New Year - New $100 Room Challenge

Happy New Year, everyone! We are still in Christmas mode over here, celebrating the full 12 days of Christmas. While I totally understand wanting to get a jump on decorating for Christmas, by Christmas itself it seems so many people are "over" Christmas that they don't get to savour all the season has to offer, which is such a shame. I highly recommend holding off a little in the beginning in order to to really enjoy and celebrate all through this time.

Phew! That was a detour!

All that aside, as we enter into a new year, and as we settle into a more manageable routine with baby, we are looking forward to all those projects we've been putting on hold for the last while.

Thankfully, there's nothing like a challenge to get you motivated, and Erin over at Lemons Lavender and Laundry has once again invited us to join her in remaking one room in our homes for $100 or less. I love seeing all the innovative ways people can refresh a space for so little, and LOVE the way our entry ended up after we participated last time. Check it out here if you haven't seen it yet.

This time around, we will be tackling our kitchen, and more specifically our kitchen island/peninsula.

The living area in our house is open concept, but when it came to the kitchen, we felt that it was a little too open concept, and were on the lookout for something we could add to help divide the space a bit. When some friends were moving last year, they decided to get rid of this second-hand set of bottom cabinets they had been using for storage. Though in need of some updating, it was pretty much exactly what we needed, and fit the space perfectly, and -- almost as importantly - fit in our car! And so it has sat for the last year, doing a great job of providing extra counterspace, and dividing our space nicely, but pretty well untouched aesthetically.

My wish list for this space is as follows:

- Pull out the guts and install a pull out garbage and recycling

- Replace the door fronts

- Replace the handles/pulls

- Paint!!!!!!

And if we get really ambitious, and somehow the budget stretches itself amazingly well:

- Replace the back

- New countertop

But, again, that's mostly wishful thinking this point.

We do already have the hardware to convert the drawer - bought last spring at Ikea - so that's a start. Now we just have to convert this work horse into a thing of beauty as well as function.

Feel free to work alongside us with your own room update using the hashtag #100roomchallenge on your favourite social media account - no blog required! We would love to see what you tackle. And don't forget to visit all the other bloggers participating though the links bellow.