Organizing the Kitchen Table

Is your kitchen table also known as "the dumping ground?" I mean, can you really expect to eat there on any given day without having to move anything?  Ours has always been, from apartment, to apartment, to apartment, and now to the house.

To solve this problem we have tackled two major projects in the kitchen - a command center of sorts and converting a closet to something more useful.

To start, we made a list of everything on/under/hanging from the kitchen table that needed a home:

• Keys
• Cell phones
• Jackets
• Purse
• Gym Bag
• Matt's hat and sunglasses
• Mail
• Things to remember (ex. invites, events)
• Holiday cards
• Pens
• Coupons
• Phone Charges
• Grocery List

And we took inspiration from here:

Source: potterybarn.com via Miss on Pinterest

And Here:

Source: bhg.com via Miss on Pinterest

I'll post the reveal throughout the week, but this is a sneak peek:

Dining Room Progress

It's been forever since I posted our January photos of the dining room.

Remember this one? I couldn't choose a paint color.  I put 8 different samples on the wall trying to figure out the perfect shade.  And for a while I thought I might stencil the room.  I was after texture.

I had a very distinct inspiration I was going for.  Enter Pinterest
I know, there are a million shades of gray/green on this wall. No wonder I had such a hard time finding the perfect one.  Since we do have a kegorator in the dinning room, and eventualy plan on building it in, I fell in love with the upscale bar like feel from this photo.  Not to mention the rich wood matches our exposed trim and china cabinet.

Source: housebeautiful.com via Miss on Pinterest

 
Ok, and now to be dramatic, Dining Room Before:

And Dining Room after:

And the winner was Behr Scotland Road, which I love saying in a funny accent.  Scotland Road.

It's the perfect gray/green we were looking for.

Can you see on the very far right of this photos - some gallery frames?!  This was one of our first big decor splurges.  I did get them on sale from West Elm, but when you're purchasing nine13 x 13 gallery frames, even on sale it's still a splurge.

And can you guess what's in them? I didn't even buy them for this reason, it just happened.  Give up? Those are all the silly paint samples I bought and tried on that wall before choosing the winner - who is featured in the middle.  I wanted the frames with the intent of switching out the artwork seasonally.  So stash of scrapbook paper + left over paint samples = artsy gallery wall.  I just got vintage postcards of Newport, RI to fill the frames in for the summer.  Lots of ocean and beach images!

And my last project for the dining room (for now,) a terrarium.  They are all over the internet - so I made my own and it's cute.  I have one succulent in there hanging out with two air plants (I'm obsessed with air plants.)

What do you think? From yellow to gray/green was such a welcomed change.  Now we need more than four chairs so I can have a dinner party!

Future work in this room will include:

• more chairs
• add a rug
• change fabric lining in china cabinet (I've even bought the fabric)
• build in kegorator and glassware storage
• build our own chandelier, maybe with Edison bulbs

House Tour Finale - The Craft Room

I'm sure Matt will start adding blog posts someday, but until then this is clearly my little space on the internet.  Especially when I'm allowed an entire post to share the beginnings of my craft room.
Find the rest of the house here:
Link to Exterior of our Bungalow
Link to Living and Dining Room
Link to Kitchen
Link to Bedrooms & Bathroom


Most photos will follow, but for now - here she is.

 Eventually I plan on building a BIG desk/work surface along this entire wall.  This room is super sunny! It's also the only downstairs room that has a paint job on the trim.  I don't have a photo, but the wall to the right of the desk has another window with a folding table I use for craft fairs set up as project central.  Currently it's covered in Jewelry Projects.

I inherited this entertainment center and two matching book cases from my parents.  Did I  mention they moved the week before we did, all during Christmas! The bookcases and this entertainment center are providing AMAZING craft storage.  My pet also lives in this one.  I haven't shared him yet because I don't want to scare anyone away from my blog.  Would you stop reading a home blog if you knew there was a creepy pet in that house? I'm scared that will happen.

And more storage space! Eventually I'm sure I'll need to give this room up for a kiddo, but that's a ways off so I'm going to enjoy every inch of my little spot in the house.  And don't worry - Matt has space too.  The ENTIRE basement!  It's incredible - he has a great workshop down there that he uses nearly every weekend.

House Tour - Bed & Bath

It's taken me a while to get all the tour photos up, but thanks for hanging in there with me.  We're almost done!

The Master Bedroom, which is on the first floor.  We haven't done anything in here, just added curtains that completely and our furniture.

The bedrooms upstairs are hard to photograph.  The ceilings up there are only 7'!  (I can't wait to change the orangey wall color! Hopefully next month.)

The bathroom is also small and difficult to photograph.  There is also just one of them.  This is one of the things we sacrificed on our "wish list" when house hunting to get us in this great neighborhood.  But the open floor plan and already finished kitchen are making up for it.  We also may add a bathroom in the future as one of our BIG projects.

The very last installment will be up this week! I promise, then I'll share some progress - and all of our inspirations taken from Pinterest.  How did people decorate homes without that site?

House Tour - Continued

It's been three months since I left you hanging on the house tour!
Did you catch the exterior?
Or the Living Room and Dining Room?

No more hanging.... today, I bring you my most favorite room in the house, my kitchen! (can you believe I love this more than the craft room?)  When we first moved this kitchen was green, kind of a dark sage color.  I didn't waste any time and painted it right after the living room was finished.  I didn't even test the color first.  This is a Behr Ultra Premium Plus - color matched to Benjamin Moore Gray Owl.  A lovely light gray.  We've added more great decor since these photos were taken in January, Thank you Pinterest. I'll be sharing those updates soon

Kitchen - January 2012

Kitchen Window - January 2012

Kitchen Seating - January 2012

Big blank Kitchen Wall - January 2012

I like making inspiration boards in real life - or I just don't know how to use photo shop well.  Anyway, before I even bought my first house it was always my dream to have a very naturally colored kitchen decorated with accents and green accents.  The stainless steel comes in because I'd love to cook in an industrial kitchen someday.  Instead, I build them.

 

Mud Room - January 2012

We have big plans for the "Mud Room" that looks like a big empty closet in this photo.  It's actually almost done, I'll share soon.  I hope you enjoyed the kitchen.  Last is the bedrooms, bathroom, and craft room!