexpected-surprise-in-the-hall after:

Psst.  Although Royal Design Studio provided me with the stencil, they did not pay me to write a positive review.  This is all me. Promise.

No worries, I'm alive.

Were you worried something happened to me?  Something did.  A little thing called vay-cay and I didn't want to announce it to all of blog land because that's dangerous.  I repeat--announcing that you will be gone from your house for a set amount of time on the internet is dangerous.  But we have returned now--pictureless and ashamed about that--hopefully some of my in-laws can hook me up with their pictures...I know you're reading this. We escaped to Bear Lake last Wednesday for a family reunion.  Chris and I, along with Brandon and Stephanie were in charge of the whole thing.  It turned out really fun and a lot less stressful than I had imagined it would be for months and months.  Although vacations are totally different now that we have a 17 month old.  More fun than a vacation with a 5 month old, like last year, but still limiting--especially since our princess has a 6pm bedtime.  

Between chasing her around the two cabins and helping her adjust to sleeping in a playpen, we still managed to enjoy some night games and time at the beach and good meals.  Greta and I took our first boat ride (yes, it was my first as well), but we passed on the tubing since Greta wailed when she was merely standing in the lake.  Other highlights included: Chris and I escaping one night after Greta went to bed thanks to some house sitters to try out Bear Lake's famous shakes.  Chris making a bomb meal.  Laughing until tears were rolling out of my eyes at conversations between Chris and his siblings.  They are all so funny!  I hope to gather up pictures of these happenings and give you all a full report on our getaway.  

But as it goes, all good things come to an end.  Vacation ended and sickness set in--immediately...as in, on the way home.  First Chris and then Greta shortly after.  My two, precious sickys have come down with flu-like symptoms and have been lounging (among other not-so-pleasant things) all day.  I have been doing my best to nurse them back to health with lots of soup, juice and popsicles.  

Here's hoping it passes soon and doesn't hit me in the meantime.  I have a full week ahead of me with lots to share.  Starting with the finished hallway tomorrow.  Oh yeah...I finished it.

I. love. technology.

Especially for this reason:

Last night, I shared laughs with 2 of my 4 sisters, Andi and Patty.  We are the three youngest in our family and don't get to see each other very often.  Even though Andi lives in Mexico and Patty lives in Idaho, I am so grateful that we can all hop on Skype and catch up as if we were all in the same room.  We also each took turns making silly faces at our webcams until the others noticed....ya know--the usual.

And if you haven't checked out their blogs, you're gonna want to:
Doublclik (Andi's photography blog--it'll blow your mind.)
Patty. Published. (The unique, hilarious and honest words of my older sister.)

Lessons in Home Decor Humility

It's hard when you work really hard on something and it just doesn't look right.  Or feel right.  Or you flat out, don't like it.  For some people, the hours put into a project alone are enough for them to live with it.  Even when I put hours into something, and even when I blog about it and show the world how great something could be--I later eat my words and swallow my pride and start over. I do like to give myself 24 hours living with a paint color, or piece of art, or stencil, or gallery, or curtains, or area rug before I nix it because it may not be the new decor that you don't like--it could just be the shock of change that takes time to get used to.  

One easy example of this is that zebra rug in our family room.  I recently rolled it up and stored it in the basement.  Then I put it in the online classifieds.  I just don't like it anymore.  It was great in our apartment. There was a time I loved it, but it doesn't fit into our home's vibe anymore and just because we spent money on it at one time (technically, we just spent a gift card on it), it is okay to not like it anymore and sell it and move on.  Lesson learned:  Don't keep something just because you once spent money on it.

Another example that I am currently working through is our staircase gallery wall.  Yesterday, I announced that I was stenciling our upstairs hallway.  I got about 1/3 of it done and stopped to step back and look at it.  Something just didn't feel right.  I wasn't sure if it was the stencil, the stencil in the hall, or the adjacent gallery wall.  I thought about it all day yesterday and last night and this morning and then I took down the whole gallery.  It was definitely too busy.  So now, we are enjoying a nice blank wall covered in screws and nails until we can replace the heinous light fixture and come up with something more simple for this wall.  As for the stencil in the hallway, the verdict is still out.   Lesson learned:  Don't put everything you have in one space just because you have it and just because the space is blank.

My last example is our dear, Moooi Random Light knockoff.  I am just gonna say it--It has started sagging where we made the hole to change the bulb.  Gah!  We tried to fix it with a sheet of acetate cut in a circle and placed at the top of the light for extra support and it worked for awhile, but it has started sagging again.  However, this is one thing that we aren't just going to throw out and chalk up to a good try.  We already put several hours into our light and we truly love it--we just don't love how it sags on one side. So, we are humbling ourselves and trying again.  We are pretty sure the watered down Mod Podge and corn starch are just not strong enough to sustain our massive sphere.  We're on the lookout for a stronger solution.  We've heard good things about Stiffy Fabric Stiffener, or maybe some sort of acrylic epoxy, or even wallpaper glue--we'll share the details when we figure it out.  For now, our slightly sagging light (thank goodness it is only sagging in the back) is still hanging in the dining room until we muster enough energy to try again. Lesson learned:  Just because you put hours into a project, it doesn't mean you are going to get it right the first time.  It also doesn't mean you should give up on it.  Here's hoping second time is a charm in this case.

The Calm before the Awesome.

It was one of those weekends where it felt like there was no down time (except for those late nights we spent watching LOST on instant play).  I guess with a toddler and a new house that needs fixin' up--it's kinda expected these days.  On Saturday, while Chris was busy tending to the yard during Greta's nap, I broke out my paintbrush, again.  I didn't think I would be able to get back on the ol' paintin' wagon for at least a few more weeks due to my marathon paint-a-thon last week, but I was too excited not to.

