Black Is Back

When I last blogged, I’d bid a sad farewell

to my dream of groovy red appliances for our canned ham . . .

. . . but I bounced back by embracing the ham’s original black appliances.

I briefly flirted with the idea of painting our cabinets black,

because black is definitely a thing now, + I’m totally on board with it.

But please, though.

Black cabs were just not going to happen, not in my little world.

The good news is that I actually really like all the warm brown wood in our ham!

Let’s move on now + have a look-see at our counter tops:

G.O. removed the sink (+ replaced the ugly faucet with this newer, cooler one!) . . .

. . . + the stove top:

And SURPRISE!  Our counter tops are now black!

Yes, black!  Paint!  In a can!

Not the stuff that’s supposed to look like granite,

although I do kind of like that darker black at the far right:

I wanted plain Jane black, instead:

Dare I say that I am hoping for a soapstone counter vibe?

Anyway, the fumes are just nuts, so beware.

G.O. wore a half mask with charcoal chemical filters,

+ he didn’t smell a thing, not even inside our tiny canned ham!

It’s best to paint in several light coats; these photos were taken after coat #1:

But wait.  There’s more!

It’s not just our counter tops that are getting their paint/love . . .

. . . G.O. painted our walls Pittsburgh Paint’s Thin Ice!

It’s a near-white with just a hint of gray,

+ has really brightened up the camper’s interior.

I LOVE IT!!!

Here you can see the difference between the original beige + the new light gray:

That back splash area will soon be sporting some very cool press + stick subway tiles:

L O V E !

I can’t WAIT to see those tiles against the black counter tops!

So.  Lest you think that G.O. is doing all the heavy lifting, never fear!

I, too, have my own pet projects, about which I shall soon blog.

Stay tuned!

Galvanized Metal Baskets

This just in:

I finally hemmed the curtains I started last November!

(Please forgive me for these bad + dark photos.)

You may very well be asking,

“YAWN, Kay!  Curtain hems!?  Who cares?” . . .

 . . . but we procrastinators know that completing one’s projects is a big deal!

I want to sew a tartan plaid bed skirt (stay tuned!), you see . . .

. . . but I forced myself to finish the curtains first.

+ + + + +

Anyway, speaking of completing tasks, our kitchen re-do is back ON!

This has happened:

Galvanized baskets!

The cabinet that G.O. had installed beside the range was too narrow + deep,

+ thus, a tad too dysfunctional.

This had me thinking of baskets in cubbies, instead!

Initially, I wanted woven baskets, like these:

However, when my online search for baskets took me to these

from World Market, I was totally smitten!

Only $14.99 for the small?  I’m in!

 The website sez that these are NEW,

but that they are sold out online + available in stores only.

We had to drive to 2 different World Markets to find our 3,

but it was worth it, in my opinion!

I feared that, in person, they might look cheapie + bad,

but they don’t, + I love them!

Disclaimer: we still need a toe kick here.

+ + + + +

Suddenly, the blank wall next to our stove is calling out for open shelving.

Funny how that happens.

I am thinking galvanized metal, + here’s why:

Notice how our new galvanized baskets play so nicely

with the handles of our stove + the Kitchen Aide mixing bowl:

I’m loving the continuity,

so off, I go, on yet another online search, for metal shelving!

Turns out, my 3 finalists are all from Pottery Barn.

These:

These:

 Or these, with painted metal:

I think I will wait to decide,

once our range hood is (finally) installed.

Stay tuned!

CORBELS + CABINETS

As I mentioned earlier,

there seems to be an infinite number of ways to trick out one’s kitchen cabinets.

My plans include quite a few of said same, including this one:

Corbels underneath the uppers!

That’s the former kitchen of the kids from The Lettered Cottage blog.

They’ve posted a tutorial about how they re-did plain Jane cabs.

http://theletteredcottage.net/guest-post-by-mr-lettered-cottage/

* * *

So.  Back to my plans — the same Home Depot corbels under our upper cabs!

They’re less than $10!

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Waddell-CR-310-9-3-4-in-x-9-3-4-in-x-1-3-4-in-Solid-Basswood-Arch-Corbel-10001523/205977517?N=5yc1vZc62i

For here:

Stay tuned!

