KITCHEN INSPIRATION

This is my kitchen inspiration.

I love how bright and clean this kitchen looks!

I feel pretty darn lucky about this photo. This is somewhat like my kitchen.

I have white subway tiles, I have a window over my sink like this, I have the same faucet, but different color, I have dark countertops and white cabinets !

I can't wait for my kitchen to be white!!

These photos are from CountryLiving.com

I love their website

Wish I had those windows in my kitchen!
Love the white !

I love this simple and pretty kitchen photo

Love, Love, Love the glass front cabinets and drawers !

Love the white panel back splash too!

When we painted our kitchen last year, I recall my husband asking if I would want him to paint the walls white, and I said " white?" " that is so boring!"

I have come to except through experience that most of the time, my husband is right.

I can't count how many times I have been faced with an issue like this one!

Oh..Honey.....I guess I would like the kitchen white afterall !"

( I hope I dont have to wait long!)

MY KITCHEN, TODAY

This is how my kitchen looks right now.

Even though we just updated last year, I see a few things I want to change.

The main thing I want to do is paint the walls white.

I love the inspiration photos of the all white kitchens.

I think going with white will make this small kitchen feel larger.

Do you think so?

The microwave had been in the pantry, but was moved out to make room for more storage.

I really don't like the microwave on the counter. There just isn't enough counter space for it. I also think the under cabinet radio needs a new, out of sight home. And, maybe a new white curtain for the spring is in order. What do you think? ( This is the window that I have on my spring to do list that needs the storm window removed and spider webs cleaned out! )
This is the other side of my small kitchen. We bought the vent hood above the stove just last year, but now wish I would have gotten an over the range microwave.
I could not find any other area to put the microwave, to get it off the counter, so I think we might get an over the range microwave afterall.

The only downside to putting the over the range microwave here, above the stove is that it would cover most of the newly installed white subway tile back splash.
What is a girl to do? I think the knife block is kind of ugly sitting there, now that I look it the photo! Ohh...look at the clock screen on my stove, you may notice the time is not showing, ....that is because I unplug the stove when not in use! It is my new " green" way to save energy! After reading in the "green book" that I could save hundreds of dollars on my electric bill each year and save precious energy by unplugging unused electric sources, I wanted to give it a try.

I will post photos of of my kitchen after we make some changes :)

MY PANTRY INSPIRATION

These photo's from Country Living.com are what gave me my inspiration to add chalkboard paint to my pantry door, and to use glass jars and baskets.

I love that the chalkboard is on the outside of these doors, but I chose to put the chalkboard paint on the inside of my door. ( you can find a photo of my pantry door on my blog list)
I love this door !
I am so glad I was able to find one that looks like it for my pantry!

I love the screen door for the pantry too!
I especially love the panel wall behind the shelves.

I loved this idea to add baskets for food items, and I looked everywhere for baskets like these, but could not find any with the raised back, and lower front.

I did find some crate looking boxes / baskets and bought them because they were the right size for my shelves.

MY PANTRY - WORK IN PROGRESS

This is the chalk board after several uses. Hoping to remind my husband and kids to recycle, I put the chalk to use ! ( we now have a bin for plastic, paper, old light bulbs, and cans!)
Although the newly added spice shelves are not complete, ( Paint) you get the idea.
I threw out outdated food items and transferred spices to glass jars that I bought for about $1 each. I added labels to the back side of the jars to identify what is inside.

This is the opposite wall to the spice shelves.
I did not take a before photo, but originally both walls had white wire shelves, not pretty at all.


Is it weird that it bothers me that these brown storage boxes aren't straight?
It does ! As you can see, I added metal label holders to the shelf fronts to identify what is in the boxes. Yes, it bothers me that these metal labels are not even as well, but what the heck, it is an improvement from before. Just in case you wonder.... I have the boxes full of, and labeled as (1) " Soup" ( roman noodle packages), (2)"Sweets" ( for the kids... lol) , (3) cornbread & biscuit mixes, (4) spices ( for the other items not in jars)
The 2 large boxes on the floor shelf are for large items.

I bought these boxes, which look more like crates with the slotted sides, and thought I would paint them Antique white.
What do you think? Should I paint them or leave them brown?

After cleaning my pantry, it looks bare, but dont worry, I made a long list of what I need to stock it again.

PANTRY DOOR MAKEOVER

This is the door that was my pantry door. It did not match other doors in our home which are mostly two panel doors. I wanted to change it.
Look what I found at the 'Country Cottage' antique shop for only $15 !!
Although I like the distressed look as is, we painted the outside white.

This is what the inside of the door looked like before.

Look how pretty the white covered that green paint that was on there originally!

It really turned out nice.

This is the inside of the door painted a pretty sage green with chalk board paint.

I really like how it turned out.