Restyling the Kitchen & a little Coffee Bar

Ever since my kitchen reno began, I've been dreaming of ways to improve the way I've styled the top of the fridge, area around the sink and my sideboard.  I kept changing it up, but nothing really felt right.

Last week I decided that my coffee pot takes up too much valuable counter space - not to mention all the mugs I have in my limited number of cupboards.  I read a blog post on creating a coffee bar in your kitchen and then the wheels began turning...

I moved the coffee pot onto my sideboard right away and with the coffee pot came the mugs I use most.  Then the containers for coffee and sugar.  I like to use paper filters as well as my gold filter (easier cleanup!) and I had a spare matching canister, so the filters were promptly "decanted".  I made clay tags for the containers, brought in an old fruit crate (another garage sale find) that I scrubbed with Murphy's Oil Soap and then oiled with baby oil to give the wood a bit of a sheen.

I used the extra hooks from my pot rack to hang the cups on and moved things around on my shelf.  I LOVE it!!

 

With that crate being such a success, I decided I would put a bigger crate on top of my fridge.  This time I brought in a soda pop crate that had spacers in the bottom (yet another yard sale find!).  That styling was easy - what do you think?

Then there was the counter around the sink.  I love the paintings I have on the wall, but without any cabinets, the space felt - I don't know - empty.  I painted a mason jar and filled it with silk sunflowers and clustered some white and wood canisters around it.  A pretty cutting board completes the picture.

I also found an Ikea wrought iron pot rack at a garage sale for $3 (never out of the box!!!) and up it went.  I found a wrought iron bread basket to hang up, but I'm still searching for the perfect combination of things to hang from it.

One of the final touches in my kitchen was the installation of my range hood.  Finally my stove is well-lit!!!  I  hung a little rack to hold the salt & pepper grinders and some specialty vinegars that I use a lot and  I installed some hooks on the wall above the stove to hang utensils on.

I'm so happy!  Now that fall is in full swing, I'll be spending a lot more time inside and it is so wonderful to spend time in a space full of happy things (and it's a far cry from the way it looked when I moved in!!)

B  E  F  O  R  E    (Realtor's photo)

Cheers!

Linking to:

In the Old Road
From My Front Porch to Yours     Funky Junk Interiors

Homemaker on a Dime

Between Naps on the Porch     Boogieboard Cottage

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Mod Vintage Life

Coastal Charm

Mommydigger     Cherished Bliss

Sassy Sites

Not Just a Housewife     Homework

A Bowlful of Lemons

You're Talking Too Much

Clean & Scentsible

Saavy Southern Style     DIY by Design

A Beach Cottage

Thrifty Decorating

Beyond the Picket Fence     The Shabby Creek Cottage

The French Cupboard

The Artsy Girl Connection     Brambleberry Cottage

Crafty, Scrappy, Happy

Common Ground     At the Picket Fence     2805

French Country Cottage

Shabby Nest     Sassy Sites     My Romantic Home

A Little Knick Knack

Simple Home Life     My Repurposed Life     Finding Fabulous

I heart Nap Time

Jennifer Rizzo

Into the Pink

Marilyn at the ArtsyGirl Connection has organized Project Pink to paint our Blog World pink on October 30th.

I wasn't sure how to offer a pink tribute but today the idea for a painting came into my head and when I had finished this painting, another image kind of painted itself on the next sheet of paper.  I can't really explain it any other way, I was splattering pink paint around and this image just appeared.

Hope you like them!

A photo of John Lennon brought the word Imagine to my mind today.  I began to imagine the future with no diseases and then the idea of a dove came to me.  I hope you'll forgive the shameless pilfering of a famous dove outline!

I had a lot of pink paint left over so decided to splash some paint around on another page.  After a few splotches I began to think about the anger and fear that comes with the diagnosis of the "c" word.  About 30 seconds later, one of the splotches began to resemble the figure of a man praying and I added the outline to emphasize it.  At least I think he's praying - maybe he's shaking his fist instead!!  Kinda weird and kinda cool all at the same time :o !

The Face of Cancer - 9 x 11 Acrylic on Canvas Paper

And the longer I look at this painting, the more images I see in it - like the legs of a child right below the kneeling man, I see a woman reaching for the man and child and I see another woman's face in profile at the top center of the painting - her eyes are closed. I see two sharks in the center, too.  That's symbolic to me, no one knows why a shark chooses one person swimming over another.   Every time I look at it, I see more faces... So interesting.  Makes me wonder who was really painting this picture!

