Kitchen

Hello sunshine! (Adding a wee bit of yellow to my happy little kitchen)

Posted by Joy on Aug 2, 2012 in Kitchen | 0 comments

I have a love/hate relationship with the colour yellow.  I love it in other people’s houses, but I’ve never had much of a hankering for adding it to my own.  My friend Jess LOVES yellow (her eldest son’s nursery was yellow and it was such a cheery little room!)  My friend Shawn (who is an absolutely fantastic photographer and artist btw – check out some of his amazing work here and here) has been telling me that yellow is the way to go for years.  Being the rather awesome friend that I am, I’ve pretty much ignored all yellow yammerings from either of them in the past.  (I’m a bit stubborn like that.)  But then I found this…

…and realized that this lovely gray, yellow and teal rug (courtesy of Urban Outfitters) would look pretty darn good in my little gray kitchen.  Which, consequently, would mean bidding the red accents adieu.  And, well, maybe replacing them with something… sunnier.

Just as a reminder (just because my kitchen, even sans new rug, makes me happy!) here’s what I’m starting with…

Don’t get me wrong – I actually rather like the red.  But see the bananas in the background?  See how pretty the yellow looks against the gray?  Yep.  I’m thinking it’s most definitely a sign.  (While I don’t necessarily listen to my friends, when fruit makes a suggestion I’m all ears.)

And really, all I’d have to do is switch out the carpet (and I’ve already found the replacement!) and the tea towels (Etsy has lots of cheap and cheerful yellow tea towels) and maybe the print above the stove too (I really do miss having a mirror over my stove, so I’m thinking I’d like to try that again…  maybe one with a white wooden frame this time.)

And, if I’m feeling extra fancy, maybe I’ll get a yellow kettle.  Maybe.  :)

My other motive for the new rug?  I’m kinda hoping that the teal colour in the rug will make the icky teal peel-and-stick tile floors look a little better.  Maybe even like they were a deliberate and fashionable choice or something like that (even though we all know I can’t wait to replace them.  Eventually.)

It’s wishful thinking, I know.

Regardless, my kitchen is a happy place, and yellow is most definitely a happy colour!  All in all it seems like a pretty good match to me.  And I’m guessing that my bananas would likely agree.

The kitchen floor debate rages on (in my own head at least) (is it weird to debate with oneself?)

Posted by Joy on Jul 5, 2012 in Kitchen | 0 comments

Could we please talk about my kitchen floor a wee bit more?  Just a little?  I know.  I KNOW.  We’ve talked about my floor A LOT (here, and here, and here, to be exact.)  One more, k?

Need a reminder?  It has been a good, oh, couple of weeks since I’ve obsessed about my kitchen.  Here’s the current state of my wee little kitchen (please note the uuugly floor!)

Gross eh?

So what’s this big ongoing internal dialogue all about?  Painted plywood floors.  Again.  Yeppers.  Just when I thought I’d made a decision on which flooring would be most cheap and most cheerful for my humble little kitchen, I saw a Pinterest pic that made me pine for something else.  But rather than the patterned floors I drooled over the last time I pondered plywood potential, I’ve now switched gears (me? really?  go figure…) and my newest obsession is checkerboard.

It kinda started with this floor from Better Homes and Gardens (which, if you’ll recall, was indeed a contender for my floor future the last time we all discussed this)…

It’s just so PRETTY!  And that gray on the walls could very well be the Stonington Gray that’s on our kitchen walls.  Which is perfect alongside those white cupboards (hey – we have white cupboards too!)  Yep.  This is the exact colour scheme of our current kitchen.  (Well, sorta…  If you completely disregard our sad looking countertops.)  And just look at how pretty and serene that all looks with the checkerboard floor.  Sigh.

I’m a little obsessed.

Here’s a second gray and white checkboard floor from Northern Light.  Just as lovely.  The pattern is a classic, like the black and white staple, but the gray and white is less in-your-face…

And here’s a third (yes really!) gray and white sample (this one via Southern Living.)  (I might truly be onto something with this whole gray and white obsession!)  This one is ALSO lovely…

And then there are indeed non-gray options.  For example, could I interest you in a little yellow perhaps?  A la Makin’ It in Memphis …

Yep.  If a floor could be happy, I bet it’d look just like that!  (Albeit, Makin’ It In Memphis’ floor is genuine marmoleum, not painted, but a yellow and white painted checkerboard would be equally cheery methinks!)

