It's the little things...

In this case, the little things = the details.

It goes without saying that there are A LOT of decisions to be made when selecting all the details and surfaces that go into a kitchen.  All those details, despite how tedious they may seem, add up to create one big impact.  For our kitchen one of the most important things to me was to maintain the "feeling" of the farmhouse...incorporating some characteristics that may have been found in original cabinetry or antique furniture while still modernizing it to fit our lifestyle (and of course budget played a role here too).

I absolutely love the details found in the following kitchens.  They are so lovely and really speak for themselves.  So with that... I'll leave you with the following pretty pictures!!

Trina via A Country Farmhouse

via Country Living
Designer: Sarah Richardson
Photographed By: Stacey Brandford

via Mrs. Howard
Designer: Phoebe Howard

via House & Home
Designer: Tommy Smythe
Photographed By: Michael Graydon

via House & Home

Designer: Sarah Richardson

Photographed By: Michael Graydon

Any favorites??

xo,

Wallpaper in the Kitchen??

Would wallpaper in the kitchen, especially behind the sink, be my first choice? Well maybe not...if purely for functional reasons.... However, we had some sketchy plaster issues with some of the walls and ripping everything down to the studs wasn't part of the plan.  So...any sort of tile backsplash was a no go.

This brings us to the decision to hang wallpaper.  I love wallpaper. (GASP!!) I know...some of you have probably spent countless hours painfully peeling old wallpaper off of walls that probably weren't prepared properly to begin with.  Trust me...I've been there too! No one's idea of a good time! :)  It can also be expensive to both buy and install.  In a room with serious wall issues, however, or one with no other architectural interest it can be well worth the investment!  Instantly, wallpaper provides interest and character for minimal work and hassle!  The benefits usually outweigh the drawbacks for me where wallpaper is concerned.

While working with my previous employer, I was lucky to have access to some pretty amazing trade resources.  It was then that I came across a few companies whose papers are made with actual paper...no yucky vinyl coatings!  These are not your average wallpaper.  (Did I mention that they are also very easy to remove?!?  I've done it....with only water, no yucky chemicals...and it was a breeze!)

The paper that was chosen for the kitchen is Ashling from Colefax and Fowler.

By using wallpaper I was able to not only hide the imperfections on the walls, but also unify the kitchen space with the adjoining dining area.  I think it also helps the kitchen feel a little less "kitcheny"!

It's probably been hanging up for at least 8 years...and I still love it!  (Which is a big deal for me, haha)  Stick around awhile and you will find out just how much I love wallpaper.  :)

xo,

The Dutch Door

You may have been wondering where the door in the corner leads....

This is the door to our stairway.  It is common in older homes to have enclosed staircases.  The main purpose was to help confine the heat to a specific area....in our case...the downstairs.  It was not that long ago that the main source of heat in our house was a wood stove located in our dining room just next to the kitchen.  Since then, however, central air/heat has been installed and the door no longer serves that purpose.  Until recently we had actually removed the door altogether.  By the third child, we had already been through two of those expensive (& ugly) swinging baby gates and I was really tired of hopping over the cheap plastic one to go up the stairs every five minutes....so the idea of hanging the door back up to keep the baby safe from the stairs was re-introduced.

"I'm caught"

The only drawback for me, however, was that with a door we would lose the light that shines down from the windows in the stairwell above. But, we decided this was the best option and proceeded ahead.  We bought a door and set it aside for the next time we had a few minutes.  Projects usually take awhile around here....which in this case turns out to be a good thing!

While the new door sat waiting, I came across a picture that got the wheels turning!  You may be able to guess what happened next! :)

photo by Laura Resen

Dutch Door!!

Lightbulb!  Turn stairdoor into dutch door = keep baby out, let light in AND have really cool dutch door!  YES PLEASE!

I have always loved dutch doors so I was super excited to be able to include this detail in our home.  With a little creativity and help from my incredibly sweet, funny, handsome, talented, patient, handy husband (wink, wink....brownie points??) we turned our plain old door into a dutch door for our stairway.  It works out perfectly!

If you want to see more pictures of the kitchen renovation, you can find them here.

Have a great weekend!

xo,