coming back slowly: a kitchen inspiration

(sorry its been so long since i've posted anything creative, much less anything at all. call it a dormancy period, call it hibernation. either way, the breezes of fall on its way and the turning pages of the calendar always inspire me- the cusp of autumn brings me alive. (even in this trying time of my life, i think this still to be true))

• Listening to: the Head & the Heart
• Eating: Theo Chocolate (Hazlenut Crunch)
• Drinking: Cafe Appassionato (Magnolia Blend)

we have been painting the exterior of the house, remodeling our mother-in-law, and laying floor in our kitchen. as i see the sale prices combined with the desire for a simplistic style i see some themes taking place. i think in a past post i had leaned toward the rustic modern look, and i think it might be coming together... the taupe, latte & blue glass tile, the maple floors and the butcher block counter tops (yay ikea!) will lend to a look and feel that i hope will click with my heart. even the lighting will give a 15th ave coffee house feel... here's a preview sample of the kitchen:

here's a song for your day:

put a bird on it

okay, so before i saw this hilarious clip from portlandia, i loved little bird icons. now, it feels utterly cliche, but i still like it. reed and i stenciled today and it was the perfect project for a toddler and crafty mom. he chose a gorilla, i chose, you guessed it! a bird. but there's two, so that's what makes it so cutting edge and unique. ;)
before i ruined a bunch of clothes, we started with some old flour sack dish towels lying around. now, i want to go crazy and stencil the walls, all our clothes, tablecloths, and toilet paper.

dreaming and organizing are not paradoxes

during a relaxing afternoon where i let adelaide pull wipes out of the container to keep her busy, i was able to flip through magazines and add the ideas and "looks" that i want to catalog for the future. adding them to a notebook via clear sleeves was easy and fun to see how themes developed and rooms took shape. who knows when any of these "plans" can actually come to fruition, but at least i found a way to dream, plan & scheme while making a bit of sense of it all.

modern traditional

after a very exciting first trip to ikea, a jubilant trip to anthropologie, and much time wavering over paint colors, i've found the look i am going for. the nest.com describes it as "modern traditional"- but i think that narrows it a little too much.

think :

charcoals, chair rail, glowing lights, apothecary jars, clean lines, worn furniture (by necessity with 2 kiddos!)

Crafts for Poor People

Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.

For someone who cracks me up, yet leaves me wondering just how off her rocker she is, her new book, “Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People,”  seems to hit home more than i'd like to admit. She did a little interview on PBS where she is asked what rich people craft like- while she didn't come up with a solid answer, she was full of hokey ideas for "poor people". Although its a little (or lot, you judge) satirical it also has much truth in it. Why else would there be such an inundation of "craft blogs" out there? Well, it resonated with me all too much this Christmas as there is less than a week left before D-Day and I still have 5 projects left to finish. New ones keep popping in my head every minute. (Including making a linen closet door before the guests arrive on Saturday. That brainstorm resulted in a google search: "painting plywood")

My final point on this subject of humble creativity? How do you know you are a poor crafter? Answer: The finished "vintage inspired" result bought at Target is just too expensive.

put the lights on the tree

as i mentioned in a previous post, i promised homemade ornaments. i (sparingly) delivered. we will be vacuuming glitter from the carpets, walls and kids' hair for years to come, but the tree is sparkly and that is all that matters.

from some old book pages, clip art stencils, silver glitter and oyster shells, we fashioned the objects to hang on our homegrown tree from the backyard by the ckn coop. what a unique christmas tree year this has been.

i have included a video of Sufjan Steven's "Put the Lights on the Tree"- a funny little whimsical video.

adelaide's 1st birthday

  since everyone says that the first birthday is mostly for the mom, as the kid is so overwhelmed and tired by such an event, i decided to devote my time and energy to details that i liked. call me selfish, but when she's old enough to talk, she can tell me her favorite colors, but until then, i will let her borrow mine- of course turquoise.

as i posted before, i saw these adorable flags at a botique here in Port Orchard and then on this blog. since that, i've been obsessed and am finally satisfied now that i made them. i am pretty sure that i almost finished them while chatting on the phone with a friend. it was also nice to not have to pull out my tension-challenged sewing machine. all that was needed was tacky glue slapped between the flags. the letters were pulled from Martha Stewart's clip art. the scraps from the flags i was able to "tie" in on the tutu. (as the tulle and fabric are basically just tied onto the elastic- so easy)

a little turquoise frosting topping carrot cakes (she's my little red-headed carrot cake), some coordinating pink and blue candies from the local candy shop, and then a scrumptious family style chard &mushroom quiche (from none other than dec. '10 issue of martha) and voila! first birthday complete!

