Houston, We Have A Problem (But Take A Look At My Awesome Booty!)

Okay, first of all, nooooooo…I don’t mean THAT kind of booty! After all, this IS an interior decorating blog, remember? But more on that in a bit. First, let me tell you about my major kitchen blunder.

Here I was, thinking everything was going along just fine, until I tried to turn on my undercabinet lighting on the stove side of the kitchen. I flipped the switch and…NOTHING. My heart sank.

You see, there used to be an electrical outlet above the stove, as you can see in this “before” picture of the kitchen.


But when I got my new stove, it covered up that outlet, making it completely useless.


Since this kitchen is soooo tiny, and there are two other outlets on the other side, I decided it wasn’t worth the hassle to move the outlet. So when I began to tile this side, I decided to remove the outlet completely.

I oh-so-carefully removed the plugs, placed wire nuts over each individual wire (two white, two black, two ground wires), and wrapped tight with electrical tape. I then tucked them into the little box, and tiled right over it.


Now anyone reading this who has any electrical experience at all knows immediately what I did wrong.

You see, by wrapping the wires individually, I broke the circuit. I should have wrapped the black wires together, and the white wires together, so it would keep the electrical current flowing to subsequently-wired outlets. By interrupting the circuit at that outlet, all of the subsequent outlets now have no electricity.

Soooo, having realized my mistake, I had to dig out the grout from around the tile that’s hiding the hole where the outlet used to be.


I guess it was too much to ask for this remodel to go off without a hitch. And it really has been smooth sailing up to this point, so I can’t complain too much.

Soooo, that’s where it stands for now. I just didn’t have the energy (or the will) to fix it yesterday. Instead, I went SHOPPING!

Wanna see my booty? 😀

Okay, so maybe I didn’t have to steal or plunder to get these things, but the things I purchased were absolute steals! I couldn’t believe the prices!

First up…my new baskets. Remember those cubbies in the eating area? Well, I needed five baskets for those, and I was DREADING purchasing them since baskets usually run about $30 each (and of course, because I’m so cheap.)

But I went to Michael’s yesterday and found these incredible baskets for 50% off! They were regularly priced at $19.99, so I got them for $9.99 each!! YAY!


(Please try to ignore the lack of trim at the ceiling, and the ungrouted tile! I’m workin’ on it!)

So I got all five baskets for just under $50. Now if that’s not a steal, I don’t know what is! But that’s not all.

Remember this wall of art I want to do in my living room?


Well, I found these frames, also at Michael’s, and also $50 off! Regularly $14.99, and I got them for $7.49 each!!


Of course, I wanted white frames. But at those prices, I’ll gladly break out the spray paint!

(On another note, I also purchased the new paint for my walls so they’ll be more creamy yellow instead of lemon yellow. Now I just need to find time.)

Well, I suppose I’m off to do a bit of electrical work. Have a great day!

 

 

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4 Comments

  1. I love what you have done with your new kitchen! Even if you did make a little mistake with the electric outlet, the overall outcome is so worth it– sacrificing a light. I love the color wood stain on the counter that you paired with the stovetop tile blue/green. gorgeous. I think another DIY inexpensive addition that would look really cool here is adding a small wood corbel under kitchen countertops that extend out. You can stain them to match the existing wood color that you currently have. Good luck!