Living Room & Kitchen

So our house is a little quirky. It's about 30 years old and was added on to at some point during those 30 years. The living room and the master suite make up the addition. It's a wonderful space, quite large, but felt really dark. They did some... interesting things with the lighting. You can see 2 flush-mounted fixtures in the picture. There are 4 total. I'd like to make them recessed and have been researching to see if it's easy to do. Anyway, the room was brown. The fireplace was brown. The carpet was light brown. (It was much lighter after we had it cleaned & stretched, though!) The built-ins were white, but it was a dark space.

Duh-duh-duh-duhn! 'Relaxed Khaki' from Sherwin Williams to the rescue! This is my very favorite paint color. In the whole-wide world. We used it in our home in Minnesota and I couldn't even comprehend using another color here. In some light it looks green-y and I love love love it. The photo above shows just how dark the brown paint color was (yes they painted the utility door and trim brown as well). We have a small room in the middle of the house with 6 little lockers in it. I like it, I just wish it was nearer to the garage. Yeah, it's still yellow. We haven't gotten that far yet.


This is what the living room looked like just after we moved in. I've since changed the furniture around, but you get the idea.

I painted the frame of the mirror above the fireplace black. (This is probably the 4th time I've painted it. I got it for $5 at a rummage sale.)We now have two small iron black lamps on each end of the mantle and several clear glass vessels with white tealights. I'm still working on it. I'd like to put up rattan roman shades on the windows, too.

I've also spent some time on the built-ins since this photo was taken. I'm loving them (and the storage they provide!). We bought a new media console, which is currently sitting behind our couch. It's waiting for our new flat-screen TV. It's a beautiful piece of furniture (and it's NOT black!). There's no way we could put our beast of a TV on it right now. So it's being patient. I've been putting up some more decor this weekend and have a leather ottoman/coffee table picked out. Now where's that tax return check??

Ah, the kitchen. I never thought I'd enjoy having a galley kitchen, but I was wrong! I really love this layout. There was no fridge, so we bough a new Whirlpool stainless side-by-side. Kelly's favorite feature is the in-door, removable ice bucket. You know, for all the pool parties we're going to have! We also bought a new microwave/range hood. Also Whirlpool, also stainless. Kelly has become quite the handyman, as he installed that bad boy all by himself. I'm so proud. We really need a new stove, too, but we're waiting until the summer. We plan to put in a gas line so I can really get cooking!

So, the wallpaper. Yeah, three layers. You can only see two in this photo, but I promise there were 3. And that peachy looking color on the inside of the cabinet (where the range hood should be)? That was the original color of the wall AND cabinets! The white paint is really chipped and worn under all the handles, so we'll sand and repaint everything. Again, this summer. Oh the advantages to working in the school system!

The minute we tore down the red, fruit print wallpaper the kitchen seemed twice as big. We could only get the first layer off, but since Kelly was busy losing the battle in the Study (you'll see that in a minute) we decided to just paint over what was left. It was a smooth surface for the most part. We plan to do a tile backsplash and get new countertops which will hide a multitude of painting sins. (Oh, 'Relaxed Khaki, how I love thee.)

This is what the kitchen looks like today. Not a very good picture (I was trying to avoid capturing the clean dishes in the drying rack) and I should have taken more. See the florescent light fixture on the ceiling? I really don't like it. We don't say that we hate things in our house, but I really hate it. Don't tell on me. I love the boy & the dog, though!

And I'm sad to say it, but I don't have a picture of my pride and joy - the breakfast bar! You can kind of see a light oak stool just behind Daisy's booty. That's where it is. It seats 2 people on each side. I already know what barstools I want. Black. I'm a little predictable, but I love black furniture. It really grounds a room. Anyway, there were two cabinets above the bar. If you were standing in the kitchen you didn't have a view of the living room. Even if you sat at the bar, you had to hunch over to see the person on the other side of the bar. But not anymore, baby! I have 2 less storage cabinets but I don't regret it for a second! Kelly even finished it off with a piece of drywall and a lovely sconce! And I can see right into the living room. Man, I really need a picture.