The upstairs' hall went from builder white with lots of holes and dents:

To a smooth eggshell finish in the same paint we used for the majority of our main floor, Benjamin Moore's Cape Hatteras Sand:

I broke out my putty knife and patched all of the imperfections, sanded and then rolled on one and a half coats.  It was a pretty simple job, but needed to be done for a few reasons.

1.)  The builder white + holes everywhere was completely uninspiring.
2.) You can see the hallway from the main floor, so using the same paint color really helped the flow.

3.)  I needed to prep the space for this.

You know I love a good teaser.  You also now know what I'LL be doing today.  Can't wait to show you how it looks.

How to paint your kitchen cabinets.

Or at least how I did it.  

There are about 150 tutorials online on painting cabinets and I researched thoroughly the different possibilities and techniques.  Some things I did, some things I threw out the window and there are some points that I wish I did.  But the main goal was achieved.  Our kitchen cabinets went from this:

To this:

Before I give you more before and afters at every angle imaginable, I want you to know I did this project from start to finish solo.  I'm only telling you that to give you any motivation and confidence you need to do it yourself, in YOUR kitchen--even if you have a toddler.  Chris would have helped me, but he was out of town and I wanted to surprise him.  One tutorial I read made this task feel completely impossible and horrible and something she would NEVER EVER do again.  To be real with you, my back hurt a bit during this and I sweat a lot and I would have rather been at the beach (this is pretty true of any time), but if I was faced with the same situation again--I would do it again.  And actually, that negative tutorial I read gave me the push I needed to get started.  I wanted to prove I could do it.  The results are worth it.  You can do it.  I'll tell you how.

1.)  Get a bucket of soapy water (I just used dish soap) and clean your cabinets.  The tops.  The doors.  The hinges.  The fronts.  I was so grossed out while doing this because I saw how dirty my cabinets were.  There was grime everywhere.  So even if you aren't planning on painting your cabinets, this might not be a bad idea.

2.)  This is where people tell you to sand your cabinets.  I didn't.  I didn't sand my cabinets once this WHOLE process.  So, there you have it.  Why didn't I sand them?  You can see in the top picture that they weren't VERY glossy.  I read a couple tutorials where they skipped this step and I felt like I wanted to as well.

2.) Take all of your doors off your cabinet boxes. If you have hardware on your doors, take those off too.  I kept my hinges attached to my doors because they were an ugly dingy gold and I wanted to paint them the same color as my cabinets.  At first, I brought them all upstairs to the extra bedroom.  Mistake.  They really didn't fit in there.  I mean, they fit, but there was no extra room for maneuvering around the sides of each door. So, I moved them all into the garage and placed them each on their own pedestal (think paint can, bucket, cooler, whatever you got) so that I could paint the sides with ease.  I did not paint the backs of my cabinet doors.  FYI.  Also, it's not a bad idea to use painter's tape to number each cabinet door with a corresponding number marked on the cabinet box.  I didn't do this and there were a few moments of panic when I went to rehang the doors.

3.) Prime Time.  Because I wasn't going to sand, I wanted to make sure I got a good primer.  And, because of little Greta, I didn't want my primer to be stinky with tons of fumes.  I found this primer by Zinsser:

Water-based=no stink.  Sticks to all surfaces without sanding.  Seals uniformly.  Blocks stains.  Dries in 1 hour.  Use with any topcoat.  Um okay.  I felt like I hit a gold mine.  Right there in the Walmart paint section, I found gold in primer form.  So, for $17 I took it home with me.  I gave all of the doors and cabinet boxes a coat of primer.  I used a brush for everything.  Looking back, I think I would have done 2 coats of primer, because it ended up taking 3 coats of paint.  However, I probably still would have done 2 coats of paint equaling the same 4 coats, but my paint was more than double the cost of the primer.  So, my suggestion--do 2 coats of primer.

This marks the end of the first day.  Washing and priming everything. Day 2 I gave it my first coat of paint.

4.)  Paint is another thing I researched thoroughly before I started this project.  From what I read, the best thing to use on cabinets is an oil-based paint or alkyd because of its durability and easy-to-clean surface.  Again, I was faced with the issue of VOCs and fumes.  Fortunately, I found a product that mimics oil-based paint, but is water-based.  Benjamin Moore's Advance.   

It is a waterborn alkyd meaning it has that rock-hard enamel feel when dry, leaving our cabinets with an insane amount of durability and wipe-ability.  I had to drive an hour to get it (or wait for it to be ordered in at a closer store), but it was worth it.  The brushstrokes disappeared a couple minutes after painting leaving everything looking smooth.  The downside is the 16 hour dry time between coats.  The color I went with is Benjamin Moore's Mountain Peak White.   It was about $46 for a gallon.

5.) Day 3 I did another coat. 

6.) Day 4 I did my final coat.  And I was done.  Remember, I didn't sand in between.  You can if you want, but this paint left things so smooth, I wouldn't sand even if I was doing it all over again.

7.) The label on the paint can said wait 3-5 days before hanging. I waited 3.5 days and hung everything back up and patted myself on the back.

More before and afters?? MMkay!  

Insane, right?  And no, I'm not talking about our pink countertops.  Those are a different kind of insane. We couldn't be more happy with the results.  It feels like a new kitchen.  It feels so bright and open and a part of the rest of the main floor now.  Chris is, of course, breaking it in the "new" kitchen....he promises to share all of those details tomorrow. :)