Simple Pleasures

As I write this I am propped up in my nice cozy bed in my jammies. It's like most other nights but actually way better, because today I stripped the bed down to the mattress and washed all the bedding, including the mattress pad, the sheets, the flannel blanket and the duvet. I used my favourite Gain detergent, and took the sheets out of the dryer when they were still warm. Ahh...so glorious! I can already tell I am going to fall asleep with a smile on my face smelling my nice clean pillow, knowing I will be so rested in the morning. What could be better?

My dog Sidney enjoying the clean comfy bed

It got me thinking, it truly is the simple things in life that make us happiest. I am as guilty as anyone of latching onto negative thoughts and feelings at times, and letting them eat away at me, ruining my attitude and causing these simple pleasures to float by, completely unnoticed.

So, starting today, I do solemnly swear that I am going to make a conscious effort to take notice of the good things in everyday life. I believe, and will prove in practise, that when one fills their mind with thoughts of gratitude for the everyday happiness there simply is no room left for negativity, stress, anger and bad moods.

In order to enjoy the little things more it's important to identify what those items might be, so here is my starting list, in no particular order:

• Sleeping on clean fresh sheets.
• Walking in a room where my doggies are sleeping looking extremely comfortable (they are so cute and my heart swells).
• Drinking a really nice cup of green tea, especially when it's chilly out.
• Eating out in a restaurant with my hubby and letting someone else do the cooking.
• Long drives with the hubby, turning on NPR's Ask Me Another podcast and having some good laughs while scrambling to get the trivia answers.
• Cuddling with my nieces and nephew, breathing in their wonderful baby smell.
• Chatting with my mom.
• Sleeping in extra late on the weekend.
• Browsing on MLS (snooping on neighbourhood houses, or looking at dream houses, imagining different neighbourhoods we could move to, etc).
• Playing board games with my family (I can't wait until my baby sister moves home from across the country so the clan can all play together again).
• A calm sunny morning, standing on my front porch with my face turned to the sun, soaking in the rays.
• Cooking a really special meal for someone.
• Practising Yoga - I have to force myself to do it, but always thoroughly enjoy it once I get started.
• Meeting new brides and discussing their wedding ideas. It's always such a happy time in a persons life when they are in love and getting married, so excited for the wedding.
• Watching an old TV show or movie from the 50's-60's.
• Upholding Holiday Traditions - this one is very broad, but I just love traditions. Everything from my family still singing happy birthday and lighting candles on the cake for every single birthday, to our Christmas and New Year's Eve family traditions. These things that have been in practise for so long that not doing them would just seem wrong. They are things that are always attached to good memories so I guess that's why they are special and have become tradition in the first place.
• My husband's nightly ritual of saying "Night, Love You, Have A Good Sleep" which he's been saying every night since we first lived together.
• The feeling when I first step in a hot shower and let the water run through my dry hair, and it tickles my scalp and feels so nice.
• Putting together the perfect outfit and feeling extra confident wearing it.
• Knowing just the right thing to say to someone when they need advice.
• Easting toast with butter - so basic and even plain, yet one of my favourite things to eat.
• Finding a really good recipe in a magazine.
• Redeeming reward points - recently we were able to redeem our RBC Points for over $140 worth of awesome stuff - it's like finding money in your coat pocket.
• Making someone laugh with a perfectly timed punchline or commentary.
• Getting a haircut.
• Going to Costco when there are lots of yummy taste tester samples, especially when it's not too crowded, on a weekday afternoon.
• Big family dinners with all the trimmings.
• Reading a mushy romance novel and crying my eyes out. It's very therapeutic sometimes.
• Being told I've done a good job at something I've worked hard on.
• Having a good hair and makeup day - feeling so beautiful that I've got an extra little strut in my step. On those days I feel so sure people in public are noticing me, which they probably are because I look confident.
• Coming home to a perfectly clean house.
• Taking a trailer load of junk to the dump - it feels like instant weight loss to get rid of excess baggage.
• Vacuuming - I love the act of sucking up the dirt, it feels peaceful to me, brings a little organization and removes chaos from my world. Unfortunately this one doesn't translate into me being motivated to actually vacuum more often.
• Enjoying Friday nights - I love that the weekend has officially started and there is so much possibility ahead for the following two full days. Even when I have a busy schedule over the weekend, or a long to-do list, I like that it's not on someone else's watch, ultimately it's up to me what I devote my time to, unlike the work week. Long weekends get extra bonus happiness points!
• Having a clean bathroom - when it's freshly cleaned top to bottom it's so nice to know it's not on the to-do list again for a little while.
• Thinking up THE perfect gift for someone.
• Drinking Coke in a glass bottle - I'm a Coca Cola addict to begin with, but it always tastes better from a glass bottle with a straw.
• Browsing antique stores - I love looking at old treasures, even though I rarely buy anything. I like to think about what life was like when these items were made or used and also how it would look in my dream home.
• Listening to big band music - 30's and 40's era music is still my music of choice when I want something other than the usual repetitive stuff on the radio.
• Drinking a tall glass of cold water when I'm super thirsty.
• A nice big stretch after sitting at the computer for a while feeling stiff.
• Holding the door for an elderly person in public.
• Giving and Receiving Handmade greetings cards.

