Kitchen Design Details

Sometimes it is hard to visualize all of the components 

of a project and how they will work together

Which is why

 I always do numerous project boards

  

When I put an item on the board I immediately know whether

 it is going to work or not

& and if not....delete!

I chose the Thermadore Dual Fuel

6 burner 

I know...it was a safe choice 

but this is a gorgeous stove

 I ended up purchasing the vintage French granite ware pendants 

but almost bought 

the aqua safety glass beauty below

 guess what?  When I included it into the mix on the project board

it looked really odd

so...delete

We are using a mix of stone for the counters

Some will be carrera and some will be soapstone

Our floors throughout the house are 

reclaimed pine

I think it is important to inclued your floor choice

 when making big design descisions

 This kitchen is really very modern

but remember I have lots of great vintage goodies

 to toss in at the end

Here is my completed project board

for your consideration!

Holiday Table Ideas

Can you believe

it?

Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away

A wonderful and generous fellow blogger Susan, asked me to share some ideas of what I might use this thanksgiving for a table center piece.

The idea was to have some sort of a "coastal" feeling..but there was not a shell or a piece of driftwood to be had that day, 

so I did my best with "coastal inspired" colors.

I had these really pretty dyed quail eggs and thought that  they might be fun to use

This is just a little wood salad bowl with some stones,  

carrot tops and some society garlic blooms from the yard

The main centerpiece is in an old French baguette basket which I filled with dried artichokes and butterfly bush blooms

The old camp blanket over the chair was going to be the table cloth but it was just too busy...but the colors are great!

The huge succulent box spends all year on this table 

so why mess with a good thing!

Plus...it's kinda heavy.

I put a few more of the blue eggs in an abandoned birds nest and just layered the rest of the  greenery along the length of the basket

The place mats and napkins are simple ticking in black and white 

and a bit of that robins egg blue color that you see in the little eggs

I stuck in a few pepper berries from a California Pepper tree in the front yard,

Very festive!!!

I really like to do tables for the holidays...which is pretty much the only time I do them.

It forces me to get creative with what I have just laying around and things that are blooming in the garden.

I always think you can't go wrong with the colors found in nature

Susan wrote an article about this which you can read here.

She included many of my favorite blogger friends too, 

and their ideas are really wonderful...it will get you inspired!

Be sure to check out Susan's blog...you won't be disappointed.

Thanks for checking in and have a great week!

kelley

Vintage Toaster Lamps

You may recall a post I did a few weeks back about Barn Light Electric and my love of their industrial and fun lighting. 

 I love to mess around with different things to make unique light fixtures 

I also think I must have some sort of "handyman" gene because I also love to go to the hardware store...

my good friend Melaine from My Sweet Savannah does too, 

check out her latest lamp creation at here

So here are the elements I used:

Take a vintage stove top toaster....about 10-20 dollars from the flea market...

 Use a vintage colander, about 20 dollars, 

or something with a "lampshade" like shape and combine the two with the necessary parts to make a lamp...

These take two small 40 watt bulbs that spread horizontally at the top of the fixture,

 so this is soft diffused light.

Here they are sitting on a little dresser in a guest room.

 The toasters are really very sturdy and a great shape for the bases

 I really want to use these in my kitchen somewhere but I haven't found the right spot yet...

 I like these!

what do you think?

~kelley~

TOAST: a beautiful catalog

THIS IS TOAST

A truly beautiful catalog from the UK

The clothing and housewares 

are a bit like Anthropology 

with some JCrew in the mix

For the launch of the Fall 2010 catalog

 they have created a hauntingly beautiful short film, 

THERE, 

shot in Venice and the South Tyrol

View it here

I know you will love it

~kelley~