shelf project

After finding some inspiration for our kitchen project in these images.....

I knew a few things that I definitely wanted in the design......

• lots of white (but different textures)
• stainless steel
• warm wood
• open shelving so that I could display my favorite kitchen finds.

Not all open shelving, I'm not neat enough to not have a few closed doors in the kitchen, but enough for some key items that have been given to me, or I have collected and are a good representation of the different colors and styles that I like.

So here is the beginning pictures of our open shelf project. We took the three longest cabinet doors off and moved the existing shelves to create the proportions and grid we wanted and, built face frames in front of the shelves and painted it all white!

kitchen run through.....

Back in the spring Kris and I slowly but surely began renovating our kitchen. It started with the floors and the new stairs to the basement, which is all I have posted about so far. So I thought it was time to play catch up....this is how it began......Our biggest issue was the size, no matter what appliances we bought, floor we remodeled or counters we installed, there wasn't even a drawer in this kitchen! The silverware lived on a shelf next to the refrigerator....its was bad! So we needed more room........

The new space for the kitchen came from the half of the former pantry that wasn't being used for the basement stairs, it worked out pretty well. And with a week long visit from the father in law, we got a lot done. We tore off the plaster, discovered there used to be a door opening there, braced the wall above, took out the original 2x4's (which we saved to make out outdoor table out of) and sized the new wood for the lintel. There was an original 2x4 at a 45 degree angle that we framed around to expose a bit of the old structure. And we added 5 more feet of kitchen space....and more importantly.....counterspace and room for a drawer!

relaxing back porch

Since we've been in the middle of kitchen construction almost all spring and summer, our screened pack porch has become a storage area....until now! I am reclaiming my relaxing space. Soon it will be cooling off (at least at night), the bugs will be going away and girls wine night can be had again on the porch!

We got these two wicker chairs for 15 dollars this weekend at a yard sale and the table at an antique store a few weeks ago (I've been preparing for this!)

In my efforts to learn how to sew, porch pillows became very important to me! So I whipped these up in the car ride home to Jersey.

I think I want to spray paint the chairs, just not sure what color yet?

And the view of the other city yards is beautiful and enhanced with the old lanterns I scored from my dad's garage and a lovely windchime my mom gave us!

stuff

Here is some stuff from my saturday adventures....we went to the South of the James Farmer's Market, Caravatti's for a radiator cover and historic scupper, then I went over to the Forest HIll Antique store and my favorite Diversity Thrift! good day of window shopping and lusting after furniture....until I found the perfect dining room cabinet and got a great deal on it!

But.....here is what I bought. It was so heavy, but once we got in into the house, I was so excited! And it's alrady full!

sewing 101

I am slowly but surely teaching myself how to sew. I picked up a great 70's Singer machine, but I have no idea how to thread it for now....so hand stiching it is. Luckily I can't sit still without having a project at night, so it's been keeping me busy. I scored a lot of Amy Butler scraps on ebay and have been making little purses. I also got this great berry pattern material from Tonic Living and made a huge new pillow for our bedroom! And my latest endeavor is making the cushions for our wicker outdoor set for our screened in back porch. So far I only have two pillows made for that.....one of which is currently living on this fabulous chair (one of a pair that Christina and I got from a curbside goldmine!)

I'm running out of rooms to make pillows for!

home sweet home

Kris and I took an extra long weekend trip home to visit my family in Jersey this week. It was a great trip, lots of family time, delicious food and fun.

One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to my mom's new rowhouse in her town of Lambertville, NJ. It's a wonderful, eclectic little village on the Delaware River and once again my mom has turned yet another space into a masterpiece. Here are some pictures from her urban garden that she put together. She had a tiny space, but with the potted plants, sculpted bonsais and raised vegatable beds (she practices biodynamic gardening) she has really out done herself! She does a really great job of mixing the flowers, veggies and herbs all together and layering them so there is a little bit of everything in each bed. And we even got to enjoy a delicious lunch of salad and pesto from her garden and Jersey corn!

etsy shop

On friday our new etsy shop, Flamingo Artifacts, was choosen for the Friday Vintage Finds! It was an article about Danish Modern housewares, which happen to be my favorite kind which made it very exciting to get choosen! The bad thing about etsy for me is it just makes me see even more stuff that I want, there were some great other things choosen as well.

http://www.etsy.com/storque/section/spotlight/article/etsy-finds-vintage-danish-modern/2350/

So with this new exposure, we needed to update the shop! We'll be adding these guys in tonight