I might very well be sold on the checkerboard floors.  Especially the gray and cream versions (again, it’s just so pretty with the gray wall paint.)  (Please excuse me while I swoon.)  What’s holding me back?  The truth?  It looks like a lot of work.  Not necessarily the painting part.  I’m sure that’s pretty straight forward.  It’s the TAPING that looks like quite the chore.  (And, being both slightly OCD and somewhat of a perfectionist, I’m guessing this is the type of project that could truly push my buttons.)

So will I have painted checkerboard floors in my happy little 1940s kitchen one day?  Perhaps.  Once I’m a gazillion percent sure that it’s really the right choice for my kitchen.  Since, well, I’m only going to (very precisely) tape off forty-seven 12″ squares once.

OK.  Twice.  Tops.

More kitchen lust (yep, I may have a problem)

Posted by Joy on May 22, 2012 in Kitchen | 0 comments

Let’s revisit the wonderful world of kitchens again, shall we?  :)  I know – sigh, groan…  We’ve been here before.  A couple of times.  But I spend A LOT of time in my kitchen.  It’s the first room I stumble to when I leap (er, blindly crawl) out of bed every morning (since that’s where my beloved and cherished coffeemaker resides.)  (Dear coffeemaker: I love you.)  And it’s where friends and family gravitate to whenever they’re over (I’m not entirely sure why – there’s a big comfy couch on the other side of the island, but everyone always ends up in my kitchen) (although really I don’t mind. :)  It’s where I make the most awesomest brownies ever (and a mean orzo salad too.)  It’s where I sing (like a big idiot) to the radio (and sometimes dance a wee bit too) while doing dishes.  And it’s where the fridge resides (and inside that fridge?  Wine.  ‘Nuf said.)  All in all, my kitchen is a pretty darn fantastic place.  It’s still not the prettiest place ever (although I’m working on that!), but it otherwise rocks.  Need a kitchen-reminder?  Here she is (original cupboards and cutesy little 1940s scalloped trim and all.)

Yep.  Despite that the floor is still hideous (change coming soon!  I hope…) my kitchen makes me happy.  :)  Is it any wonder, then, that I’m mildly (ehem, majorly) obsessed with other 1940s kitchens?  Might I interest you in a peek into my kitchen world?  Let’s take a looksee at other older kitchens, via the good folk at Googlesearch…

I love this kitchen, with its old cupboards but modern stainless steel appliances, courtesy of Casapinka.

(And that floor makes me super happy too.  Oh!  And, in case you haven’t noticed it, looking all lovely back there in the background, just look at that SINK!  Sigh.  Goodness me…)

And check out Carolyns 1940′s kitchen makeover, via Apartment Therapy:

Love love love!  And the dark wood flooring kinda makes me want wood floors in my kitchen.  Again.  (I’m seriously never going to make a final decision regarding floors at this rate, you know.)

But I saved the best for last.  Are you ready for this?  Here’s my favourite of the bunch via The Home Project…

Oh swoon.  Do you see what I see?  Stainless steel countertops, the most beautiful marble and granite floor ev-ver AND lovely old original kitchen cabinets.  So perfect.  I want to sing to the radio (and dance just a little too) while scrubbing pots in THAT kitchen, please.

So there you go – my top three picks (for now) for older kitchens that have been reno-ed (but retain their original and awesome charm.)  Here’s hoping that one day someone finds my 1940s kitchen project just as inspiring!  Until then, I’m pretty darn pleased with it, at least.  (Just don’t look at my floor.)

Who’s the big fish in the kitchen? (I am! I am!)

Posted by Joy on Apr 23, 2012 in Kitchen | 0 comments

Hello!  Sooooo…  I’m flip flopping around here like a perch in the woods.  As explanatory background information, let’s take a look at my existing kitchen for just a sec, k?

Ah.  There she is.  In all her ugly-floored glory.

Remember this post where I ooooohed and aaaaahed about how much I looooove butchers’ block countertops?  Yep.  Me too.

But then, THEN I discovered inexpensive easily-installed hickory-look Allure flooring.  Which led me to thinking (in THIS post) that maybe a black countertop could be in my future, a la my inspiration image (since, in my head at least, wood-look floors plus a wood countertop just seemed a little too… woody.)

But yesterday, I flopped.  Or flipped.  Or flip flopped.  Whatever.  I changed my mind (let’s go with that!) yet again.  You see, I found a post about painted plywood floors.  Yeppers.  And after just a few seconds with my buddies at Pinterest, I’d found a plethora of painted plywood prettiness.

