My Kitchen Before and After

While cleaning up my email files yesterday, I came across these photos my husband took of our house before we moved in almost four years ago. Lots of people including dear friends managed to miss out on our old kitchen, so I thought I would share these before and after photos.


Here are a couple before shots (with the prior inhabitants' furnishings and accessories):

It's your basic cherry-stained cabinet suburban kitchen. For me, it was WAY too dark. I like light and airy. Can you see the counters? Wait, I've got a closer shot . . .

They are some sort of greenish-gray or grayish-green (I'm not sure) tile with gray grout. Next to the reddish brown cabinets. Not a good color combo. Several months after we moved in, we tackled a modest kitchen renovation.


We didn't have a ton of money to spend on a total kitchen re-do, and overall, the layout of the kitchen was fine. So, I went with what I thought would make the most visual impact. I had the cabinets painted and new counter tops and a new backsplash installed. Oh, and we got a new sink and refrigerator but kept the rest of the appliances (for now).


So, without further ado, here's the way the kitchen looks today . . .

Overall, I'm very pleased with my kitchen . . .

I would have loved to have had carrara marble counter tops, but I went with cream for the cabinets (white seemed too stark for this house) and I don't think the white marble would have worked. So, maybe in my next home, I'll go with the all-white dream kitchen. 

I must say my favorite part of the kitchen is the backsplash. They're hand-glazed caramel-colored ceramic subway tiles from some California-based company (the name escapes me now). I love them. Of course, there's more that could be done (pendant lights over the island, a gas cook-top and a fancy stainless vent-a-hood), but for now it makes me happy.

Beyond the Shadow of a Doubt . . .

I love silhouettes.

I finally got my children's silhouettes made on Saturday. I'm pretty pleased with them, especially my son's as it showcases his curls.

Do they remind you of this?  Or am I just showing my age?

Getting silhouettes made of my children has been on my to-do list for quite some time. I actually got my daughter's silhouette cut when she was about 18 months old and put it in a file for safe-keeping. It's now so safe, I can't find the file. It's been missing ever since we moved four years ago. I'm sure it will pop up eventually, right?

So, to avoid that issue, this time I'm getting these silhouettes framed very soon and hanging them on the wall somewhere. I might even include my own much larger, less attractive silhouette from preschool.

I remember my teacher made mine by making me sit in front of a projector, then simply tracing my silhouette on a piece of paper and cutting it out. 

Clay Rice, the artist who cut my children's silhouettes, did it the old-fashioned way by having them sit sideways, looking straight ahead (in the middle of a very busy local toy store, by the way) in front of a small light while he snipped away their likeness with tiny scissors on what appeared to be black contact paper. Then he peeled away the backing and stuck it to a piece of white card stock with his John Hancock already scrawled out. The whole thing took maybe five minutes. Pretty impressive. He also wrote and illustrated this book.

Silhouette cutting dates back to early 17th century France when artists were hired to entertain royalty with their free-hand cuttings of lords and ladies in all of their elaborate finery and hair-pieces.  Silhouettes are, in fact, named after the French Minister of Finance in 1759 Etienne de Silhouette whose unfair tax policies created much misery for the people of France but who spent many hours practicing his favorite pastime of cutting portraits out of paper.
 

These days there are lots of options for having silhouettes made. I know several companies (Simply Silhouettes, Gibson Lane Studio, Fontaine Maury and some Etsy sellers) who will produce a silhouette on practically any surface including plates, bags, pillows and stationery, as well as removable wall art. All very cool options. 

However, I still love the simplicity of the original black and white. You can't go wrong with a classic.

I love the gallery wall idea . . . 

Or maybe just propped on a shelf. Now, I just need to get some shelves.

I love these silhouettes that blogger Stephanie Nielson of the Nie Nie Dialogues made of her family and hung together (if you haven't read her blog, it's truly inspiring). I wish I were crafty enough to do this myself. Maybe one day . . . 

I'm digging these white ones on colored backgrounds. A very crisp and modern version . . .

How about these classic silhouettes as the only art on this fabulous graphic wallpaper? Love it.

You just can't go wrong with silhouettes. Clean, classic, retro or modern. What's your favorite?

Sources: MIL, Amazon, Portraits in Silhouette, Simply Silhouettes, Domino, Country Living, Nie Nie Dialogues, Delightfully Random via Blue Hydrangea, Martha Stewart

Paint Purgatory

I'm stuck in paint purgatory. I can't seem to make a decision. Paint is so tricky, and in this case, I'm repainting most of my downstairs and some of my upstairs, so I'm trying to be smart about it. Ah, the joys of "open floorplans."

I like my house. I really do. But being able to see from one room to the next poses certain decorating challenges. Would I prefer a house that has separate finite rooms? Yes. Is that going to happen? No. So, I need to work with what I've got. And I've got a lot of wall space.


After almost four years of living here, we're finally getting around to painting these walls. The previous color isn't offensive. In fact, what I choose will probably resemble it. I've got to go neutral, and I tend to lean toward warmer tones as opposed to cooler ones. I know beige can be boring, but when the same color is in the entry hall, family room, kitchen and upstairs hallway, bold color is not really an option.

So, now I'm surrounded by swatches and tiny bottles of Benjamin Moore sample paint. 

So, do I go with Interlude?

Or Kangaroo?

Then, there's always Shaker Beige.


I would like to go a little lighter, but my husband is worried it won't be warm enough. New Orleans interior designer Gerrie Bremermann loves a color called Papaya, and I must say I'm liking it too.

But it is a little light.

This is kind of what I'm going for . . . it's Farrow and Ball's "Biscuit" (according to House Beautiful). So, I looked on F&B's website and there is no such color listed. Agghhhh. Plus, I'm not sure where I'd even find Farrow and Ball paint anyway.

Now, I'm more confused than ever.

Does anyone have a "go-to" warm neutral that's not too pink, not too gray and not too green? I'm getting desperate.

Sources: MIL and House Beautiful