This list is sure to grow as I practise taking mental note of all these wonderful moments and joy filled activities in daily life.

Tell me, what are some of your favourite simple pleasures?

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Beauti-tone Countertop Refinishing Kit Review

Our kitchen after refinishing the laminate countertops

Trevor and I bought our first home close to 6 and a half years ago. As with any starter home we opted for the best we could afford on a meagre budget. We were lucky to come across a fully finished 1,600 sq ft, 9 year old home. Compared to other houses in our target price range it had the most to offer. Many of the houses we looked at were 20-40+ years old, and needed extensive repairs or remodelling to suit our tastes and our needs. The newer homes we looked at were only partially finished, with basements that needed drywalling, flooring and painting.

I am so thankful that we chose the one that was move-in ready. It wasn't long after we moved in that we realized (in the midst of rebuilding a wall we tried to remove on our main floor–a story for another day!) that we are really not cut out for home renovations or major DIY projects. We managed to make it through that round of renovations with our brand new marriage in tact (no easy feat!), but vowed it would be a while, if ever, before we tried it again. We decided if there was work to be done, aside from basic painting, we would hire a contractor. We haven't done anything around the house in the 5 years since.

But, there has always been one aspect of our home that I have dispised from day one. Take a look at this picture and I'll give you one guess as to what it is....

Our lovely dusty rose coloured countertops

Our house was slapped up at the same time as 6 others on our street and they used what I can only assume were clearance or reject materials when building the kitchens, to save money. The kitchen functioned just fine, but I knew the minute we had the opportunity we would abolish this home of the horrendous pink counters, which also made their way into both of the original bathrooms. *gag*

This Christmas my parents gave us a real push to finally do something about it, knowing how much it bothered me and how unlikely we were to fix it anytime soon. As a gift they gave us a Beauti-tone Countertop Refinishing Kit. I had heard about a few different styles of refinishing kits, but was not familiar with the Beauti-tone version.

It was purchased on sale for $169.99 (regular $199.99) and it only took about half the kit to complete our kitchen (with plenty left over to rid the bathroom of the ghastly pink as soon as we have time). For non-DIYers like ourselves it was very easy to apply, start to finish was completed in 1 weekend, and we are absolutely thrilled with how it turned out. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a refresh on a budget. The finish looks really nice, it appears to be quite durable so far, and it's very economical. It can even be applied to damaged countertops, with a few minor repairs performed first. I don't think it would ever pass for a solid surface stone countertop, but I would say from a normal distance it could easily pass for brand new stone textured laminate. Based on what I've heard it seems much easier to apply than the Rustoleum or Gianni refinishing kits.

The kit comes in 5 colour choices: black, slate, taupe, tan and ivory. When trying to decide what colour to go with I did some Googling and surprisingly found very little information online about this particular kit. To help others who want to go this route I documented every step of the process, and hopefully my tips below are helpful.

Rather than explain all the little details, a good place to start is to watch this instructional video, and then you can check out my pics and tips below.

Here we go:

Supplies included in the kit:

• 1 can of base coat paint
• 2 cans of stone coating glaze
• 1 can of top coat paint
• 1 paint tray
• 1 roller handle
• 3 rollers
• 2 sheets of 80 grit sandpaper
• 1 dust mask
• 1 paint brush
• 1 instructional DVD
• 1 instruction sheet

Supplies you will need that are not included:

• painters tape (Frog Tape works really well)
• a paintbrush (optional - a better quality one than what is in the kit)
• plastic drop sheets (we used this)
• wooden stir sticks
• a paint can opener (or flathead screwdriver)
• electric palm sander (optional - we used this one)
• 80 grit sandpaper for the electric sander (if using)
• plastic bags for wrapping paintbrushes and trays between coats
• TSP for cleaning
• A vacuum cleaner to remove sanding dust
• plenty of rags
• an Exacto knife
• wrenches for removing the sink

Step 1: Prep

Clear out the kitchen, and prepare for painting. We taped plastic drop sheets over our lower cabinets, taped around the edges of the countertop where it met the wall, and we removed our sink. The kit says you can tape around the sink, but we chose to take it out and I'm glad we did. I didn't want to take a chance on any of the pink remaining visible if the tape job wasn't perfect. Also, the paint was much easier to apply and required much less use of the brush. We thoroughly rubbed down our counters with a damp cloth to remove all dust, dirt and crumbs, then we washed the countertops down with TSP to remove any greasy residue, which will help the paint adhere better.

Step 2: Sand

Scratched it up a little bit

Using the enclosed 80 grit sandpaper we scuffed up the countertops to roughen the surface for the paint to adhere. You can't overdo this part. If it looks like you are making a mess you are doing it right! We vacuumed up the dust and washed again with a damp cloth to ensure we got all of it.

