Man, do you ever get exhausted from the hustle?
Those last minute hold out decisions are killing me. The smallest minute details would make anyone listening in on my rants think I am positively an insane person. Shades of color suddenly feel monumental. Oh, I found the magical perfect vintage rug, hooray, does it make sense to rush ship from Turkey for $400 extra?? (no it does not). Nothing that should matter in the world, suddenly carries far too much weight.
SILENT HEROS
Who’s your person? You know the one who is literally your life blood during times like ORC? My poor sister. She’s mine.
The one I call to celebrate an elated victory of the perfect kitchen canister discovery. Same one I cry to an hour later complaining that I am a failure who should just give up on life and design. She never calls me crazy, though clearly I am.
Second, she has an amazing sense of design. I began this company with an imaginary place holder for her to be my partner one day. Anyhoo… she’s also an artist who put aside her entire workload to make back-up art for me. The painting I ordered from an Etsty artist seems to have found a home in the Russian post office. My sweet sis is working away in her studio on art options for me as replacement.
Art is such a huge part of the final styling. It can inspire an entire design, and make or break the room. For our new kitchen I wanted funky old art to contrast the bright white newness of everything. A favorite painting from the Paris flea market has floated around my home, but is now going to take up permanent residence on a kitchen shelf. At a local food market in Florence I found old pages of a French cookbook I took home and framed for the kitchen. Cant wait for the art to make the room click into place.
THE BAR NOOK
The kitchen is in a little bit of a stand-still while we await those decorative details. But, I have one mini-reveal to stare today. We have a strange little passageway that connects our kitchen to our dining room we’ve turned into a Bar Nook.
before we took out upper cabinet & replaced counters
cabinets out, pre-tile
tile up, Millie is confused by her humans’ activity
Something was missing when we put the elements together. Blue paint!! Painted the lower cabinet the same blue as our kitchen island and, bam, it was exactly what I was hoping for.
evolution of the Bar Nook
One happy little space complete.
The end is in sight! In the meantime I love spending each week with this big batch of crazy designers. Visit all the makeover action happening with the featured & participant designers over on ORC. Thank-you One Room Challenge for this amazing forum, and sponsor Better Home & Gardens!
If you care to back-track the kitchen journey…
Oh my goodness!!! That tile, the gold, and the blue together…Perfection!
Thanks love!! Man, can you just stand the wait for two weeks to reveal your room?? I am dying over it. LOVE what you up to!
Beautiful, the brass hardware makes a huge difference!
Thank-you! Isnt it just the best jewelry for a room?
fun!! so much better than the previous uppers and yay to the new marble top too!
Thank-you! Yes an old 90’s renovation not the best choice for uppers. 😉
That strange little nook is called a butler’s pantry. For when your butler is on duty! Big old houses had them for items used only in the dining room. Good job updating yours for modern living. Pretty!
Thank-you! So funny you mention that. I actually had a sentence that I deleted “Some would call this a Butler’s Pantry but ours is too small to call one!” I dream of a real one, one day. 🙂