Eat-in Kitchens

I love eat-in kitchens. Whenever we get around to remodeling our kitchen, I would love to add in a little seating area. If I could fit in a cozy bench, all the better.

New Flowers

Yesterday I planted a lot of new plants in my garden, and I love the way they look. This year I went with perennials with softer colors - more pinks and light blues, rather than the bright reds and blues of annuals. As luck would have it, as soon as I was done planting there was a torrential downpour with nickel size hail. I'm hoping that all the plants recover and thrive this summer.

Phoebe Howard

Today's inspiration, courtesy of Phoebe Howard.

Images from http://www.phoebehoward.net/

What I have been up to lately...

Okay, please don't judge too harshly, but design has been pushed out of my mind this last week in favor of the Twilight series. I'm acting like a fifteen year old girl, but I'm not embarrased enough to stop.

Sconces

I'm trying to find two sconces to flank either side of the wall above my fireplace, but I'm having a hard time finding ones that I like. Here are some that I'm thinking about, but I'm not sure if they would work. I would want something more traditional because I live in a Colonial, but not too traditional because I'm young and not stuffy. Do all of the finishes of the light fixtures in your home match, or do you mix it up? I'm thinking of going with an antique bronze finish to match the chandelier in my dining room, but I'm not sure if that finish would be too dark for the room. Another issue is the size of the sconces - a lot of sconces are around 12-14 inches, which seem pretty big to me. I'm afraid they will dominate the fireplace. I'm open to any suggestions. I think this first one from Restoration Hardware is my favorite so far.

First two images from Restoration Hardware, the rest are from Circa Lighting

Bright living rooms

Maybe it's the beginning of spring, but I'm loving the look of bright living rooms. The layout of my living room is very similar to the first photo. I painted the walls "Cottage Cream" by Sherwin Williams and the moldings are painted "Dover White", also by SW. I think a light color scheme would look perfect in there.

I really love the placement and scale of the furniture in this room. The symmetry of the room is very appealing to me. The finish of the wood on the two side chairs is unexpected and I like it. I also love the blue-green painting on the back wall.

Image from Lynn Morgan Design

While the mantel art is a little too funky for me, I love the other colors in the room. My dining room is painted a similar green ("Softened Green" by SW), and I love how the cream, beige, yellow and green look together.

Image from BHG.com

This is just beautiful with the creams and blues. Again, the symmetry of the room is great.

Image from Tom Stringer Design

And wouldn't this be the perfect reading nook? I love these two chairs, and the wonderful fabric on the two ottomans.

Image from Design Inc.

Kitchen Inspiration

I'm starting to think about ways to remodel my kitchen, and which features I would like to include. The following kitchens have many features that I would love to incorporate into my own.

I love the windows in this kitchen. I also like the open shelving, but I'm not sure I could pull that off. I may want to keep certain things hidden, like this owner does with the baskets above the refrigerator.

Found from Things that Inspire from her post http://freshpalette.blogspot.com/2008/11/wall-of-windows.html

Again, I love the windows in this kitchen. This home also has low ceilings, like mine, so I like seeing how the designers worked around it. I like the open feeling with the living room, and the small breakfast nook in the corner. Its easy to imagine a whole family living and using this space.

Here's the kitchen from another angle. I love the island. It has so much storage, and I like that there isn't an extra sink or a cook top on it. I think you lose functionality when there's too much added to the top of the island. With the amount of storage in the island, I think it would make it easier to lose the top cabinets on the back wall - which were replaced with the windows. I also love the white on white look, and the extra texture from the Calacatta Classico marble on the wall behind the range and on the island really adds a lot.

Traditional Home, October 2008. Interior design by Susan Marinello, photography by John Granen. Originally found through Things that Inspire's post http://freshpalette.blogspot.com/2008/11/wall-of-windows.html

This is a Christopher Peacock kitchen, and I love the island in this kitchen. It has beautiful moldings, and I love the butcher block counter top. I also really like the color of the hardwood floors, and all the light that comes in through the two big windows.

And this would be my dream kitchen. I love the schoolhouse pendant lights, the gigantic island, and the combination of cabinets - some with glass doors and others solid, to hide the inevitable mess. I also like that the cabinets on the far right of the kitchen, by the door, look like a piece of furniture with the legs. I also like the subway tile as a backsplash. The light green color on the walls also makes the whole space seem so fresh.

Its spring!

My favorite tree in the backyard is in full bloom, which I LOVE. It means spring is here, and summer is right around the corner. I can't wait to get in the garden and plant some flowers.

The backyard looks so much better with a little color, and it provides a beautiful view out of my kitchen and family room windows.