Making it Lovely » Kitchen

The Pet Door

Making it Lovely — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:58:36 +0000

It took us three years and the impetus of having a baby, but we’ve finally installed a pet door.

The kitchen door leads to the basement, which we’ve always left ajar for the cats. We had thought about cutting a hole when we initially moved in, but we were hesitant because we didn’t want to mar a 100 year old door. Recently though, I’ve become less afraid of ‘ruining’ our house in the pursuit of making it work for our family. Paint the woodwork? Yes, please. Cut a hole in the door? Don’t mind if I do.

And speaking of painting the woodwork, we’re getting there. All of the baseboards and doorways are done, one of the windows and one of the doors have been finished, and we still have one window and three doors to go.

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An Update on the Kitchen Trim

Making it Lovely — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 05:17:13 +0000

The baseboards are finished. The doorways are 85% there. I still have to prime and paint two windows and five doors. And maybe paint the walls too, though I’m liking the yellow more against the white than I did before.

So yes, progress has been made, albeit very slowly. My model below is the reason…

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We’re Up To Something

Making it Lovely — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:06:10 +0000

I’ve chosen a new paint color for the kitchen. We’re painting the walls next weekend. And the trim. *Insert audible gasp here.*

Remember, this is what the kitchen looks like now.

Also, Eleanor helped assemble some flat-packed Swedish furniture for my office. So handy, that little girl is!

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Braxton Lighting

Making it Lovely — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:53:19 +0000

We’re going to add lights to the front and back porches. Hooray, we’ll be able to see as we walk down the stairs! I’ve ordered a flushmount and sconce from Restoration Hardware’s Braxton Lighting Collection.

Look at what the electrician left us with in the kitchen though. Are there better looking light switches that go one above the other? There is not enough room for the standard side by side switches that I was expecting, and I would like something, you know, less ugly. The electrician said that he could replace the switches with white ones, and I suppose a new switch plate and some touch up paint will help. Still, I miss the simple standard switch that we used to have.

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My Top Ten Salt & Pepper Shakers

Making it Lovely — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:36:32 +0000

Design Mom posted about chic salt and pepper shakers recently. Well having just shopped for a replacement set of our own not long ago, I thought I’d share the flip-side. See, I like my salt and pepper shakers to be shaped like little animals, or people, or to have science jokes, and so on. Maybe they’re not chic, but they’re fun! Of course I’m always drawn to shapely white ceramics too. Here are my top ten salt and pepper shakers…

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Orla Kiely (and Other New Details) in the Kitchen

Making it Lovely — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:23:24 +0000

The Target near me finally put out some of the Orla Kiely goodies I’ve been wishing for, so I picked up a couple of canisters for the kitchen. The cheery pattern is really cute in there!

I put this “Eat” sign above the fridge quite a while ago, but I hadn’t taken a photo of it until now…

My mother-in-law has the same sign in red in the family’s Wisconsin lake house. I bought mine from Feather Your Nest (though it looks like they have different word signs now).

And how cute are these little measuring spoons? I love the soft clacking sounds they make as I open the cabinet.

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We Might Paint the Kitchen Floor

Making it Lovely — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:22:26 +0000

I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, and Brandon is on board (!), so I’m gathering some inspiration photos of painted floors. The wood in our kitchen really isn’t in the best shape, and there’s an area by the stove where the woods aren’t even the same. I figure we’d have to strip the floors and redo them to really make them look nice anyway, so why not try painting them instead?

*edit* I’ve posted photos of the floor in the comments below.

I love Elena Colombo’s colorful kitchen from Blueprint:

And I love Nora Fleming’s striped kitchen floor (via design*sponge):

Nora painted all of the trim in her 1920 Chicago bungalow white… just like I could do to mine. It’s a love/hate relationship, me and all this wood.

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At the Back Door

Making it Lovely — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 17:23:34 +0000

Brandon setup a little area near the back door for our coats and shoes (and a leash too).

This is where the stairs are that lead down to the basement, right next to the back door in the kitchen.

The hooks and shelves only cost about $15 total (from IKEA). We should have done this a long time ago.

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Same Finishes, Different Kitchen

Making it Lovely — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 06:53:46 +0000

I just saw a kitchen on HGTV’s Spice Up My Kitchen with the same finishes as mine. I’m sure there are others out there too (I’m not claiming mine is all that unique), and of course there were differences, but it was just sort of funny to see.

Like mine, this kitchen has white cabinets, a white subway tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances, yellow walls, brown quartz countertops, and wood floors. The kitchen also had a red blender and coffee maker, whereas I have a red stand mixer.

photo from Spice Up My Kitchen

Sometimes I look at my kitchen and wish I had done certain things differently. If we had a bigger budget, I could have done so much more. Our kitchen only cost 1/4 of what the kitchen above did though!

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This Would Have Been Helpful

Making it Lovely — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 19:53:00 +0000

I just found this handy how-to guide: Installing Ceramic Tile Backsplash. I wish I had found it back in July though. ;)

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