When it Comes to Storage & Lighting: More is More

In 2016, we sold my little condo in the city and moved to a new-build house in the ‘burbs. Buying a new construction home definitely has its perks – no weird wall colors, no holes to patch, no worn spots, everything fresh! But sometimes, things are missed. Unfortunately, that was the case for us in our master bathroom. One day in 2018 I came home and my husband looked very sad sitting at the peninsula, he then showed me the water stain on our flat white ceiling over the eat-in area of the kitchen. It was very clearly right under our shower. On the plus side, my husband is a plumber and was able to identify the issue. Thankfully, the fix was easy for him and he was able to put the missing gasket in the drain; unfortunately, our house was no longer under the one-year warranty. We attempted to paint the area of the stain, but even 2 years of living and cooking had taken a toll on the ceiling and the ceiling paint was so obviously brighter and whiter in that area. 

What does this story have to do with home updates? So glad you asked!

Adding Storage

I asked my dad (a contractor and wonderful carpenter/woodworker) in mid-January 2021 to make me a cabinet to go over the bench in my mudroom with tongue & groove beadboarding between the bench and the cabinet. Literally, a week later he did, and it was exactly the shape and size to work with the bench. However, he was displeased with the paint, even using a sprayer, he was just not happy with the outcome. So, we decided to hire a professional cabinet painter, and specifically searched for someone who refinishes cabinets. Perfect, fantastic, hired! And the painter was also going to do the whole ceiling in the kitchen and eat-in area. Yes!

Lighting

We forgot 1 thing though! We wanted to add recessed lights in the eat-in area and remove the light fixture. Whoops. Dads to the rescue again! My father-in-law reminded my husband we wanted to do this (thank goodness, or we would have probably had to have the ceiling painted twice); and he helped my husband put the recessed lights in and remove the light fixture in one day. The following few days my dad patched the area where the fixture was. It was such a rush to get the lights in and the hole patched that the ceiling was ready the day before the painter started! Talk about crunch-time! 

Once the painter(s) were finished, the ceiling and the cabinet looked fantastic! The lighting in the space was so much more even, and our ceiling is all the same flat white ceiling color. The cabinet added (needed) additional storage to our mudroom and matches the bench color beautifully. Once the hooks were added back to the beadboard our mudroom was back in action! 

Is there ever enough storage or good lighting? I don’t know, but I am going to keep striving for the optimal storage solutions and the perfect lighting for our growing family! 

I also need to get better at remembering before and after photos, haha 😉