In Week 4, we started the kitchen transformation! You won’t believe some of the ‘Before & After’. Since pictures speak a thousand words, you can either watch the video or read about it below!
Overview
I share more of my personal journey of transforming my kitchen and turning my dream into reality. I talk about the obstacles I faced and how I overcame them by embracing imperfection and trying out new things. I encourage you to turn your dreams into reality and not to be afraid of making mistakes along the way.
I also share my experience of learning new skills like sanding and staining wood to create my own floating shelves. Additionally, I emphasized the importance of being connected to yourself in order to be connected to your community. Overall, I hope my reflections provide insights into how you can approach life’s challenges and transformations with a positive mindset.
Side Note: If you prefer to read and view the images, just scroll down below
Kitchen: Week 4 Transcript
0:25 – Lessons & Tips
Well, hello beautiful ones. It’s Stacey here, the Head Vixen of the Vixen Academy. And I hope y’all are doing really good tonight cause I’m doing great and I want to share some fun stuff with you this week. I got a little bit of show and tell. I’m going to share the kitchen transformation and how she’s looking. I also want to share lessons and tips I’ve gathered along the way from my digital nomad experience and this whole life expansion journey I’ve been on for the past 18 months.
I look forward to sharing with you, what has become a true passion, and my heart is singing so bright, and I know MOST of it is because I’m finally, living and being in my home, my own space after a year and a half.
1:34 – Trying Something New
I want to share this, so let’s hop into things. In the spirit of doing new stuff, I’m testing out, various things on how to deliver content to you in a way that’s easy for me because if it’s easy for me, it shows and it comes out when I’m recording and I know it. It creates a better experience for you. So, this isn’t about being perfect, this is about trying out things, seeing what works, seeing what doesn’t. And it’s okay if other people are watching you in the middle of your process.
2:16 – Embrace Imperfection…Wabi Sabi Y’all
And this is coming from someone who says, “I’m a recovered perfectionist”, so I’m embracing the Japanese concept of Wabi Sabi. And if you missed what that is, Wabi Sabi is a Japanese concept, which stands for seeing the gift and beauty in imperfection. That is something I am embracing within my life. I’m embracing more Wabi Sabi because in doing that, it just sets me free and it also can set you free from the anxiety that perfectionism creates.
2:57 – The Kitchen Concept (aka My Dream Kitchen)
If you’ve been with me for a while, you know, this was one of the renderings (or design) I did for my kitchen with the 1st Builder that I fired. And boy, if that wasn’t a lemonade moment. It was an obstacle that definitely turned into an amazing opportunity even with some of the ups and downs.
Do y’all remember this!
I want you to take a good look of what the concept was, what the dream was for the kitchen. Because now I’m going to share with you the reality. It’s no longer a dream. It’s now in 3D and I can touch it, live it, embrace it and share it with you – you too can turn your dreams into a reality.
Here’s what my kitchen looked like when it was delivered from Builder #2. It’s very far from a dream right now.
It’s halfway there, and as you can see, there’s no flooring, and there aren’t any handles on the cabinets. There are no floating shelves on the walls. And, there isn’t even a refrigerator or washer and dryer.
4:45 – Seizing Opportunity
My kitchen ended up being a canvas where I got the opportunity to show my creativity. Builder #2 didn’t offer floating shelves or anything of that assortment. It was like – cabinets or no cabinets. So, I went with no cabinets because I wanted floating shelves. And there was something else I really wanted…butcher block. I don’t like it as a counter surface for various reasons; but this was my opportunity to get it in my house in another way.
5:27 – Learned New Skill Working With Wood
I took on the opportunity to learn how to sand wood. Then after sanding the wood, I actually learned how to properly stain it. They have these cool staining mints. I didn’t even know they existed. And so I was out on my deck, staining the butcher block. That turned into being my floating shelves.
This is how the 1st part of it turned out.
