House Tour: Kitchen (Redo)

I posted a kitchen tour a few weeks ago but was never really happy with how the pictures came out. Since I have been getting better with my camera lately, I decided to scrap that post and take a fresh batch of photos to redo the kitchen tour. 

We have an open floor plan from our kitchen into the living room. This is perfect for us when entertaining since we live in a small townhouse and our kitchen is in the middle of the first floor. The downside to this is that there are no windows in the kitchen for any natural light to come in. Fortunately, the open floor plan allows light from the living and dining rooms to creep in. Unfortunately for the must part we still need to turn lights on when in the kitchen. Hence the massive amounts of lighting - recessed, pendant and even under counter lights.

This is pretty much how the kitchen looked upon moving in except for two minor changes. First we repainted the walls that were originally a darker brown-tan. Secondly, I took the doors off two of the cabinets above the sink. I love the look of open cabinetry and after debating it for a year decided to take the plunge one night while the hubby was at work. After shuffling around the dishes and tupperware that I didn't want showing, I am very happy with the results.Other than those two changes, we were fortunate that the kitchen came with the stainless steel appliances, gorgeous tile floor, new cabinetry and custom tile backsplash.

An alternate view from inside the kitchen. Sorry for the poor lighting. Just a side effect of that middle-of-the-house, poor natural lighting thing I was talking about. The door next to the dining room and across from the fridge leads to our basement.

Although I wasn't crazy about the tile backsplash at first, I've really grown to love our kitchen. I was afraid that the blue-grey tiles would keep me restricted in my decor and keep the kitchen looking dark. After throwing in some natural baskets and jute as well as white and teal accents to soften things up, I couldn't have been more wrong.

A few more shots.

If you are wondering about our dishes, they were part of our wedding registry. They are the Sophie Conrad Dinnerware for Portmieron collection in Celadon. We received our dinnerware from Bed, Bath and Beyond, but it is also available at Macy's, and in a variety of other colors. 

I love how each piece is unique with it's perfectly imperfect edges. 

In non-kitchen related news today was an absolutely gorgeous day - both weather and otherwise. Hubby had off from work and we took full advantage by spending some QT with the family and taking time to knock out a few things on our to-do list. The biggest thing we tackled today was starting to paint the nursery. We need to buy another gallon of 'Sharkey Grey' before we add a second coat as I underestimated when I purchased paint for the hallway. Pictures to follow later this week.

Up until today, this was the most progress I had made in the nursery:

Not exactly a decor update, but shopping for my baby girl has become one of the best projects I've taken on for the nursery. :)

Hope you all had a great weekend! 

House Tour: Master Closet

I'm rewarding myself today with a coffee. Ok, it's decaf, but still I've cut coffee out all together so even a cup of decaf is a treat. Today is one of the first Saturdays that I didn't have plans and was been able to spend at home, so I took full advantage.  I woke up around 7am when hubby left for work and began doing things around the house. By 11:30 I was feeling pretty accomplished between cleaning, organizing and taking pictures for the blog.

One of the big projects I did today was clean out and organize my closet. I don't have any sloppy, before pictures pre-organization, but I do have some from before we moved in. My closet needed a lot of work for a few reasons. I needed to go through my clothes and get rid of what I don't wear, relocate what I can't wear this summer due to my growing belly, and move hubby's items into his closet in the hall (more on that later). After I was finished I figured there was no better time to snap a few shots and give you all a tour. 

Of course, let's start with the closet pre-moving in.

Dark wood, white walls and that icky cranberry carpet snuck in from the master bedroom.

Let's take a peek at the closet today:

I have a lot of shoes, but what girl doesn't? I wish I could say that I wore them all.

The best part about a walk-in closet just being able to see all of my clothes at once. The fabrics, colors, patterns, everything is so inviting. Plus it makes choosing what to wear everyday a million times easier since everything is in one place. Other than basics like socks and underwear, everything I wear is in this space. Hubby has the dresser and hall closet for his clothes. He actually volunteered for that closet, so don't think I'm a bad wife.

Dresses, dresses, dresses! Take up the whole left side.

I somewhat organize by cardigans, long sleeves, then short sleeves,

vests and tanks,

and finally skirts.

The built in shelving is not only great for shoe storage, but also for jewelry.

These pieces are actually all vintage jewelry that belong to my grandmother. She gave them to me a few years ago since she has stopped wearing most of her items.

The shelving to the left of my dresses is for bags, clutches, scarves, and belts:

Most of these clutches are thrift store finds that I purchased for $2 and less each.

These are actually the bags that my bedding came in. 

I use them now to hold stockings in one and swimsuits in the other.

One more thing in my closet. See this plastic boxed tucked away in the corner?

It actually holds almost two dozen pairs of vintages gloves, also given to me by my grandmother. Although I haven't worn them, I absolutely love them and refuse to get rid of any.

I mentioned that hubby has his own closet in the hallway. Here is a quick before.

After moving the rest of his clothes and doing a mini-organization project, the closet now looks like this:

Happy Saturday!

