Alright, so if you know *me*...you know that my kitchen is my sanctuary. Well, I think it's more fitting to say "work station" considering I cook like crazy and I love it. Thing is, I don't like boring colors... I want a kitchen where it's colorful, energetic yet it doesn't assault the eyes like McDonalds or Burger King. Due to the Albuquerque landscape being less than eye popping (SO many shades of brown!),I figured I'd go ahead and just paint my kitchen with colors that scream "happiness". Corny, right? Whatever..it's my kitchen.
Not too long after we moved in, Eric and I kept switching around color chips to see what would look best with the way our kitchen was laid out. We originally were shooting for a mellow, European theme...but, it felt like it was going to be too "drab", so, color was a necessity! The cream color HAD to go!
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Four various colors later, we agreed on this gorgeous turquoise color that looks UH-mazing!
Once the paint was officially up and dried, it was time for me to bust out with some painting of my own since I have tons of stuff I needed to, uhhhh, customize...in order for it to go with the theme I was going for.
There happens to be a Hobby Lobby here..and oh my gosh, I frequent that place WAY more than I should. Pinterest has given me tons of ideas in terms of decor and storage things to run with in terms of the kitchen area, so when I spotted some pretty cool metal baskets, I snatched them up since I figured I could make them look pretty whimsical. They were originally a rustic off while color with heavy crackling texture all over it...wasn't what I was aiming for, so I stripped them down, primed then took my sweet time with painting out all the various loops and rods. Honestly, I think they came out pretty good! One has spots throughout it while the other is a little more simple. Either way, they both work very well when it comes to holding apples, bananas and whatever other goodies you wanna keep off the counter top.
The next part in the kitchen overhaul was the knobs. Sounds silly, but the little metal ones that were on there before seemed to be taking something away from the overall look of the place. After doing a little bit of hunting, price comparing and overall being patient when it comes to painting things..I ended up getting these cute little ones over at Hobby Lobby. I'm definitely loving them...well, all except one. There's one that has a knack of snagging my clothes and causing cuts. Rude, right? It's about to get retired with one that's a little more cooperative when it comes to behaving.
Oh, then there's the Talavera Pottery I've started to acquire. Man oh man..I love this stuff! SO colorful, so it works perfectly for the theme I'm shooing for. I've managed to find some cool places around here that have a good selection of stuff on hand.
1. Jackalope in Albuquerque
2. Camino Real Imports
I picked up tons of outlet covers which add extra little pops of color throughout the kitchen.
I don't know why the wall to the right is coming up a pea green color..lol. It's a sandy taupe color like the main wall.
You know how some people like to have some sort of guest book or something like that in the home as a reminder of loved ones? Well, I'm doing something kinda like that, but cooler. Whenever friends or family visit, I take 'em to one of the Talavera places and have them pick a piece out for the kitchen wall, sign & date it then pick a spot to hang. Cool, right? Thaaaaat's right.
When my cousin and her son came to visit, she ended up picking out the orange salamander for herself while she got the blue frog for Aiden. Makes me smile whenever I look at 'em :)
I ended up having to order this piece for one of my friends since I haven't been able to find a snake in any of the local shops (of course he had to pick something that wasn't easy to find). Now the challenge is to hang him up somewhere with longer hooks since his tummy doesn't exactly lay flat.
John picked out this little gal:
Eric kinda broke the rules when he picked this gal out...she was supposed to have been hung up on the wall, but he insisted that she stay on the center island to "protect" the kitchen from food ninja's. Over time, she's adopted two kiddos...one is a bit cranky and always has a snarky face. Typical teenager.
My choice was a steers skull that I actually picked up while I was visiting my family in California. The crazy thing is that I haven't seen another one like it since I've been here. The ones here are Texas long horn style and the paint / patterns are on the dull side. So, I'm glad I picked this guy up when I had the chance. Odds are, whenever I get back over to California to visit again, I'll invade the pottery store I got him from for some more goodies :)
Then I found this little dude while I was checking out Old Town Albuquerque. What? I couldn't help myself...
Go ahead and laugh, but I actually had a custom Kitchen Aid mixer cover made since I couldn't find ANY that I liked! Luckily, Rebekah at www.sewmesomethin.com was up to the challenge since I ordered the fabric and had it sent to her directly. She's seriously awesome and the cover came out beautifully :)
Another custom thing I had made was a sign to hang out on top of the cabinets. It says, "Many have eaten here. Few have died. Est. 2007".....and for the ones who did die, it wasn't my fault. I swear.
When we moved in, the chandelier was already installed, so that was a bonus. Thing is, it doesn't go with all the decor I have...I mean, don't get me wrong, it would've gone really well if I stuck with the whole "European coffee" theme, but I'm much happier with the perky, super loud kitchen I've created. After talking it over with Eric (and suffering from lack of air circulation when I'm cooking & it's hotter than hell outside), we opted to replace it with a remote controlled fan.
Luckily for us, we found an awesome fan that was on sale over at Lowes and we managed to have an electrician install it within a day. That thing PUSHES air around like no joke! I LOVE it! Plus, I think it opens up the kitchen a little more.
So far, it's turning out really well. I'm STILL digging through boxes for goodies. Once I find all my Starbucks mugs, they'll go on the top of the cabinets on one side while the other side will hold all of my Le Creuset things (thank goodness I picked all sorts of random colors!).
There ya have it. My crazy kitchen :)
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