Kitchen Reveal

If you follow me on instagram, you may have already seen a little sneak peek of the kitchen redo I did here in the apartment.

When I moved into the apartment, the kitchen looked like this:

There's absolutely nothing wrong with it, it's just not "pretty". The cabinets, the counters, even the appliances are all new ... but this kitchen still needed a little something extra. There was no way I could paint the cabinets, but it became clear to me that the this tiny little kitchen would be much brighter, and appear more open, if these dark cabinets were gone.

So, one day, without permission, and a lot of brute strength, I pulled the upper cabinets down. I know right!?!?! The wall behind the cabinets required a ton of repair, but after patching and sanding and painting, the kitchen looked more open and spacious than before. I built the shelves and installed them on the corbels (purchased at Lowes) and painted everything out in the wall color (SW Dover White).

The next step was changing out the sad plastic mini blinds, and ho-hum light fixture. This roman shade was actually a DIY project by me! I still can't believe I made that thing! I found the pendant on clearance at Lowes, and installed it over the sink.

You can see that I hid the lower cabinets with this linen skirt, sheered onto tension rods which were held onto the cabinets with cup hooks.

I got the rug at an auction, it's a Russian Bukhara rug - and those things are practically indestructible. Great for the kitchen, especially since this is where Arlo and Louna wait for their treats, and it takes a daily beating from cookie crumbs and puppy toe nails.

The lower cabinets still function as storage, and are easily accessed by simply moving the curtains on the tension rods. But there are a lot of things stored on the counter and shelves that I need for daily use. Cereal bowls and silverware are tucked into this little basket, along with cloth napkins and lemons for morning tea.

On the other side of the shelves, the cabinet came down, but I left the wall space vacant. A simple German roe antler mount looks pretty good there, I think. A cutting board and Ralph Lauren candle urn (scored that one for 95% off the retail price) stay there all the time - and now that Spring is officially here, I have a feeling I'll be able to pick small bouquets of flowers to keep in the crystal vase those sunflowers are in.

Keeping it all neat looking is really about grouping and stacking. Making sure that everything is where it's supposed to be, and the "decorative" things are also utilitarian.

I started collecting cutting boards. Who collects cutting boards!? ME! And they all get stored here in the basket. I love this vignette, so I had to share another view.

At the end of the day, it's a decent apartment sized kitchen - and the finishes are what they are. If it were my home, and I could pick and choose, I would certainly have different cabinets, counters, appliances ... you name it. But, for now, in a rental - I'm pretty happy with it.

Proves that just about anything can be made better with fabric and paint! 

Hope you like the little switch ups as much as I do, and that you can be inspired in a little way (or a big way) by the change. Happy Weekend! 

That Kitchen ...

Mixed into the fold of photos in yesterday's Space to Fill post, was this kitchen:

 

It struck a chord with me, and with a lot of you. I got 31 emails, (so far) asking me if I knew who was responsible for designing the space. At the time, I didn't. The joy and fault of sourcing things from Pinterest is that while you're exposed to millions of images, the origin of the image may not exist. In fact, in the case of this kitchen, it was a veritable rabbit hole of pin after pin after pin - none of them leading me back to the person responsible for such beauty.

 

In fact, I wasn't able to find the designer's site until I came across the image in a completely different search, and then walked almost backward into their other rooms. The company, Twist Interior Design, is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Owner of Twist, Sandy LaMendola decorated the home that architect Jeff Tritch designed, and builders L.Cramer built in Edina, Minnesota.

 

 

In this expanded view you can see more of the kitchen, including the limestone counters on the distressed cherry cabinets, the two cabinetry faced sub zero refrigerators that flank the beautiful custom cabinetry in that gorgeous green. The beams and ceiling timbers are all reclaimed in Minnesota.

 

These two photos are by Susan Gilmore and were featured in a magazine spread in June/July of 2010 in the Minnesota local, Midwest Home.

 

Now that I feel like I have credited all involved, I have to say that I am only sorry there aren't more photos of this lovely kitchen out there. Vignette shots, different angles, etc.. While I've looked at each of the designer, builder, photographer, and architect pages for more of this room, it seems to be a bust. There are, however, more photos of the 11,000 square foot house on Sandy's HOUZZ page, here.

