Our kitchen... Remember waaay back in April I shared about a tea cozy I'd knitted, and about sprucing up our kitchen? No...? Well, that's OK, as it was a while ago now since I wrote about it, and our work on it began around Easter-time. A couple of weeks ago we finally finished all we intend to do for now to brighten up the kitchen. For such a small room, it took time. We encountered some complications along the way, particularly electrics-related in wanting to install a new light fixture... But that will have to wait. A decision to stick with the same wall color also took time to deliberate. Laying the new floor turned out to be the best thing we did. (Keeping the same cream paint, this actually looked better with the new floor in place--this was surprising!) Fresh paint, especially on the ceiling, really "lifted" the room. And a new curtain & other textile accents I made helped too. New lighting is on the list for later. As well as new stove/cooker. New handles for the cupboards, we are looking out for those now. I had "before" photos... But our home pc died on us shortly after we got back from our trip to the USA in May. Most files were backed up. Unfortunately, however, some photos were not, and it seems among them was the "before" kitchen photos. So I only have the "after" photos to share...
Yes, it is a very tiny, small square room! And we do have a fridge... just couldn't get it into the photo! Countertop space is limited, so anything sittng out has to be useful first & foremost... pretty is an added bonus.
This is the new terra-cotta vinyl title composite flooring we laid. It pairs nicely with the terra-cotta tiles of the backsplash on the wall behind the stove/cooker. In a way, I'm glad I don't have the "before" photo of the horrible 1960's linoleum floor that was here in the kitchen--it would hurt your eyes! The new vinyl was easy to lay, did it all in one weekend...quick, easy, simple to clean, cost effective--highly recommended.
View from kitchen out to the dining room. The twiggy wreath is new. I gave the old blackboard for shopping lists a face lift--new paint with crackle & distressed techniques a la shabby chic. A new apron I made from leftover fabrics from the curtain hangs on the pegrail, along with the new plastic carrier bag holder I made--from same fabrics. The bit of white door at right conceals a pantry cupboard.
New pot holders I made--knitted cotton and some made from fabrics. Had enough of leftover curtain fabric to make the set in the middle (used leftover bias binding from an earlier project--just enough!)... My pot holders tend to get much abuse, so several sets are handy.
A little close-up of the curtain. I used two fabrics--an English-French vintage-style print linen, and a cotton-linen in red with subtle stripe. The cream printed linen was expensive, so I tried to make economical use of every bit of it. Must admit, I do love the curtain. The overlock on my sewing machine gave a very professional look to the backside where the different fabric sections meet, and good for these linen fabrics that tend to fray.
My dream kitchen would be in white and duck egg blue, with touches of silver/steel...*sigh*... So our current kitchen is far away from what would be my dream, what with these oak cupboards (Dear Husband loves these, so my itch to paint them white must keep still...), terra cotta & cream hues. To gut the room & re-do to get the dream kitchen, even though it's a small space, would cost too much. So we are making do with what we have, tweaking what we can, and have brightened as much as possible for now.
Now that some indoor projects are done, we hope to do a little in the garden this weekend... if the rain holds off! Wishing you all a wonderful weekend... What are you dreaming about?
With Love,
Believe it or not Tracy, you have more counter space than I do!! I know! Sad, sad, sad!! Love the new do, but I'm with you, duck egg blue and silver and white. Those would be my colours too, but I guess we must make the most of what we have for the now! I send oodles of love and hugs to you, TJ and the Charlie. Is it TJ's birthday soon??? xxoo
Posted by: Marie | July 07, 2011 at 04:51 PM
Love your kitchen Tracy. I wish ours was a separate space like yours. And your floor is gorgeous. I know kitchen are so small here in Europe. Mine is very small too.
Hugs from Holland ~
Heidi
Posted by: Heidi | July 07, 2011 at 05:24 PM
It looks great Tracy. It just shows what can be achieved with time and a bit of imagination.
Marie x
Posted by: Wild Rose | July 09, 2011 at 11:34 AM
It's nice to see how the rennos went. Everything looks fresh and cosy. We still haven't gotten around to ours, lol.
Posted by: Shayla | July 10, 2011 at 12:26 AM