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A few months ago we purchased a counter height table for the kitchen area that we never used when it had the two armless chairs.  We liked several different tables but in the end decided that the "Brooklyn Work Table" from World Market was the best bang for our buck.  We literally only paid about $100 for this and it was originally $269.  We first put it next to the wall.

We let it stay on the wall for almost two months before I got a wild hair and decided that I wanted to try other areas of the room to see if it "fit" better.  For the past few weeks it has been in the middle of the room like the two pictures below...

Middle

Fills the space much better

So once we moved it to the middle I realized that the black and white stripes rug that we took from our bedroom was not going to work, it was much too small.  I have a love hate relationship with rugs, I love the ones that I find online but I hate their prices.  I considered myself lucky when I saw a Groupon a about two weeks ago (right when we moved the table) for two options to use for RugsUSA.  T purchased the Groupon and for the next two days I was going through several different rug options... sending him emails on thoughts, rethinking some of my selections because with the black cabinets we needed something "light" in there, and after about two days I made the plunge.

It took about a week after that to arrive on our front porch.  I could see the end of the rug when I first saw it rolled up laying outside and I was thrilled to see that is was much more "yellow" than the picture on the website.  I originally feared that it wold be way too gold, but thankfully, not.

You'll noticed we changed the direction of the table yet again, I like it best here in the middle of the room but the direction the table faces could change with the weather.  Unless we make the step to build built-in seating in the corner it will stay here in the middle because it makes the room look more complete.

Pleased with the rug, thank goodness!

The yellow part is berber and the white is regular tufted that gives it great texture

You'll notice that we are still flattening out the rug, it was rolled VERY tightly when we first got it so the 10 lb medicine ball is getting some use!  I also want to say that it is in the very near future that we will be saying goodbye to the wallpaper and painting the room a nice shade of light grey or maybe aqua (there are still several paint chips floating around the kitchen) so the wallpaper and the rug clashing are only a temporary thing!

Happy Friday Y'all!  It's going to be raining all weekend here thanks to hurricane Sandy :(

Kitchen... happenings

We've wanted to make changes to the kitchen since we moved in over a year and a half ago!  We've talked about them several times and we are FINALLY beginning...

Let me share our ideas:

• The wallpaper was my least favorite.  It's this weird orange/gold color with a rattan/bamboo like pattern and texture on it (not exactly something that I enjoy looking at each day).  T doesn't seem to mind it as much as I do but it is definitely on the list of things to go.  We plan to just have someone come in and take it down once we save $$ because after the whole bathroom wallpaper fiasco we learned just how bad the condition of the drywall really is... BAD.  We plan to paint the walls a neutral gray.  
• Knock down the upper cabinets over top of the stove to open up the area and make the long kitchen feel MUCH more open and inviting instead of having two square areas.  
• In order to knock down the cabinets we must do the following first; need an electrician to put an outlet in the pantry for a microwave, purchase a microwave, purchase a ventilation hood, install hood, and repair wall.  
• If the wall is in TERRIBLE shape we have discussed the option of putting up board and baton to cover 2/3 of the wall creating a "shelf" with molding for leaning pictures.  I like this idea regardless of the condition of the wall but I'm sure T would rather not have to do this, lol. 
• Window Treatments for both windows.  I just have to finally bite the bullet and order one of the many fabrics I've fallen in love with online but cannot track down in Raleigh.  Once I get the fabric I will make cornice's for both windows.  
• Seating option.  We originally wanted to build corner booth seating, purchase a table and chairs, and call it a day.  T decided against building since he feels it would limit the room when we go to sell the house (No, we are not even considering selling, but one day we probably will 8+ years down the road).  Instead we decided to get a counter or pub height table with industrial style stools.  The table took us a while to both agree on the same one, but finally style and price drove us to purchase the Brooklyn Work Table from World Market for $ 206 (after taxes).  We could've paid $349, but we waited until the table was marked down 30% off, we received $30 off due to a minor scratch on top of the table, and then I had 10% off coupon from the paper.  I learned from YoungHouseLove that there was a school supplies website called School Outfitters that had a great deal on industrial looking stools, they were $33.88 a piece, EACH!  That is an awesome deal!  They are ordered and will arrive in about two weeks.  

$33.88, from here. 

This is the progress we are working with as of today... 

Once the stools arrive we'll figure out the final placement for the table.  It might move around the room a few times before it finds its permanent home, but that's what designing a space is all about!  We look forward in the months to come and watch the room become ours <3

PS.  I found the new Fall/Winter Edition of Domino out at Target tonight... I was more than excited when I saw it on the magazine rack!!!

Here or there? This or that?

Here or there?

I shared my first hand at abstract art a few weeks ago.  Overall I'm happy with how the piece turned out.  No disasters, so I consider it a success!  It has been laying on the GB bed leaning up against the pillows for a little over a week now intending to be hung over the bed.  I'm not 100% sold that it is the right place for it to go.  I don't want to introduce TOO many colors in there and right now with the deeper shades of magenta, orange, and blue that are mingling into the gray mix.... it might be TOO much.  (I can't believe I'm saying this... coming from the lover of all bright and colorful things)  I have also thought about the kitchen on the wall in the sitting area and the hallway.  I think I may let it linger a few more days...

This or that? 