Need proof?  Lookie here…

Painted and stencilled plywood from Creek Bed Threads.  Sweetie and I could totally do this.  Love!!!

Or there’s this one too (from smart the folk at Back to Domestics.)  Also painted plywood.  Also stencilled.  Also fantastic!

These are actual hardwood floors, I think (not plywood) (brave souls!) but I looooove the gray and cream checkerboard pattern (from Better Homes and Gardens)…

Oooooh.  And I adore this honeycomb patterned painted floor from Apartment Therapy…

And just look (omg LOOK!) at this simple and lovely painted plank plywood floor from Frugal Farmhouse Design…

Swoon, eh?

So I brought this all up with Sweetie (who, being a boy, is indeed a big fan of plywood) and after a brief chat and a few pics, he’s on board.  It’d be even cheaper than the inexpensive Allure hickory-look flooring I’d found.  And, well, despite that the Allure flooring claims to be easy-peasy to put down (and I’ve read many testimonials agreeing with this) my experience with installing it at our last house was neither easy nor peasy at all.  Once it was down, it was awesome.  But getting it all down with the seams snug and everything stuck together with the uber sticky glue strips while cats were circling helping the whole time?  Bad combo.  So painted plywood is my new plan, even if just temporarily (ie: a few years) until we can afford nicer flooring for the kitchen (at which point we’ll have a nice sturdy plywood subfloor to lay everything on!)  The perfect plan?  I think so!  :)

And you know what this all means, right?  If we go with the plywood floors, my butchers’ block countertops are back in.  At least for now.  Unless I change my mind again.  Which could happen.  Maybe.  Or maybe not.  We’ll see.  (Earlier perch reference?  Yup.  That’s me.)

Fancying up the kitchen (the three Rs: Rugs, Radios, and hickoRy flooRs)

Posted by Joy on Apr 5, 2012 in Kitchen | 0 comments

(Ok…  That third R was a bit of a stretch…)  (and technically that’s four Rs…)

The other day, I posted about how excited we were to have made a decision on flooring for our kitchen.  When you live in a house with blue 1980s-era peel and stick tile in your kitchen, the prospect of new flooring is a happy one indeed.  Here’s what we’ve decided on (with a Stonington Gray paintchip to represent our walls, and the countertop we’re considering too…)

And, just as a reminder of the current state of our kitchen, here’s what she looks like (with all her 1940s lovelieness)…

(In case you’re wondering, let’s consider this a stock image.  The mirror above the stove, as you may remember from earlier this week, is now above the fancy faux-fireplace in our living room.  And the pantry has had a little redo since too…  But it’s rather dreary here at the moment, and my kitchen wasn’t feeling particularly photogenic today [ie: I got super lazy and didn't do the dishes last night.]  Rest assured, though, it still sortof looks like this.  :)

Flooring chosen (and little happy dance danced), the folk at Urban Outfitters have now let me know that there’s something else my kitchen needs.  Look what I found while randomly wandering around the Urban Outfitters site the other night…

I won’t lie: I got super excited.  But just as I was about to hit the big blissful “BUY” button, I noticed the following words (in mocking red print): Back Order.  Until June.  And then I got super sad.  Grumble.  (Perhaps I’m not the only one who feels that a cheery little rug could be the perfect companion for a happy little kitchen.)  Nonetheless (and because I’ve been thinking about it nonstop for the last few days) (some people think about politics in their spare time, others worry about global warming…  Me?  I obsess over rugs) (well, and global warming) I’m pretty certain I’ll just give in and buy the backordered little rug and wait (somewhat) patiently until June.  June is only two months away afterall.  And that’s only 60-ish days.  I can wait that long.  Really.  :)

My other (waaay more extravagant) kitchen-want of the moment?  I want a Tivoli.  SO BAD.  See the spot above my sink (where the silver radio resides currently)…

…that there spot would really like a Tivoli please.  :)  The little silver radio is perfectly functional, but just imagine how lovely this would look in its place…

…or this sexy silver-faced version (dear silver Tivoli, I love you)…

Oooh.  Or this one…

…and, well, I know I currently have nothing yellow in my kitchen, but c’mon – how ridiculously cheery is THIS…

…and don’t even get me started on the blue one.  (Oh how I adore the blue one!)

