wow. beautiful kitchen.

i just saw the most beautiful kitchen over on pinterest. stunning. absolutely stunning.
farmhouse sink. hanging lanterns. wolf stovetop. honed absolute black granite and marble countertops. beautiful artwork. lots of windows. lots of light. banquette seating. white subway tile. just gorgeous. head here to see more photos of it.

the beautiful blue runner by the sink caught my eye.
it's from west elm. west elm, folks! it's new. and i love it.
this will be my next runner in my kitchen. love it.

island storage

my new kitchen in dallas is similar to the this style and layout. except i have espresso color cabinets. i've never had a sink in my island before. it'll be a change for me. change is good, right?

see that paper towel holder on the island.

via

they should have thought ahead and done this. genius. and there's the farmhouse sink i'm leaving behind in seattle. i may never recover from that. seriously. i love my sink. the good news about having a sink in an island is... if you ever want to change out the sink, you only have to replace the granite on the island and not all the perimeter granite. (just thinking ahead, honey... it'll cost less $$ to change the sink than the therapy sessions to get over letting go of my farmhouse sink.)

let's look at some other clever island storage. trays anyone?

fridge drawer.
dishes. below my stovetop will be 2 drawers. i thought about doing something similar to this.
but then i saw this. bingo. linen storage.

last 5 photos via here

happy irish day

perfect image for today. this would cheer me up every morning when i went to get my coffee and breakfast. how bout you?

image from here

in love

a few weeks ago house of turquoise did a post on a house designed by lakbdesign. the house was painted entirely in wythe blue by benjamin moore. i haven't stopped thinking about it. so i thought i would share.

look at that awesome kelly green parsons table.

at first i thought.... wow, i'd never think to put kelly green with aquas. then i remembered....
silly me. i've paired those colors together.

the kitchen is gorgeous. click on photos to enlarge and get the full effect. i love the mix. the industrial stools mixed with the ornate chandelier. aqua mixed with red (even though i'm not a huge fan of red). the smooth, shiny granite with the rustic farmhouse table. mixed metals.

it has all my elements of a great kitchen.... a little glamour, a little rustic-ness. fireplace. tv. farmhouse table right there. lots of natural light. huge fridge. open shelves.

love. it.

at last! the kitchen reveal

finally. photos of the finished kitchen. after some slight major tidying of the kitchen this morning, i took some photos. here's the post describing our mid-way work. kudos to hubby for all his hard work. he tore down ugly backsplash. tore out tile granite, piece by piece. installed undercabinet lights. the granite is geriba beach.
he fitted a new cabinet to hold the farmhouse sink, which i love! and he loves it that i love it, because that means i do most of the dishes. (the sink cabinet will darken over time to match the existing pieces.) we ordered the sink online. it's a shaw. it shipped for free from florida to seattle... and thank goodness because it weighs 160lb.
the pendant over the sink is by kichler. it's finish is midnight chrome. the paint color is slate by restoration hardware. and we love it. question... do you paint your ceilings? steve and i always have.

the faucet is kohler. another great find. while we were at it, we upgraded our dishwasher to a bosch. unbelievably quiet. since our family room with the tv is adjacent to the kitchen, a major plus. we honestly don't even know it's on unless we see the laser light shining on the floor.
we splurged and got the custom fitted sink grid for the sink. i was worried about scratching the sink. this alleviates all worries.yes, i like a lot of stuff on my counters.
mini roses from mother's day from pixel and her daddy. i love the paris photo. it's alicia bock. she actually sent it as a gift note with some photos i bought from her. perfect for my little frame. the backsplash is 19x19 porcelain tile and we love it.inlay bone bowl from maui. and an oil painting i snagged at a garage sale for $4. it came in the most hideous black velvet frame. i removed the glass and framed it with a target frame. the little suitcase holds our cell phones while they're charging.
here's the before.
and again, the after. we love it. it suits us and our house.
thank you, honey, for all your hard work on the kitchen!

room for one more?

i'm sure bob and cortney novogratz of sixx design wouldn't even notice if i saddled up to this beautiful old french lab table that they're using as a dining table and joined them for dinner.
they have 6 children and a baby. i'm small. i'm brunette. i'd blend in.i'd help set the table. i'd put out the tortoiseshell utensils. i'd help clear dishes. i'd even help clean the white pleather chairs in case anyone spilled during dinner.
they might be on to me though when i start drooling over their 6-burner wolf stove.
or their artwork.
but they're cool. they won't mind. they won't mind one more for dinner.

kitchen images via apartment therapy.
family photo via sixx design.

decisions, decisions

we've made a couple more decisions regarding the kitchen facelift. we've decided that this porcelain tile will be our backsplash. after wednesday's frustration (and let me add that my frustration was fueled by a not-so-customer-oriented tile rep at our granite shop who really made me feel like our small residential project was beneath her) steve and i headed out to another tile shop. we sorted thru display after display of tile and settled upon this charcoal grey porcelain lined tile. it meets our original goals.... simple, modern, grey. and because the tiles are so large there will be few grout lines and tight grout lines. and best yet.... this tile and installation costs less than one quarter of the price of the subway tile and install we were considering.

