KITCHEN UPDATE

 

LET THERE BE LIGHT

We are almost to the finish line on our kitchen. This weeks project was installing the undermount and inside cabinet lights.

I am a fanatic about lighting, and the mood it can set in a room. 

If you were to visit in the evening you would see all kinds of little ambient lighting around my home.

It gives me great delight to go around my home humming along, and turning on the lights at dusk.

Of course they all have dimmers so I can get a nice candle glow effect.

We never put undermount lighting in our kitchen because all the lights were either too harsh, or the wrong color of lighting for me.

I love a warm glow and all I seemed to see was a bright white, or a blue base lighting……

……UNTIL NOW!!

My sweet hubby went on line to see what kind of lighting we could find that could be dimmed for underneath the cabinetry,  and give me the warm glow that I love.

He found just the right kind of lighting for me……..

LED strip lighting.

The strip itself is about 1/4 of an inch and the little tiny LED lights are about half the size of a match head. 

Just tiny!! 

It comes all rolled up on a reel just like film would be for a projector.

I chose less voltage, and warm white because I like a warm glow.

You need a transformer, connectors, and a dimmer switch to complete the job.

CONNECTORS…

The connectors are really cool, no soldering needed!!

TRANSFORMER

The transformer has to have an electrical outlet. We put ours inside the cabinet above our microwave where we have an outlet to plug in the microwave. I got lucky on this count!!

DIMMER SWITCH

This is installed inside the cabinet next to my stove so it is out of sight, and I have easy access to it.

All my cabinets have undermount lighting, and the two cupboards with glass doors have lighting inside them as well.

All of this for under $50!

Color me HAPPY!!!!

That’s enough technical stuff, let’s get down to the.....

....PRETTY STUFF!!!

I took this image right when the sun was going down. Can you see the warm glow in the corner, and inside the cabinets?

See how they glow, and make everything look sparkly inside my glass cabinets. I also have the back wall mirrored to add to the reflective quality of the lighting.

It is even prettier at night time, or at least it is to me.

Next on the agenda is ……….

BTW: If you are interested in any of the above products just click on the image to go to the website to purchase them.

 

 

CHANGE IS GOOD!!

   

When we live in a home for a very long time it is hard to imagine it looking differently. 

The same thing goes for the accessories and furniture in our homes.

But, when we do change things out, it can actually give an old piece new life.

I change some of my accessories out for the change of the seasons. I have a winter/fall, spring, and summer look.

Since it is summer I brought out one of the paintings I change out….

I add more blue and white to keep the room cooler looking for the hot summer months. This blue print does the trick.

What use to be here was this painting……

When my hubby took this painting down he leaned it on the console at the back of the family room, and we both knew it had to be hung there. 

Otherwise it would be hung in his den until winter.

I love walking into the kitchen from the family room and seeing this painting, it is a favorite of mine.

An unexpected plan, 

but a good one!!

It just reminded me to try elements in different places in my home. I did this for my clients all the time, but I don’t do it for myself very often.

Do you give pieces new life in other rooms?

 

Try it you just might be surprised at how much you love it somewhere else. I sure was!!!

 

 

KITCHEN UPDATE

 

Today the kitchen is getting the final coat of touch-up painting done around the sink where we had to reconfigure the cabinet for the new farmhouse sink.

There are also small nail holes where the legs were attached. Once this is done the cabinets will all be back to normal.

This is the one job Hubby hates the most…. 

P-A-I-N-T-I-N-G!!

 

I always consider it a gift of love when he paints anything for me.

I am enjoying the nice clean look of nothing on my counters I must say. The Carrara marble is the star and the subway tile is it’s understudy.

When accessorizing my mantra is…..

LESS IS MORE BIG IS BETTER

Speaking of BIG have you all seen the new Restoration Hardware catalogs?

Stacked together it is almost as high as the threshold on the door.

This is not my porch, nor my catalogs, but I just had to show you this stack of catalogs! 

It is actually Erin Gates porch the author of Elements of Style blog. Apparently this stack weighed in at a whopping 17lbs.!!

I did not get this stack of catalogs, but

I did get something from RH for my

kitchen!

You will find it in the ENTERTAINMENT section under the Grand Brasserie collection.

All of the pieces are cast aluminum finished in either nickel plated or Zinc plated.

Staying true to form I chose a very long tray for my kitchen bar area…..

This tray measures 8 1/4 in. wide by 39 in. long

Since my breakfast bar is a little over 6 1/2 ft long....

 My motto was go big or go home!!

I chose the nickel since I have a very shiny nickel faucet….

I am enjoying looking at the tray with nothing in it right now, but have visions of using it for candles, mounds of lemons, apples or limes. 

For entertaining I will have bowls of fresh fruit and nuts for my guest to munch on. There are so many ideas swirling around in my head.

I find the piece itself to be sculptural, and it adds an interesting texture to the kitchen area. 

Even though it is nickel plated it still has a bit of roughness to it. I like that contrast with the smooth elegant touch of the marble.

It obviously looks a lot longer in person at 39in. than it does in the pictures. 

I think I am going to really enjoy this new piece in my kitchen. It also looks great on my dining room table.

I didn’t have enough lemons, but I used what I had just to see how the brightness of the yellow would look, and I LOVE it!! I am going to have to buy a boatload of lemons to fill up this baby!!

I also got another brown box delivered for the kitchen. Don't you just love that brown truck and the little man in the brown uniform!

 I am really excited about another upcoming addition to the kitchen!!!

Stay tuned for more on the kitchen!!