Some sneak peeks...

Of some of the things we have been working on/will be working on in the upcoming days/weeks....

The Lady Land bookshelf got painted and styling to be done shortly.

And the kitchen closet got painted and stenciled...now for the shelves to be installed and the closet organized!

Stay tuned for these and more projects coming your way real soon!



Roman shade luvin'

I love me a good roman shade.  When designing the kitchen, one thing Jim and I knew we wanted to incorporate was a roman shade to block the sun.  I'm all about light and sun but when it involves wearing sunglasses in your kitchen just so you can carry on a conversation you know something must be done!  I contemplated for about oooh 2.2 seconds making this on my own but I wised up fast!  I went to my favorite source for all things handmade...Etsy!  I found a shop called href

="http://www.esty.com/cindycravens">Cindy Cravens.  I sent her my dimensions and had my fabric directly shipped to her and three weeks later I had the roman shade in hand.  It was love at first sight!

Here's a close up of the pattern...so many colors to choose from!  Pinks, blues, greens, yellows!  Love working with fabric that gives me so many options.

Like these bar stools...the teal blue and pink were plucked straight from that fabric.  I think they go smashing together!

And how it looks with the open shelves. 

I just love it and find myself gazing at it numerous times a day.  We're getting there in terms of calling this kitchen complete (although I'm sure I'll constantly be tweaking and organizing this space!).  We got a lot done this weekend in terms on painting.  So stay tuned for most projects!



Open shelving #kitchenrenovation

Hello?  Hello?  Anyone still reading this?  Long time no see!  We have been keeping busy with projects but some are taking longer than expected and quite honestly nothing worthy to blog about.  One of the projects in question that took a lot longer than we anticipated was the building of the open shelves in the kitchen. 

We knew we wanted to use wooden corbels and I really wanted antique ones but finding 12 matching ones in the dimensions we need proved to be a lot tougher (and costly!) than I thought.  We decided to check out the Unfinished Mill Store in Canton and wouldn't ya know they had corbels for $2.50 each!  I couldn't contain my excitement...corbels are at a cheap price and that I could paint??  I was sprinting to the register!

But of course we had to modify them due to the shelving's depth.  Our dinner plates are 11" deep so our shelves needed to be 12" deep.  But our corbels were only 6" deep.  Not gunna cut it.  The support brackets should be at least 2/3 the deep of the shelving unit.  So Jim came up with a brilliant but still attractive solution.  He took two pieces of wood that he ripped with his table saw (I even got to rip some boards!)  and then mitered the top board to make it look fancy.  I love the results!  Isn't Jim getting so handy??? 

Enough chit chat...below are the open shelves on either side of the window.  Ahhh I love them!  They totally complete the farmhouse chic look I was going for in the kitchen.

A view of the right side shelves.  Sooooo glad we decided on white dishes when we registered for our wedding 4.5 years ago (btw how has it been 4.5 years???).  I love the impact they have all grouped together and I love how we've added pieces through the years...all from different places but yet they all go together.

Close ups!  I tried to add some chotchkies on every shelf.  You know me and my chotchkies...A succulent in a green vase for a pop of color behind a milk bottle that Babci gave to Jim.

I saved the top shelves for lots of chotchkies (while still be practical).  Each piece has a story of how we got them...many were gifts, some we had before we were married and some I've bought from yard sales, thrift stores and antique stores.  The back gravy boat was off our wedding registry, front gravy boat is an iron stone piece I bought at the antique store that I love in NH, the covered casserole dish was a house warming gift (thanks Alison and Bob!), the white ceramic bread basket was a Christmas  gift from Mama Staunton and the stacked popcorn bowls were Jim's before we were married. 

A lil pop of color on the middle shelf with that orangey/coral canister (thanks Target clearance!).  Thinking of putting a tiny succulent in it for even more color.  Here is where our drinking and juice glasses along with our round bowls, corn on the cob dishes and serving dishes are stored.

Side view of the the left side shelves.  This is also a good picture of the corbels.  You can see where Jim mitered the top board.  I think they look like we bought them that way.

Another succulent (can you tell I love succulents!?  Also thanks Krissy!)  They're just sooooo easy to care for.  I hope they do Ok on the shelves since they won't be in direct sunlight. Behind it is another glass milk bottle from the dairy farm down the road from us. And our dinner plates and luncheon plates are stored here as well.

