Home Sweet Home Part 2

I recently wrote about how my home is my sanctuary.  In that post, I showed you our living and dining room.

Today, I'll show you our kitchen.

Shortly after Andrew and I got married, we remodeled the kitchen.  Thanks to my handy dad and my father-in-law, we were able to do it rather cheaply too.

Because of the remodel, we have a lot more counter space, a dishwasher (perhaps the greatest invention ever...), several more cabinets, and a small pantry.  

Here is the view as you enter the kitchen.  I'm really quite happy with it.  I really love the contrast of the dark counter tops with the white cabinets.  I have often thought of adding crown molding to the tops of the cabinets but have never gotten around to it.  I would also love to have new stainless steel appliances but its just not worth the investment for the amount of time we plan to stay here.

I know it's not the most chic look, but I love to hang pictures and momentos on the refrigerator.  I believe that it's those personal touches that make a house a home, and really, I just like to see the smiling faces of my loved ones on a regular basis.

The paint job in this kitchen was a HUGE lesson for me.  I chose this yellow thinking that it would be much lighter than it was.  It has grown on me, but truthfully, it's still way too bright.  Though I do like a bright and cheery kitchen, I would have preferred a much paler shade of yellow.  Based on the painting we've done in this house, I have learned that paint usually appears darker on the wall than you expect it to.  And lighting plays a big role in how it will look.  Based on this experience, I now it make a rule to buy a small can of paint and actually put a few swatches on the wall before I decide.  That's really the only way to know how its going to look and it's definitely worth the few bucks that it costs!

Below is my tiny pantry.  I honestly don't know what I would do without this pantry.  It provides so much storage space and is packed full.  On the baker's rack you'll see the basket where I keep our cloth napkins as well as all of my cookbooks.  The container on the bottom holds dog toys. 

This sign hangs above our kitchen door.  It's a nice reminder for us to live more consciously and to make earth friendly choices. 

So there you go!  There is our tiny, but very efficient kitchen.  It's one of my favorite rooms in our house, and I really love the way the remodel turned out.  I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, so in our next home, I really hope to have an open floor plan.  Until then, I'll choose to be grateful and enjoy this bright and cheery space!

xoxo