In the Red

I've recently been loving the color red in our cottage. I've tried to integrate it with these fabulous-o red lanterns (from Lowe's!) along our table and against the white "cabinet'ed" kitchen. My husband even took notice, which is a huge deal because he seriously does not notice these things. He knows how obsessed I am with neutrals, so naturally he wondered what had come over me. I cannot exactly explain what it is, but I do know that it instantly adds charm to any room.

Now, I'm not talking painting your walls a stark China Red or dying your hair to match the clown wig you covet at Halloween. I'm referring to little punches of red here and there throughout a room; which seems to stand out more amongst a neutral color scheme.

Perhaps all the white in my life has left me feeling a bit rebellious, or, the fleeting holidays with its candy canes and Santa images has me rather nostalgic. Whatever it is, I am pretty obsessed with red right now. I believe this to be more everlasting than a 'color crush', but I guess only time will tell. However, there is something romantic and warm about the color especially during the winter season. Just think about it. When you look from a window surrounded by falling snow and spot a red sleigh, fire hydrant or maybe even a child in a red snowsuit, there's something highly striking about it.

Since the drama can be achieved with a pillow, blanket, plates - even a lantern, you have the red green light to experiment and find what works for you. So long as you're not going overboard, it can be done beautifully and tastefully. As I type this, I am looking over at my yarn basket and notice red thread weaving its head amidst a sea of neutrals. Why not go ahead and display something such as this? It costs absolutely no money to achieve and you'll be using what you already have... and perhaps you didn't even know it existed until now!

So go ahead... get your red on. Just don't pull out any stop signs in the process.

From Empty Space to Display Case

Our kitchen had suffered from a lack of counter space, that is, until the big bad butcher block parked itself on the corner. It was a great investment - especially since it was discounted - and suddenly our "spacially challenged" cooking area wasn't so bad. I have slowly realized and even embraced that a quaint kitchen is as charming as a large one, if not more so. However, as far as functionality goes, it just takes a bit more effort to make it 'work'.

One of the biggest challenges had been trying to make the space 'flow' from the counters to the butcher block. They sort of 'ended' once the block began. Like an abrupt ending to a good movie or Columbus thinking the earth ended at the horizon.... such were our countertops.

Last spring, I toured our village for some good finds at yard sales - other than Christmas, my favorite time of year! I came upon a $5.00 bookcase that I immediately put into our daughter's room and organized her books, from Dr. Seuss to The Bernstain Bears. It wasn't until recently that I thought 'hey, that bookcase would look great on the wall... in the kitchen'. Yes, these are thoughts that keep me tossing and turning at night.

My husband painted the shelf to match our cabinets and I knew I was onto something. Once the bookcase was up, I couldn't wait to put the finishing touches on.... which were the less-than-$2.00 Anthropologie cabinet pulls I stumbled upon, not knowing what I would use them for, but knowing I had to get them (even if it meant screwing them into our front door!)

These cabinet pulls now serve as quaint little 'hooks' for measuring spoons/cups. I don't mind that these serve more as decoration since they add a nice unexpected detail at the bottom... like a hemmed embellishment on a skirt.

To further the functionality, I hung a cutting board on the side and continued the Nigella Lawson lighting around there as well. The newly finished area now serves as casual seating for my husband and I to eat and do our work. All in all, not so shabby for a small charming kitchen!

Lesson learned? Think outside the box, or in this case, book shelf. This goes to show that a space can be done on a seriously tight budget and very little else.

I've dug up some before pics to show the 'unfinished' wall space:

Way before (pre-painted cabinets)

Before

Here's what everything looks like now:

A shutter..

Or cutting board

Nigella Lawson Lighting

More under head lighting

A great place for coffe, tea, eating, working, cooking, etc.. 

Get Organized

Ever since our daughter began eating solid foods, I have been hoarding collecting those little glass jars. They come in all shapes and sizes, but are mainly on the small side - as many of you already know.

My husband has strongly encouraged me to drop them into our recycling bin and I eventually did just that, but I kept a few behind knowing I would come up with something to use these for. I'm glad I did!

A few weeks ago I decided to completely "gut" our bathroom cabinet and drawers. I did away with the adhesive shelf liners (I'm not a fan of these, but kept them when we moved in since they were in good shape). However, I was more than happy to rip these out, which was surprisingly therapeutic!

Rather than replace with another shelf liner and spend money unnecessarily, I decided to slap some wrapping paper on there. I had some left over and thought it would look nice in the space. It not only jazzed it up, but laid a clean slate so I could actually organize and keep it that way - - now if only I can keep my daughter from breaking in and roughing everything up! My husband doesn't have any excuse, though...

Back to those little jars... I broke out the mod podge and craft paper and started pasting away. Some jars I embellished with twine and cut the craft paper with scalloped scissors to give it that extra detail. I filled them with chaps sticks, safety pins, tweezers, tea lights and even a homemade exfoliator (corn meal!)

Instead of spending money on drawer and cabinet organizers, these former baby food jars do just fine! In fact, they're more attractive and a great use of what you might already own. Just explain to your spouse your grand ideas for these miniature vessels before tossing them...