Admittedly, it’s not the most practical purchase ever.  Ok, it’s not a practical purchase AT ALL.  Really, who needs a $200-ish radio for their kitchen.  Probably (alright, definitely) not me.  And I will likely never push the big fat “BUY” button for this purchase (since, well, I could floor most of my kitchen for that same $200.  Or feed Sweetie and me for a month.  Or repaint my entire second floor. Etc.)  But a girl can dream, non?

So there you have it!  My mid-week roundup of the stuff I’d really like to put in my kitchen.  We could seriously make this a weekly event, I think.  The internet is evil.  But so good.  Kind of like poutine – I know quite well that a big bowl of french fries smothered in gravy and cheese is hardly a healthy food, but sometimes poutine just calls to me.  And I can’t resist.  The internet is the same.  Minus the clogged arteries and expanding waistline.

The Allure of new flooring (daydreams of a fantastic floating kitchen floor)

Posted by Joy on Mar 27, 2012 in Kitchen | 0 comments

Once upon a time, a long long time ago, I found this picture (from Jessica Helgerson Interior Design) and swooned just a little…

…it was love.  :)  Twu wuv, in fact (as the Bishop in the Princess Bride would have declared.)  The gray walls.  The dark countertops and lovely marble backsplash.  The white cupboards.  The wood floors.  Sigh…  This is the image that inspired the gray/white/red colour scheme in our current kitchen.

And so, my obsession with that lovely pic in mind, I’m not sure why it took me so long to realize that my own kitchen could benefit from wood floors.  Maybe it was the presumed cost.  Maybe it was the seemingly non-diy-ness of installing hardwood.  I dunno. But the thought of putting some sort of wood-type floor in my kitchen had somehow completely evaded me.

Until this weekend.

But first, let’s backtrack to 2004 for a moment, shall we?  :)

Our last house had ugly flooring.  Uuuuugly.  Like, possibly even worse than the 1980s-blue-peel-and-stick tile situation here in our current house.  Really.  It was ba-ad.  Our old kitchen was home to brown 1970s peeling linoleum.  Need a visual?  Prepare yourself…

Yeppers.  We actually bought a house with a kitchen that looked like THAT.  We’re brave, brave souls.

We lived with that floor for over five years.  Until about a month before we listed that house, in fact (at which point we jumped into crazy full-fledged flooring mode.)  Because the flooring was SO ridiculously old, we didn’t even consider taking it up.  Instead, we put a tile-look floating floor (by Allure) right on top.  And it looked great (and, also importantly, was semi-simple to install ourselves!)  Here’s the (rather grainy – sorry ’bout that) after (from the night we moved out)…

We also de-wallpapered and re-painted EVERY SQUARE INCH of that house.  (But that’s a whole other story.)

And so (fast forwarding back to 2012), it suddenly dawned on me the other day that the answer to our current flooring woes might be to install the same type of floating floor directly over the blue-tile-disaster that currently resides in our kitchen.  A quick trip to Home Depot later, and I was sold.  We will again be making friends with Allure Trafficmaster Resilient Flooring, this time in a Hickory-plank finish.  I’m quite excited about the reunion. :)

Here is the floor we’ll be going with…

…along with the sample laminate countertop I’m considering and a Stonington Gray paint chip I wrestled up from my ginormous pile o’ paintchips (it’s already on my walls and I adore it.)  Not too shabby eh?  And perhaps even reminiscent of my inspiration pic.  Should we look at that again?  Let’s look again.  :)

Sigh.  It’s so lovely.  :)  And, well, since I’m a Google-search/Pinterest junkie, here are a couple more pics I found of the exact same Allure Hickory flooring in other people’s homes…

This one is from a super cute blog called Creative Little Daisy:

And then there’s this bathroom renovation from Southern Hospitality Blog…

And here’s a look at this same flooring in (Never Home) Maker‘s (originally carpeted – ick!) kitchen (and it looks lovely!):

Yep.  I think Allure Trafficmaster Resilient Flooring may again find its way into my home.  Will it be a fun little DIY jobbie?  Likely not.  It’s somewhat easy to install, but getting it right is a wee bit finicky.  It’ll be worth it, though.  I hope.  My kitchen, sans 1980s-blue-peel-and-stick flooring, will likely be a much prettier place.  :)

PS – if you’re not familiar with my Princess Bride reference above, please click here for one of my all-time favourite movie moments! (Skip to 1:25 if you want to get straight to the punchline… although the entire wedding scene makes me giggle.)  (Mawwage.)  (Teehee.)