common ground : kitchen

Showing posts with label kitchen. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

House Progress...

After working all weekend painting at the new house, I've come down with some kind of flu or virus. Who knows what this junk is, but Sunday it started with a sore throat like maybe just allergies, and by yesterday morning I could barely swallow. I'm better today, but have laryngitis. bummer. I'll survive.

We did get a lot accomplished over the weekend; our younger kiddo came over to help and between the three of us we finished painting the living areas of the lower level. (2 bedrooms, bath, hall, family room, and small kitchen/bar area)... yay! I don't know why I didn't get any finished photos, it was late and I'm sure the lighting wouldn't have been the best. But we can cross that huge job off the list!

Here's the World Market Gray Vintage Chandelier I tweaked a couple of weeks ago. It was just installed, so I need to straighten the arms a little, but it helps get this area moving in the direction I'm headed. If you look closely next to the window, you can see the first coat of the Benjamin Moore Smokey Taupe paint. It's a warm browny gray, and I think we'll be using it throughout the house. I had a lot of angst over choosing the color, but after two coats, and getting rid of the original color, it's turning out really pretty.

This is an area I didn't show you in the earlier house pics. It's the kitchen eating area, and I knew we were going to change things up in here with a little demolition. Some of you will probably think I've lost my mind, but this is a nice size area, 11x14, and it was completely taken up with cabinets and a counter the previous owner had installed as a homework station for her three kids.

If I were to leave the cabinets and counter, I wouldn't have room for my white kitchen china cabinet or much of anything else. So our guys removed them and are in the process of filling holes and moving electrical outlets. The cabinets are being re-installed in the laundry room, so I'll still have access for kitchen items that I don't use often.

(Kitchen China Cabinet and Farm Table from the old house)

I think the space will even out nicely when the furniture gets in.

Here's Hubby scrunched into the tv niche in the basement. It's a little larger than the one upstairs. We thought painting it the same color as the walls would help make it look better. We'll see...these tv niche things are making me nuts!

I finally decided on area rugs and they came last week. (yes, I just went with the black) They are gorgeous, and have a little trendy take on a traditional oriental rug. (Hint...there's some major pattern going on) Here's a peek. Can't wait to get the painting done to roll these babies out.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

French Farmhouse Kitchen Chandelier Paint Project

OK, that's a mouthful.

With only nine days until we get the keys to the house, I'm trying to get a couple of projects out of the way ahead of time. We've been making a list and it just keeps getting longer and longer. No matter how much you try to be frugal, moving just always ends up costing you more than you want to fork over. I'm trying to reuse our big Country French Chandelier from the previous Dining Room, but I wanted something new for the kitchen.

I'm showing the "afters", first...

All the rooms flow together, and while the lighting won't be "matchy matchy", I've sort of felt like the kitchen lighting needs to "blend in" and not stand out too much. I thought about a lantern, but I've opted to use a lantern in the entry, so I wanted to do something French Farmhouse-y and light for the kitchen.

I've been scouring the Internet since we put the contract on the house, and I found a great little chandy at a great price from World Market. It was just the right size, distressed wood and metal, and a pretty gray/white finish. We even checked it out while we were at one of the St. Louis stores a few weeks ago. perfect. but they didn't have it in stock.

So I ordered it as soon as we got home. It came in a few days, but the only problem was that it was painted a much darker sort of greenish gray than what I'd seen online or at the store. hmmmm?.... I had read the reviews before I ordered, so I wasn't totally surprised.

Hard to see, it's still a pretty chandy, just not what I needed, which was a grayish white. And it had a black cord which needed some camouflaging.

So, first thing was a coat of ASCP in Coco.

Then a coat of French Linen...

with a coat of Pure White on top.

then I mixed a combination of Pure White with a little Coco

to tone it down a little.

So now it's more what I had in mind. Just took a little experimenting to get there. I will put on a light clear spray finish once I've had the chance to see it at the new house. Glad I didn't give up when I saw the out-of-the-box color finish.

love these acanthus leaves.

I probably should be packing some stuff, but I packed so much stuff for months and months, I'm totally burnt out. I've just decided I'm throwing the majority of things in laundry baskets and carting them over in the back of our suv. the lazy man's way of moving... But it's only a couple of miles away, so I think I'll take my chances. te he.

Joining in at these great parties:

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Treasure Hunt at From My Front Porch to Yours

Share Your Cup at Mrs. Olson's

Creative Friday at Jennifer Rizzo

Shabbilicious Friday at Shabby Art Boutique

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Sunday's at Home with Thoughts from Alice

Thrifty Treasures at Southern Hospitality

xoxo,

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Kitchen Sitting Room

I was ready to show you a new tabletop vignette I had put together when I realized that I hadn't shown the rest of the Kitchen Sitting Room pics. This space is such a departure from what I had at the other house, but still "my style". I had been concentrating on just whites in the small kitchen eating area, so it was fun to bring in some "woods" over here. I like a mix of the woody tones and whites and neutrals, and having this unexpected space off the kitchen, I have been able to use some pieces I never thought I'd be able to.

