Chalkboards in the Kitchen

Lately it seems like every kitchen I see online has a chalkboard in it. There could be a chalkboard on the front of a cabinet like in this picture from Country Living: The Ultimate Guide to Kitchen Decorating (online gallery) which, by the way, has the most amazing little pantry ever...all those matching spice jars kill me.

There could be chalkboard-refridgerators like in the Apartment Therapy: Chalkboards in the Kitchen Roundup.

There could even be an entire wall of chalkboard paint, as in this picture from loveallthis.tumblr.com

But the idea I liked the most was this one from Apartment Therapy - hiding the chalkboard (and other memos) on the inside of a cabinet so that you could easily close it and all looks normal.

And thus, I followed through on something. Here is the inside of one of my kitchen cabinets. I have it on two inner cabinets so far and plan to put pictures of family and friends, recipes, and other notes on the insides of the others. I only wish the sticky chalkboard had been in the perfect size. As you can see it is a little small for this area. I find this idea especially useful because one of those chalkboards can be used to write down emergency contact numbers. The only one I have listed so far is the emergency vet.
I bought the stick-on chalkboard at Marshalls, but you could just as easily buy chalkboard paint - remember to put primer on first. I might just take down my sticky ones and do this myself. Trust me, this is an easy cure to the stack of post-it notes sitting on your counter, the phone numbers you never remember, immediate tasks, chores, etc.

The Backyard Before & After

These pictures show move-in day, our gigantic tree behind the garage (and our gigantic garage) and the deck after we restained it. It also shows our very blue siding.

Valentine's Day Wishlist

If you know me, you know that I love Anthropologie. I can't afford Anthropologie, but that doesn't make me like their stuff any less. And their jewelry is no exception. I am definitely seeing a trend online of raw gemstones and stone jewelry. This jewelry is on my Valentine's Day Wishlist of ideas.

Anthropologie Raw Gem earrings

Anthrpologie Frozen-Through earrings

 Anthropologie Forged in Blue earrings, although I would hope they're not so akwardly shaped in person.

The seriously cute Anthropologie Orb D'Oro earrings

Anthropologie Persephone earrings

Anthropologie Agate Tears earrings

Unfortunately I can't get a picture of the Filigreed Teardrops Earrings, but they're worth taking a look at. As for their necklaces, I never trust them. They always look like chokers in the pictures and turn out to be monster size. The only one I love this time is this, the Twofold Amethyst necklace.

Oh, Etsy

Etsy, in case you haven't heard, is a website like Ebay that has thousands of members selling their own handmade, repurposed and "found" items. One of my most pleasant experiences on this site was buying a cigar-box filled with handmade soaps. I now keep that box for future soap. I even got my garter for my wedding from one of their sellers. If you haven't been there yet, make it a point to visit soon.

Jeanette Zeis Ceramics - ridiculously cute pastel ceramics. http://www.etsy.com/people/vesselsandwares?ref=ls_profile

Celtic pottery including this beautiful collander from Saxon Designs http://www.etsy.com/shop/saxondesignstudio?ref=seller_info

$1 cute loofahs for your shower gel and big 5 ounce peppermint soaps featured at Sudsy's Soaps and Scents. I have my eye on the last bar of Candy Cane soap. http://www.etsy.com/shop/sudsysoapscents?ref=pr_shop_more

Moody Shop has a great chocolate loofah soap and great giftbaskets. (Valentine's Day is coming up...)
http://www.etsy.com/shop/moodyshop

Etsy also has some of the best jewelry online. SeaLore Designs features some amazing jewelry. Here are some on my personal wishlist. The monogram birthstone necklace, citrine earrings, lumina earrings, sailor moon necklace and celestial sea earrings. http://www.etsy.com/shop/SeaLoreDesigns?ref=seller_info

                                          

Urban Outfitters Joy

The Antoinette fainting sofa comes in an array of colors and a few different fabric choices. I have the linen damask version.

 The "Home Sweet Home" whale painting is on its way to my house as I write this! Sorry the picture doesn't have better clarity.

 The beautiful gypsy chandelier would work perfectly in a little girl's room.

 The Jet Set storage bench comes in a few different options and would be perfect at the foot of my bed, or as extra seating and storage in the family room.

 The velvet pouf pillow works well in any room and comes in so many different colors. I'm thinking about getting the royal blue color for my master bedroom.

