See how we installed vertical planking & open shelves in the kitchen to make it feel bigger and brighter! Our kitchen has come a long, long way. After we had our backsplash installed, it was time to add vertical planking and open shelves in the kitchen. From the very beginning when we were designing the kitchen, I knew I wanted open shelves to make the kitchen feel larger. We don't have a big kitchen, but the new addition of the open shelves makes the kitchen appear bigger and less crowded. Before we could have the shelves installed, the first step was adding the vertical planking. Todd and I decided to tackle the project a few weeks before I was due to have our baby ...
Tagged with: kitchen
Laminate Countertops & Backsplash
The secret is out: Our kitchen has laminate countertops & backsplash! See how we made it look like real marble! It's been a hot minute since I've shared anything about our kitchen, but so much has changed lately! It's time I shared an update on one of the biggest additions yet, our laminate countertops and backsplash! When we designed the kitchen, we knew we'd need to splurge and save in different areas with the countertop and backsplash being one of them. But just because we needed to save in that area, didn't mean they needed to look cheap! Quite the opposite really! Laminate has come a long, long way from what it used to look like. These days, you can get patterns that look ...
Organizing Under The Kitchen Sink
I've mentioned before how little storage space our home has, and how it's one of my major house goals this year to get our house better organized to make everyday life less stressful. The first project I decided to tackle, was organizing under the kitchen sink. Not only was it super easy, but just having this small space cleaned up, with everything having a place, has already made this cabinet of our kitchen more enjoyable. But can a cabinet under the kitchen sink really make my kitchen more enjoyable? You bet! It's so nice knowing exactly where everything is, goes and where I can easily direct Todd to, as he searches for something. We have a running joke in the house that he ...
Designing And Buying Our Ikea Kitchen
I'm late in sharing this post, but better late than never, right? Designing and buying our Ikea kitchen was a new experience for us. We'd never went through the process of designing, creating and purchasing Ikea cabinets, and while it was definitely an experience, we're still glad we did it. When we first bought our Willow House, basically everything needed gutted. There really wasn't anything worth saving, and the kitchen cabinets were in really, really rough shape. We knew, just like with the rest of the house, the kitchen would be getting new everything. And because we needed to remodel the house on a budget, we'd be leaning on Ikea for the cabinets because of their solid ...
The Kitchen Design Plan
The kitchen design plan has been one of the harder rooms to really nail down. Overall, I've known what I wanted to do, but there were still a few key elements that I just couldn't decide on. Elements, that I felt really needed to be picked before moving forward with the final plan for our kitchen. Since we have so much work to do with the entire house, we've really tried to do a healthy dose of "high and low" finishes all blended together. We've splurged a little in some areas, while staying budget focused with other things. It's been exciting to see it all come together in such a beautiful way. The kitchen is going to be a very happy balance of budget friendly items, with a few ...
Replacing The Kitchen Sub Flooring
If you ask either one of us what our least favorite project has been to date, we'd both probably answer with replacing the kitchen sub flooring. Don't get me wrong, we were thrilled to get the nasty, rotted sub flooring up and out, but the process of actually doing it left a lot to be desired... Remember when I shared all about demo'ing the kitchen? And when we found mold around the sink? The previous people obviously didn't care about the leak, because not only did they let it start growing mold, but it also rotted the main layer of sub flooring. (Palm to the forehead...) When we broke up the kitchen tile, and pulled up the thin layer of wood underneath, we could ...
Demo’ing The Kitchen
If you've ever bought a fixer upper home that had really gross rooms, you know the thrill of demo'ing the space and taking it down to bare bones. Demo'ing the kitchen was just like that... it was so refreshing to get everything out and to have a blank canvas. Remember the kitchen? The picture makes it look about 100 times better than what it actually was. The cabinets were falling apart and most of the drawers were broken, not to mention loads of mice droppings everywhere. There was also a big water leak underneath the sink that had gone on for so long, it caused mold on the wall and all over in the base cabinet. The stove had burners that didn't work, and the room was just ...