now, i am having a hard time comprehending that i no longer have a baby. i'll be ok.

regal turquoise

as if i need another piece of turquoise in my house. i've always loved the combo of turquoise and yellow- or more specifically gold. see the how-to at marthastewart.com here

Cha Cha changes

I know that its just some linens, chairs and curtains, but it's these little changes that I hope will make a big difference in moving my home towards the feel that I am trying to achieve. What is that "feel", you ask? Well, I would say 7 parts Anthropologie, 2 parts 15th St. Coffee & Tea (think of: book pages as wallpaper, chalkboards, rustic wood, etc) and 1 part Ikea (I can't help but like some of the streamlined looks).

My lovely mother-in-law is the best at home decor. (especially if it includes blue, yellow, toille or anything french countryside) Any chance she can grab at helping her decorating impaired daughter-in-law, she graciously jumps at the chance. So, when I told her I was going to re-upholster a chair she gave me (yep, adorable blue & white toille!) she was not only offended, but offered me three more to match. I had some yellow, black & gray silkscreened upholstery fabric laying around that I had bought without a project to go with it. It just so happened that the 2 wonderful yards covered just enough of those 4 chairs that there was not one thread left unused. It took me a whole month to uncover, unstaple, sand, spray paint, measure, cut, recover, re-staple and fasten in these bad boys. We better get good use out of these suckers! I decided to cover them with some upholstery plastic not for the kitchy, modern, vinyl look, but out of pure desire for preservation. With two little ones under 3, they wouldn't last one meal without me scrubbing away at blackberry jam, dried eggs, or someother unknown substance.




before





after

 Who knows how long it will take to sand, stain and paint the table- the next project. (black legs to match the chairs and a cherry stained top)

These were just minor improvements- like the nail polish on a revamped benefactor of an Oprah makeover, not statement making, but enough to contribute to the overall look. It was all I can do to finish these small projects with a baby and a toddler... No wonder people with money hire interior decorators.

me and my little helpers

papery draperies

I had no idea what a difference window treatments made! I also never knew just exactly how to hang the rods. (High above the molding and wide for a dramatic look. I went as high as the ceilings would allow.) These stinkin curtains took a week to hang and get "just right"- as my babies were scared of the drill and that sent the house into quite a tizzy. And in the end, they are just white curtains! No frills, design or elaborate materials... Just a lightweight wispy eggshell (long enough to touch the floor) and a set of heavier, cropped (they look like clamdigger pants, they are so short) Potterybarn panels. The floor length wispys won, hands down. (In the pic, the Potterybarn curtains are on the right.)

Ready Made

one of my vices is magazines. i feel like i can never have enough. i use them up, read them, cut them, file them... i pulled out a Sunset magazine the other day that was from Summer '04 and found a wonderful salmon recipe. when i was at the grocery store the other day, i walked down the long magazine isle and my eye browsed over all of the topics that i gravitate towards: crafts, gardening, fashion, organic living, cooking, chickens (yes, there are a few chicken publications that you can subscribe to via "Hobby Farms"), etc. i thought to myself, "i wish there was a cool version of Martha Stewart and Sunset combined..." maybe i should clarify to all you Martha & Sunset fans- i think those are actually cool, but some of the ideas, lets admit are for a little more 'well to do' or with much more time on their hands- say retirees. (Sunset, i don't necessarily need ideas for the chicest B&B to stay in Napa, or do i actually want to collect pricey china from around the world, Martha) SO! just as i was thinking this to myself, i came across Ready Made: "Instructions for Everyday Life". it was pretty on the cover with a picture of a Strawberry Rhubarb Ricotta Tart on a cute little antique dish.

here were some of the other topics they cover:

• interior design
• home design
• art
• food
• diy
• bedroom ideas
• home and garden
• lighting
• home organization
• sewing
• crafts
• hobbies

 basically everything i love! Kendall and Brittany, this seems like you, too... ;)

curtains or skirt?

this pretty swirly fabric seemed perfect for an adelaide skirt, or one for me, but i am wondering if they might make fun and whimsical curtains in my kitchen... the problem with them as curtains is that they might lend themselves to the more "country/eclectic look" that i am trying to steer away from... maybe if i paint the walls a slate bluish white? like this Benjamin Moore swatch called "Winterwood"?

maybe if i do such whimsical curtains- it will veer in the opposite direction of  "fresh and modern"?
then again, anything will look more modern than my country butter yellow walls.