image via here

thanks to those of you who came to my aid and gave opinions on the backsplash. millie, your suggestion left me with beautiful visions of a phillip jeffries grey grasscloth gracing the backsplash. but if i were to ever wallpaper in our house, it would have to be while steve is out of town. he would only then live with it because he wouldn't want to take it down.

we ordered this today. this will be the pendant light over the sink.

image via here

and a roman shade in this material for the sink window is also on order.

from here

and even though i'm excited about the granite and backsplash, i'm most excited about the new sink area. farmhouse sink, gooseneck faucet, pendant light and roman shade. ahhhh. wonder if i'll cook more.

frustrated

image via here

i could just scream. like her. steve and i are giving the kitchen a much needed facelift. our plans were going smoothly. granite, check. faucet, check. sink, check, check, and check. cause it's a beauty. actually sink and faucet will have an appearance similar to below.

then we get to the backsplash. my dream is glass subway tile. laid like this. not blue, but you get the idea.
i could live in this kitchen. i don't mean just cook in this kitchen, i mean LIVE in this kitchen. just because of the subway tile.

our dilemma. our new, yet-to-be installed granite is busy. geriba beach, it's called. here's a poor example i found online but you get the idea. we will not be doing the 4 inch rise along the back.
it's has oranges and greys and taupe and lots of movement. we love it and want it to be the focal point. well, actually, it will automatically be the focal point because of its pattern. my original thought.... keep the backsplash simple. our backsplash space is 17 inches between countertop and cabinets and behind the stove. our layout around the stove is similar to this below, via here. our cabinets are maple.
this is the glass tile we're considering. it's available in several styles, one being a 3x6 subway and one being this 6x24 mosaic. it's a charcoal grey color. (my cabinets are maple, therefore a cool color is needed). and this is perfect in that it coordinates with the granite and the stainless steel appliances.

here's my question to you.... would a grey subway tile with white grout be too busy with the already busy granite? should we do 3x6 subway with grey grout? or should we do a simple 6 inch high border using the above mosaic piece and then paint the remaining 11 inches (a coordinating grey) to the underside of the cabinets? and of course, behind the stove will be either subway or mosaic.

please help.

out with the old

here's a glimpse of the start of our kitchen reno that's taking place over the next month. we've picked the granite and picked the glass subway tile backsplash. we ordered the faucet tuesday. it showed up today. speedy, speedy. we like that. on the left is our old faucet*. yuck. 2 years of that. i've had enough. steve's holding the new kohler puppy that arrived today. yes, it's massive. it had to be... to go with the massive shaw farmhouse sink that's in the garage. my dreams have come true. it's big enough to wash pixel in it. and we will.

*yes, it's filthy. i'm embarrassed by how much. but i've kinda stopped cleaning the kitchen since soon it's gonna be redone. well, that... and there's the olympics to watch and there's sunshine in february in seattle and i'm busy filling shop orders and......

some pretty & a great idea

image via here

i know we've all seen this kitchen before. it was featured in the march elle decor. it belongs to lindsey and kristen buckingham. i don't think i really looked at it until now. and i love it. love the tile floor. has some white cabinets and dark cabinets, therefore steve and i would both be happy. sub zero fridge. wolf range. butcher block island top. prep sink on island. farmhouse table, where frankly i'd eat every meal including christmas dinner. with guests. and the topper...little landscape oil painting. yes, i love it.

and to change subjects... my sister-in-law gave us a stack of cloth napkins for a christmas gift. not these, but aren't they pretty?from here

hers are even nicer. because she stitched each and every one. it's her way of getting us to stop using paper towels as napkins for every meal. and for us to be more eco-conscious. and it's working. and i love it too. no more wasting paper towels. and no more using linen napkins only for guests. thanks, julie!

image via here, photography michael wells.

this is pretty much perfection for me. banquette seating. white cabinets. wood table. spring green colors. small gallery of floral prints. industrial shelving. tv in the kitchen. schoolhouse lighting. lots of windows. dark wood floors.

dream house

image via a life's design via veranda

i found this over on megan's blog today. and i'm in love. in my dream house i want a farmhouse kitchen that runs the length of the kitchen. this will be the only table to eat at. it'll be for breakfast, lunch, dinner (including thanksgiving and christmas), crafts, cards, games. and those benches are ideal. that would probably suffice my need/want for banquette seating. i'd probably have to pull chairs with backs up to the ends though. otherwise, perfect.

dream house

i've never had a butler's pantry, or a butler for that matter. but i think it's on the list for the dream house. butler's pantry, that is, not a butler. although a housekeeper would be nice. to sweep, vacuum, clean the bathrooms, scoop litter, wash windows, and do laundry. i have no trouble starting laundry, it's just the folding part that gets me every time. oops, i'm digressing. back to the pantry i want for the dream house.

love this behind closed doors look. i could be a little messy here.
or how bout a little shot of color?
or a lot of shot of color?? i love this. i could live with this butler's pantry. and i think it's modern enough that steve'll like it too. great, settled.
all images via house beautiful