Around the House: Our Kitchen

In the time we've lived in our home I've had a love/hate relationship with our kitchen. We purchased the house newly renovated, which as a positive meant we had all new finishings, but on the negative side meant I didn't get to choose any of the finishings. This posed a dilemma in the kitchen, which was finished in a style far from my own. I personally had always dreamt of a classic white kitchen, with no beige to be seen anywhere. As you can see our kitchen is swimming in a sea of beige. Since re-renovating the kitchen was absolutely out of the question, I had to make the best of what I had, and learn to appreciate the existing kitchen.

After adding a few accessories, I've grown to like the kitchen a bit more, but I'd be lying if I said it was my favorite. Ah well, I guess we can't have everything. Since, I've started cooking more I tend to look at the room less in terms of a design statement, and more in terms of a functional space for making good meals, which brings me contentment.

Things are pretty much done in the room except I think I should add some window treatments. What do you think? I'm not sure of what kind to add, but I feel they would help ground the room and break up some of the monotony.

"When you are discontent, you always want more, more, more. Your desire can never be satisfied. But when you practice contentment, you can say to yourself, 'Oh yes - I already have everything that I really need."~ Dalai Lama

Around the House: Powder Room Update

Although it's the smallest room in our house, the powder room was the hardest to decorate. For some reason i just couldn't decide on a paint color. After going through a bazillion paint samples I finally decided on Sherwin Williams Icelandic, which is a bit ridiculous because I have two other rooms painted this color. Why it didn't dawn on me to try this color first, is beyond me. Anywho, I'm pretty happy with how things turned out and will list some resources for anyone who might be interested. Starting with the Astor faucet pictured above by Newport Brass that I bought through Ebay at a very steep discount.

The little crab print is a 200 year old antique I found on Etsy for a few bucks (Maryland represent!) I had it framed up the street at McMillan Custom Framing. (Sidenote: Though pricier custom framing makes a huge difference in the appearance of your prints. Sometimes I like to shop for custom frames at flea markets and thrift shops and swap out the art they come with, with my own.)

The vintage schoolhouse light was a great find from Housewerks. If you like old fixtures or want to have period appropriate lighting, they are a must stop shop. I personally feel keeping or adding historical elements adds soul and character to your home, not to mention boosts your property value.

The ship pic is by a local photographer whose work can be found at Avenue Antiques in Hampden.

I hope you enjoyed! Now to tackle the rest of the house.