This big armoire was in the basement holding quilts and pillows, but since I needed extra storage for pantry items in here, I brought this with us. I had originally hoped to put the tv in here but it took up valuable shelf space, so it's on a separate wicker table.

Yes, it's black on the sides. The girls that had this piece in their shop were spray paint "happy" back before chalk paint came along. They just painted the two sides, (glad they didn't mess with the front of it) but when we get settled, it probably will get a paint makeover...not sure what color.

The two large breadboards are from Antique Farmhouse,

and the laundry basket is filled with extra linens.

I found the French Cheese sign at Robin's Vintage Suitcase.

This little shepherdess is one of my all-time favorite prints,

it was in the powder room right off the kitchen in the old house.

I love this dark comb painted frame.

I told you about this antique table and chairs here.

It still has initials carved in the top from one of the kiddo's guy friend's.

When I found out, I thought of man-handling him...

good thing he could run really fast.

sorry, sort of blurry

The kitty girls had to find new napping spots here,

so this is now a fave.

Bonus is that the grain sack replica is burlap,

so when she's not napping she can chew on it.

(Madonna Pillow from Elliot-Heath Designs)

One of my milkmaid prints is hanging here,

the other one had such a heavy frame

I didn't want to put in the wall anchor for it.

I'm so glad I was able to use this wicker settee that had been on the sunporch.

It's my new coffee drinking spot first thing in the morning.

An old bench is doubling for a small coffee table.

Just big enough for one of my black tole trays.

Toffee Check Chair Pads from Ballard Designs.

I don't think I've ever shared this old ironstone hexagon shaped tureen bottom;

another basement decor piece.

(I had all kinds of things hidden down there!)

Cute little English Cottage Salt and Pepper.
(you all know I have a little English Cottage thang going on)

Don't forget to enter the Give Away with
French Bleu Vintage HERE

Joining these Party Places:

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Inspiration Exchange at City Farmhouse
From My Front Porch to Yours
French Country Cottage
Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed
Jennifer Rizzo
Sundays at Home with Alice
Mod Mix Monday at Mod Vintage Life
Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings
The Scoop at White Lace Cottage
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm
Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Hope you're having a great week,

March cannot get here fast enough!

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Chairpads?...Check

There's a lot going on in my new little sitting area in the kitchen, so I'm going to share it in bitesize pieces. Most of the furniture in here you haven't seen before, and that goes for these counter height off-white chairs that match my kitchen table and china cupboard (at the other house) I didn't have a place for them upstairs at the other house, so they were at the bar downstairs, never used.

(pic from last July at the other house,
after I painted the tabletop with ASCP)

The white table has a leaf and extra chairs, 6 in all, is really heavy, and takes up a bunch of space. Space that I wanted for my cupboard and some wicker. Anyway, these two chairs fit perfectly here at the little counter height bar area of the kitchen.

I hadn't bought chair pads since we had moved to the other house 11 years ago, and I needed something new and fresh with a little pizzazz. So when Ballard Designs started their site wide 15% off sale, I jumped at getting new ones. I had to buy a set of 8 in "Medium", but then bought 4 more in "Small", as these little chairs around the round table are more petite in size.

I could have played it safe with a solid color cushion, but I'd seen this adorable toffee check, so I fell in love. I have fun mixing patterns on my wicker settee, so I thought these would go with most of my decor options.

When we knew we were going to lease this little house, I was thrilled with the larger dining area and knew that I wanted to fill it with more than an oversize table. It will more than likely just be hubby and I who will be having breakfast and lunch here, so no need for a big table "eating" up all the space. I've had this little round antique table (it does have a leaf for seating 6) for probably twenty years, but it's been in the basement at the other house. I found these chairs about 15 years ago; just perfect for this smaller size table.

Loving these Ballard chair pads, but measure carefully, they are bigger than you'd think. The "Medium" size was way too big for these chairs. I like the tailored look with the piping. What's great about these, are that you can remove the foam insert pad for cleaning, and they have lots of other colors and patterns for a new look.

Yes, that's the rug I had in the living room.

All this dark wood flooring needed a visual break.

When I found this set of chairs,

they had just been refurbished with repairs and new caned seats.

I'm not sure of the wood, but I love the darker cherry stain.

You can see hints of the other furniture pieces.

I'm enjoying using some things that are different than my usual white.

Lack of storage and cabinet space has had me getting a little creative.

Like many of you all out there, it's snowing this week...

we have it scheduled for every day...

every.

day.

I keep thinking I'll get an outside pic of the house,

but each time I think of it, I'm inside with fuzzy socks,

so I don't want to get out.

...maybe by Spring.

But here are a couple of shots of the houses across the street, so you can at least see a little of what it's like here. Cute subdivision of houses, new, to about 6 years old. It's on the edge of town, with a lot of treed acreage around it so it's not too different from where we just came from. This one is from the front porch.

This is from the kitchen window. Sorry about the blinds, if you kinda squint you can see what I mean. The houses across the street are walk-out basement homes, this one is one level and just a two car garage, but for now it's great. Only problem, the cats and I might put on some pounds cause its' small. I may put them on the treadmill!