Alfalfa Clippings
You're in for a real treat today friends, because I'm sharing an absolutely gorgeous peek into my beautiful friend Chelsea's kitchen! Remember her dining room? Swoon! Her home is utterly fabulous, and I love being able to share it with you... major inspiration, and I know you all love it as much as I do! Chelsea has always mentioned how much she loves how I use the outdoors so much in my décor. Be that just as my initial inspiration, or when I bring the outdoors in with fresh clippings. You know how much I love using tree clippings as my focal point, but for her kitchen, we decided on some Alfalfa clippings. Gorgeous! Living in a very rural area like we do, it's easy to ...
How I Organize My Spices
Today's post is yet another "helpful post". It's not necessarily filled with beautiful, jaw dropping pictures, but rather the simplified take on exactly how I organize my spices. In comparison to blog land with most people creating fancy labels, removing the "ugly" items and adding a whole lot of staging, my take is, well, simple. I find myself leaning more and more to this as I do projects and decorate our home. I'm not sure what it's all about, but I just know I want one thing, and that's simplicity. That doesn't mean simple can't be beautiful, but it also doesn't mean every entire space, nook and cranny in our home has to be completely decked out just "because of the blog". I'm ...
How I Organize Our Baking Canisters
The pantry... it's a room I'm in and out of all day long, and up until a few days ago, I had the biggest mess! Today, it's all about how I organize our baking canisters! There are several things I've never really shared on the blog, but I am allergic to gluten. Thank goodness I am not Celiac, but I have a really hard time with gluten. When I made the switch about a year ago, our pantry underwent a big clean out. I gave away so much food... and I started fresh with ingredients I could eat without issue. One of the hardest things I've had to learn new since eating gluten free, is the baking. Gone are the days where I have one big canister holding flour. Now, I have specific ...
The White Kitchen Wall
White paint makes everything pop. We recently planked a few more walls in the house, and that led to a wall in the kitchen being painted the same color for a smoother transition... Yes, it's true. I love the color white. White walls, white flowers, white clothing, white vehicles... basically white everything. When we first built the house, I had the main color in our living room/ kitchen area painted Edgecomb Gray by Benjamin Moore. I really liked/like the color, but noticed that a few of the rooms that received the direct sunlight began turning a bit pinkish. Especially in the entry way. One of the first ideas I had, was to paint stripes on the wall. And while they did look good, I ...
Decorating with Tree Branches
Want to know my secret for adding that perfect pop of color, texture and amazing, real life decor to any season? Decorating with tree branches! They are the perfect way to bring any season into your home, all while being free from your yard! And bonus, it's a great way to give your tree/ shrub/ bush a little healthy trimming. Oh man. I've just discovered one beautiful tree that's been right in front of my face since we bought our farm about... 5 years ago. Sometimes I am so oblivious. :-D In keeping with the tradition that is my decorating style, I wanted to freshen up the house since our summer home tour a few months ago. The tree branches had long since died, and my vases were ...
Antique Kitchen Clock
Bring a bit of character to your home with an antique clock. Given to me by a friend, I was on a search to find the perfect place to put it. Now, it's happy in the kitchen, and I'm happy to look at it every day. Here's the story of our antique kitchen clock... Now that my friends, family, and acquaintances know that I have a blog (it took me forever to share this with them...), I have so many people on the lookout for me. Sometimes the items aren't so great, and other times they are amazing. Either way, I'm so humbled to have friends and family searching my town and surrounding areas, all while keeping me in mind any time they see something that could possible be "just the thing". ...
HUGE DIY Chalkboard
You may have noticed that I like chalkboards. We have several of them floating around our home, but I still felt like we needed one more. And I've wanted a really big one for a really long time. Every time I see one, I get all excited. And then I wonder why we haven't made one. But a few weeks ago, I decided it was finally time. Plus, we had a whole bunch of scrap pieces laying around the garage, and we all know how much I like to build things out of scrap wood. It's a hobby. And now, we have a huge DIY chalkboard... I'm completely in love with the size, which we made to fit several different spots around the house. I like to move things around pretty regularly, so whenever ...