On the shelve above is our appetizer plates and our rectangle dinner dishes along with a blue gurgling cod that Mama Staunton got for Jim for Christmas.

And above are two more pieces of ironstone...the cake stand and the pitcher.  The cake stand I scored from Goodwill for $1!!!!  And the pitcher I scored from a yard sale for $2!!!!!!!!  Can you believe the deals I got on those???  Along with a mini strainer that Mama Horne gave us because she knows my love for all things mini (isn't it so cute?!), a french butter keeper (another Christmas gift from Mama Staunton) and a cloche I scored from Goodwill for $1.

We made the right side shelviing stop before the end of the peninsula so as not to hit anyone in the head when they sit down.

And since I'm a shortie I have to use this beauty to get things off the shelves.  Mama Staunton did give us her great uncle's step stool that I plan on painting a fun color to replace this.  But until then this works just fine!

Lots more projects in the works.  I'll be back with some yard work that's been going down.



Fridge Coasters #operationorganization

Does anyone find keeping your refrigerator clean such a battle and chore?  I sure do!  How do refrigerators get so dirty so quickly?  And when I start to think about how dirty my fridge is I get the shivers and close the door hoping the cleaning fairy will come clean it for me.  So far, she hasn't shown up. 

So with the arrival of the new beverage center I thought it would time to fun up our fridge and clean it out.  I know it's fairly new but for some reason it already had crumbs in it.  Annoying! 

Here's a few before shots of the fridge.  Looking pretty sparse huh?

Pickles and Sprite Zero anyone?

Condiments, juice and milk on one side.

Our fridge is on the smaller size so my quest is make good use out of each and every square inch of this fridge. 

But I'll get to that later.  Check out these fun fridge liners.  There's a party going on in my fridge!

Aren't they fun?

I purchased them from a company call Fridge Coasters.  They are made up of recycled materials and you should replace them periodically as they get stained.  They are made of a cardboard like material.  But the great thing about them is no stain to clean on the actual fridge because let's face it, cleaning the drawers and compartments of the fridge is less than my idea of a good time.  So anyway to make the process easier is a win in my book.  Plus I mean look at the fridge, doesn't it make you smile?  They come in various sizes to fit your type of fridge. 
Next up, organizing the fridge.

Finishing touches #kitchenrenovation

Our general contractor came back from his vacation and finished up a few things.  One of them being the dishwasher panel.  We got the incorrect sized panel in the original cabinet order and it takes about a three week wait to get the corrected cabinet so needless to say we had one naked dishwasher....poor thing!  But it's naked no more thanks to a fancy new panel and pull.  I love how it blends seamlessly with the other cabinets.  And of course I love the chance to use the pull again.

 

 

 

 

The cabinet baseboards were installed.  Just that little detail makes the cabinets look more complete.

 

 

 

And I duck taped where our open shelves will go on either side of the window.  They'll be about 12" deep with wooden corbels holding them up.  The top shelf is higher up but this is where I'll put less used items like serving platters and pitchers.  Looking to the right of the window.

 

 

To the left of the window.

 

And a full on shot.  And yes those are dishes and glasses on our counters.  They're there for now until we get those bad boys installed. 

 

 

Still lots of to do's that is now on our shoulders.  Here's a project breakdown to keep us accountable:

• Make open shelves
• Paint open shelves
• Hang open shelves
• Paint crown moulding
• Paint back of peninsula
• Hang roman shade
• Finish under the upper cabinet of the coffee station
• Paint trim
• Second coat of paint on chimney
• Touch up wall

Till the next time!

Drawer liners #operationorganization

Renovating the kitchen was a great excuse to finally organize it once we moved everything back in.  I never really had the motivation to organize the kitchen when we first moved in since we knew we would eventually be renovating it.  If I had known it would take us three years to pull the trigger on the renovation I probably would have done a better job unpacking and organizing when we first moved in.  Hindsight is 20/20 though right?

Well, we're taking advantage of the fresh start and putting time and thoughtful consideration into where things will live.  I'm sure it will be a constant evolution until we find a system that works for us but in the mean time I'm having fun with it and looking for more ways to inject some fun, colors and texture into our otherwise neutral kitchen.