The birdcage hanging lamp

Whale bath mat

And the black and white Damsel wallpaper, which would be super cute and unexpected on ceiling of my main floor hallway, which is a very small space.

Plan for the Dining Room

I have the absolutely wonderful Taika dinnerware by Iitala. Look how magical it is. However, it is very hard to have a "traditional" dining room with this energetic and bold set. Bottom picture via flickr.

As you can see the dishes are pure white, while my dining room is off-white, and it is obvious the two shades don't match. This might not bother some people, but it really bothers me.
Now take a look at this picture below. See the moulding stripe in the middle of the wall between the floor and ceiling? I have one of those in my dining room but it is at the top of the wall, about 3/4 of a foot away from the ceiling. Therefore I think it would be cute to put one in my dining room that is exactly like the one in this picture.

Have you heard of Jonathan Adler, and the ridiculously expensive but colorful things he sells, and his books Happy Chic Colors, Happy Chic Accessorizing, and My Prescription for Antidepressant Living? While I have yet to get my hands on these books, I have flipped through them and seen pictures, and I really want them. I am the kind of person who despises color - in fact the majority of my closet is black, and yet I can't help but feel that I would be happy with my home looking like Jonathan Adler personally decorated it. Use ultra pure white as a blank canvas and add a bunch of color pops and textures.

I am also loving the new West Elm catalog. The picture below features their capiz shell chandelier and a small buffet/sideboard, and the picture after that shows their lime green curtains. I think all three of those items would be perfect in my dining room. The shell chandelier would be the perfect conversation piece, a little bit traditional, and glamorously understated. The lime curtains would be the foil to my Taika plates, matching them in an unexpected way.

Add a white textured rug and some wall art, and I'd be set except for the different shades of white between my walls and dinnerware. I think the wood table I currently have, some Eames chairs or other modern seating, the lime curtains and shell chandelier, a white rug, and the black shelves I have, would all compliment each other. The only other curtains I would go with (and this is exceptionally rare for me) would be a sheer yellow, not quite bold and not quite subtle. They would have to be the perfect shade. Is it strange to put sheer yellow curtains with black shelves and a wood table when you have a white chandelier, white walls, and white dinnerware?

Kitchen Changes

Here are the changes we made to our kitchen. We put a pendant light and small curtain over the sink, thermal energy-saving drapes over the sliding door to the deck, added two pretty blue rugs, ripped out an old built-in bread box/storage garage, and filled the spice rack.

The Dining Room - Before & After & After-After

Here is the only picture I have of our lovely dining room when we moved in. This was the only room downstairs that had carpeting. (WHY?) Who knows what color it used to be - it was matted so heavily with animal fur and stains that we couldn't tell, and it smelled horribly of urine.

Of course we took out the carpeting. The smell didn't go away for a week. Then my husband sanded the floor, re-stained it, and finally put polyurthane over it in a color that matched the kitchen and family room. From the dining room you can see clearly into the kitchen and family room, so this really mattered.

Here are some "after" pictures, still before we really got settled in. Notice the tank filled with our three wild mice that my husband took home from his place of work so that I could bring them back to life. It was the middle of winter and he found them almost dying of hunger, but after resting them on a heating pad and feeding them, they were revived. To this day we still can't find a proper place to keep their tank, but they sure do keep our cats happy.

All of our furniture is second-hand from my mother - the two sofas in the family room, the bookshelf in the dining room, the rug, the dining table and chairs (from the 80s) and the barcart in one of the corners you can't see. Even the tablecloth was donated to us from my mom.

Since these pictures I have replaced the lone bookshelf in the corner with two matching bookshelves in black (see pictures below) that go on both sides of the arch that separates the family room and dining room. I could put two more on the other side of the room and all four of them together still would not hold all of my china, pitchers, platters, etc. That is something I have to work on.

You can see how cluttered, outdated and boring the house feels even with the matching bookshelves. It is hard to see what changes you should make to your space when you get too comfortable living in it the way it already is. But, I have major plans for this dining room!

Here are some little details on the dining room shelves that I love...a stainless steel bucket with a fancy tiger crest I'm sure you can barely make out, a red leather tiger box that holds napkins, (both from TJ Maxx) a ram cheeseball dish because I'm an Aries, and a lion butter dish, (both from Anthropologie.)