I'm sure there is no one out there who hasn't been affected in one way or another by breast cancer.  My mom had a full mastectomy at the age of 60 and 24 years later, she's still going strong!  Luckily, my story has a very happy ending.

May anyone who is dealing with a diagnosis that is uncomfortable or frightening feel the love and support from all of us who are holding the faith that this disease will be defeated.

Keep the faith...

Linking to:  

French Cupboard
Paint Party Friday

Tin Tales

I've had this little tin for years.  I found it in a kitchen cupboard when I moved into my very first apartment,  left behind by a former tenant.  I'm not sure why I've carried it around with me for so many years, maybe as a reminder of that milestone of coming of age...  I kind of liked it and kind of didn't but, at any rate, it has stayed with me (usually hidden away somewhere in a cupboard).

Lately I've been collecting recipes like mad and my kitchen drawers are overrun with bits of paper with hastily scribbled down instructions and print-offs of recipes found online.  So I decided I needed a recipe box to corral them all.  I dug this old tin out and spent some time staring at it, trying to figure out how to make it fit into my decor.

I decided the only thing I didn't like about it was the number of images.  Some of them were cute but it was just too busy for my liking.  So I taped off one image on each side and then I spray painted the whole thing with Rustoleum Canyon Black in Satin (love that stuff!!).

I carefully pulled off the painters' tape and left it to dry.

Here's the final product:

I like it!!

Cheers!

Linking to:
Thrifty Decor Chick
Funky Junk Interiors
Homemaker on a Dime
Mod Vintage Life
Cherished Bliss
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Coastal Charm
Homework
Not Just a Housewife
A Bowlful of Lemons
Sassy Sites
Clean & Scentsible
Saavy Southern Style
DIY By Design
A Beach Cottage
Crafty Scrappy Happy
The Artsy Girl Connection

Brambleberry Cottage

Thrifty Decorating

From My Front Porch to Yours

Beyond the Picket Fence
The Shabby Creek Cottage
French Cupboard
The Vintage Farmhouse
The Charm of Home
Common Ground
The Shabby Nest
The Romantic Home
My Repurposed Life
Simple Home Life
A Little KnickKnack
Days of Chalk & Chocolate
French Country Cottage
2805
At the Picket Fence
aka Design
Sassy Sites
Junkin' Junky

Fabulous Freebie from the Dump

It's so amazing how many times this year I've stumbled across something that has been discarded that is exactly what I've been searching for.  And sometimes I don't even realize it's exactly what I've been looking for until it has been put in its rightful place.

Over the past year I've been replacing all the light fixtures in my house with ones that are more to my taste.  In the case of my dining room, I wanted a nice chandelier for over the table.  My dining room is a repurposed room since this house didn't have a designated dining room.  When the house was built, it was a 600 sq ft one-bedroom house (eek!).  The previous owners built a 600 sq ft addition to create 3 bedrooms and a bathroom so I turned the original bedroom into my dining room.  Naturally, there wasn't a chandelier in the room but being a 1930s home, there was a ceiling fixture in the center of the room and the fixture someone had installed there was a 24" 4-blade, white ceiling fan with gold trim.  Hmmm, sooooo ugly!  

I have been searching for a chandelier that I like in a price point I'm willing to pay for over a year.  Nothing has appealed to me.  Last weekend on a trip to the dump, I stopped into our Re-Use It Center (a place where people can leave stuff they don't want that is still in good condition).  I could see something that looked like white glass shades on the top shelf tucked away into the corner, so I climbed up to see if they were something that I could use and this is what I found:

Holy crap!!!  Somebody didn't want or like this and I absolutely loved it.  According to the sticker, it was manufactured in 2003 so the wiring wasn't going to be an issue.  It was dusty but in perfect condition.  After playing around with it, I found an extra 12" down rod tucked inside that would lower this fixture to a better height for hanging over my dining room table.

I am so happy :).  All it took was a little patience and exactly what I wanted fell right in my lap and for free to boot.  Life is sweet!

Cheers!

Linking to:

Funky Junk Interiors     Homemaker on a Dime     My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Coastal Charm     Not Just a Housewife     A Bowlful of Lemons

Sassy Sites     Clean & Scentsible     Saavy Southern Style     DIY By Design     A Beach Cottage
Crafty Scrappy Happy     Brambleberry Cottage     Thrifty Decorating     From My Front Porch to Yours
Beyond the Picket Fence     The Shabby Creek Cottage     French Cupboard
The Vintage Farmhouse     The Charm of Home     Common Ground

Junkin' Junky     The Shabby Nest     The Romantic Home     My Repurposed Life

Simple Home Life     A Little KnickKnack     Days of Chalk & Chocolate

French Country Cottage     2805     At the Picket Fence

I Won!

