Kitchen Updates
Home projects truly do have a domino effect…when you start on one room/space, it usually always triggers additional projects in adjoining or nearby rooms, at least that tends to be the case at my house! We have been slowly working on updates to our living room for most of this year. The only major thing left in our living room is figuring out what to do with the wall that houses the fireplace – we had thought about redoing/updating the fireplace, and we also thought about removing it entirely and replacing it with French doors that go out to our open porch (and adding a fireplace out there eventually) – who knows where we’ll land with that – another post for another day!
Because our living room and kitchen are one open space, I knew as our updated living room started to come to life that I would likely be tackling our kitchen next. I have several kitchen updates in mind, but had not planned to start on any of them until 2019. The craftsmen that I commissioned to do our living room built-ins, coffee table, and wood columns recently offered a special on custom dining tables just in time for the holidays. One of the things I was planning to incorporate into the kitchen update next year was new furniture for our breakfast nook, so I decided to take advantage of the sale and accelerate that piece of the project!
When I am working on a house project, I like to collect images and put them in a collage to get a feel for how the vision I have in my head will actually look. I thought it would be fun to share my current inspiration board with you!
The table you see in the collage above is the inspiration picture that I gave our craftsmen – I wanted a very simple, wood farmhouse style table. I had already been browsing the internet for the past couple of months and was having a hard time finding just the right table with the right measurements. I am excited to have a custom piece made special for our home! (Click here for a similar option)
To offset the wood table and soften things up a bit, I knew I wanted to do upholstered chairs. I came across the above pictured armchairs and immediately loved them! I went to a World Market store to test them out in person and measure them to ensure the chairs fit the table just right (I want to be able to push them under the table without the arms getting in the way). These chairs are on casters and roll around super easily. I purchased them during a recent sale and got them at 30% off, so I was pumped about that. They shipped very quickly, and came in one piece so there was nothing to have to put together (always a plus).
I decided to go with this jute rug in an ivory and natural herringbone design. Since this room adjoins to the living room, I wanted to be careful about getting a printed rug since I did not want it to compete or conflict with the rug in that room.
We have three windows in our breakfast nook that currently have plantation blinds on them. We thought the blinds were a great idea when we had them installed 12 years ago, but now I am kind of over them. I feel like they block out so much natural light – something we desperately need in this space because we do not have a ton of windows. So my plan is to remove the shutters, and have custom roman shades made. I intend to go with this blue plaid fabric, which is from the same family as the pillows in our living room (in fact we have a few pillows on the couch in this exact same print).
The other thing that I’m still noodling on is lighting. The chandelier that is over our current table is wood, but it is a darker tone. It matches well with our current table, but I am afraid that will not be the case once the new table arrives. I have my eye on this antique gold beaded chandelier – it has been my favorite option so far, and I love that the beads are a slate color which would compliment the entire space nicely. I am also thinking about potentially replacing our current pendant lights that are over our island. Right now, we have lanterns and I have really enjoyed them, but the one annoyance I have is that they are glass and they are very difficult to clean. I am kind of in love with these pendant lights that I have shown in the collage, and they look so pretty with that chandelier. I also like the idea of staying with the lantern style that I currently have, but instead going with a brass version that is open (no glass). We will see how this piece of the project evolves!
Last but not least are the counter stools! I saw these several months ago and immediately filed them away for the future because I knew I had to have them whenever we started on the kitchen updates. Not sure yet when I’ll pull the trigger on them, but I definitely intend to make them mine!
I am excited to get a bit of a head start on at least a few of the updates, but you’ll have to be patient with me as this will likely drag on for months, as most of our home projects seem to do! I’ll eventually share details on the other kitchen updates I hope to have done next year, but in the meantime, I’ll keep you posted on this first round!
You can shop the items mentioned in this post through the scrolling bar below (except the lights – they are not linkable but you can find them at Ballard Designs!).
Let me know what you think of my inspiration board so far!
