Remember when I decided to move my office to the basement? And remember when I moved my old office art wall to the kitchen office? Well, the one thing I hadn’t gotten around to moving was this Tord Boontje light that was in there:
I finally got to it this weekend:
I also shuffled some things around …..
again.
So what tweaking did you do around your house this weekend?
(Photos: FROM THE RIGHT BANK)
I have a quick sneak peek for you guys today. We have a small office on one side of the kitchen and for some reason it seems to be the place where all the junk ends up. So it was looking like this for a while:
A hot mess. I couldn’t take it anymore so it was one of the things I tackled over the holidays.
The first thing I did was to get rid of the doors on the upper cabinets. That gave me more display space (which I don’t have much of in the kitchen). That little bulletin board was also getting on my nerves so I tore it out. Then it was just a matter of decluttering and organizing.
If the art wall looks familiar, it’s because it’s the one from my old office. You may remember I moved my office to the basement. I have different plans for the walls down there so this collection of travel photos and posters needed a new home. If you want to know about the individual pieces, you can find it in this post. I just got the “Tara” sign when I took my parents to visit the Margaret Mitchell House over Christmas. (You know, one of those touristy things you do when you have out-of-town visitors.) I like to have a souvenir of all the cities/countries where I’ve lived and I couldn’t resist the kitsch factor. Interesting side note: Did you know that 2011 is the 75th anniversary of the publication of Gone With the Wind? Or maybe frankly, you don’t give a damn. Hehehe…..
So, shall we take bets on how long it’ll stay this neat?
And for those of you who weren’t on Twitter or Facebook last night: Yesterday, I dove into the fantastic new issue of Lonny (like I always do the minute it goes live) and I was completely immersed in the very cool home of Angel Dormer, style manager for West Elm, when lo and behold what do I see but this:
A lot of squealing ensued. I mean a lot. Thank you, Angel and Lonny!
(Photos: From the Right Bank)
I have been in love with Schumacher’s “Views of Paris” wallpaper forever. And I mean forever. There are the sentimental reasons plus I’ve always loved drawings – particularly, architectural drawings. Anyway, I went out on a little design outing with Julie of Milk and Honey Home and Sherry of Design Indulgence the other day and saw it up on a wall. I nearly died. It. Looked. So. Good. Thanks to Sherry I came home with a sample, along with samples of some of my longtime favorite patterns:
They are Cole & Son’s “Cow Parsley,” Fornasetti’s “Mediterranean,” Hicks’ Hexagon and Schumacher’s “New York, New York” (another city that has special meaning to me).
After I got them home, I started walking around to see if there was any space left that I could wallpaper and I think I’ve found the perfect spot for the “Views of Paris.”
This is the butler’s pantry/wet bar. As you can see, it’s a pretty narrow space and I think that’s why it would look good here. I think the pattern could get overwhelming in a larger room.
A couple of pics so you can see the scale.
What do you think? Should I go for it?
Today I’d like to show you the eat-in space of our kitchen. To make it more dramatic, let’s see what it used to look like first. As some of you may recall, this was the light that was there when we moved in:
Changing it was one of the first things I wanted to do but I couldn’t decide on one/find one that I liked. But I also couldn’t stand looking at what was there so we removed it and this is how the eat-in area has looked for the past several months.
Pretty bare. Well I finally found the light I wanted and we installed it over the weekend:
I found it at Providence, a cute local shop that I wrote about last week on Averill’s blog. The owner told me she found it in Florence. It also appeared in a photo shoot in – I think she said – Southern Living. Those aren’t the reasons I bought it but it’s always fun when there’s a story behind a piece.
It’s so nice to finally have a light over the table! I plan on getting small round bulbs for it but I had these lying around.
You may have noticed that I changed the dining table too. We bought this farmhouse table for the dining room in our house in Seattle, which was a long rectangular room. It was from a local woodworking shop there. But for some reason, it never looked quite right in that room so I ended up using it in my studio. I decided to try it here because the space is pretty large and the round table didn’t seem substantial enough for it. I think it works much better.
For new readers, here is a complete source list for everything you see:
Light: Providence
Chairs: Arne Jacobsen Series 7 from Fritz Hansen
Plates: Crate & Barrel (I don’t see this style on their site anymore.)
Pitcher/Vase: Sentou (Paris)
Napkins: Anthropologie
Purple Stalks in Vase: Whole Foods (Does anyone know what they are? They look black in the photos but they’re actually a dark violet.)
Next, I need to tidy up the office area of the kitchen and then the kitchen will finally be finished!
Did you tackle any projects over the weekend?
(Photos: From the Right Bank)
I finally decided on the wall sconces for the master bath. They’re part of the Lugarno series from Restoration Hardware. We have two vanities in there so that means four scones so I wanted something really simple because I think four of anything can get to be too much. Our bathroom kind of looks like this with gray marble so I think these will work well. They’re on back order so it’ll be a few weeks before they arrive. I’ll post photos as soon as they’re installed.
RH is at the local mall and while I was there, I got a couple of pretty things for the kitchen. The tea towel is from Anthropologie. (It doesn’t seem to be on their website.) It looks like an old map with a little piece that looks hand-stitched. And you know I can’t resist anything that’s drawn by hand (or looks like it was).
Guy Wolff hand-thrown pots are on sale at RH so I grabbed one. I just love the color and details. I’m thinking about going back for more. I just put some cuttings from the garden in it for now. The pot in the back is from Ikea and look at the pretty hydrangeas from our own garden! There are a ton of blue ones out there too. You don’t know how exciting it is for ol’ black thumbs here to have things growing in my garden. It’s only because they were here long before me(!)
Thank you so much for all of your support yesterday. They still haven’t taken down my content but it seems we’re at least being heard. They have now removed their contact form and closed comments on all posts so there is no way for anyone to get in touch with them. I guess they got tired of hearing from us! I’m going to follow up with some of the readers’ suggestions and see what happens. Thank you all so much!
***Note: if you are reading this through Google Reader or some other reader, you may only see a partial post. Something has gone crazy with my feeds. I’m looking into it and hope to have it sorted out soon.***
Since the Before & After post about our kitchen on Pure Style Home last week, there have been a couple more changes.
First the new lights got installed:
Totally digging them. They’re exactly the industrial element I wanted. For those who asked about the source: I found them at an antique mall here in Atlanta called Antiques & Beyond.
Second, my handyman – handymen, actually – were here all week working on various things, including switching out the faucet. We went from this:
to this:
I looked at dozens of faucets in all price ranges but I just couldn’t make up my mind. (Surprise, surprise.) But I really needed to replace the old one because it sprayed water everywhere if you turned it on beyond a trickle. So I decided to get something inexpensive to make do until I find the one. I chose the Hjuvik from Ikea because it’s similar to the style I want, very reasonable ($249) and comes with a ten-year warranty. (That should give me enough time to find something!)
Now, if I can just find some sconces for the window area, a room in this house may actually be finished! Seeing the new lights, what kind of sconces do you think would look good?
And in other news, it’s time to announce the winners of the India giveaway.
The winner of the pillow cover is visualbenz and the winner of the tote bag is Jenna. Congratulations, girls, I’ll be emailing you later today. And thanks to everyone who entered!
I have the pleasure of guest blogging today for the very lovely Lauren at Pure Style Home – where I am sharing a little Before & After of our new kitchen. So please head over if you’d like a sneak peek!
Don’t forget to enter this week’s giveaway!
I want to replace the two pendant lights over the kitchen island as part of my lighting overhaul and I think I’ve narrowed down the choices to two styles.
First is something classic but industrial like these:
The second option (and on the complete other side of the spectrum of course), something frilly and fancy like these:
and these from the kitchen I’ve posted before:
I like these two styles because I need to go with a style that I can carry on into all the areas that the kitchen opens onto: the the eat-in area, the family room and the wet bar. (All these spaces need lighting too!)
In either case, they will be white because I think that’s what would look best with the colors of the cabinets, counters, and furniture, etc. We’re far from a decision but at least we’re getting closer, right?
(Photos: 1-2.via Head over Heels 3.Design Sponge 4-5.Domino 6.House & Garden)
Happy 2010, everyone! I hope you had a fun night ringing in the new year. We had a nice dinner out and then it was pretty much early to bed for us old folks!
Earlier in the day though there was a lot of activity in our new kitchen. (Again, sorry for the crappy pics.) It’s a perfectly nice kitchen but after obsessing over gray all year, I decided to bite the bullet and have the cabinets painted a dark gray. I looked at so many shades of gray, I was having dreams about it! It took me days to narrow it down, pick one, change my mind several times and then finally make a decision. In the end I went with my first choice – Benjamin Moore “Trout Gray.”
My painter brought the paint over yesterday and I loved it more in person. I can’t wait to see how it’ll turn out!
The oven area also got reconfigured yesterday:
You can’t really tell from this pic but it was a hot mess. It’s much better and more user-friendly now.
I’m also going to replace the sconces above the sink – again, there’s nothing wrong with them, they’re just a little on the fug side. Here they are yanked out of the walls:
Oh, and we’re going shopping for a fridge this weekend. I told you things were cooking!
Happy New Year, everyone! I wish you all much happiness, love and of course, good design in 2010!
I’m going to meet with my painter tomorrow to talk about paint colors. I’m going to do it – I’m going to paint the kitchen cabinets gray! I’ve been staring at paint swatches all weekend and still haven’t come to a decision. If anyone has a gray paint they like, please share.
One of my readers asked whether I had seen the kitchen in Gwyneth Paltrow’s Hamptons house. I had seen it but didn’t remember the kitchen so I’m glad she brought it up because I actually love it. (Thank you, Engracia!)