Green Kitchen Cabinets

I know you're thinking about this, maybe scratching your chin, wondering where in the world this came from ... and I'll tell you - it's something I've been working on for a while, so yes, it does sorta come out of left field, but I felt now was a good as time as any to break the seal on this baby and start talking about kitchens again.

Plus, not for nothin', I'm kinda shifty like that.

Ooo ... a puppy, no look over there something shiny!

Squirrel!

 

But I digress.

 



We've been "working" on our kitchen for a long time. Too long. It's stalled and stalled, for one reason or another, and I'm at the point now where I'm either going to finish it - or burn the place down. And since they don't let you blog from jail (do they?) I guess the latter isn't gonna work!

Ok, so here we go. Kitchen cabinets. Green. Yes? Oh just you wait!

Design by Martha Mulholland

 

When I saw this kitchen, I knew, instantly that it was the kitchen for CDLV. It felt all at once comfortable and appropriate, beautiful and utilitarian, gracious and industrial. A prissy kitchen, you know the kind, just wasn't going to work in the bastardized craftsman meets dutch colonial house that we loving call Casa de la Vanderdogan. It needed to be earthy, it needed to look old but function as new. It needed to "flow" with the rest of the house, but not feel decorated as much as designed. When we move, the people who luckily get to call CDLV whatever they're gonna name it, should walk into that kitchen and feel "at home". For me, this kitchen does that ... and then some!

 

The color is Benjamin Moore Amherst Gray, part of their Historic Color Collection. Now, I know you're thinking Artie said this was green, and it looks green, but it's called Amherst Gray? So, I did what I know you're about to do!

 

Benjamin Moore Amherst Gray

Alright, so it's clearly a gray green. A bit sagey, a bit olivey, a lot greigy ... a gray by any other name (GREEN!). I hopped down to Benjies and picked up a sample, took it home and tested it out. It was nice. But not quite the green I had in mind. So, I took it with me to Home Depot, initially to have them play with the tint. That's when I found this:

Witch Hazel by Behr

 

This was just a tad bit lighter, and a tinge more green. Exactly what I thought I was looking for. So I took it home and tested it out. NEAR PERFECTION! I find that the coloring of the cabinetry in the photo, which is what I was drawn to immediately, is much closer in ACTUAL color to Witch Hazel. Of course, I did what anyone would do, and googled Witch Hazel to see if anyone may have been crazy enough to use this on kitchen cabinets ... and guess what!

 

Design by Lauren Leiss

 

Blogger, Designer, Fabric-tress Lauren Leiss used it in her old kitchen prior to their new move. Again coloring changes from photo to photo - the joys of photoshop, right? In this photo, the same kitchen - different little artist, shows what I think is a much "truer" photo of the color:

 

 





Are you seeing the difference? Everything about that image up top looks yellow, doesn't it? The beadboard, the green of the cabinets, the ironstone ... this I think is closer to the real deal.  So, I got to thinking about the colors. Here I have BM Amherst Gray and Behr Witch Hazel. Both are great, but neither is perfect. What if I mixed them together!?

VOILA!

Problem Solved!

I'm calling it CDLV Green. You can name paint when you have it custom color matched. Did you know that? Oh yeah! Name away! And the good thing is - you can go to your local Home Depot and ask them for CDLV Green (I know you want to) and they'll pull it up out of the throws of their fancy schmancy computer system - and you can have your own CDLV Green Kitchen Cabinets!

 

So, now I've got the color - it's just a matter of doing the work! Which not only includes painting, (why would it!?!?) I have to take the doors off the hinges, add some molding detail, patch holes from the old hardware, sand, paint, sand, paint, seal, add new hardware (already picked that out too!) and then plop those babies back into place, hoping that I did it all the way I was supposed to, and it all fits as it once did. Yeah, easy peezy!

 

So that's what I'm doing this weekend. What are your plans?



 



 

Lewiston Tour of Kitchens, 2014

I hope you're liking Color Outside the Line's "new do" so far. More changes and improvements are in the works! Today, I wanted to share with all of you some of the photos from the 2014 Lewiston Tour of Kitchens. I had the great pleasure of working with a wonderful home owner this year, my last with the tours, to make an already beautiful home really shine for the more than 1400 patrons. If you're not familiar, the tour showcases 6-7 homes each year in the Village and Town of Lewiston, New York. It's an upscale little place just north of Niagara Falls, where I live.

Each house is paired up with a designer (or two) and a local Lewiston restaurant. Tickets are $27 and you get to browse through private homes and enjoy samples of the food d'jour.

