Wednesday, June 29, 2011

If you suggest it....I WILL buy it!

I ordered this ruffle duvet from Urban Outfitters and as most on-line shopping sites do once you've added something to your cart ....they show you a teaser of what you "might also like"....

.....the matching shams perhaps?

....the coordinating and oh-so-tempting laundry tote?

It's a marketing technique that's rarely lost on me....so into my cart they went as I secretly hoped for more "suggestions". But that was it, and really, that was enough!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Kitchen Reveal

I'm still tweaking but, as you all well know, that could go on for a very long time... so here it is...

One coat of primer, three coats of BM's White Dove in semi-gloss and we have "new" kitchen

I'm only showing one before picture because it actually pains me now to look at how ugly it was for so long. If you want to see more check out my prior post here

For me.... the pendant lights (made by Allen & Roth ) are the crowning glory. We had to install conversion kits to go from recessed to pendant lighting but the effort and expense was worth it.


We gave the counter a more finished look by painting and installing maple corbels we bought at Lowe's. Now we're on the hunt for new stools which is proving to be quite the challenge.


When I spotted this "Catch a Wave" sign at Home Goods I knew right then it was going to set the tone for a beachy theme for our kitchen




We kept the same cabinet handles and draw pulls but had to replace the overlay-type antique brass hinges with white ones and ended up having to special order them from Hardware World as none of the big box stores carried them in white




I'm not crazy about the curtain - I think I need something "gauzy" and with a little color


Again, the lights!! And... the insides of them are a white enamel which gives off a nice bright light. We also put them on a dimmer switch so we have lighting options.

Once the cabinets were painted I suddenly liked the color of my walls again (BM Georgian Green)

And this picture I bought at TJ Maxx had almost the exact green in it - the frame was black before I painted it white and distressed it a bit





To say that my kitchen now makes me smile would be an understatement. To say that it now entices me to cook would be an outright lie :)