Cushion for the Tush-ion

i cannot believe it has been 2+ months since i've posted anything on the kitchen!  really!  THIS was the last post i think i did. i am failing at so many of the Must Haves of a Good Blog!
so i'm making a goal (not a promise cuz a goal gives me an out):  i will do 5 more post on the kitchen "reveal".  number 5 will be a "finished" post with some before & afters.  no really!  it will!  even though we are not technically finished: 2 more items that stick out in my mind right now.  so....

post 1 of 5:  bench cushions

i know i said in an earlier post that i found a great tutorial at SewMammaSew on how to make your own bench cushions.  and i just knew i could do it myself!  then i pulled a very typical ME.  i read and re-read her post until i talked myself out of it.  also, i needed these cushions done for a cookout that we actually had back in May for Nacho's hockey team victory celebration - they won their league division or whatever!  so this was the weekend before Mom's Day.  that's how long they have actually been done!  nothing like putting a post off eh?
well, suffice it to say, we so many butts riding on the line, i didn't want to take any chances & i actually (head ducking below the monitor here) paid someone to do these for me.  i know i know!  besides, my sewing machine is still in the shop - yeah, cuz that would have made a diff!  i used a local upholstery guy but did stick to my guns & used the shower curtain material that i said i would.  thank goodness i bought so much because i can't find this shower curtain in Target anymore.  so here they are!

not only did the upholstery guy love the pattern, but he thought the use of a shower curtain was genius!  i'd come up with that idea before seeing the SewMammaSew posting, but she certainly solidified my choice!  he did such a nice job & assured me they would hold up fine, certainly until i change my mind AGAIN & decide on some other pattern that i love - i won't even link to the other shower curtains at Target i'm in love with now.  thank goodness i don't really know how to sew or we'd be buried in pillows right now!
i do have some material left over and when i finally get my sewing machine back, i really am going to sew the back pillows myself.  i think i've proven that i'm not afraid to sew a few envelop pillows thanks to Shannon over at Madigan Made!

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Projects Sneak Peek

it's not like things have stopped on the kitchen, they've just ground to a halt with me personlly.  but i'm working through that.  amazingly enough, we are through most of the big reno items.  i couldn't believe it when Terry told me they were pretty much through billing us.  so here are a  couple of catch-up pics & i have to thank Chezerbey's Kitchen Follow-up for getting me motivated to post SOMETHING, my god ANYTHING about where we're at!
Windows
when we last visited these, i think the interior had been primed but not painted. it took me an entire weekend, but i (and by i, i mean I, NOT NACHO) finally got them painted.

sorry the photo isn't the greatest, but i still don't know how to get an interior shot to look good when all that sunlight is pouring in.  have i ever mentioned how much i HATE painting trim?  and Nacho "loves to paint" but apparently that love does not extend to trim cuz i one point he said "i guess i should help you paint" & next thing you know he's out sandbonying the beach!  **heavy sigh**
in addition i (and by i, i mean I & NOT NACHO) have gone the distance & painted the exterior as well!  okay, props to Nacho cuz he did prime them!

and can you believe that at one time all we had was this...

what a difference a little glass makes!
Shelving
you may have noticed in the background of that first photo a little shelving unit hanging there.  and while i could make this it's own post, cuz they are so awesome, i go ahead & give them to you here.  i think i'd mentioned at the beginning of this project that our upper cabinet layout was going to stop at the hood thingy.  i can't tell you how many people were wondering what exactly we were going to put to the right of that hood.  well, here's what we did...

i think i also mentioned that the idea actually came from here.  it's more decorative than anything, & i have a couple more items to put on it, but i love it!
we carried this same shelving idea over onto the big dining room wall...

KABLAAM!!! is that a statment or what?  i mean the shelves of course, but it's hard not to notice The Kids isn't it?  We actually designed the shelving unit around the portraits. i had those done as a gift for Nacho last Christmas.  my plan had been to hang them side by side over our headboard, but when Terry saw them, he said you have to put them here so people can see them.  you know what?  i think this guy knows what he's doing!

Dining Seating

and while we're in this part of the house, i think i've found my solution to the bench cushions!  i'm a beginner at sewing, but i did manage to make this a few weeks ago.  i figure if i can wing my way through a zipper without looking at anything, then surely i can make seat cushions.  and i found this posting at Sew Mamma Sew

Source: sewmamasew.com via DeNacho on Pinterest

after reading it, i really think i can do it!  right now i'm trying to decide between two "fabrics" that i found at Target...

as much as i love the punch of color in the one on the left, i'm thinking i better go with the more neutral one on the right because that dining corner is all green!  perhaps i'll do back cushions in various patterns/shades to add a punch of color.  oh, and did you notice?  these are shower curtains. funny thing is, i came up with this idea about 2 months ago and, wouldn't you know it, someone else did too!

Source: thecsiproject.com via DeNacho on Pinterest

and did you notice where she found her fabric? so i must be on the right track! i really hope i can report back successfully on this one!
okay, that's all for now. don't want to give it all away in one long post! i have all my pictures taken & downloaded from the camera, so there really is no excuse for me not to trickle the updates in right?

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let there be light!

well, we did it! pulled the trigger on the dining room light.

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banking on it!

no sooner than i started the bamboozled post, did Tom show up to begin installation of the dining room seating. magic i tell you magic!

and after a little dry fitting, whala!

but no one is perfect and neither is bankie. seems he's not the square we'd like him to be

that's about a inch and a half gap in the corner. truth be told, it's not bankie, it's wallie. who would have guessed our walls were not perfectly square?  OH WAIT! I KNOW THIS ONE! PICK ME! PICK ME! so Tom will be doing a little work on Monday to "straighten" this out.
we also have an outlet underneath that right now is totally useless because of the depth for one.

so Tom's gonna moving that up to bench shelf in case we ever need it. and i hear there is going to be a shortage of outlets so SOME PEOPLE are stocking up. guess i should hang onto mine then.

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