So off to Sewfisticated I went in search of three different patterned fabric in fun colors.  Now it's a party every time you open a drawer.  I just measured the insides of the drawers, cut out the dimensions on the fabric and covered the fabric with clear contact paper I picked up at Staples.

It was easy to do, just time consuming.  And it's far from perfect but I'm okay with it...trying to live by the motto of it doesn't have to be perfect to be pretty...anything that makes me smile gets an A in my book.

This fabric is my favorite.  There's just something about it.

We're still working on what will go in the drawers and a little more organization is in order for inside the actual drawers. 

Last night Jim made some amazing chicken tacos on the range.  Isn't it so pretty and fun?  It's so nice to have the kitchen again and have fresh, homemade cooked meals. We're also having fun using serving pieces that were such a pain to get to in the old kitchen.

Let's talk...teppan yaki grills

This is what I like to refer to as Jim's dream.  Anyone who knows Jim, knows he loves him a good Japanese steakhouse.  When we first started daydreaming and planning our kitchen, Jim stated he would love a teppan yaki grill.  I thought the idea sounded awesome and who am I to squash a man's dreams like that?? 

Once the kitchen planning and appliance research got underway, we realized just how expensive the grills were and the chances of us getting that fancy grill was put on the back burner (get it???  burner???  no?  ok...moving on.).  But the stars aligned, the skies parted and we found a Gaggenau teppan yaki grill on a floor model sale at Kam Appliances.  My man was meant to get that grill after all! 

For Jim's birthday I surprised him with a fancy spatula to use just for the grill, just like the chefs use at a Japanese steak house. 

And Jen, Jim's sister, got him some fun paper chef hats (for catching all those shrimp he's going to be tossing in the air) and commercial salt and pepper shakers. 

You gotta have the legit accessories if you're going to talk the talk of a Japanese steak house chef.

So far we've used it to make an authentic Japanese steakhouse meal and it was better than going to one.  I made it to cook eggs and that was good but the eggs stuck a little and the clean up was a pain.  I can't wait to try out some pancakes on it soon.  Supposedly you can even boil water on it....not sure if we'll be trying that out anytime soon though.  When it's not in use we are thinking of putting a cutting board over so we don't waste any counter space. 

The floors are being stained this week so we have had zero access to the kitchen or basement so no work has been getting done.  Hopefully this weekend, Jim will be able to work on something kitchen and/or pantry related.  I'll be shopping for baht mitzvah dresses for my niece Sophie...the sacrifices I must make ;)

Random post...getting caught up.

Long time, no see!!!  Sorry for the absence....Mama Staunton, Jim and I were working like dogs last week trying to get the house ready for Easter entertaining.   Man am I sore!  I'm not used to daily physical activity since my normal routine is being stuck behind a computer for 8+ hours a day.  But Easter went great and it feels good to be amongst the normal people again with a nice, clean house!  Well at least for a couple days as our house will get messy again this week due to the sanding and staining of the floors. 

We have been taking our new appliances for a test run to make sure everything runs the way it should.  Or it could be just Jim's excuse to try out the tappen yaki grill.  Below Jim is practicing his onion flipping skills.  This only took about 10 tries to get the money shot but not bad.

And the penny tile was installed and to say I'm in love is an understatement!!!!!!!!!  I just love the way it shines when the light catches it!!!!  LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!  I think it goes with the granite and the wall color. 

And the tiled back splash against the range wall.

A close up from the side.

Ahhhh I'm so happy with it!

And the wall looking into Lady Land.  Just wait till we have the open shelves up.  Then the walls hopefully won't look so empty.

And we stopped the tile right where the peninsula ends.  The tile guy did such a nice job.  I stare at it constantly. 

And here are 4 out of the 6 kiddos for our annual Easter egg hunt right before we let them run wild.  Aren't they so cute???

There goes Jake in his brand new teal jeans.

Avery and Evan going crazy scooping up all the eggs they can get. 

And there's AJ and Jake on the hunt.

And afterwards!  Man did those kids clean up or what??? 

Overall entertaining in the new kitchen was great!!!  There's so much more room to move around in and no more fighting for oven space.  It was awesome and looking around on Easter really made my heart swell with gratitude for all that we have. 

Floors are getting stained this week so back to no kitchen for a full week.  More updates to come!