6:11 – Builder #1’s Crazy Pricing! & Builder #2 Doesn’t Offer What I Want
Here’s part of the reality. Builder #1 wanted to charge me $8000 to do floating shelves in the kitchen and bedroom – $8000!!! I said to myself, “What is he smoking? That’s ridiculous”. Yet Builder # 2 didn’t give me that option at all, so what to do?
7:06 – My Creative Solution
I procured it from the same company I got my floors from. When I was in their showroom, I saw the butcher block, then I saw the price, and I was sold. I’ll share more at the end. I got (1) twelve ft and (1) eight ft slab of butcher block, and I used them in so many different ways throughout my house, even in ways I didn’t think I was going to. It was all divine and it is beautiful. I hope you enjoy it as well.
7:44 – The Realization of a Dream
Before I give you a tour of the “Before and After” pictures, I’d like to share, when I look at the pictures on the screen, I say to myself, “Wow, that’s mine.” The past 18 months, the years of focusing on this dream, and now it is REAL. It’s a chapter in my life. This is what life truly is about, everybody. My aunt, who’s like a 2nd mother, said, “There is a reason for every season.” This is what happens when we go through big life transformations.
8:45 – Inspiration Moment! Life Unfolds Like Chapters in a Book
Events are story lines. So if we start thinking about our lives like a chapter in a book, we know that whatever we’re currently experiencing – if it’s challenging, it is temporary.
What goes down will come up. This is how life is. This dream that I’ve had I’m now living in the reality of it. This chapter has been completed and now I’m embarking on the next chapter in my life. This is why they call it the Book of Life.
I want you to think about what is currently going on in your life? If you’re going through challenges and you said to yourself, “You know what, this is temporary.” I want you to check into your body and see how does it feel.
Then, if you’re on a good slope, going up, you too know it’s only temporary, so have an attitude of gratitude and appreciation. This is what will continue the goodness in your life. And if there’s downtime, it will be short lived. How does that shift and change your perspective?
You can listen to my Podcast, “Turning Disappointment Into Opportunity“
10:26 – How YOU Show That YOU Deserve Something OR Someone
In terms of turning your dreams into reality, it’s feasible when you know, and feel within yourself, that you deserve it because you are worthy. As I’m sharing more of my journey and opening up my home, this is the first time I’ve ever done this, so it’s a stretch for me. One of the things I want to infuse within the Tiny Vixen is connection. Your first connection is with yourself. When you’re connected to yourself, it’s easier for you to be connected to others, so let’s continue on.
11:24 – Cooktop Area Before & After
Here’s one example of how I’m using some of the additional butcher block; it’s underneath my range and I know y’all are looking at it and saying, okay, there’s something that seems to be missing. Well, I opted to do things a little bit differently and unique. I said to myself, “Why not? If I don’t like it, I can always change it out.” Take pressure off yourself, if something doesn’t turn out the way you want, it’s temporary, you can always change it.
This is how the area underneath my stove was transformed all right. You can see, the white in the back is gone and the butcher block underneath has been built into a stand for my Panasonic Unit, but it also stores my bakeware. Additionally, to be really efficient with space, I chose not to have a microwave above my range.
Instead, I have the Panasonic, which is a microwave, air fryer, a convection oven, and a broiler. And I’ve used two of the four functions, and I’m loving it so far.
13:32 – Kitchen Cabinet Before & After
When the kitchen arrived, there weren’t any handles on them (the cabinets). I had the contractor drill the holes. This is what the transformation looks like. It went from plain Jane to having a little bit of sass.
Like I said, the Vixen Academy is feminine leadership training, but the sassy and provocative way. This is how I’m living up to the sass part of the Vixen Academy…The Gold! I’m so happy with the gold tones because it just makes my heart sing.
14:10 – Refrigerator Before & After…WOW!
Here’s the next transformation which was very interesting. It was my refrigerator. It went from THIS to THAT. Here’s the story y’all, this was the 4th refrigerator I selected.
