The Kitchen!

Before

Before

The Kitchen Plan Comes Together!

Check out the plans here.

I based my kitchen plan around my parents china from early in their marriage. The pattern is from 1955 and made in Lincoln, IL. So I am going with a somewhat 1950's inspiration to the room. 

Tea Towels with appliques
based on my parent's dishes.

Actually, the tulip platter is the only remaining piece from Mom & Dad's set, but several years ago I found it's sister platter on EBay and picked it up.
I chose a medium gray (Sherwin Williams' Dorian Gray) to paint the walls to give a good backdrop to the cream, pink and charcoal dishes. I also found some plain gray kitchen towels at Ikea and picked them up. I created an applique reproducing the china design for these.

Cabinets with vinyl cutouts
based on the dishes.

I also replicated the design in vinyl for the kitchen cabinets. The cabinets already had a black & charcoal colored hammered metal hardware which coordinated with the stylistic brush strokes of the leaves in the platters.

Peg Board

Next, I painted a peg board a pale pink and hung it next to the stove to hold my utensils. I always get my Color Guru on when deciding to decorate a room. This room spoke to me and said it needed pink in it. I have never used pink in decorating before but felt the room needed it. When I painted the walls I found the top of the cabinets had been painted the same shade of pink that I used on my pegboard at sometime in the past. The Guru obviously wasn't the only person who sensed that the room needed this color.

Microwave Cart/Counter Top by Dad

The microwave cart/countertop that Dad built for me has made a huge difference. I not only save the space from the existing counter where the microwave sat, but I also gained a countertop next to the stove. It doubled the usable counter space in my kitchen! Thanks Dad!




The curtains are made from a chevron patterned fabric in pink and two shades of gray. This photo also shows the shade of the wall color better than the other photos.
(I don't know anything about the other 47 shades of gray.)

Here is my Un -Handyman Tip of the Day. When you are trying to hang a picture, curtain rod, or in the case of this photo a shelf support by yourself try using some masking tape.

After years of frustration of trying to hold a screw, a drill and whatever I was trying to hang on the wall I came up with this system.

I mark the wall where the item needs to be placed and then tape in using low-tack masking tape. This allows me to have both hands free to hold the screw and the drill or screw driver. I put the screw in right over the tape. When done the tape easily pulls away from the project.