Saturday, February 6, 2010

Making a Splash

For a townhouse, our kitchen is a decent size. Especially since I was accustomed to the 3′ x 4′ galley kitchens that graced my previous apartments. There is plenty of counter space, a nice sized pantry and room for a casual dining setup. It looks a little something like this:

Your standard builder-issued cabinetry and all white appliances. I would have preferred stainless steel, but we can’t justify buying all new appliances when these are less than a year old and work great. So for now, they will stay. The walls are a light sage green which i didn’t totally mind for a while. But pretty soon, I was itching to paint. I wanted something warm and cozy. So the kitchen turned into this:

Sorry for the terrible pictures. I should be getting a good camera for my birthday, I think (hint hint). Its hard to get a true feeling of the color from the pictures, as it looks different in all of them. Its basically a warm, spicy terra cotta color. We always buy Behr paint and decided to try the paint and primer in one. It went on like buttah, seriously. The paint is so smooth and rich, i love it. But . . . I’m not sure if i would go with it again. Even though you aren’t supposed to need primer, I think that the paint would have a lot more durability if i had primed. There’s already a spot next to the dog’s bed, where the paint has scratched off. I think it is from his chewed up bone rubbing against the wall. Not too happy about that. I was really afraid that the paint color was too close to the cabinet color, but i ended up loving the look. It kind of blends together in a good way.

I also tackled a tiled backsplash. I have never done tiling before but it was pretty painless. The grand total for all the supplies ended up being around $200. I really love how it looks. It is one inch glass mosaic tile. The glass is different shades of coppers and browns and is incredibly shimmery.

We also found that decorative shelf on clearance at sears for $7. It is self-leveling and super easy to install. It also made a great home for some of my white ceramic animals. I love the contrast of the white against the wall.

I have since taken down the flourescent light fixture above the sink (gross) and replaced it with a spotlight fixture that I found at IKEA for 9.99. Win! I would love to get some under-cabinet lighting to illuminate the backsplash. Its not really living up to its potential yet.

Things I still need to do in the kitchen:

- Tackle the curtain situation . . . these ones came with the house and they suck

-Paint the chairs white. I love my white pedestal table (from the as-is room at IKEA!) but haven’t gotten around to painting the chairs to match. I have a feeling this will be a project for when the weather starts to warm up.

-Maybe a cute jute rug or something to break up the vast whiteness of the floor

-More decorative kind of stuff

-Install hardware on the cabinets

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