Tonya at Pumpkin, Pie, Painter decorated some faux pumpkins and offered one as a giveaway as well as a baby pumpkin and a gorgeous scarf.  My choice was Autumn Geese:



And this hand-crafted lovely scarf is a part of the prize package:


I'm thrilled to bits!  Check out Tonya's blog - she has so many lovely ideas  Pumpkin, Pie, Painter

Cheers!

Autumn Storm over Farmer's Field

I love autumn the best of all seasons.  A few weeks ago, I was totally inspired by a photograph of a brightly coloured red barn with a stormy sky brewing behind it.  Here is my depiction:

11x14 Acrylic on canvas

I decided to paint a black border around it and add the black corners - just like the old photo corners my mom used to use to keep photos in her albums.

I totally love this painting, sometimes I can't believe how well my vision translates onto canvas.  I hope you enjoy it, too!

Have a great week.

Linking to:

Homemaker on a Dime
Between Naps on the Front Porch
Coastal Charm
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Cherished Bliss
Homework
Not Just a Housewife
A Bowlful of Lemons
A Beach Cottage
Saavy Southern Style
DIY By Design
Clean & Scentsible
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Thrifty Decorating
The Artsy Girl Connection
The Vintage Farmhouse
Crafty, Scrappy, Happy
From My Front Porch to Yours
Brambleberry Cottage
Beyond the Picket Fence
LaurieAnna's Vintage Home
2805
At the Picket Fence
The Shabby Nest
Days of Chalk & Chocolate
My Romantic Home
My Repurposed Life
My Simple Home Life
Paint Party Friday
aka Design
Funky Junk Interiors

Tray Chic Revisited or My 21 Steps of Design

I found a tray at a garage sale and brought it home.  It was huge, way to big to sit on a table.  I could have made a table out of it if I actually needed a table - which I emphatically DON'T (I need to get rid of furniture...).  So I decided to make a sign out of it (not that I have that much wall space to spare either!!)  Here, follow the example of an indecisive, obsessive, do-it-yourselfer, wanna-be decorator...

Step 1:

Take your tray out:

Step 2: Find a sign you like and copy it.  I hand painted mine because I had no idea how to transfer an image.

 Step 3:  Add embellishments to fill in the blank spaces:

Step 4:  Hang it on the wall: 

Step 5:   Live with it for a while (I gave it a month).

Step 6:  Read way too many blogs of really talented, artistic women, then suddenly at 2:23 am on a Wednesday night get a really awesome idea and let it simmer overnight (keeping you awake the whole time) until you figure it out.  

Step 7: Log onto Graphics Fairy and find  the PERFECT image.  Pay attention to your blog feed, an easy technique for what you want to do is sure to appear.

Step 8:  Paint the tray with one light coat of  Behr's Almond Cream.  

Step 9:  Paint BM Stone House lightly over the top of the Almond Cream paint with an almost dry brush to make it look more aged.  

Step 10: Print Graphics Fairy image, duly reversed.  

Step 11: Paint liberally with Mod Podge both the image and the section of the tray where the image will be pasted   

Step 12: Center the image as best you can and press it face down onto the tray, smoothing out any bubbles:

Wait until morning to proceed!!

Step 13: Drench paper with water, wait until it soaks in really, really well.  Peel paper off.  I used a paper towel to rub the little bits off.

Step 14: Hang on wall: 

Step 15:  Decide this looks like a big mess.  And don't tell your readers how many times you actually painted using different colours & techniques...

Step 16: Paint around the images with BM Lenox Tan, paying special attention to the edges of the images.

Step 17:  Hang on wall again:

Step 18:  Decide it's still lacking something...

Step 19:  Google more images.

Step 20:  Hand paint more stuff onto tray, decide to make it look more beat up and worn out.

Step 21:  Hang up your finished masterpiece.

Move onto next project...

Cheers!

