mmm... minty fresh

This kitchen gave me a great idea, inspiration-wise for what to do with my own, when and or if it ever does get a makeover (talk to me next year *wink*). I already use one of those Ikea rails to great effect over my stove to hold my gazillions ladles, strainers, whisks, etc. and LOVE it. So convenient, clean, and accessible. WAY easier than keeping everything in a drawer, perpetually tangled together. And while I can't afford to lose my upper cabinets all together, I'm thinking it'd be cool to install them right at the ceiling, then hang a rail the likes of this wall all the way across the bottom. For one thing, this would give me extra counter to cupboard height (especially helpful when it comes to trying to open up my stand mixer or breadmaker, which I can't do without turning them sideways), and I think it would make the whole place seem both more wide open AND taller. Oh, and I'm a sucker for a little minty-aqua goodness. Image from here.

whoo! long time no talkie!

I am SOOOO sorry, loves! I've just busy with this silly thing I call a life, but more importantly, I've been trying to decided about what and IF I'll continue blogging... Without an imminent project that I can realistically say the blog is helping out with ie. WEDDING. it kind of seems a little silly. But, then again, in my life anyways, the greatest thing I've learned I can do for myself, to feel like MYSELF, to feel happy and fulfilled and challenged, is to find inspiration... anything, anywhere. To find those little glimmers where you go, "gasp! WHAT is THAT? *quietly* wow, cool." I guess my point is that there a LOT of validity in realizing that the world IS, in fact, larger than my little cream house with the red door. That it's bigger than my own imagination. Bigger, even, than the imaginations of the ones that inspire me.

ok ok, enough with the heavy... have you guys seen "Julie & Julia"?? See it. Seriously. asap. If ever you needed a little boost, a reason to keep going with your "silly" project, or a reason to stop and smell the boeuf as it were (though why would you want to? ok, bad analogy), or a chance to see two "real" love stories that aren't just girl chases boy... see it. It made my week. And it's a tall girl kicking ass. And now I HAVE to go out and find those letters that Paul Child wrote to his wife. Google them. It's worth it.

more paint chips

So, I've been saying for a while now that I wanted to paint my living room/office a pale, grey-ey blue... Only to be met by either blank stares or worried confusion. Ok, I get it, it can go "nursery" crazy fast... But look at that pic up top! So classic, so pretty, and in it's own way, quite neutral. I think this is a good lesson in colour: granted, pale blue wouldn't always be a neutral, like say if your preferred colour schemes leaned towards super-earthy, or very warm. But if you're like me and always tend towards cool tones anyways. Well, it works, yes? I figure it fits into the same category as sage green, which for many people is a all-around neutral. But, in a house like ours, actually clashes with EVERYTHING! Anyhoo, how y'all feelin' on the blue? I'm just wondering if I should bother to do the white (or maybe cream) along the bottom, as well?

Image from Design*Sponge.

avoiding the unavoidable

So, first off, so sorry about the lack of posts. Ironically, I've been so busy with wedding stuff that I haven't had a chance (or the motivation) to post. Oh, and I've also been super busy AVOIDING doing wedding stuff! By painting. And painting. And painting. Our little '45 home was painted this weird, almost dusty rose-ish colour, that at first glance seems neutral, but is SO NOT! NOTHING matched or blended or whatever with it! Most importantly, none of "my" colours did. So I couldn't help myself. Especially in an open-concept house, wall colour makes a HUGE impact. So, I had already painted an accent wall at the back of my kitchen in what can only be described as brownie batter brown (seriously, that's exactly what it looks like), which, not surprisingly, pushed me to keep going. So, I picked out Buffy (the paint not the vampire slayer), a greeny/gray-ey/taupy beige and painted out the main hall, "front"entry, laundry area, the rest of the kitchen (minus the backsplash which got brownie-batter), including the bulkhead above the cabinets, and the dining area. Conveniently, we have a framed-in archway which separates the kitchen/diningroom/laundry from the office/living room which gave me a natural stopping point...

Anyway, long story short: it looks AMAZING. I always thought I would hate "beige". But with the crisp, wide white moldings, almost-black wall, and HUGE windows everywhere it looks GREAT! Best yet, it pushed me in a new colour direction as I realized that the perfect colour to tie the whole space together, including my future plans for the rest of the house, was a deep, rich MacIntosh apple red. Alone, the taupe looks too green to be able to play with my favorite aqua-ey accents, but paired with that Dr.Pepper-can red, it works SO well! Yay! I even did a quick diy, printing out Googled pics of chili peppers, raspberries, and said apples to fill up a multi-shot frame I already had! Cheap and chic! Perfection.

Now, here's hoping I can score a couple red accessories at my shower lol! *SO am kidding!* *kind of* Regardless, it's my 28th bday coming up on Thursday and I'm seriously looking forward to a day of junk stores and thrift shops to hopefully scores some cute new accessories. Above is my total inspiration... image from Apartment Therapy by Lily Gahagan.

because hopefully I'll only do this once

So, I had to make a big girl decision recently: should I sell my house? It might seem crazy, but we are a couple of the lucky few that bought low enough that we could hopefully still make a little profit, and then, let's face it, it's a buyer's market. We could get a LOT for our money right now. Financially, it's the exact right decision.

But... We're getting married. In less than two months. And part of me want to say "After all the opportunities that we had to let pass us by, why would we let that happen again." But the fact of the matter is, I can still sell my house next year. I can go through the stress of showings, and trying to market it, and negotiating, and then hopefully trying to find another home if this one sold... next year. What I can NOT just do next year is get married. I'm doing that right quick here. And it's important to me. I don't want to look back on this time (because it is a "time", not just one day, thankyouverymuch) and think, "Wow, if only I hadn't been freaking out over the house, it would've been great". So for now, that project's on the back burner.
The fun thing, though, is that that means that the home renos that we've been planning can go ahead, which go a long way towards keeping my brain off of constant wedding-alert. So a little non-wedding inspiration... I love this pic more than words, and it's given me the sudden inspiration for exactly what colour to paint my kitchen... Now the feel and the style are quite different from what I've got, but it's the sandstoney colour of those cabinets, with the bright red of the geraniums... loves it. Can't wait to post pics of me whipping up our wedding cupcakes (see? the big W word is never far away!) in my newly painted kitchen! Watch for it! Image from Annika Vannerus.