operation house to home: the kitchen

hey guys.

i'm here to share with ya'll

the most changed room in our home.

let me first start by saying,

if you know me just the tiniest bit,

you know that i do not do the kitchen.

by that, i mean i do not use it for cooking.

i make coffee there and i love making it look purrrty,

but, that's about the extent of it.

i'm so drawn to kitchen things when i'm junkin

so i love to buy little things to add to this room,

however, i just don't enjoy cooking. 

it ain't my thang.

when we bought the house,

everyone was like, 

"wow, that's a great kitchen for cooking."

my thoughts were,

"i don't know anything about that. 

all i know is, it's ugly and that must change."

this was what it looked like

when we bought the house.

the walls were hunter green,

the countertops were bricks,

the cabinets were yellowey,

the hardware was ultra modern,

and there was track lighting.

it was hideous,

in my opinion.

we, by we i mean my dad, 

brothers, boo, mom, paw paw,

 uncle, and myself

 painted the cabinets white,

added white subway tile,

changed the hardware, 

switched the countertops to

butcher block,

added some old light fixtures

and an island.

the wall that has the vintage

mantle piece was open.

it was a huge square window.

i absolutely hate open floor plans.

i like each room completely separate.

we closed that window up.

by we, i mean my brother and my boo.

i contemplated open shelving there

and i still may try that later,

but was on the look out

for something large enough

to hang there.

on one of our junkin trips,

i spotted this mantle piece and fell in love.

i love how flawed it is.

i love the details.

i love that there is space to add lots

of little random decor pieces.

for parties and holidays,

i decorate this with banners

and whatever else goes along with

the occasion.

the island is another one of my

favorite things in our kitchen.

i spotted it before we even closed

on the house.

i found it at one of my fave

spots and immediately knew it

was the perfect look and size for our kitchen.

i love how primitive it is.

i love the flaws.

another great thing about our kitchen

is all the storage 

and the huge pantry.

please be aware that i organize

that pantry fiercely every week.

please also be aware that i live

with a grown man who 

actually does cook and could

care less about organization.

moral of the story:

i choose my battles.

i love that we have a door that

can close the kitchen off from

the rest of the house.

it has come in handy for 

different reasons.

i have dreams

of changing that door into

something interesting.

while vera and i were

on the longest yard sale last

summer, i found a door

that said judy's diner on its' huge

glass window.

it was yellow and perfect.

i left it there and have

regretted it everyday.

it would have been great in our kitchen.

my most most favorite little

area in our house is our nook 

under the stairs.

the first time we ever looked at the house,

i was dreaming of things to put there.

i also hoped and prayed our

little diner table would fit there.

we have a formal dining room

(the room the door leads into)

so i knew that little table

would be perfect for

just shane and i to have breakfast.

i painted the chalkboard wall

on labor day and the girls

create there every time they sleep over.

i love changing things

out on that little green shelf often.

(i found it for $3 in missouri)

i also love each and every piece

on that little collage wall.

the light fixture is one of those

finds that made my heart smile.

(are there any that don't, really)

i found it for $5 at habitat.

i added an eddison bulb and love

the way it looks there.

most of the things used in decorating

the kitchen were found junkin.

if they aren't junk, they are usually 

from anthropologie.

i remember where i found 

every little thing and 

how much i paid

for each one.

it's all in the little details for me.

the baskets on top of the cabinets was

one of the last things added.

i hate clutter and was hesitant on putting stuff

up there but every time i went in there,

it seemed so empty.

it took a few junkin trips but i eventually 

found enough that i loved

to add to the cabinets.

our sink was also found on a

junkin trip in

mississippi by my parents.

i wanted an old sink with the drying

racks so bad.

my dad was going to spend the money

to re-finish it and re-paint it.

it has a couple of little nicks.

however, i love all things flawed

and thought it was kind of pointless.

it's a sink for goodness sakes.

i decided to paint the insides of 

our cabinets with the glass doors a mint green,

just for fun.

i was obsessed with mint,

when we bought the house 

and i love the touch of soft color

that breaks up all the white.

there's our kitchen.

it's nothing fancy but I'm

no fancy lady.

i love things full of junk

and flaws and character.

to me, that's lovely.

even if we don't use it all that much.

ash...