The home I was luckily assigned was (and is) beautiful. Built in 2013, the house has very little mileage on it, and therefore just about everything was as shiny and pristine as it was when first installed. The cabinets are all custom, finished in two tones - a satin finish ivory with a burnt sienna glaze, and a gorgeous walnut.





As you can see, there wasn't much for me to do in the kitchen. My design skills were really left to the other areas of the house. But I did supply Linda O'Connor with Summertime Blooms with the basket to create this amazing, completely edible center piece for the island. Packed with herbs, spices, and vegetables, this tabletop garden was the hit of the show. Linda does amazing work, and did all of the flowers throughout the home and on all of the tables. If you're local, and would like to have her do custom work for you, you can call her at Summertime Blooms: 716-791-3369.

Linda has over 2-acres of beautiful flowers that she grows each year, so you're not only buying from a brilliant artist when it comes to floral arrangements, but a local farmer. So, again, if you're local - get in touch with Linda. From one arrangement to fill your home with beauty, to a full-scale wedding, Linda's your gal!

Most of the time, when you work on a home that is occupied, you're having work around furniture that exists. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not so good. Lucky for me (and Linda) our homeowner had great taste, and beautiful furniture that was perfect. All it needed was a few finishing touches. The birdcage (isn't that fantastic) was a piece that I bought for the show. We needed that "wow" factor upon entering the house and this did it. It perched perfectly upon the existing console table of the homeowner, and the stools below were a purchase she made at my suggestion.

The homeowner and I had worked together on curtains for the dining room, and continued that pattern into the living room with pillows made from the same fabric for the sofa. Again, here I just brought in accessories for the shelves, tables, and made slight styling improvements.

The house sits on a large lot, and was built with light in mind. The light these rooms get is enviable for anyone! Once they were styled and ready for the tour - I didn't want to leave. 



Even the puppy was impressed with the new comfort all the accessories had added to this room.





The dining room is not a formal space. It's adjacent to the kitchen, and provides wonderful family style seating for impromptu meals.



More gorgeous flowers by Linda at Summertime Blooms. Here, napkins from the same fabric banded in a bright turquoise pull sit atop blue and white plates. Cloches, covering salt wells filled with turquoise chocolate mints make for a beautiful presentation. The flatware is bronze and teak from Thailand.

And here, the new curtains warm up the space along with the seagrass rug that we added under the table. The outside spaces at this house are really amazing, and is where the family spends most of their time during the summer ... one look at their outdoor living room and there's no need to wonder why.

A large salt water pool beyond and a beautiful outdoor kitchen are also outdoor amenities that I unfortunately couldn't photograph prior to the tour ... I know, what was I thinking? You ever wish you could trade houses, but have the current owner keep the payment? Yeah ... me, too!

Kitchen Inspiration Month: Day 29 - Segreto: Secrets to Finishing Beautiful Interiors

While I have to confess that I am a bit of design book hoarder, rarely do I find one so captivating that I want to share it with all of you. With over 100 in my collection, the best of the best get top billing on the living room table, where I pick them up and read them to avoid the chores of CDLV.

My newest addition is "Segreto: Secrets to Finishing Beautiful Interiors", by Leslie Sinclair; and is by far the most beautiful collection of rooms that aren't just gorgeous, but charasmatic, atmospheric, and covetable. Sinclair, who owns Houston based Segreto Finishes, specializes in paint finishes applied to walls, ceilings, cabinets; she even joked on her Skirted Roundtable Interview that if you stand in one place too long, you might end up with a subtle glaze! These finishes include a newly engineered gypson plaster application, glazes, faux stones, and murals.

Many houses I have shown in the past four years have been those where Segreto applied their magic. And magical is exactly what their finishes are. There is no way to adequately describe how beautiful Leslie’s finishes are. You almost have to experience them firsthand to truly understand their worth. The finishes are subtle and textural – wrapping the room in a soft color while adding an air of sophistication.

I thought a great way to end our Kitchen Inspiration Month, would be to share a few of the beautiful kitchens in Leslie's book, highlighting her amazing paint techniques - let's take a look.

Gorgeous right? Can you believe those cabinet finishes? This isn't your grandmother's faux finishing. In fact, I don't even like to think of Leslie's work as faux finish - but rather art. And I think that every high-end designer in Houston would concur.

