I have got myself sorted, managed to take advantage of a sunny morning.
And here we are some pictures of my (almost - its been about a month)
newly revamped kitchen.
I warn you it will be a picture heavy post and you might notice
changes here and there as I have used photo's taken on different days
a few weeks apart! And I do like changing things about.
I have to say I have a very varied and wide ranging taste when
it comes to - well everything. So I guess home interiors is no different.
English and French country style, scandi style and New England looks
all vye for my attention, on the one hand. On the other I love very
dark dramatic looks, sort of Boho, Gothic Victorian feel. Lots of heavy
furniture and velvety drapes in rich Jewel colours.
The latter though gorgeous I think wouldn't of really worked in our
kitchen.
I had a very strong need to paint the walls grey and after much
procrastinating choose gentle rain by Crown.
Not a too light grayish hue
but not too dark either,
it seemed to suit our existing kitchen tiles the best.
But our kitchen cupboards would not of looked that great with the grey.
It was a big decision to paint them the bright white we did,
but I think the pay off was worth the extra work and hassle.
They are laminated cupboards and after much research on
the Internet it seemed the highly regarded Annie Sloane paint was
a good choice.
We have gone for the Pure white. And so far so good. No chips
and I have been able to wipe any marks off.
The cupboard doors were in a bit of a sorry state
with the laminate peeling off round the edges.
So taking a deep breath.............
we stripped the doors back to the
rather unglamourous MDF.
It is a decision that I am really glad we made,
As I think the laminate would of curled
even more with paint added on top!
There are three things that I love about our kitchen now,
and that is the Shelves I have in the corner where the dresser top
used to be.
DBB did us proud with his shelves they were just painted
in the white eggshell that did the rest of the wood work in the kitchen.
I have to say in the spirit of saving money we brought a very cheap brand
eggshell paint.
Never again the finish is far from satisfactory.
Sometimes it does
pay to pay a little more for quality.
After much thought and measuring he came up with the
plan to make the two bottom shelves upside down.
I have to admit when he first suggested this to me
I did have a bit of an "hen's bum" face.
Ugh sounds daft thought I.
But actually I think it was the right thing to do.
He brought metal brackets for them knowing that
I intended to put my plates and dishes here.
Then reinforced them at the bottom of the shelves
with metal plates and screws. They feel secure and
well able to take to the weight of the crockery.
Touching wood now I have stated this fact.
I love the open shelf look personally and having
plates to hand everyday is for me a good and wonderful thing.
The second thing I love in our kitchen now is the sink!
(It appears I am not the only one!)
Oh to be able to have people round without
cringing about the rather
rotten wood behind our old sink.
I love the black taps too and seem to work rather
well with other black and silver appliances in the room.
Because we had a traditional Belfast sink before once removing
it and installing the new and more modern version it became obvious
there would be a large space between sink and cupboards door.
DBB to the rescue again with some trusty MDF and a decorative
bit left over from the now defunct plate rack covered things up nicely I think.
He even made a bit of a feature of it all by painting some of the twiddly bits
grey.
The third thing I love is the green ceiling lights!
I had a very clear vision of these just over the worktops in front
of the window.
But we decided for one reason or another not to bother.
Too much hassle, a bit more expense.
But DBB had mid way through a change of heart and in the blink of
moving Lala's bedroom about and emptying it for the electrician to do his
stuff we had the lights ordered and on their way!
I am so glad we did not only are they aesthetically pleasing
but have really lit up the work surface area.
The lights we had before were really dark and always
made the kitchen feel rather dank and dark.
We also have a track lighting in the middle of the ceiling too.
And now the kitchen is bright! Bring your sunnies.
Oh there is a fourth big love as well, the gingham blinds!
I just love them.
The little unit you might notice tucked under the shelves was another DBB
creations.
It used to be the rather pointless plate rack we had.
I hated that thing (even though I chose it many moons ago)
as it trapped dust as a plate rack and was hard to clean,
and not much use as a shelf really.
Now though with a bit of sawing and a shelf put inside,
it makes a great little storage space for my herbs and spices
part bread bin and keeps the tea,coffee and sugar
canisters in place too.
And with the little curtain I made it looks a lot tidier.
Although I do have notions that I might paint it a
light green at some point. Maybe!
The dresser is now on the opposite side of the kitchen to where it once was.
I again made a little curtain and it now houses all my baking stuff.
The pretty jars and not so pretty packets of flour etc.
The other biggish change was I thought that the worktops needed to be darker.
One thing I love about the wood worktops is that you can sand them down
and with a few applications of danish oil
you can bring them back to looking
lovely again.
And with a big shuffle about of all the cupboards contents
This kitchen now really works for us as a family.
It looks good (to me any road) and is definitely one of my favourite places to be.
I think style wise it definitely has a bit of a french country vibe with a bit of
Scandinavian style thrown in! Either way I am a happy bunny with the result and
all that hard work paid off in the end.
P x