Nursery Mood Board

I've made my first mood board! Actually two, although they are only different by the bedding. These are just my thoughts when it comes to nursery decor. Some items we have already purchased, some we plan to purchase, and others are still just being considered.

The big furniture pieces have already been purchased. We have the IKEA Hemnes dresser, the Graco Lauren convertible crib from Walmart, and just recently the Dorel glider and ottoman from Walmart. I finally picked a glider! I mentioned in a previous post that I had been eyeing up this glider, but the color I wanted was out of stock. Well the other day, during my daily Walmart stalking, I saw they finally had the beige slipcover in stock! So we quickly placed the order for the rocker and glider with beige slipcovers for each. I read that the beige looks more like a cream/white which is exactly what I've been looking for.

Now that the main furniture has been purchased, the next big decision is the bedding. I'm so picky when it comes to things like this that I feel like it takes me forever to decide. I've found two sets that I really like from babybedding.com, but don't hold your breath as I'm likely to change my mind in the next few weeks. (Reference this post about the two gliders I was deciding between - and chose neither!)

The first option features the Love Birds Fabric collection.

Now let me explain a few things because I surprised myself liking this fabric choice. For one thing, I am not a girl=pink type. I scarred myself as a child by begging my parents for a "Dusty Rose" carpet in my bedroom when we built our house (granted I was 7). I was stuck with that pink carpet until I graduated high school and convinced my parents to swap it out for pergo hardwood. 

Another odd thing about this fabric is that I really don't ever lean towards pastel colors. I love neutrals (gray/black/brown/white) or bright colors (teal/yellow/lime green). But I see potential in this set since babybedding.com allows you to customize. For instance, let's take out the two pink fabrics and replace them with lime green to play off the olive tone of the birds. Or even the bright aqua. Here are two options I played around with for this fabric:

Much better right?

Here is my second mood board with a bedding option I showed you before.

This is the Starling Fabric also by babybedding.com. 

This seems more my style with more modern bird decor and brighter colors. Although I do feel that both stripes and polka dots may be a bit much. I pretty much like this set as is. Maybe just tweak a little bit. More like this:

In all honesty I don't know if I'll choose either of these bedding sets, but I'm having fun looking around. The price tag for custom bedding scares me a little and I wonder if I could get away with just ordering the bumper and getting the sheets and crib skirt cheaper somewhere like Target.

As for the rest of the nursery, the Expedit shelving unit and wooden blinds which I've mentioned before are both pretty definite. I can't decide if I want a neutral/gray curtain or a bright green or yellow, but that will be decided once I choose bedding. I love the two little rugs I picked out, both from IKEA.

  

The room is already carpeted in a light neutral color as seen below. 

I think the Rens sheepskin rug ($24.99) will look adorable in the middle of the floor in front of the crib. The green rug is Ringum and measures 2'4" in diameter, so I was thinking of placing it below the ottoman for the perfect pop of color against the cream slipcover. It comes in a variety of colors, but I'm instantly attracted to the green. The lilac color is also a top choice. For only $9.99 if I decide against it I can easily find a home somewhere else in the house without feeling guilty about the purchase.

There you have it. Although we haven't physically made much progress in the room as of late, I've been planning non-stop and trying to make some serious decisions before I purchase any items on impulse. Jordan has off this Sunday so we have plans to finally paint the room after we go to brunch with my family. I'll be sure to post pictures to show you our progress.

Inspiration: Yellow and Teal

We're projected to get about 5 inches of snow tonight, but I already have Spring on the brain. I'm becoming pretty content with our new bedroom set up (it took some time to get used to) but I'm starting to think it needs a pop of color. I never used to be one to stick with all neutrals even though my house is slowly starting to turn that way. But after a few weeks I'm beginning to think that something is missing. 

I love the splash of color that my teal chair gives the master bathroom. 

I'm thinking of playing off that color and incorporating some yellow - my favorite color. Don't expect me to be painting a bold teal or yellow wall in our bedroom or anything. I'm past that phase of design after the red living room and the dark blue bedroom walls. But I do want to incorporate some accent pieces. Whether they be pillows and throws, a bold colored frame, a funky lamp, etc. Granted we are short on space to be adding much more into the room, but maybe a few things will be swapped out. 

Check out this great yellow chair

Inspiration For Home

Or these teal curtains

Simple Creative Inspiration

I know myself well enough that if the accent color is too bright I get tired of it easily. I may need to lean more towards a muted version of those colors. Especially in a bedroom where I want the colors to be soft and soothing. Would that be more of an aqua then?

Pillows and throws are an easy upgrade

Under a Paper Moon

This bench makes me want to repaint my chair a lighter color and whip out the sand paper.

Desire to Inspire (Karina Garrick)

If I didn't already have too many mirrors, but I could paint the sofa table.

HGTV

Didn't I just say no more accent walls? I may be eating my own words after seeing this one. Makes me want to steal the white bed from our guest bedroom.

modresdes

I"m kind of loving these bar stools.

Black Forest Decor

Yellow and white just make me happy.

Palatial Living

Ok now my head is spinning with ideas.