For the past 16 years, Leslie and her team have been working on kitchens, living rooms, bathrooms, you name it - they've painted it! Most surprising, Leslie has never been classically trained as a painter! She just picked up a brush and began to release her creative genius. And genius, it is! Her techniques are unique to her, seeing the finish in her mind, and then working on canvas until she gets the look perfect. The result - in one word: Inimitable.

To purchase “Segreto: Secrets to Finishing Beautiful Interiors” from the website click here or to purchase through Amazon click here.

Thank you to Segreto for supplying these photographs!

Kitchen Inspiration Month: Day 28 - Mirrors, Glass Fridge Doors, Emma Bridgewater Ceramics, Bloggers, and more...

On this, the eve of the end of our month of Kitchen Inspiration photos, I hope that you've found at least one kitchen that you love! This hasn't been an easy series, and I'm not sorry to say that I'm running out of themes. Finding 10-20 photos each day of great kitchens, wholly inspiring, has brought me to this collection of photos that don't quite fit any one of our prior sets.

MIRRORS

Designer Credit: Steve at An Urban Cottage

One of my favorite blogs, An Urban Cottage is written by my bloggy friend Steve who did a relatively quick redo of his Massachusetts kitchen prior to his photographic feature in the upcoming book, "Better Homes & Gardens: New Cottage Style" and had us all standing in applause. Follow the changes here: http://anurbancottage.blogspot.com/2011/06/kitchen-progress.html

GLASS FRIDGE DOORS

Designer Credit: Joan - for the love of a house

Another of my fave bloggers is Joan, of for the love of a house. Her beautiful New Hampshire home has already been featured in BHG's Renovation Style, and I see many, many more features in her future. Thanks in no small part to the amazing kitchen renovation, she and her husband Dan oversaw. Joan shared her fridge in this post: http://fortheloveofahouse.blogspot.com/2010/12/glass-door-refrigerator.html, and commented that her secret for always making it look good: "My secret weapon in having a glass door refrigerator is .....organized chaos!" Joan goes on to say: "I keep all labels facing forward ... Everything else is willy-nilly, but because the beer, water, milk, yogurts, etc. are all facing straight ahead you get... organized chaos!" See all of Joan's kitchen on here: http://fortheloveofahouse.blogspot.com/2011/01/kitchen.html

OPEN KITCHEN GREAT ROOMS

Designer Credit: Shazalynn Cavin-Winfrey

Designer Credit: Brooke Giannetti - Giannetti Home / Velvet&Linen



Certainly one of the most popular interior designers in the blog world is Brooke Giannetti of Velvet & Linen. Together with her husband, renown architect Steve Giannetti, they have built and designed some of the most beautiful homes in California. In the rehab of their Channel Islands home, Brooke chose a much softer color palette (her signature) and created this amazing Kitchen Great Room. Read about all the before and afters here: http://brookegiannetti.typepad.com/velvet_and_linen/my-home-in-channel-islands-harbor/, or buy their absolutely amazing book, filled with this and other inspiring rooms you'll never tire of looking of: "Patina Style" on the blog, or on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Patina-Style-Brooke-Giannetti/dp/1423622537/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303840873&sr=8-1

EMMA BRIDGEWATER CERAMICS

Designer Credit: Joni Webb - Cote de Texas

I first saw the beautiful "PURE BUTTER" tray inspired by the English ceramics of Emma Bridgewater in the fabulous kitchen remodel of Cote de Texas author, and blogging hallmark, Joni Webb. One of my very best bloggy friends, Joni has inspired countless readers in the quintessential Houston style, defined by clean, white linen, seagrass, and symmetrical design. Her home has been featured in Better Homes & Gardens, Houston House and Home, and her kitchen was recently photographed for another BHG publication which should be on stands soon. If you're as taken with them as I am, you can shop for the trays and EB ceramics (in the US) here: http://www.joannehudson.com/, or visit the Emma Bridgewater site (UK) here: http://www.emmabridgewater.co.uk/.

So that's it - we've exhausted my inspiration files - FINALLY! I thought that the day would never come! Tomorrow we'll end February and Kitchen Inspiration Month with the fabulous decorative paint work of Houston artist, Leslie Sinclair - and her new, and jaw dropping book: Segreto Finishes: Secrets To Finishing Beautiful Interiors. It's gonna be the best post of the whole month!