Chow Time

I've been avoiding showing off the kitchen because it always seems to be such the disaster. We had a shindig celebrating Tim's birthday/being in remission and cleaned the house to be spotless, just in time for about 30 people to come over. I think that I'll just make everything look clean and actually do the real cleaning after from now on. We had a great time and it was really amazing to be surrounded by so many of our friends that were able to make it with such short notice. After parties we both really get into straightening modes and are able to get everything nice and clean. Such was the case after Saturday although I have to admit that I hid quite a few things from the camera's view.

Anyways here is our kitchen. I replaced all of the silver knobs with these aged brass ones from Hobby Lobby. I went during a sale so they were only $2 rather than $4 which really added up with as many as we needed. I love the new look, it really did change the look of the kitchen making it look more vintage at least in my view.

I actually have quite a few knick-knacks around the kitchen but they don't ever seem to get in the way like I thought they would originally.

Both the tray and the Gurgle Pot were wedding gifts. My friend Julie asked what she should get our friend Maggie for her wedding and when I told her I thought a Gurgle Pot would be the perfect gift I never thought she'd get one for me but it was perfect, color and everything. I LOVE it.

This coffeemaker is my savior every morning when I'm stumbling out of bed. The sugar bowl was a splurge from Belk's but I love the eclectic look it gives. I also used a cookie jar from HomeGoods as our utensil jar, its the pretty blue I like so much and is just the right size all around.

The blue is carried on in the cookbooks that were given to us by a great friend as a housewarming gift. It then ties in with the yellows and naturals of the kitchen in the dishtowel from Anthropologie my sweet mother-in-law gave me at one of our wedding showers that we leave on the oven.

Lastly there is the little corner over by our bar where we store wine, our decanter, some pretty frames from Anthropologie and a vase and calla lillies from Smith and Hawken. I miss that store, Target carries the line which is awesome but I wish the store itself would come back for me. Oh well. 

I got the wall rack from Pier 1 for only $10 and its been really neat to watch the constant changing of it as we get various cards and invitations in.  I have to admit that I stole the idea from my friend Christy after she got hers to hold Christmas cards last year. It has been a great addition.

Things we have left to do here:

1. Get some barstools - We need something to allow people to hang out and chat while I'm slaving away in the kitchen, haha. Plus it would just allow for something to make that look a little more finished. The blue version would even match the dining room chairs I like so much.

2. Get drawer/cabinet/pantry organizers - I love things that are cleaned and properly organized and right now our cabinets, drawers and pantry are none of the above. I want to buy some of the pull-out racks to make everything more efficient and easier to use.

3. Get a rug? - I'm torn on this one, do I get a rug in order to protect the floors or is that going to be too much of a pain to keep clean. What do you all think?

UPDATE: Hallway...well because its easy

As I said in my last post I'm letting the stairs steal the decor from the hallway but no worries I have an even better idea. Errr, if I can actually pull it off that is. So here is my original description of our hallway: Hallway...well because its easy. To be perfectly honest I'm kind of working on taking the easy way out again.

CONFESSION: My house is not nearly as clean as it appears to be in all of these photos. In fact as of right now its a hot mess and I'm not really feeling the whole cleaning thing just this second. So day off of the picture taking and I'll be back at it again tomorrow. For clarification "back at it" means hiding the mess behind any crevice that will not show in the picture itself.

Somehow I was thinking about gates the other day (yes its incredibly random and I can't tell you how I got there). Irregardless, I started thinking about how neat iron gates are and how well that dark iron used to show up in the images I would process in the darkroom back in school. FYI: I minored in photography, my dad told me to do something off the wall that I enjoyed so I did. I was not the best (by far) but I loved it.

From there I started thinking about some neat gates I've seen and came to the realization that I believe there may be a gate at every important place for Tim & I.

There is a pretty gate where we both went to college but there are a few options in that same area to choose from.

Although Tim & I "officially" met after college, we did initially meet one another in high school. Long story short: he and friend tried to corrupt some friends & myself with Mike's Hard Lemonade, he decided to hang out with one of my friends (much to my disappointment), his friend attempted to stalk me (I kid - he is a VERY sweet guy who played a large role in our wedding) and down the road his friend completely called me out at our rehearsal dinner in front of a lot of our friends and both of our families. I digress again, the point being that we still kid each other about that initial meeting and hold it dear. There is a great little iron gate at the pool that would work well within this ensemble.

After college Tim coached at a smaller university that my grandfather once taught at, my parents attended and I grew up as a big fan. A friend talked me into going to meet him one night and the rest really is history. I wanted to get married in the chapel there but for some reason our wedding date was incredible popular around here and another bridezilla got to it before this one could. I can certainly see why, that campus is renowned for how absolutely breathtaking the beauty of it is. It also has an assortment of gates, big ones, little ones, pretty ones but the one I want is of the entrance to that baseball field. That one is undoubtedly one of the ugliest but it holds so much significance as that is where I met the hubs.

I'm convinced that there HAS to be a gate somewhere around where we got engaged. I think I may have found one by googling (best. invention. ever.) but still need to go check it out. I mean I guess it counts if its in the same vicinity right?

A few years ago my church created a remembrance garden which is really peaceful and beautiful. We did the majority of our wedding pictures out in that area and it has a most excellent gate. I actually really wish that Tim & I had met up with each other before the ceremony in that garden as well. Looking back I would have loved some pics of us checking each other out over this gate...oh well...the gate will look pretty on my wall. You can get a glimpse of it from this wedding photo. Also, take a moment to check out those fabulous blue shoes (may they rest in peace - my poor toes will never be the same again).

So now that you've gotten a peek at some of these gates just imagine them photographed & lined up in 16x20 frames across that wall. I was so excited about the idea that I almost went out to start taking the pictures that day, but it was night and raining. I've already checked out some great frames they've got over at HomeGoods and am just waiting on that next paycheck to go pick those bad boys up!