Small Kitchen Re-do

When I finally decided on the color for the kitchen island, it created a dilemma: it didn't go with the rest of the kitchen!

So I repainted the backs of the open cabinets.

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After

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This also allowed me to put out some favorite dishes that just would not go with the black and white toile, like the Blue Onion dishes that belonged to my grandmother.

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I'm not finished yet! Looking at this last picture gives me an idea for the refrigerator, so stay tuned for another small kitchen re-do!

House With Potential

I have BIG plans for this House With Potential. It is most likely the last house we will own, so I want to do all the projects I have dreamed of doing over the last 30 years and didn't because I always told myself that I shouldn't do anything over the top or too personal because I would just have to undo it when we sold. If I had known we would live in our last house for 14 years, I might have done more of those projects. Lesson learned!

When we decided to move and downsize, we found a cozy house in a good neighborhood. It is a typical California ranch house, 3 bedrooms and 2 baths down a hallway off the entry, a living room, dining room, kitchen and family room, all pretty open to each other. The things that sold us on this house were the neighborhood, price and half-acre lot. But, being a foreclosure and 30-something years old, it was looking a little drab. Fortunately, everything was in good working order, it just needed some TLC. I have always said I can fix ugly, but I can't fix location, and this house fit the bill.

This is the house I am going to turn into my dream cottage!

So, the BIG plans for this House With Potential include building a new garage and turning the current one into a large family room, complete with fireplace, french doors and many, many built-ins. Then I can move the dining room into the current family room and expand the kitchen to twice its size.

This is my long-range plan. In the meantime, I have a short-range plan and a mid-range plan, and I will try to work towards the long-range plan as I accomplish the less-involved ones.


The kitchen was the first room to be tackled. It was U-shaped, dark and dreary, with a peninsula that made me feel trapped.

This is the only pic I can find that shows the old cabinets; guess I was in a hurry to get them painted, so I didn't get a shot of them. But at least you get to see one cute little boy! The furry thing in the left corner is Sam, our cocker spaniel.

 The first thing I did was paint the cabinets a bright white. Everyone asked if we had put a new window in because they didn't remember the kitchen being so bright. (I love white paint!) I changed out the hardware and called it a day...for a few months.

                 

  You can see the peninsula in these shots.

Then we started to install the flooring. Husband owns a floor covering business, so I picked out a dark wood flooring that would go throughout the living, dining, family rooms and kitchen.

 We started in the living room and when we got to the dining room/kitchen, we decided to pull out the peninsula since it didn't fit the BIG plans and we wouldn't have to patch in the flooring later on. This made everything feel much bigger, but I did lose some good work space and storage. I solved this by bringing in a table from the garage and painting it a creamy white with a chalkboard top for the little ones to play with. I could still fit 2 stools underneath and it had a drawer that took the place of the one I lost. The dishes I had in the old cabinet were the ones I use for catering and big holidays, so they could go into an armoire I am storing in the garage since I don't use them that often. 

The kitchen stayed in this state for quite a while, until I was a little tired of looking at a sea of white. I want to put glass in some of the doors and show off pretty dishes, but I figured that would come when we began to put the BIG plan in place.Then one day I spotted some black and white contact paper at the Dollar Store.

 I bought 10 rolls, not entirely sure what I was going to do with it, but certain I would need every bit of it, and probably more. An idea began to take shape; I tried to ignore it and tell myself I should be content with things the way they were and just wait until we are ready for the Big plan. Then, one day I got up and knew this was the day; I took down some of the cabinet doors, put the black and white paper on the backs of the cabinets, and arranged some dishes.

But something was a little off. After looking at it for a couple days, I decided that the doors to the cabinet over the refrigerator needed to come off as well.

          I love looking at all the dishes, so many of them have good memories attached to them. (See earlier post, Decorating with Beloved Objects and Memories).

Next kitchen project: painting the laminate counters.

Decorating Snippets: Beloved Objects and Memories

I love creating little vignettes around the house. They are made up of things that make me happy, things that bring back wonderful memories, and things I find beautiful and love to look at.  Here are a few of them.

Brown-eyed Susan dishes that originally belonged to my great grandmother. When I was growing up, they were our Sunday brunch dishes. They sit in an open cupboard in my kitchen, so every day I am reminded of my family and a cherished tradition.

This is a corner of my grandson's room in my house. The boat shelf was in his father's room when he was small, as was the train and Paddington Bear that sit on it. The bear on the ottoman reminds him of Winnie the Pooh with his honey pot. (This one holds chalk instead of honey)

This is a spot in my family room, just random things I like. The horse was an anniversary gift one year, and the blue pot was given to me by my daughter last year. I love the color!

This table and painting belonged to my father who has Alzheimer's. I think of him every day when I look at them. I found the birdcage on vacation in Oregon and the blue boxes under the table came from Michael's (they store old notes and studies I want to remember).

I love white dishes and pick them up everywhere. A few pieces were my grandmother's, some were gifts, and some came from discount stores and thrift shops. They sit in an oak Welsh dresser made by my uncle in the '70's. Memories everywhere here.

I love this little mirror, but couldn't find a place for it for many years. It seems to fit nicely here in my bedroom. The sign underneath it says "hope" and I made it during a difficult time to remind myself that nothing is hopeless with God. I see it first thing every morning and last thing at night. The black and white toile boxes came from a grocery store several years ago and have served, not only as storage, but also as inspiration for a few different rooms.

This was my living room mantle last Fall. The picture is of Plymouth, MA, I got it on a trip I took with my daughter her junior year of high school when we studied American History. I bought the pear candlesticks in Gettysburg on that same trip. A very fun memory.

Do you have objects that you have collected over the years or were part of your growing up years? Get them out of boxes and closets and use them in your decorating. They will bring you pleasure every time you look at them, as well as add beauty to your home.