an ikea kitchen

Hey there, out there!  Just wanted to drop by and remind you I'm here.  While I'm at it, I'm posting this Ikea kitchen as inspiration for us all.  Looking beyond the obviously wonderful white cabinets that mix open shelving and see through doors into the mix, I'd like to comment on the successful use of contrast in the kitchen.  While there's white, there's too beautiful dark floors of deep mahogany.  And while normally I don't love dark counter tops, they're kind of great here.

I took a gander and found some fun accessories that I think would look great with a kitchen like this one.  Frankly, I just felt like online shopping without the guilt of buying.  So here's some of my picks:

1. These block printed table linens:

2. These hand towels (meant for the bathroom, but a towel is a towel, right?):

3. Wouldn't it be nice to have some handmade touches?  Like these etsy bowls:

4. How about a nice rug to stand on... and do dishes (yeah, not so fun):

5.What a big face this clock has!:

6. Oh, I do enjoy these little spice jars: 

7. And while we're at, collector's edition gallon sized ball jars!:

8. Decorative chalkboard:

9. Checkout amazing "School House" pendant lights here.

9. Lastly, these chrome barstools:

 

Hopefully, we all can now walk into our respective kitchens and see what could be, as opposed to what's there now;)  Haha, I kid.  I'm sure we all have kitchens as nice as the one above.  Yes, sure of it;)

chickens & pumpkins, oh my!

For the big day, I've been oven roasting chicken.

I've learned cooking the whole chicken is economical.  While it's a bit messy, it makes the house smell of home and kind of makes you feel like your meal is a pretty big deal, even when it ends up being this:

We've been making tons of chicken salad to put on lettuce and sandwiches.  Highly recommend it, yum.  We were inspired by Whole Food's Sonoma recipe but there's a lot of variations out there.

On another fall tangent, I've been adoring this clever solution to pumpkin carving:

So smart. I think I'm the last one on the block to go out and get me a pumpkin, so the project's inspired me in the right direction!

new curtains

How does the additional of new curtains make home feel more like home?

as american as apple pie!

 I highly recommend the recipe found in the 1950s Betty Crocker Cookbook.

I made a crumb topping, as you can see.  Yum.

a potterybarn bedroom

When in doubt, trust Pottery Barn.  That's what most of us say, right?

I love this bedroom and am using it as inspiration, because let's be real, buying the fixings from PB would be costly and I think I can achieve the look DIY style.  I did cheat by buying the Mia duvet and shams, but they were on ultra clearance, so cut me some slack, k?

Our master bedroom is in the upstairs of our Cape Cod.  (Sorry for the lack of photos, soon.)  Thankfully, the ceilings are pretty high compared to many one-and-a-half stories and the room has a couple great windows.

I bought these curtains, which look shimmery and gold.  And no, I'm not pairing them with sterile modern furnishings!  They will drape behind the bed.

My plans are to paint the upper portion of the room a warm neutral (maybe oatmeal) and create a wainscoting effect around the room's half walls.... in white!

After the mess of painting is complete, I'll remove the current carpet, because luckily the hardwood that's around the main level runs upstairs too.

Next, I plan to create a custom, upholstered headboard of heavy linen and either create a button-tucked effect or create a nail-head trim.  I'd like to mimic the storage of the inspiration bed by building a storage bench at the end of the bed, with a cushion and baskets, naturally.

In our dormer, I'm planning on a reading nook.  We inherited this mid-century chair and I plan to make a slipcover for a softer profile.  I'm on the hunt for a small coffee table that I can make into an ottoman by adding padding and matching fabric.  If I can't find the right one, I'll make it out of MDF.

Ok, I'm imagining this list of to-dos will take me a while, so I'll talk accessories another time, but I must share this inspiration picture:

I'd like to create a similar art/dimensional wall leading upstairs.  Isn't it great?  I love the mix of frames, and it's refreshing knowing that matching frames are not only not necessarily, they don't necessarily create the look you want to achieve.

Hm, lots to do, lots to buy!

what we ate

Remember the brown eggs?
 Struggling to decide what's for dinner?  Have nothing in the fridge?  Oh dear, oh my!
I bet you have eggs.  I bet you need protein.  Here's to filling you up with a hearty frittata.




Greatly modified Giada recipe to follow, I add ingredients like spinach and.. surprise!  Tomato soup.

Tomato Frittatas

8 eggs @ room temp (egg whites only work too)

1/2 c. tomato soup (I used a Trader Joe's soup with a cream base.)

1/2 c. spinach

1 lemon zest (1 T. lemon juice works)

1 t. pepper

1 t. red pepper flakes

2 T. olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 onion, diced
optional: thinly chopped turkey (sandwich slices)

Brown onions in oil over high heat.  Whisk together eggs and tomato soup and add all remaining ingredients.  Poor into chef's pan (deep saute pan).

Place mixture on stove for two minutes over medium heat to let it set.  Transfer into oven at 375f and cook for 45 minutes or until frittata holds shape while cutting.

Pretty, right?  And good, really good!