Project 1: Tackle the Kitchen

What started it? How come I decided to do this? Recently I went to visit my sister who lives in Utah and I was amazed when I walked into her house at how beautiful her house is! My sister is a great decorator and a savvy shopper too. She's not one to get stuff at expensive prices, which I love that, because when you go into her house you can swear that she bought all of her stuff from expensive stores, but nope, one of her best friends is the good ol' thrift store (I love thrift stores!). She told me about how much she loves her house because it is "her." Her style defines her space and when I returned home, I wanted to feel the same thing and the same way about my house. So here I go!

My color scheme for my main living area. This color scheme is pretty neutral and can be paired with other colors if I feel like changing things up. Plus light turquoise is my thing. :)

Alrighty, I decided to start with my kitchen because it is the area where I spend a lot of time doing things for my family and I just have a really hard time doing things like cooking and what not in my kitchen when I look at how boring it is. I don't know about other people's kitchens, but in my case, I just think mine is. OK, this is what my kitchen looks like. It's not bad, and believe me I do appreciate the little things, another thing that my sister helped me to recognize more in my life (you know, one of those lessons that you already know but need a nice reminder of every once in a while). It just needs some things to make it look better and to have a color scheme for goodness' sake! Haha! Oh and yes, I SEE all  the fingerprints everywhere and the huge mess on the fridge. I have four little ones and they sure keep me busy and many times I have a hard time keeping up with their messes. But, part of this sprucing up things around my house is also to do real thorough cleaning more often. No, I am not perfect.

OK, see what I mean?! Ugh. Well, now after adding a FEW little touches, and trust me this is just a few minor touches but that I think do make a difference even if it is a small difference. And remember that this is only the beginning of making my kitchen "me."

In here I added a decorative sign over my kitchen window that I made. I already had the wood panel so all I did was spray paint it white, taped off the edges about 2 inches from the edge towards the center, painted the middle a turquoise (part of my color scheme), and then added the decal from Better Homes & Garden available at Target and other such stores. I think Walmart has them as well. This one in particular was given to me by my sister-in-law for my birthday (yep, she knows I love decorating). I also added a small kitchen rug in a modern floral pattern in brown (part of my color scheme). It might be helpful to know that I took these pictures when it was getting dark outside so that's why they don't look very bright, but I really wanted to get started and for now this is what I have. The next few ones will be in the daytime. :) Oh, and I totally know about the difference in wood tones of my cabinets and table and island (I've got plans, bwahahahaha!). Let me tell you, that table is not my style at all but it has served our family for many years, especially when we were not able to afford to buy a table ourselves, yes, it was given to us. :) But we ARE planning on replacing this dining set soon and I can't wait to show you what we have chosen to replace it with. I also added the potted plant on the chrome candle holder and it looks totally fab, one of my favorite things in the room for sure. It also has a brown ribbon around it which is a nice touch. I also added some wooden word art on the window sill painted in turquoise. I also added some pine needles (yes, pine needles) in a pewter vase by my recipe book along with some other pewter decorative items so that it overall looks like a small collection. Because remember, if it's two of something, then it's just a pair. If it's three or more then it's a collection. That my friends I learned from HGTV (love that channel!) hehe.

Here's a closeup of the sign I made and hung over my kitchen window.

Here I added a tri-folded table cloth (folded into 3 or triple fold) to make it look like a table runner UNTIL I actually make my new table runner. I already have the fabric for it and all and it will look amazing on my new dining set that we will be getting. See those silver candlesticks there? I added those and those were an amazing find at the thrift store. Now I just need to go and get some nice candles to put in them. Oh, notice the turquoise in the pictures? That is actually wrapping paper with a really nice modern pattern that I found at Target and I fell in love with it. I thought it was perfect for my frames. Yay for that! The leather tray I got from Costco a while back. The platter with the gorgeous damask pattern was a gift from a local shoppe in town. And under that platter is a placemat that I got from the thrift store a while back but I hear that Ikea has some really similar ones. Put it all together - my centerpiece! :)

OK, like I said these are just some small changes but with a little at a time, it will all look fabulous in the end. You shall see... :)