White Kitchen Shelves
I've been craving a bit of change for our kitchen shelves, so I decided to switch things around. A while back I was lucky enough to stumble upon a lovely set of white dishes at the thrift store and I couldn't help but buy the entire set. They are beautiful and I knew the second I saw them that if I didn't buy them, I would fully regret it later. So today, I bring you our white kitchen shelves. They're lovely. And simple. And white. And just perfect. I've styled these shelves so many times since we've built and installed them, but each and every time I'm drawn to the simpler approach. I'm always so overwhelmed with how well these white dishes photograph... they were meant ...
Our Kitchen Island
Lately, I've had several questions about our kitchen island, so today thought I'd answer your questions and tell you a bit more about it. When Anthony and I were designing our kitchen a few years back, I really wanted to have a kitchen island with a bit of contrast against our dark cabinets. I also liked the idea of having an island that looked like a piece of furniture. When we met with our cabinet company, I had them look for a kitchen island that had a butcher block top, shelves, drawers and a white/ cream finish. They found an absolutely beautiful island. It had a thick butcher block top, drawers for extra storage, a cabinet and shelves. It was lovely, and I was in love, but I ...
Summer Kitchen Shelves
Boy. It's getting hot here, which means it's summer time! Our corn fields are growing like crazy and everywhere we look it's covered with the brightest shade of green. I love it! Since spring is gone, it was definitely time to bring a bit of summer into our home. Our kitchen shelves are the perfect place to change with the seasons, and I couldn't wait to give them a light, bright and fresh vibe. This time, I'm all about simplicity. It's a love of mine. I used my driftwood wreath and paired it with all sorts of my other favorite things. Like, blue glass and DIY Numbered Tags... I picked up this lovely little piece at the thrift store for $1. It's so cheerful! And it ...
Kitchen Boxwood Wreath
A while back I shared my entirely free fabric wrapped frame with wire mesh fencing. I literally built it from things I found laying around. Since then, I've been on a mission to find something to put with it. The options are endless, and I'm sure that I'll be changing it up from time to time, but I had to add a boxwood wreath to the kitchen. I've loved them for soo long! It's added the perfect punch of color, texture and warmth! Be still my heart... It adds such a lush vibrancy to the kitchen! And it's perfectly lovely against the fabric frame and spoon hooks. I'm completely in love with it! This little wall has added so. much. character to the ...
Spring Mantel
I don't know about you, but I am SO ready for spring. I've been spending any free time in the flower beds, raking the lawn, and trying to freshen everything up. I love this time of year! Anthony is a busy bee too. Farming is officially underway and him getting home at 10:30 p.m. (or later) is our new normal. Quick, call 911- The tractor stole my husband! :) Spring is in the air! With that said, our mantel (aka kitchen shelves) was needing a little spring love too. No more winter shelves! I couldn't take them for another minute! I was craving wicker. Obviously. And the thrift store helped me out! Green apples are practically perfect for the color starved ...
Wire Onion Baskets
I've mentioned before that I grew up on a farm and come from a long line of proud farmers. Recently, my great grandpa passed away and not only left behind an amazing legacy, but also several treasured and memory filled items. One of those items just happens to be an onion basket- or several of them. Back when my great grandpa harvested onions, they filled the baskets as they dug the onions out by hand. He kept an entire shed full of these baskets. Literally. Long story short, I managed to take home 6 of them. And they're a perfect way to add more meaning to our home. Love that! After a good cleaning, and some serious scrub -a- dubin', I knew that the possibilities would be ...
Kitchen Backsplash Inspiration
Remember when I told you about the project goal list for 2013? Well, today we're going to be exploring number # 3 on that list: Kitchen Backsplash. When we built our house we had to decide on the areas where we wanted to splurge up front. Things like appliances, cabinets, stucco, rock work and real wood flooring were all on our list. Things that could be added over time weren't as important. For instance, I knew that I really wanted double ovens and they totally changed the layout of the kitchen, so we decided to include them in our budget. Double ovens are much easier to plan for up front, and we really weren't interested in doing a total gut job on the kitchen anytime soon. Plus, ...
