A kitchen update

We are in the middle of a kitchen re-do and fluffing. A couple of weeks ago, we got the walls and cabinets painted. You can read about that here and here . I've been waiting two weeks for the cabinet/crown molding guy (he works out of town during the week) to come and get started on that. Friday he came and installed the crown and bun feet. I am a little disappointed in how the bun feet look but I was not able to find any I liked that would fit underneath the existing cabinets....cabinet guy had to cut the ones down I bought and I think he liquid nailed them to the bottom of the cabinets.

Here's the crown molding he installed. He said because my ceilings are low, I didn't need to get anything over 2 3/4" but I think I could have gone a little wider. The painter man will come back and cover the nail holes and caulk.

Here are some of my plates

Installed these roman shades at the bay window

Here's the room looking toward the table (yep, that's 11:45 at night on the clock, I was bored!). Also the little black framed "picture" is going to be joined by two others. I think I've finally decided on using the white linen slipcovers in here which of course will be monogrammed! See the different colors on the back of the black cabinet? I've been trying out different colors there and today I finally decided on what to do to the back of the cabinets....you'll have to come back to see that!

I got this wall sconce this summer and hung another of my creamy platters over it - you can also get a little peek of the rope trim we installed at the plate rack

I love these appliques! I changed out the hardware to round knobs and painter guy will have to caulk the old holes and paint over that. These cabinets are s-o-o-o old but right now they will have to stay

Here's the bun feet that I'm not feeling too happy about but after they get painted I'm hoping I'll like them a little more...the cabinet hardware has yet to be painted

Picked up this pair of sconces Friday afternoon at a flea market...they will get a fresh coat of paint and be installed underneath the plate rack cabinet

You can see where we're at on the re-do. We have a lot of little things to do but the big stuff is almost complete and the cabinet guy will be here next week to build and install cabinet over stove.

I also want to share a few pictures of our mahogany chest in the den. For some reason, I could not sleep Friday night and after hubby went to sleep, I went around snapping pics of the vingette on the chest. I got a little iron sheep at the same flea market the sconces came from and of course, that called for a complete revamping of the top of the chest....

Here's my "little lamb" sitting on top of Mary Carol Garrity books

How about these pear bookends? They came from Hancocks - on sale!

Close up of little lamb

Too much stuff? Not for me!

Now ya'll know what I do at midnight when I can't sleep....I had to completely rearrange the top of the chest and for now it will stay like this. Isn't it funny how the addition of one little piece can change up everything?

Ya'll be sweet and have a great Sunday!

Things Have Got To Change Around Here....

Today my kitchen gets a long awaited make-over! I've lived with and loved my red, rooster-themed kitchen for several years now, but it's time for a change. I find that lately I'm being drawn to the classic neutrals and all the creamy shades that look great with chocolate, khaki, white, and black. So I'm taking the plunge and after endless hours pouring over magazines, decorating sites and blogs, here's what we've come up with:

LATTE for the walls

All the trim, moldings, and baseboards will be in a shade call Pearl White. I didn't want a stark white but something much softer. When my decorator friend at the paint store showed me the Pearl White sample, I knew that was the perfect shade.

We are having a cabinet built to go into a little alcove area above the stove. It will have a beadboard back and a couple of shelves for display. It will be lighted from above or there will be a place I can put a small lamp. My plan is to paint that cabinet black, distress it and wipe it down with a dark stain.

When I started to get the urge to change things out, I remembered I had packed away some really pretty cremeware. Here's a few of the pieces I found:

This wonderful pair of tureens.....

....some "faux" pears! I had enough to fill both tureens full!

Cute little plate picked up for 50 cents!

A few of the "new" old stuff I'll use

Found these monogrammed lamps on a wonderful site....I really "need" the linen color one with the chocolate monogram



I have a table base similar to this one....I've already painted it and I'll have to work on getting it to look something like this one.... Already have a glass top for the table base

...to use with 4 Parsons chairs covered in slips like these

This photo started it all. I saw it on the Decorating Den "before-and-after" gallery and I fell in love with the deep brown walls and white cabinets. Of course, my cabs look NOTHING like this nor do I have crown molding like this. However, I did find a clock very much like the one in the picture at Wal Mart

I know, I know, there's absolutely nothing wrong with this picture....red walls, roosters galore....but I want to go in an entirely different direction. BTW, the rooster prints are for sale. If you are interested please e-mail me and I'll give you more particulars....

This rooster tray hung in the alcove where my new cabinet will be built

That's about it for now. I can't wait for the painters to get here and get started. It will probably take them about 2 days since they will be painting out all the trim and chair rails which are stained (from the 80's)....as well as adding some wider crown molding around some of the cabinets and some rope trim as accent trim to my plate rack.

I'll post pictures just as soon as the painting is done....

Happy Friday everyone!