For a little over a year T and I have been discussing what "we" want to do with the eat in kitchen area.  Our old glass top table and four chairs made the space feel SO much smaller than it really was and not to mention that I was ready to get rid of it!  I will be the first to tell you that I hate a glass top table... you can lay the mail on it and it needs to be cleaned again - seriously I was aggravated at how many times I wiped that baby down.  So it last about three weeks in the house and I talked T into letting me do a "sitting area" there - so the table was sold on craigslist and I found a great deal from overstock on two accent chairs.  A few months went by and we used it as a "girl talk" area for when people came over... but it didn't feel or seem right.  I think the space would feel fine if we could center the chairs with a small side table in between but with our food loving Beagle.... we have to keep the furniture away from the cabinets or else we will come home to an overstuffed Beagle!  (No lies - we left boxes next to the cabinet when we first moved in and when we came home he had gotten into food on the counter top and there were paw prints on the glass stove top!)

At move in

Improvement

Now to share my thoughts of what I would like to do.  Due to our dog situation I have thought of two options.  One being a built in corner banquet with a round table and two chairs.  The other option would be a high built in table top with bar stools.  Now - I LOVE the built in corner banquet because they look so cozy and inviting.... BUT I still have to think about the dog.  I don't mind the dog laying on the seat while we are gone, however, I don't want to encourage or give him any reason to get up on the table.  Ignore that chandelier, we replaced that with a white pendant shade fixture that is adjustable (shew - we do have one thing done)

Love the round table, built in seating, and simple chairs. Found here. 

Bar height option.  Found here. 

Another corner built-in inspiration.  Found here. 

Before we do anything in the kitchen... we HAVE to get the wallpaper down.  This is a daunting task that I do not look forward to at all.  I mean I think I would rather go run a 10k (I would say marathon - but that wouldn't happen either lol).  My fear is that the wall is really damaged and we may be forced to put up board and batten or bead board, while I am not totally opposed to that option.... it just adds cost.  I would want to have more natural wall than the photo above to give the wall a visual break and to add some color on a white washed wall.

All things to think about.  any suggestions?!  Ideas?  Learning experiences to share?

I think we figured it out

Here we go..... so when we went through the inspection I snapped a few photos.  

Standing in the kitchen looking into the eat in area. 

Standing in the entryway looking back into the kitchen. 

We have a long kitchen with a small eat in area.  We tried to use the old glass table that I had prior to T and I getting together in my first apartment.   It was a tight fit in the eat in area that the first weekend there the chairs had to have been banged against the wall several times.  There was no way that was going to fly (especially after we take down the wallpaper and freshly paint.  The final straw was that because the chairs were so close to the cabinets/counter top Slade was able to crawl up on top and feast.  I think that probably happened once or twice and then we realized that we were not going to be able to keep the table and chairs there.  Within a week we sold the table and chairs, but I was not sad, I was happy to never have to wipe the glass top down five minutes to get every speck off.  

(Please excuse the vacuum parts drying from being cleaned out)

The room did not sit empty long I had purchased these two chairs because I had envisioned a sitting area while we entertained in that area since we moved in back in February.  We put one of our old glass side tables (again - not crazy about the glass) and that lasted a few weeks,  each time we left the house we would have to make sure that the chairs were not anywhere near the cabinet/counter top again (Thanks Slade).  As we cleared out the SR we figured we had too much furniture and wanted to get rid of some stuff so that we could purchase stuff that we wanted.  We sold the glass table set (2 side tables and a coffee table) and then we are left with two chairs.  Similar to this...

Kinda sad right?  Other than the dogs sitting there watching us cook this room gets zero use now....well other than holding the toilet paper, paper towels, and the mail.  Please ignore the rug that we have no idea what we are doing with? 

So When this giant stack of mail came in our mailbox my first thought was "Oh, you know its the holidays because all the stores are sending out stuff." Literally I received three store magazines, multiple coupon offers, ads, and of course the usual credit card pre-qualify letters, and then the only thing worth while was the Martha Stewart Living Magazine.  I sat down and sorted through all the junk and I came across this "Creative Ideas" magazine from Lowes.  I figured it would just be representing certain brand products but I was pleasantly surprised when I found that they took three families and showed what they did on a budget to make their house their home.  I saw that one couple was short on space in their bedroom and used pre-made cabinets to create a corner bench seat to allow storage and seating all at the same time.  Well, T and I don't have many tools so the fact that it was created using a pre-made cabinet I immediately started thinking..... this can't be hard.... we can handle this.... and it sounds affordable!  I ran across the room and showed T.... he actually said that was a good idea!  (I nearly fainted)  We have been trying to figure out a "permanent" option for that space since we moved in since my "sitting area" was vetoed.  I went to the website to see the "how to" but I guess since the magazine was just mailed out they still have the previous magazine's projects still up, you can find the content here.  What made be get excited was that Lowes is finally getting smart - they are mailing out a magazine that has projects in there for people on a budget!!

These cabinets are 36"x15" - they also have a standard height of 12" and 18"  

Here are a few inspirational pictures (Thank you Pinterest)

This would kinda be like it, reversed and on a smaller scale. 

So like this. 

This may be an option too since it would leave for a more open feel. 

So after I checked out Lowes website I found this option... 

This one is $99 30"x18"

I think we would like to figure out our exact measurements and try to work with something at the habitat Restore.  I would imagine that we could get one at least half the price and that way I could have $$ for the table, cushions, and fabric :)  More to come later as the project progresses.  We're still deciding on sizes and how exactly we want it to look.