kitchen eye candy

Short post today! It's so rare for me not to be wordy, but these are busy times, people.

I've been helping out some friends from college with their new home, and the kitchen is the first major room they want to tackle. All of the cabinets and appliances will stay, but they are open to painting them, replacing wall and floor tile, and new countertops.

You DON'T have to replace everything in your kitchen to make a big difference in your space. Just changing one of those surfaces can have a huge impact. Especially if you buy a pretty light and mint green toaster.

Three pretty kitchens, for your viewing pleasure.

Dramatic: This kitchen is so New Orleans. High contrast, deep painted base cabinets, brass, luxe, and enough white to keep it from being dark. Somebody pass me a pastry.

Light & Airy: This kitchen is bright and inviting. Lots of different textures and warm touches keep it from being boring.

Eclectic: This kitchen has personality. Painting your base cabinets a color is a powerful move, but in the right space it can give you a warm, cheerful feeling. Also, that toaster. The mid-century barstool and traditional wood floor keep it just serious enough that it doesn't feel childish.

I didn't link to all of the sources here (because holy wow I'm just too busy right now), but you can find all of the sources on this Pinterest board. Have a specific question on any item? Just drop a comment!


MAY I INTEREST YOU IN…

Classic + Bright Kitchen

sidney's downtown loft tour

classic southern cheese grits

so southern pinto bean soup

monogrammed newlywed pillow

Couples spend quite a bit of time on their wedding registries. I did when I got married. It makes perfect sense. "We'll make a list of all the things we like, and then people will go buy them, and we won't get any weird gifts!"

Enter Tara.

I am notorious for shopping off-registry. Don't get me wrong, I look at the registry, but then I tend to make something that (I hope) will compliment it. Anyone who dislikes this practice might want to mention it to me in the future before their big day.

B-T-dubs, Interior Designers are notorious for shopping off registry. We think we know better than you what you need. Right, wrong, or indifferent, it's just who we are.

Such is the case for Kyle and Summer. Kyle is my boss' son and Summer happens to like handmade things. Or so her Pinterest boards would have me believe. So for their nuptuals, I decided to make them a little something something.

Their registry had lots of classic items. Blues, navys, and whites. And the one thing that all couples' registries have in common - MONOGRAMS.

It makes sense. If the gal is going traditional and taking the guy's last name, she naturally wants it emblazoned on everything they own. This happy couple will now be sporting an equally cheerful monogrammed pillow.

I actually started with this side, which is basically a simple square mini-quilt. These are 3.5" squares, 5 high by 5 wide. It's a simple checkerboard pattern with whites and navys. It came out to roughly 15.5" square when it was done.

I bought a 16" pillow form. The rules are that I probably should have made the pillow top finish at 17" (because you lose 1" when you sew the front and back of the pillow case together with a 1/2" seam allowance), but I tend to like my pillows either - A) a little overstuffed or B) insanely squishy with a feather pillow form that feels like it's vintage. I went with Option A on this one.

At any rate, I made the top and quilted it with navy thread, 1/4" off of each seam to make a grid. Nearly all of these fabrics are from JoAnn's.

Then, the back. Drumroll please....

This turned out even cuter than it was in my brain. My plan had been to do a blue monogram on a plain white background. But then I realized I had enough of this preppy polka dot fabric left over from the front to make the back. It's so darn cheerful!

I love it when things work out.

selly's outdoor living area

I love designing outdoor spaces, which is kind of odd when you think about it, because I'm what you would call indoorsy. This probably stems from my propensity to sunburn, my total lack of athletic ability, and my distaste of being dirty. All of that to say though: give me a gorgeous patio, great weather, and a cold cocktail, and I AM THERE.

That's why I was super jazzed when Selly contacted me via the blog and asked if I could help her design an outdoor space for her family. They just moved from a teeny tiny apartment in Philadelphia to this gorgeous house in the 'burbs, a whopping 3 times bigger than their old place.

And it came with THIS.

Oh my gosh, this deck. It's the deck of my dreams. Modern and new and spacious. And that view. The stuff of dreams.

quilt club: reverse inset circiles

First, let's talk about that title. Reverse inset circles. It sounds extremely daunting, and let me tell ya, it felt extremely daunting when I opened the study guide. I've seen quilts with circles or curves in them before and just could not wrap my mind around how you can sew two pieces of fabric together, fold them over, and get a curve. It defies the laws of nature. 

But it's actually possible. And it's not so hard. You just need a little patience and a little Elmer's glue. Seeeee?!

It's so gloriously 1980's that I can barely contain myself. Remember Todd and Margo's house in Christmas Vacation? Yeah, this would totally have been at home there.

"Then why is the carpet all wet, Todd?"
"I don't know Margo!"

We had a smaller group this month because of graduations and end of school stuff and spring and life. And not everyone brought inset circles, because we're relaxed at modern quilt club and that's how we roll. But the quilts that everyone brought were amazing.

This post could alternatively be called "quilt club: awkward talking faces." I have no hopes of a career as a photo journalist. I do not have that gift that the paparazzi have of catching celebrities talking and NOT capturing weird faces. Sorry guys.

Shannon made this super cute West Park tote bag. You can read about it on her blog to get info on the pattern and her process.

classic southern cheese grits

Cheese. Grits. CHEESE GRITS. Need I say more?

If you're from the south, then you know the magic of which I speak. If you've never had them, you MUST try them immediately. Like cheesy mashed potatoes and polenta had a delicious baby.

They're breakfast food. Dinner food. Anytime in between food. And they're so EASY. They take just a few ingredients and about 15 minutes to make.

Grits are made of finely ground corn, which (I deduce) would make them gluten free! Hooray for my gluten free friends.