When you’re looking at measurements on a blueprint is one thing, but when you have it in 3D form, it’s a totally different ball game. This is why you buy the appliances after you’re in your home. I’m so glad I waited until the house was delivered before I purchased my refrigerator. Thank you, Lowe’s, for searching for this refrigerator because I had to squeeze the refrigerator through a narrow passageway so she could fit in that spot.
I’m not into chrome. So, if you remember the original design, I had a red refrigerator. Now that I’m in the space, I went for something different. I wanted my refrigerator to match the cabinets. Just like my Tuxedo kitchen cabinets, even my refrigerator is Tuxedo.
The Spice of Life
So here is a clue into my next transformation.
Bottles…24 uniform spice bottles. A first in my kitchen ever. That may surprise some of you, especially those of you that have known me for a while, because I’m an organized person. But, if you were to look in my spice rack, not so much.
With living this dream, I want to do things that I’ve never done for myself before.
17:12 – A Reflection of Your Self-Worth
How I appreciate myself, is how I demonstrate my self-worth. This goes for EVERYONE! I do this work not because I have to, or to please others, but because I want to. Think about this, your self-worth, doing things for yourself isn’t an obligation. Since it’s not an obligation, you have enthusiasm (and the courage) to do things differently. This is what I did with those bottles. I went from this mismatch of chaos to that.
I’m very, very proud to share I actually made the spice rack. Yes, I did. I even repurposed left over butcher block and made the riser for the spice rack. To give you a comparison, with Builder #1 the spice rack I was going to get cost somewhere around $200, since I created this myself, the spice rack costs me a whopping $15.
19:32 – Big Picture Transformation (Left Side)
The left side of my kitchen. You can see what it went from – no floors, no handles, no shelving, TO what you see on the right.
My flooring is in, thank you, LL Flooring.
My handles are on, thank you Wayfair.
Floating shelves are up, thank you LL Flooring.
You can see the refrigerator, thank you. Lowe’s. And this picture was actually taken before the refrigerator, had the opportunity to get wrapped.
20:13 – Big Picture Transformation (Right Side)
So here on the other side of my kitchen, look at my range area down below, the doors are off. Look at the change on the upper cabinets, there are two things that are different. It has handles, but it’s a different color than the lower cabinet handles and some cabinet doors came off as well. We did a special treatment, having floating shelves without having to build them.
23:22 – Luxury for Less TIP!
Builder #1 wanted to charge me $8000 for floating shelves in the kitchen and bedroom. They were maple, an inch and a half thick with invisible brackets drilled into the wood, but being a savvy shopper and embracing luxury for less, has turned into game for me.
Using Acacia butcher block, it costs me a whopping $650. You’ve only seen how I’ve used it in the kitchen, but I’ve also used it in several areas of the house – way more than design #1 for only $650 and that’s including the hardware.
This is how you turn an obstacle into an opportunity by finding a creative solution. That’s what I did.
25:57 – Follow Your Dream…Follow Your Bliss
If you have a dream that you deeply want, it is there for you. In each moment, take the next step forward. If you have a block, or if there is resistance, work with someone to help you break through that road block to transcend the resistance. On the other side of that is your happiness, is your dream.
I had some really tough moments on the nomad journey and I had some really high moments on the journey as well. The toughest moment was bopping around from house to house to house to house. What I’ve discovered, things that used to irritate me, like washing the dishes, don’t anymore. For a year and a half, I didn’t have a dishwasher, that’s why the Tiny Vixen has a dishwasher. It’s important to me.
When I wash dishes, I no longer have an attitude or feel irritated about it. I use it as a form of meditation and appreciation.
What is your dream? Are taking those steps to follow it?
If you are, what is your dream? But if you’re not following your dream, what’s the road block stopping you?
Many of my clients and students learned to gather the courage, and own their worth, in the Love Goddess Mastery Training allowing them to follow their bliss and go after their dreams.
I chose to share my journey with you as encouragement for you to follow your dreams. If you feel called, just reach out to me and we can have a conversation. There’s a path you CAN follow to realize your dreams. We’re on this journey together. And with that, everyone, we are complete, and Namaste!
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