Linked to:

Funky Junk Interiors
Homemaker on a Dime
Between Naps on the Front Porch
Mod Vintage Life
Coastal Charm
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Cherished Bliss
Homework
Not Just a Housewife
A Bowlful of Lemons
A Beach Cottage
Saavy Southern Style
DIY By Design
Clean & Scentsible
Thrifty Decorating
The Shabby Creek Cottage
The Artsy Girl Connection
The Vintage Farmhouse
Crafty, Scrappy, Happy
From My Front Porch to Yours
Brambleberry Cottage
Beyond the Picket Fence
Common Ground
LaurieAnna's Vintage Home
2805
At the Picket Fence
The Shabby Nest
Days of Chalk & Chocolate
My Romantic Home
My Repurposed Life
My Simple Home Life
aka Design
Perfectly Imperfect
the Graphics Fairy

Super Simple Christmas Decoration

I found a folk art Christmas scene on Pinterest and I had to have it!!  I decided to make a sign with it:

These are the tools I used together with a printout of the picture (laser printer!):

SUPER SIMPLE!!!

The board was stained with a light oak stain on one side.  I painted the modpodge on both the wood and the face of the image, pasted them together and let it sit overnight.  The next morning I washed the paper off in the sink and rubbed off the leftover glue with my fingers until I couldn't feel anything on the surface anymore.
Then I printed "Let it Snow" and drew the snowflake with a big chiseled Sharpie.

I really like the effect I got and I plan to make a few more of these to give as hostess gifts this year.

With a couple of holes drilled near the top and a ribbon threaded through them, this becomes a wall hanging or something to hang on a doorknob:

Linking to:
Redhead Can Decorate
DIY Showoff
Cherished Bliss
My Uncommon Slice of Surburbia
Not Just a Housewife
Bowlful of Lemons
Saavy Southern Style
DIY by Design
a Beach Cottage
Clean & Scentsible
Thrifty Decorating
The Artsy Girl Connection
The Brambleberry Cottage
Beyond the Picket Fence
From My Front Porch to Yours
Finding Fabulous
The Shabby Nest
My Romantic Home
A Little Knickknack
Designer Garden
My Simple Home Life
Funky Junk Interiors
Mod Vintage Life
Homework
My Repurposed Life

A New Bloggy Friend, an Autumn Wreath and Lovely Fresh Salsa

I've just made a new friend!  Marilyn from The Artsy Girl Connection asked if she could feature a project from my blog this week so I've created a fall wreath in honour of this request :).

This wreath is super easy, all you need is a few flowers of a single type (I chose silk flowers so my wreath would last for more than just this season), a few yards of ribbon, a wreath of your choice (I chose a pre-made grapevine wreath) and a glue gun.

Wrap the ribbon around your wreath, secure the ends to the back of your wreath with glue.  Cluster your flowers in the lower right hand section, as many or as few as you like.  Tie a really simple bow in the upper right hand section and VOILA!   Easy, peasy wreath for your front door.

I also have a recipe for you to try out.  This is a biggie cause usually I just throw together everything I have on hand willy-nilly without paying much attention to what I've done.  For this batch, I actually wrote down what I did here - OMG!!   Good thing I did, this one is a recipe I'd like to repeat.

I had a great tomato harvest on my single tomato plant this year.  As most of the tomatoes reached the ripe stage at the same time,  I did my trusty spaghetti sauce recipe (that is always different because I don't follow any instructions...) and then I came across a Salsa recipe from An Oregon Cottage that started me on a Google quest for the perfect recipe for me.

I combined a bunch of ingredients from different recipes that I found to come up with my personal favourite, chunky, tasty and mildly spiced salsa that isn't runny.

Salsa It Up

8 large tomatoes, cored & chopped
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
2 jalapeños (add more for spicier salsa) chopped finely
1 clove garlic, squashed with a knife & minced
Juice of 1/2 a lime
3/4 can of Herb Tomato Paste (the littlest can!)
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 tbsp fresh cilantro
2 tsp Greek herb mix
1 tsp gourmet pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp sea salt

Throw everything in a pot and cook over medium heat stirring often, until boiling, then simmer for 30 minutes or so - keep stirring!!  Cool & serve.  Makes 3 cups.  I made a big batch of this, put it in one-cup mason jars and froze it so I don't have to can (I'm such a lazy cook!).

Fresh is so much YUMMIER.  Serve with sea salt rice chips or tortilla chips.

Linking to:
An Oregon Cottage
Not Just a Housewife
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Modern Country Style
Cherished Bliss
Brambleberry Cottage
Beyond the Picket Fence
DIY Showoff
Crafty, Scrappy, Happy
Fishtail Cottage
Shabby Creek Cottage
Thrifty Decor Chick
Common Ground
2805
At the Picket Fence
French Country Cottage
A Little Knick Knack
Shabby Nest
Finding Fabulous
Romantic Home
My Repurposed Life
My Simple Home Life
Funky Junk Interiors
A Beach Cottage
Saavy Seasons