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

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.

Classic + Bright Master Bath

A couple of weeks ago I shared with you a mood board for the erstwhile new kitchen for my in-laws. This week I'm sharing the design concept for their master bath. This is an inspiration board that was meant to set the tone for the design, so it has more links to other finished spaces rather than actual products. This would have evolved into a board that contained all of the actual products we'd be putting in their space.

The goal is pretty much the same: bright and white, classic, timeless, and a teeeensy bit southern/farmhouse/cottagey.

Classic + Bright Kitchen

If you follow me on Pinterest, you may have noticed the insane spike of pinning activity this last week. My in-laws decided to build a house and asked for my help. YAAAAAY! The home was already under construction to be a spec house, but was still in the framing stage, so they had the chance to customize the inside. So I got busy designing.

Then....life happened. The deal ended up falling through. Kind of sad but they probably also dodged a bullet. These things happen for a reason.

So what to do with all of those mood boards and design ideas? Share them with you, of course! Mood boards come in all types. The 4 that I'll share with you in the coming weeks are about overall style and atmosphere. They include inspiration images and a few products that show how you want the space to feel. If the project would have moved forward, this would have evolved to show the actual selections for all of the hardware, cabinets, lighting, etc.

This kitchen is bright and cheerful. Casual and classic. Painted white cabinets, oil rubbed bronze fixtures, warm wood furniture, and timeless lighting and rugs. It has a bit of a farmhouse vibe, but it's subtle.

You can find even more kitchen inspiration with images that didn't make the final board my Pinterest board. Enjoy!

Sources (from top left): kitchen 1 | kitchen 2 | kitchen 3 | kitchen 4 |library pulls | sink | barstool |  faucet | light | rug |  kitchen 5| fridge | kitchen 6

MAY I INTEREST YOU IN…

eclectic breakfast nook

long live chesterfield

bright farmhouse master bath

refined rustic master bath

oh my darling clementine: a cozy space for your little buckaroo

Yes, I designed a sweet little nursery for a baby girl. No, I am not pregnant. I am designing vicariously for other imaginary children. If a baby girl was dropped at my doorstep, though, this is what I would do.

I love the warm woods and rustic touches but without being over the top theemey, which is key to creating a kid's room that will grow with them.

1. arrow wall art
2. monogram
3. garland
4. rack
5. lasso lamp 
6. toddler pillow -  one of a kind created by yours truly. Available for purchase. Email simplycraftedblog@gmail.com for more information.
7. crib
8. crib quilt - limited run of 4 created by yours truly. Available for purchase. Email simplycraftedblog@gmail.com for more information.
9. wall art 
10. rocker
11. sheep bedding
12. side table 
13. cowhide rug
14. critter
15. tee pee
16. antique riding horse

YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY:

quilt as you go pillow sham

the perfect baby shower blanket (baby not included)

neon sergered swaddle blanket "tutorial"

pint sized design: moonrise kingdom

megan & kevin's breakfast nook makeover

My sister-in-law Megan and her hubby Kevin (the only other Dallas Cowboys fan on that side of the family - solidarity) moved into their Houston, Texas area home about 2 years ago. A definite pro was that they got to select their finishes since it was a new home development. The con, however, is that you still have a very limited palette to choose from...unless you want to spend BIG BUCKS.

The result of that is the dreaded builder-beige walls E-VE-RY-WHERE. M&K focused their dollars on fitting out the most important spaces first - the living room and master bedroom. The little kitchen nook is outfitted with relics from Megan's first apartment. The space is nice, new, and large, but needs a bit of personality. 

Enter their Interior Designer sister-in-law (me) to the rescue!

Their style is warm, casual, a bit rustic, and colorful. They are naturally drawn to warmer colors like rust, orange, and tans. One danger of loving earth tones is that you can get sucked into a brown vortex from which you never emerge. You wake up one day and everything around you is a shade of muddy beige. 

To prevent this beige-coma you need to infuse some cool colors into the mix. Aqua blue works great with their earth tone palette. Once you've got a bit of aqua in there, aqua's cool sea glass toned friends feel welcome at the party. 

I've mixed rustic elements (the farmhouse style table, bench, and classic ladder back chairs) in with some more lush pieces (velvet nail head chairs, anyone?) alongside fun patterns and geometric shapes to keep it all from seeming too fussy. It has the feeling that these items were collected over time, when in fact they could all be purchased in the span of a weekend.

All of the items above are pretty budget friendly. The happy couple is at that all too familiar life stage of your late 20s - you don't want everything in your house to be made out of particle board and assembled yourself (ahem, IKEA), but you don't quite have the stomach to spend 3 grand on a kitchen table either. Here's the happy medium.

M&K - hope you like what I've done with the place. Now get shopping.

WHERE TO BUY

Curtains - World Market

Pendant lamp - Shades of Light

Napkins - World Market

Glassware - West Elm

Ladder back chairs - World Market

Upholstered chairs - World Market

Table - World Market

Runner - Anthropologie

Bench - World Market

Dishes - Anthropologie

Cheese Board - CB2

Rug: Rugs USA

YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY:

long live chesterfield

kim's living room

why every piece can't be your favorite piece

house tour: our first place

long live chesterfield

I love our house with its bright, airy style, but there is a part of me that longs for a dark, dramatic room just for grown ups, filled wall to wall and floor to ceiling with books. 

I found this image of Nigella Lawson's library on Pinterest about a year ago, and it pretty much sums up everything a library should be. I'd probably be drinking a glass of Scotch, but otherwise she hit it right on the nose.