Step Inside my Kitchen: My favorite place in the house

Happy 2009! We made it through the holidays and now new years day has come and gone too. My how time flies when you're having fun! I promised this year to show you around my house and now that I have things back in order around here I thought we could peek into my kitchen.

The kitchen is very bright and cheery, except for the dark cabinets, but I was going for low maintenance when I picked everything out this time around. Being the frugal person that I am I tried to make the kitchen practical and pretty while not spending a fortune. For the windows I wanted something functional, did not want blinds, I try not to have blinds unless absolutely necessary. Instead I opted for inexpensive panels from Target. We can pull them closed at night and they sit just off the floor so the broom doesn't get them all yucky. In any other room I would have the drapes lined, but I wanted the kitchen filled with light everyday.

The black table and chairs used to be the typical 1990's white with butcher block top and chair seats until it got several coats of black oil-based paint and mounds of polyurethane. The bench was given to me from Mom, I grew up sitting at this bench with two of my four brothers. Now, as much as I love the black I do NOT suggest anyone doing this! I would love to sand this guy down and stain it or paint it cream with a gel stain finish. Only the table top, that is... I love the black base for it's low-maintenance factor, same goes for the chairs, LOW MAINTENANCE is a good thing. Had to have shades for my light fixture and found these beaded cream colored shades for $5 bucks each at Target. All of my accessories are always super cheap clearance finds at Michael's, HomeGoods, Hobby Lobby or some of my wholesale shops. My very favorite thing in the kitchen is my black cabinet. One of my larger painting orders paid for this baby. It gets decorated for every season, and the black backdrop makes everything look better. The funky silverware artwork is a Hobby Lobby find (for half price of course) I think I only paid $25 for all three. I wanted something without lots of color, so it would not compete with whatever I have displayed on the black cabinet. You know, I could really use one of the Nester's awesome tassels for the knob, but the dog would eat it, I am sure. The other door you see in the corner is the laundry room, we won't go there! Not much to see there anyway...

My handy little wooden toolbox is
another favorite. It used to be a pine stain, but I had to doctor it up a bit with a can of colonial red spray paint and and my gel stain. Lots of things get painted around here, we'll leave that for another post. The toolbox is great for holding my favorite cookbooks close by and my most-used utensils. Wood would look better, but until I buy more I just use my old black ones. The dog treats stay on the counter too. I love the vintage (looking) glass jar for Cisco's treats, easy for the kids to open too. And one final picture from the table side of the kitchen, not pretty as you can see the white fridge that sticks out like a sore thumb and my very cluttered kitchen desk to the right. We like to let the kids cover the ugly fridge with lots of artwork until I can paint it or get a new stainless steel one. I have considered covering it with chalkboard paint, but the practical side of me is thinking, MESSY!
Through the doorway you can see a glimpse of my red wall on the stairs, again, a post for another day. Over the cabinet there is a tray that I painted, you guessed it black, and wrote "PLEASE SIT". My little red lamp in the corner is always on, since I do not have under counter lighting. Please do not look too closely at the toaster oven, the one and only thing my husband HAS to have. And there you have it... my favorite room in the England house.

Soon I will be posting on my other creative side, painted artwork and knobs. Check back often and feel free to leave comments!

~Misti