What it's all about

Monday, August 1, 2011

a country kitchen.

you may notice the zero blogposts in the history of blogposts that are in relation to the kitchen.

the kitchen is similar in nature to the yard, in that they are both somewhat forgotten.

actually, they are not forgotten, i think about them all the time.
they bother me all the time.
i just simply don't have the time, money, or manpower to completely gut them and make them new.
so the yard is continuously overgrown and overwhelming, as is the kitchen.
therefore i just don't take pictures of them.

almost all of the rooms in our house have been restored and are bright and cheery.
the kitchen is pretty much the only room in the house that we haven't touched.
we always talk about re-doing the cabinets, putting in new floors, tearing down walls...
but kitchens are such big projects that it just hasn't happened yet.

last fall i did throw up some chalkboard paint as a temporary fix, but it really didn't do too much.
the kitchen floors are still faux brick laminate, the walls are still warped, and it generally feels a little dingy in there.

but i realized this week that people always want to hang out in the kitchen no matter what, and even though we can't afford to renovate it right now, i could make it a warmer and more inviting space.

so i did.

inspired by a trip to the milkhouse, a couple of vintage feedsacks found for $5 and a wyeth painting for $4.80 (you heard right) we made our scary icky kitchen into a somewhat cozier country kitchen.


we hung a bunch of pictures in the "breakfast nook" around the table and wrote some quotes on the chalkboard paint.  the colorful feedsacks mixed with the country frames i had around the house really warmed up the space.

i love the cow.
 i tried to warm up the counter with a vegetable picture i found in the barn and my rooster runner.

 some plants in the windows...

i added some pictures by the front door and a rug for our shoes.
also, a "key rack"

but the best part about the spruced up kitchen is...


billy's baby high chair!  

we love it!

i'm really glad we spent some time on the kitchen this weekend.
even though we didn't make any major changes, the changes we did make really made a difference. 
i don't totally hate being in there anymore!
i think we will actually eat dinners at our kitchen table now instead of just at the breakfast bar or the dining room. 
i think finn is in full agreement! :)

3 comments:

Jean Isaac said...

MEg it looks awesome! Billy baby highchair is just like yours. Finn looks so cute in his Daddy's and when he comes to Grandma and Grandpa's he can use Mommy's.

Taylor said...

I LOVE it! Chalkboard paint is where it's at, man. I have it on my fireplace, had it on my dining room table (the new one is gonna get it eventually!), picture frames, cabinet sides...and I really want to do the fridge in it, but Lenny thinks it would be overkill. Also, we did our countertops with that new countertop paint. It's not a forever fix, but is a great in-between that made me hate our kitchen just a little less. We did the pewter color, and I like to tell myself that it's like faux natural slate. ;) You guys did an awesome job!

Anonymous said...

I LOVE IT. :) Nice job, mama.