Kitchen Thoughts

I'm officially in decorating mode. We just finished making our curtains a couple of days ago {more on that later} and I finally decided on a color to paint the kitchen! This is HUGE because I have a problem making decisions especially when it comes to colors. One thing that I vowed to do this year was to be more decisive, and it's going well thus far.

I've been looking for some kitchen lighting to replace the fluorescent rectangular standard fixture that our house came with. I want something a little more luxurious/modern/rustic {if there is such a fixture out there please leave a link!}. I also want my kitchen to give a feeling of happiness when you walk in it. I want the kind of kitchen that makes you want to cook when you're in it. Here are a few images that I fell in love with. I searched for French Kitchens {since I do have a love affair with France}.

I LOVE this kitchen. The brick with the crystal fixture and hints of grey and white looks lovely to me.

These lanterns are cute; I like the concept of multiple small fixtures hanging from the ceiling.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this kitchen. So simple and chic. I could definitely see myself preparing a meal in here.

I love these fixtures and the clean look with pops of color.

Something about this image just makes me smile. It looks very inviting with all of the spices, oils, tools, etc. nicely organized by the stove. I also love that exposed brick.

Credits 1 2 3 4 5

Is anyone else working on a special room at the moment? Where do you go to find inspiring images?

Mood Music

I love music. So many genres it's hard to name them all. I like to think of myself as cultured when it comes to music. I find that I perform better when music is playing. Cleaning, cooking, working, reading, they all call for different types of music.

This is what I like to listen to in the following situations:

Driving to Work-

Yeah Yeah Yeahs


Pharrell/N.E.R.D.


J*DaVeY

Roisin Murphy




Working-

Bossa Nova/Latin Jazz {Astrud Gilberto, Stan Getz, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Tito Puente}
{Astrud Gilberto}

Chill {Zero 7, Air}


Radiohead


Beck



Driving Home-

Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Electrik Red

Pharrell/N.E.R.D.
Cake

Cooking-

Classic Jazz {John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra}
{Duke}
Chill {Zero 7, Air}

Cleaning-

90's satellite radio
Grunge
Old School rap
{Salt-n-Pepa}

These can change up at any time, but it's an overall view of my day in music.

What about you?

*all images courtesy of http://www.last.fm/

60 Day {or so} Wrap Up

Happy New Year! Okay, I'm a few weeks late, but at least it's still January. Before I get back to my regularly scheduled blogging about hotttt designs, yummy food/recipes, killer decor and {insert random topic here}, I want to give you all a glimpse of my Holiday Season. Thanksgiving through New Years. That's right...all in pictures. My holiday's were filled with lots of...

Cake baking {from scratch!}
Wreath making...

Tree decorating...



Wine drinking...
Cookie decorating...
Fire lighting...
Pancake making...
Cranberry Sauce making (a first!)

Sister helping...
Snow falling...

Happy New Yearing!
I'm officially finished with the Holidays now that this post is complete. I will now continue with my regularly scheduled blogging {ideally more frequently than before}.

Adieu! :)

Christmas in Photos {and some words}

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! Mine was splendid. I spent time with my family and relaxed. It even snowed here which it hasn't done on Christmas since the 1800's! Every Christmas Eve we spend the night at my mom's house, then on Christmas morning she makes breakfast casserole and we open gifts. Later on we have dinner and drinks and just relax.

Here are pictures from my mom's {and a few of my gifts}:




Here are pictures from my house later that night:


A few more of my gifts :)

I hope that you all have a safe and happy New Year!

Adieu!

Lamp Before and After

I want to start off saying that this post is coming to you a little late. This is a project that I completed in one day around a month and a half ago. So sue me!

I am working on my indecisive nature. Making decisions is not something that I do easily, but I am getting better. This is one reason that I have not decorated much in my house...do you know how many color combos there are that look great together? So while visiting my local Home Goods I came across this:


and decided that it would be an accent color in the great room.

A few weeks later I visited my local Habitat for Humanity Restore and came across this fine specimen of a lamp. Btw, I had been searching for a lamp that looks like this for at least six months, and it was only 5 bucks at the Restore!

As you can see, there is a little rust damage on the base.


Since I knew what my accent colors were going to be, I headed to Lowe's to find spray paint to fix this baby up. I also found a drum lampshade at Target for seven bucks on clearance! All of that together created this:


I am so in love. So proud of myself as well. This little project jump started my decoration frenzy. I love spray paint. Love it. I found these candle holders at Value Village:



With a little spray paint, this is what happened:


I still have a half of a bottle left...I wonder what else will fall victim to the nozzle?

Christmas Decor

Wow, it has been a busy month! Between packing orders, Christmas shopping, family visits, parties and decorating I am SPENT! And to think, Christmas isn't even here yet. It's okay though, I'm planning on enjoying the last few weeks of the year.

Just to give you an idea, here is some of the madness that I have been going through:

- Decorated two wreaths
- Decorated our tree
- Made a gift tower for the mantel
- Put up lights outside

The colors this year are turquoise and black, and I'm loving every piece of it. Here are a few shots of the house: