Kitchen and Dining Room

Let's take a minute to talk about our Kitchen and Dining Room space, if you have dug around this blog and ended up on the house tour page then you have probably already seen the before and after photos, but if not this is new to you! Actually either way it is new, because these are new photos!

Let's first go back to the before. This was the kitchen before we moved in.

You will notice the following:

• there is no hardware on the cabinets except for the lovely blue & white china knobs on the cabinets facing north (see lower left hand corner)
• there is no faucet
• there are no appliances
• the ceiling fan does not have a light kit
• the back splash area is a citrus green color - its hard to tell in this photo, but over the stove there are also teapot wallpaper cut outs. They are featured in random places throughout the kitchen and powder bath
• there is a towel rod over the sink
• a crap ton of wall anchors

that doorway on the right leads to the Laundry Room. Which is where I happened to be standing when I took the after photo.

• the orange framed cork board was reused from our last house
• those metallic silver triangles on the wall were a DIY project created with a silver sharpie pen
• the rug was a Walmart purchase for $25.00. I really wanted a nice rug in here, but lets face it - that thing is going to get destroyed. I live in the kitchen, and therefore so do my kids.
• all of the appliances totaled $150 and were purchased second-hand. Down the line we would love to have new appliances, but they just aren't in the cards for us right now.
• I shopped long and hard for that faucet and I am in absolute love with it - we also got a great deal
• all of the hardware came from a friend that works at a furniture manufacturer
• we still do not have a hood over our range. I think the plan is to install an over range microwave, and replace the upper cabinet with a couple of shelves
• all of the holes were patched, teapots removed, and walls painted in PPG atrium white
• you can't see the light fixture in this photo, but it was a $25 bargain from Lowes

You get a glimpse of the Dining Room in this photo, but lets take you back to the before.

You will notice the following:

• there is a border - and for some reason a brown dry brush treatment over the border
• the walls are a coffee color
• there is no light fixture
• you can see where the dining room and kitchen paint colors meet that they placed some of those lovely teapots

And the after.

yes, my chairs are laminated. yes, i am proud of it, and yes, I cropped this photo because i couldn't get the minnie mouse sticker off the seat.

• the table has been with us for many years
• the chairs are antiques and are due for a fresh coat of paint - I am on a 6 month plan with reupholstering those puppies i swear! we sure use them a lot!
• the chandelier was from three houses ago and was purchased from Lowe's for $168
• the sweet and salty prints were a DIY project and are in $10 poster frames from target
• the white curtains are from ikea $11
• the wall with the window is mint - this is also the same wall with the front door - you cant see it, but it is too the left of the mirror. The inside of the front door is white, but the outside features a darker but coordinating mint color.
• the gold curtain rod was from our last house and I can't remember the purchase details.
• the ornate mirror was purchased from Z&R Design when I worked there. It has been in several houses. I am ready to paint it, but scared to take on the duty - this thing is ORNATE!
• you get a better shot of the sharpie wall in the Dining Room photos. I absolutely love that wall. It is subtle but yet impactful - super fun!

Coordinating your lighting

nothings worse than "builder" spec lighting - well actually there are a lot of worse things, but these rank pretty high up there.

i think most houses have sported the ole boob light at some point - am i right? it always amazes me how much changing a light fixture can truly impact a room. light fixtures have a pretty huge range in pricing - you can break the bank or DIY light fixtures these days. 

i wanna show you how to coordinate your light fixtures without matching them.

here is that builder spec lighting i was referring to - its typical in every home when it is built, unless it is custom of course. insert the boob light.

BLECK! builder spec lighting typically matches throughout the house and is on the cheap end. changing out lighting like this can be done on a fairly low budget and make a HUGE impact if done right. There are lots of factors that come into play when selecting lighting. i will go over a few..

1. measure - height and width. your light should not be too small or too large for the space. if you are walking under the light it is best to choose a flush or semi-flush mount.
2. ask yourself, is this ambient lighting or task lighting - will the fixture you chose create enough light to complete the task if task lighting?
3. style, shape, finish, etc.

to get a custom look you want to coordinate your light fixtures and not match them. here is a good example of that.

source.

i put together some lights that coordinate but are not too matchy.

source, source, source

Small Spaces.

In the last two weeks as we've put blood sweat and tears into our new house, I realize it's going to take a lot of organization to keep it looking good.  Our place is tinier than our already tiny house in Indianapolis.  It also doesn't have the convenience that our Indy home had, fenced in yard, laundry room, powder bath.....  So a little elbow grease has brought this house a long way!  I didn't even bother with before pictures because the house was so BAD, sooo bad!  We replaced all of the flooring and painted everything top to bottom. 

This has got me looking at other spaces that are making the most of what they have.  Currently, these small spaces have my interest!

We have a very small vanity in our bathroom and no linen closet, so this is just what we need to solve our storage problem!

 The added shelving in these kitchens is just what we need to solve our NO COUNTER SPACE problem!

 We also have one room that functions as both a Dining Room and a Living Room.  I love how the two of these rooms flow well as one space.  All of the white in the spaces helps not to overpower it, and the pops of color and art on the walls really add some creativity and life to the small space!