COLOR FOR OUR UPPER CAB’S INTERIOR

I amused myself the other day,

as it occurred to me that I should re-name my blog:

things-that-I-want-for-the-Dutch-colonial-that-GO-ix-nays.blogspot.com.

Oops.

I doubt that he finds all this as amusing as I do.

But wait.

Here’s yet another idea I must have —

painting our upper cabinet’s interior a contrasting color.

Oh, + the bead board?  That, too.

BHG.com

I would love to accomplish all this in our own glass door cabinet, here:

When I first sprung this idea shared this idea with poor G.O.,

he was definitely not on board.

Pinterest images to the rescue, once again!

Feast your eyes on this yummy-ness, below —

I’m so loving the yellow ware + ironstone with the pretty gray!

Oh, + more bead board!

BHG.com

When was the last time I saw old school cup hooks, like this (below)?

apartmenttherapy.com

How retro!  How cute!

Looks like I’d better get showered + dressed + be over at the Dutch colonial!

STAT!

 

Our Kitchen’s Color Story

Let’s have a look-see at the color story of our Dutch colonial kitchen, shall we?

At the far left, we have Chambray (Pittsburgh Paints),

a medium blue that is already up + at ’em on the kitchen ceiling.

Yikes! — that swatch is way too bright!

This photo is more accurate:

Much better!

I’ll admit that the blue ceiling looks a tad odd by itself,

but I think that it makes sense when combined with my other color choices.

Speaking of which:

The small white swatch represents the room’s future white crown molding,

all the woodwork + our white IKEA cabs:

Third from left is the palest of grays —

Thin Ice (Pittsburgh Paints) — for our walls:

Yes, it’s pale, but pale’s a good thing, sometimes.

I made certain that it does pop a bit against the white cabinets,

+ yet, it won’t be as dark as the gray backsplash tiles I’ve chosen:

Home Depot

I love those tiles so much!  I want them to be the ‘stars’ of our kitchen!

Just look at this inspiration of mine!

Don’t you love the gray tile backsplash?

heavyontheveggie blog

But I digress!

Back to my color swatches + the darkest of my grays, fourth from left.

It’s Volcanic Ash (again, from Pittsburgh Paints):

We will paint our kitchen door (see below) this dark gray,

along with the other interior doors throughout the house:

So far, I am very happy with all my colors + hope they’ll play nicely together!

But wait!

There are a couple more colors — the 2 dark squares to the far right:

They represent my choices of floor tile for our kitchen.

I’ll talk more about them in another post.

Stay tuned!

My Sarah Richardson-Wannabe IKEA Kitchen

Sarah Richardson’s tricked-out IKEA kitchen . . .

… + my attempt at a Sarah-style IKEA kitchen, using Ballard Designs shelves + lots of “stuff”.

One of my design icons is Sarah Richardson, + my favorite project of hers is definitely the farmhouse she re-did for her own family. It’s so cool that she uses IKEA kitchen cabs + even cooler that she tricks them out the way she does.

She always paints them + often incorporates salvaged corbels into her design (see also: range hood + open shelves.)

As you can see, we used IKEA cabinets when we re-did. We chose these ADEL cabs because both the color + simple Shaker doors were such a great match to our bungalow’s originalwoodwork.

. . . our original woodwork.

IKEA’s farmhouse sink is affordable but has chipping issues.

I tried to trick out our IKEA kitchen like Sarah — really, I did. That stainless hood, the glass uppers + all that tile might not look like so much, but — believe it or not — I had to fight for them!

Speaking of which, there’s been a recent skirmish, + our subway tiles will soon be sporting a more vintage dark gray grout! Change is good!

It took some persuading, but G.O. is on board with the darker grout! I think it makes it look more vintage.

I collect anything that’s old, red + metal!

Awesome schoolhouse fixtures ($20-ish from Lowe’s!) + our pressed tin ceiling we ordered online.

I splurged a little + bought this (discontinued) PB pendant on eBay. The shades were Wal-Mart cheapies!