First let me say Happy Spring Break! Wohoo!! I made it. After a long 1/2 day at work (I am blessed to get 1/2 day Fridays) I went to Target and found the most awesome hurricane lantern by Smith & Hawkens. I love that line at Target. The Hurricane is Awesome with seagrass. I got the meduim sized one and thought it would look stellar on the dining room table I am thinking now I need to go back and buy the extra large one two! But I had to show you.. oh look at my beautiful chairs too! Aww.. seagrass. My dining room just feels like we are sitting in Hawaii still on the beach eating fish tacos. DONE! I finally achieved what I wanted.
Now on to the kitchen progress! My new light fixtures for the hallway and above the sink have come in today. I picked them up and they are awaiting to be hung by Nate. I really want to update the lil fan above the table but it is going to have to wait till we take down the light above the island so the light above island and above the table all match. Plus it cranks out some air for those summer months. I went for a bronze finish to match the switch plates and cabinet hardware. I know we have alot of stainless steel also in our kitchen but I am really drawn to how it looks against our pine cabinets and our backsplash. I also didn't want to have to buy all new hardware :). I was considering painting the kitchen and decided against it. Instead I took InspiredRoom's advice and lightened it up by adding touches of cream and white. Here is the before
Before with reds all over.. Made the kitchen seem dark when it gets tons of light and is actually a very large kitchen. To NOW: Light & Airy
I gave you the hint yesterday! The hint was the new cream valances that have a subtle hint of pattern on them. I put them up last night and had not put the slip covers on them and Nate wasn't sure yet. I think he was afraid they were too bland and had nothing else to match. But with my new slipcovers they all blend so well. I love that it breaks up all the pine in the kitchen and they are linen! I adore linen. Sorry I didn't exactly press them before pictures ;). I love that you can still see the carved legs and it looks like my chairs are wearing a skirt! This was such an inexpensive makeover. I originally wanted to paint the chairs white, but Nate really likes wood tones. So to find a happy medium I felt these slipcovers were appropriate. I have seen similar ones online that just cover the tall parts of the chair but not the actual seat. Our seats are padded and covered and the upholstered part didn't match my new light and airy kitchen. So continue to skirt the seat was perfect.
I still want to add a white fruit bowl to the table and replace our red utensil crock on the island with a simple white one. Other than that I have just removed the reds.. I also purchased $5.99 rugs at target to replace the area rugs at the french doors out to the pool and by the kitchen sink. The french door in the kitchen even has stain glass in it.. don't think I have ever shown that. I love the stain glass it reminds me of my mom and Grandma. They both love stain glass. I went for cheap and plain simple rugs so that if they get ruined from chlorine pool water and dogs I won't get upset.
Since our kitchen is so large I wanted to break up the tile a little more. I was going to put our sisal rug from the living room in the kitchen because I just ordered another from PB on sale (8X10 rug on sale for less than 100 bucks) and with my gift cards. But I decided I wanted the plain sisal rug to go to our master bedroom and the new sisal rug to go in the living room. All our floors in the house are wood or tile. I like area rugs in the larger rooms to keep the toes warm. The current living room rug is just sisal.. the new one actually has a border of brown on the edge. I will show pics as soon as they come. Since I decided not to move the LR rug I was back on a hunt.. our kitchen and living room see the most traffic especially during warm months when the pool is in use. We all hang in the kitchen to chat, eat, get out of the sun- it is the hang out spot. I started to consider an indoor outdoor rug than since the durability. That is when I came along this:
It is a gorgeous indoor/outdoor rug from PB. I ordered it and it will be in the kitchen soon! Can't wait- best part is you can take it outside to spray with a hose to wash and hang dry. Plus both sides have the stripes so if one side sees more wear- flip it over. Great features for a house that I hope will eventually have lil ones in. But for right now we do have three fur balls living here and plenty of kids that visit (esp in summer for the pool).
I love love stripes if you can't tell. The last rug I ordered was stripes for the dining room (see in first pic my last PB rug purchase). I feel stripes are safe and never go out of style.. yet they are still fresh and fun! So that is the updates so far in the kitchen.. oh I almost forgot. I got a soap dispenser that reminded me of sea glass and some new washrags in my inspiration colors.Sorry mid day sun was streaming thru. There is the new washrag, soap dispenser and our honeymoon Hawaiian Bamboo Surf Cutting Board. We love it. Aren't they just fun and casual. Beach Vibe? Summer Vibe? Coastal Vibe? Hope I achieved one of them..
Ill post pics of the PB rug as soon as it is delivered. I ordered online because our local store didn't have my Garden Rug. Talk soon and enjoy Spring Break.
PS.. I pick up the nursery dresser tomorrow from Simple Matters. I am sooo excited.