Having decided this I’m now considering more gray for elsewhere in the house too. Like the built-ins (there are three in the house). I think they would look amazing painted like this:
I’m even thinking of painting the dining room and master bedroom a light shade of gray like this:
And what about this entry:
At this rate, my entire house is going to be gray!
As for the house itself, if you’re wondering whether I’m ever going to move in, I’m wondering the same thing. I’m seriously hating our bank right now. The only silver (hey, a shade of gray!) lining in all this is that it is going to happen but it’s just taking much longer than it should have. It’s out of my hands so it’s time for some yoga, meditation and deep breathing. LOTS of it. We’re also going up North to my parents’ for Christmas so I’m going to try to just enjoy the holiday and not think about it for a while. I will keep you posted.
(Photos: 1.canada.com 2.D Magazine 3.via Casa Sugar 4.Chicago Home Magazine 4.Decorpad 5. via Desire to Inspire)
Until we actually close on our house, I’m trying to walk a fine line between planning our move and not getting too carried away in case it falls through. And that, my dear readers, is no easy task! It’s even harder not to talk about the house because that’s all I want to do! But on the off chance that things don’t work out, I’ve been doing my best to exercise restraint.
I’m going to make a small exception today (because I’m about to burst) to talk about the kitchen. The kitchen in the new house is very traditional – like the house itself – and the walls and cabinets are painted a cream color. It looks something these kitchens except with with a beadboard back splash in the same cream color and marble countertops that are just slightly reddish.
I’m entertaining the idea of having the cabinets painted gray. I know! That’s HUGE for me since I’m all about white. But we are going to have the whole house repainted (white, of course), including the kitchen, so if I’m ever going to do something like this, now is the time.
I’m planning on using a white and gray palette throughout the house so I think a gray kitchen would tie into the rest of the house.
But the kitchen opens onto the family room (or as I recently learned, a “keeping room” as it’s sometimes called in the South) which will have white walls. Do you think that would disrupt the flow?
I would probably go with a lighter shade of gray like the ones above or this:
(The marble countertops are just a little darker than the ones above and it has a farmhouse sink too – love!)
But this dark one is very appealing too.
In the end I will probably chicken out like I always do because I’m always scared that I’ll get sick of the color. But right now, I really, really want to go for it. I’ve even collected paint swatches. So what do you think? Should I do it? Or will my love of gray fade and leave me wishing I had stuck to my tried and true white?
[Traveling Thursday will return in the new year!]
(Photos: 1&4 via Cote de Texas 2,6,8.House Beautiful 3.Decorpad 5.via Apartment Therapy)
I’m loving this kitchen for so many reasons – all the white, the great use of space with the very shallow open shelving, the black and white accessories with pops of pink and . . .
a pink sink! I would have never in a million years thought of color for a sink. But why not? I love this idea.
We have this window in the kitchen above the sink which is nice and all but the view is kind of hideous. So I usually just keep the blinds closed but that means the kitchen doesn’t get any natural light. I had been planning on having the glass replaced with frosted glass at some point but a couple of weekends ago, I was in one of those “I can’t stand this another minute and must do something about it right now” moods. I did some research on the internet and ultimately decided that contact paper would be the fastest and easiest solution, at least temporarily. So I went to the hardware store and of course they didn’t have anything but weird colors and patterns but next to it was this white laminate paper. I wasn’t sure if it would be opaque enough but decided to give it a go:
and here’s the final result:
The laminate paper turned out to be just opaque enough to hide the view and let light filter through at the same time. Not bad, eh? And it cost all of $10. As you can see I also got my hands on some Orla Kiely goodies from Target this weekend. I wasn’t planning on getting the canisters and pitcher but they’re pretty cute and I figured I’d regret it if I didn’t once they were gone for good. I managed to get a bunch of other little projects done this weekend too so I’ll be posting about those the rest of the week. Hope you had a good one.
I managed to get to Crate & Barrel this weekend for dinnerware. The set I wanted turned out to be on sale. Bonus! I had planned on getting only one bowl but both sizes looked useful so I got both.
(nytimes.com)
This is what I was hoping to do yesterday – stand around happily surrounded by my bounty of Orla Kiely stuff from Target. But it seems the debut date is February 15, not February 1, at least in some stores. The wait is KILLING me.
I decided it’s time to replace our everyday dinnerware. I’m tired of the white bistro set we’ve had for a while now. A part of me just wants a clean, simple rimmed set like this one from Crate & Barrel:
But as usual, another part of me wants something entirely different – more organic like:
(heathceramics.com)
(crateandbarrel.com)
(cb2.com)
The collection from Heath is definitely an investment and I’d rather spend the money on something else. But it’s SO lovely. I know I’ll stick with white or cream but this one caught my eye because of the shape and because I love orange:
(cb2.com)
It looks red but the description says it’s orange. And by the way, you can’t beat CB2′s prices, can you?
