I painted the door to the bathroom white this weekend, along with the door between the kitchen and dining room. I cleaned the bare wood, did a little sanding (and broke out my “retro safety glasses”), then primed and put two coats of paint on. I also got rid of the high chair.
I was looking through some of my decorating books, and I saw a kitchen I liked with an old industrial stool in it. I realized I had something similar from when I bought my dining room chairs, and I got excited. I also thought that maybe an old print we’ve had sitting in the basement (um, there are a lot of things “sitting” in the basement right now) would work on the wall where the high chair was. When I brought the two up, I got really excited. I may have fallen for my white kitchen.
It looked like this before.
Not bad (and maybe preferred by some), but I do like the current look more. Brandon and I worked so hard on that kitchen (we demolished and replaced everything except the flooring when we moved in), but five years of yellow paint and shabby wood was enough.
Here’s the ‘get your bearings’ shot (taken from the dining room), complete with crazy lady scrawl to highlight all of my kitchen’s flaws. Yay!
The wide-angle lens makes it look huge. It is not. The size doesn’t bother me, but all that white is a little boring. Maybe painting the back door would help? Or a colorful refrigerator! OK, the door is more doable, but I’ve been dreaming about having a cute fridge for years. I mean, COME ON. I could totally pull that look off in my kitchen.
Moving on.
The print belonged to Brandon’s grandmother. My mother-in-law said that her mom talked a shop owner into selling it to her, though it wasn’t actually for sale. I was able to attribute the quote to Candice Bergen. I don’t know anything more about it, but I do like it a whole lot.
That little dino guy used to be lime green. He stays because August likes him so much, but I did give him a more subtle paint job. He and the vintage canisters were picked up at The Vintage Bazaar, and the Heath Ceramics vase was a San Francisco souvenir.
The sink side of the kitchen looks like it has all along. Some flowers would be nice in that vase, but alas, none on hand.
Just like last time, the window treatments are coming in last. I’m second guessing my decision to use the Rifle Paper backdrop fabric because the windows actually look good bare. Although maybe they could go from good to great with curtains? Roman shades? Roller shades? Or the fabric from the curtains I just tried in the office? (Those are likely being returned soon.)
I was going to paint the lower cabinets. Again, now I’m not so sure. I think I should paint the back door, and maybe bring in a rug. New light? Keep the white paint? I don’t know anymore. I like the white a lot more than I did though, that’s for sure. Not bad for a DIY IKEA kitchen in a hundred-year-old bungalow.