Step 3: Primer Coat 1

1st coat of primer

We stirred the primer with a stir stick and poured it into the included tray. We used the included roller to start applying the paint. At first it didn't want to roll smoothly, but I realized I had pushed the roller onto the handle too tightly. I pulled it out a centimetre and it worked much better. It's important to just apply a light coat. It was tempting to glob it on to cover better but I knew it would only make a mess and waste paint. In the crevices along the edges and along the walls we used the included brush to apply the paint. I found the included brush to be cheap quality and a lot of little black hairs were coming off making a mess. I'd recommend using a better quality brush, I just didn't happen to have one when we got started. We sped up this step by both working at the same time, Trevor rolled and I brushed. I was careful not to miss the underside of the front edge of the countertop (where it curves around underneath to meet the cabinets). With such a drastic colour change I figured it would be noticeable if we missed this spot.

We let it dry for 30 mins. Rather than washing out the brushes I just wrapped them in plastic bags (as well as the tray) so they wouldn't crust over before the next coat is applied.

Step 4: Primer Coat 2

2nd coat of primer

As directed we applied a second coat in the exact same manner as above. They say to apply two coats of primer, however after the 2nd coat went on we decided you could still see too much pink showing through. I wasn't sure if the stone coat would add any further colour coverage, so we decided to go ahead and do a 3rd coat.

Step 5: Primer Coat 3

3rd coat of primer

Optional. If you are sticking to a similar shade you may not need this third coat to fully cover. Our dark pink to ivory transformation definitely required it, and by the 3rd coat we knew it was the right choice because it was fully covering.

After this phase we washed out our brush, roller and tray. The kit comes with a clean roller for each step, but you'll want to remove the first roller and clean the handle part well so it doesn't get too caked in paint.

After the 3rd coat dried it looked nice and solid with no pink showing through

Step 6: Apply the Stone Coating Layer 1

After applying the 1st stone coat

I was a little nervous about this step. It turned out to be extremely easy. The main pointer is to make sure the paint can is stirred very well. The stones will settle to the bottom of the can and it will take some muscle to get it mixed properly. Once you start rolling be sure to let the roller do all the work. When I started the roller was on too tight again, and I had to loosen it off because it wouldn't roll, it just kept pushing the stone coat around. It needs to go on quite thick. I found that the spot where I touched my brush down is where the stone seemed to gather, so I was reloading my brush quite often. Just keep applying until it looks fairly even. During the 2nd coat you can apply extra to any areas that look sparse. The stone coat doesn't dry too quickly, so you have lots of time to re-touch, no need to rush.

The stone coat seemed more like a glaze than a paint, so if we hadn't done a 3rd base coat we definitely would not have covered the remaining pink with this step. I'm so glad we took the time for the 3rd coat.

At this point we could begin to see what the final effect would look like, how exciting!

Step 7: Stone Coat Layer 2

The second coat went on much like the 1st coat, except that this time the goal was to bulk up the stone flecks, and make sure to fill in any spots that were looking sparse. It's easy to get very anal about it, so after going over each area a few times, and then going back for a spot check I had to let it be. Even now I notice a few areas that look less coated, but I suppose it adds a natural look to it.

Step 8: Sanding

Before we started sanding we used some of the extra drop cloth to cover off the doorways into the kitchen, to cover the stove and table (which was piled with stuff), and cover the contents on the top of the fridge. We knew the dust would likely get into every nook and cranny, so covering everything over made clean-up much easier.

The kit provides enough 80 grit sandpaper to sand everything by hand, but we chose to use our electric palm sander. I'm very glad we did because it made quick work of smoothing everything out very evenly. I was able to get the sander all the way into the corners, so I didn't have to hand sand anything. It was hard to know how much to sand as the stone showed through pretty well before we started sanding, but while sanding it revealed the multi-coloured flecks even more. I wanted to get it as smooth as possible without removing too much texture, so I just used my judgement.

Once the sanding was done we vacuumed up the dust, took down the drop cloths, and wiped everything down with a damp cloth.

Step 9: Top Coat Layer 1

The top coat was very easy to apply. The hardest part was making sure we didn't miss a spot. We found that shining a flashlight on the area of application made it easier to see any spots that weren't shiny from the wet top coat. To avoid a bubbly rough finish you have to be very careful not to roll over each spot too many times.

Step 10: Top Coat Layer 2

After the 1st coat dried, we did the 2nd coat, cleaned up our brushes, removed the plastic drop cloths and sat back to wait for it to dry. Once it was fully dry to the touch, but not totally cured, about 2-3 hours later, we took an Exacto knife and scored along the edges of the painters tape. The scoring was an important step because there were too many layers of paint caked on for the tape to peel off easily otherwise. After scoring it came off easily and created a nice clean edge.

And here is the final result:

All put back together and looking great!

The results were so good that now I think the oak cabinets are looking a little dated and shabby. Maybe a coat of paint is just what's needed. To be continued...

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