The Fern

I planted a small fern in an old soup tureen and I just love the way it looks! It just goes to show that using unusual planters can make something really simple look wonderful!

Flowers in the Kitchen

My kids surprised me with these beautiful flowers for Mother's Day.

I have them sitting on my island....

and these in the breakfast room along with sweet cards from my precious children!

Kitchen Sneak Peak

Glazing

They have started glazing the cabinets...love :)

Countertops

They installed the countertops in the kitchen today.  They look beautiful.

We are still waiting on the butcher block for the island. I can't wait to see it all together!!!!

Butler's Pantry

One thing I wanted was a Butler's Pantry. It is a little pass through between the kitchen and the dining room. There is plenty of extra storage for things I don't use often.  We can use this space as an extra service area for drinks or desserts when we family and friends over.

The upper cabinets with be glass with shelves in the middle. For now, I plan to display my brown and green glassware although once we are actually in the space who knows what will be displayed :)

Island

The island is getting primed. I am so excited to see how the color turns out. It will be painted Truly Olive the same color as my dining room.

I am already in love with all the storage in my "continent". It is just how I imagined!

This is the side where the bar stools will be. There will be cabinet doors and shelves inside for storage space. I am so glad we were able to capture this otherwise wasted space.

Sorry about the sideway picture - I cannot get it to turn?? Anyway this is the end facing the breakfast room. It will have shelves for display.

Lots of drawers - deep drawers!

All the drawers and doors waiting to be painted!

Kitchen Appliances

We have been pricing new kitchen appliances over the past few months. (They quickly add up let me just tell you!)

I have had a specific make and model that I was interested in, so we have been checking all the big retailers waiting for a big sale on them. Finally this week they are on sale!

We took our information to a local appliance store (that we have been wanting to use all along) to see if they could match the prices.

The salesman told us that a huge sale was about to start later in the week at their store. If you buy the fridge and the stove, you get the microwave (vent) and dishwasher for FREE!

YEA! Not only are we saving over $700, but we get 2 FREE pieces of the kitchen set!

I am so excited because it is the one that I was REALLY wanting to get in the first place and I am not having to settle for a one that was less expensive for the sake of saving money!

God has continually blessed us in this process. I am so thankful to have this online journal that I can come back to and remember these "little" blessings along the way!

Kitchen Pendant Lights

I have found a few different lights for over the island. Here aer my top two. Which do you like best?

OR

Lovely Lanterns

I love they used such unique lighting in this breakfast area. It fits perfectly with the farmhouse feel.

What do you think? Do you like the look of the lanterns?

Utensil Holders

I saw this picture of the different size white pitchers holding the utensils and I fell in love.

(I believe this picture is from Martha Stewart's website)

I have always been one to keep my kitchen counters free of clutter, but I love this look! You can bet, I will now be on the look out for some pretty white pitchers!

What is on my mind lately?

Can you tell what I have on my mind right now? We are finishing up the changes we have made to the house plans and I am making some decisions regarding the kitchen. I have been scouring the www trying to get some creative ideas.

I have decided to do some open shelves so I have been saving pictures showing how others did them.

This is my favorite. I love that they painted inside the cabinets so the white just pops on the open shelves. The whole kitchen is gorgeous isn't it?

New Kitchen Inspiration

I love getting inspiration from Blogland. Can you tell?

A few months back I fell in love with a blog called August Fields. Sara was just finishing up building their new home, something we are about to start, so I was scouring her blog for ideas and tips.

I was so inspired by several things that she did, but the most impressive to me was her kitchen.

Isn't it to die for?

Sara says she was inspired by this kitchen from Sally Wheat (via COTE DE TEXAS). It has been featured  around blogland  for a while now and is such a classic... with a twist.

Sally Wheat's Kitchen

Here are some more pics of Sara's kitchen...check out the wood beams and the pendant light!

Did you notice the open shelving?

 I SO want this kitchen. It is so lovely and warm and homey. I think alot of that has to do with the color of her cabinets. Did you notice the color?

I have loved white kitchens since for.ev.er. Remember these inspiration pictures?

Well, now thanks to Sara,  I am thinking of doing my cabinets in the same gray that she used. It is called Benjamin Moore's Fieldstone.

Other people in the blogland have tried it including Susie. She painted her kitchen cabinets recently and blogged about them here. She even shared pictures of a gray kitchen from Martha Stewart.
So what do YOU think? Would you go gray or stick with the traditional white?

Breakfast Nook

This is how I want the breakfast area in the kitchen to look. I love all the windows!!

Not only will it bring in lots of light, I can also watch the kids outside and enjoy the beautiful view of our land.

Dish Cabinet

I LOVE this cabinet. I am seriously thinking of doing away with some upper cabinets just to have this for my dishes!



Isn't it gorgeous!

Sea Glass Tiles

I love this kitchen! Aren't the sea glass tiles GORGEOUS?!??!

photo by Delight by Design

Isn't it so Inviting?

I love this kitchen. Isn't it so inviting?

The chunky moldings and the double doors...the glass cabinets...the farmhouse table with the elegant wooden chairs....it is just what I dream my own kitchen will someday look like!

Glass Cabinets

Don't you just love these tall glass cabinets? I LOVE them!


I saw this picture on the remodeling guy's blog. He has a ton of great ideas. If you are thinking you can't do a home improvement project, check out his blog and he will show you how simple things really can be!

Kitchen Ideas

I can picture my sweet little kids sitting at this island having lunch or helping me cook supper...I just love how big it is! And I don't think I would mind washing dishes quite as much if I had these gorgeous windows to stare out of! Isn't it beautiful?

I am planning to have a triple window like what is in the picture below. I love the natural light and I want to be able to watch the kids playing basketball or riding their bikes in the driveway. The windows in the picture below are also more realistic than the "fancy" windows in the picture above.

I also like the farm table in the picture above. I am kinda thinking about this type of table for the breakfast area. I would want it paint black though.

I put up the next picture to show the beautiful wood floors and the BIG island!

I want to be able to put stools on the side opposite the window/sink. The end cap will have shelves/cubbies for display. The other end cap (where the stove is) will have outlets so the island can be a functional workspace especially for baking. The side where the sink is will be cabinets and drawers for extra storage. I also want the island to be a different color than the cabinets to make it look more like a piece of furniture.

This next one is a "fancy" kitchen....but you know fancy always means lots of moola! I don't need or want a fancy kitchen, but I would love to have a hood similar to this one. I am thinking this would be something my sweet husband can build to try to save money! The architectural elements are so pretty, but can get pricey...we will just have to wait and see...



I could show you lots more of my inspiration pics, but I don't want to bore you to tears! I will wait and show you the style and color of the cabinets, the layout, and some design things sometime soon.

I hope you are enjoying seeing these ideas. I know for me it is nice to have my favorites all in one place. Hope you are enjoying reading all about it!