Top Decoration

My "wish list" for my future kitchen is quite definitive.

Black and white is an easy way to sum it up!


I came across the following three kitchens on Rate My Space in my quest to find the
"perfect kitchen".

Click on the images for a full tour!



the first:

(check out the space above the fridge - I love it!)

the second:

(hopefully, I will have the luxury of double height cabinets)

the third:

(this one is my absolute favorite! I get excited just looking at it!)

Ahhhh...

that is quite near perfection!



I dream of...


white cabinets

black countertops

wood floors

subway tiles

lots of recessed lighting

pendants

simple, yet classic trim work

and the look of built-in's throughout



It's fun to dream about the future!


Of course, there's always Candice to help me through my day dreams...

She's got the "WOW factor" down pat!

Check out more real-life kitchens over at RMS!


What do your "kitchen dreams" look like?

...for picnics, that is!

While I'm all for laying out a blanket on the lawn, gathering together with the kiddos and eating big slices of watermelon, sandwiches, chips and drinking Capri Suns, my husband is...well, not so much for it.

He is much more fond of actually sitting at a table to dine!

Go figure.

I've been asking my resident carpenter for several months now to build us a new picnic table. Just a simple one - planks of wood for the top and crossed legs for the base and the benches.

He's resisting.

So I went searching for inspiration last night to convince him, and I stumbled upon this table from Wayne Of The Woods...

Perfect!

It is exactly what I want!

And the best part - the building plans for it are FREE!

(This is a very big deal because my husband's one complaint is that I almost never have plans for what I want him to build. Ok, "almost never" is giving myself entirely too much credit. 99.9% of the time, I give him a picture from a magazine or a drawing that I've made with rough measurements. I leave all of the "planning" to him! He's not so fond of that...)

So, the way I see it, it's a win-win for everyone!

I get the table I want and he gets to build it with plans that someone else has already made!

Here are a few pictures that I am going to use to convince him:

This first one being my favorite...

Even Pottery Barn has their own version of a simple, plank top, crossed leg picnic table...

To dress it up a bit, all you need is some fabric to drape over the sides...

So pretty!

I LOVE the casual, relaxed feel of this style of picnic table.

It seems to carry with it a sense of age and history.

It's rustic and charming and can take on the exact look you're going for by washing it with a coat or two of stain or paint. Or simply, let it age naturally.
It screams low maintenance, which I will admit, is undeniably appealing!

And just in case I wasn't convinced enough that this was the style of table that I wanted for our backyard...

Just as I was about to load up the kids and head to the grocery store this morning, I got a phone call from my mother-in-law. She said she had two magazines for me that she was going to leave on the table on my front porch - Country Living and Coastal Living.

Awesome! My favorite!

I couldn't help but laugh when I saw the cover of the June issue of Coastal Living...

As far as I'm concerned, it's a sign!

Meant to be!

Somehow I doubt my carpenter will see it that way...

But I will certainly keep trying!






photos courtesy of CountryLiving.com, PotteryBarn.com and CoastalLiving.com

Welcome to Urban Hardwoods!

If you haven't heard about this Seattle based company, then let me introduce you...

When I first heard about Urban Hardwoods, I was immediately drawn to their mission and commitment to it!

For more than ten years Seattle's Urban Hardwoods has been rescuing trees lost to disease and transforming them into beautiful furniture.

Urban Hardwoods has led the way in urban tree salvage.

Each piece of furniture is made in Seattle from massive slabs of pacific madrone, sycamore, walnut, elm, and other trees that spent their lifetimes in Seattle.
Each piece unique, each with a story to tell.

See that tree being taken down in front of this gorgeous Seattle home?

"During the summer of 2006 one of the oldest Elm trees in West Seattle died. Urban Hardwoods was there to save her for a second life. The dining room is waiting for a table from the tree that grew less than 20 feet away.

Had Urban Hardwoods not been involved, this Elm would have met the same fate too many historic trees in Seattle endure - the landfill. Instead, thoughtfully milled and carefully stacked in our 'green room,' the 130-year-old Elm dried slowly and naturally for two more years."

I would love to be able to see this process in action!

Do you see that man waaaaaay up there?

The trees that they save are massive!

I wonder how many pieces of furniture they are able to get out of one tree?

"Made in Seattle from trees that would have been discarded, each piece is unique. The color and figure of the wood, the touch of the craftsman's hand, the shape and size can never be duplicated. We know where the tree grew. We take responsibility for its second life and are proud of our work."

And they should be!

The following pieces of furniture were labeled with where the tree came from:

Maple Valley

Tacoma
(Where we live!)

Capitol Hill

Tukwila


I absolutely LOVE their furniture!
I am sure that a little of it has to do with the fact that they are rescuing trees from the place that we call home! Oh, how I would love to have a piece to call my own...
Adding to the Wish List!
(My husband will get a good chuckle out of that!)

I wonder if they would let us tour their Factory?
How cool would that be?

Check out their website at
UrbanHardwoods.com

You can see their full line of in-stock furniture.
And just in case you are wondering, they do ship to anywhere in the US and Canada!
You can also see a slide show filled with pictures of the process from start to finish.
Check it out - it's pretty darn cool, if you ask me!

...and you may be surprised by what you see.

I took this photo for the single purpose of capturing how small our little girl looks in this moment sitting up to the kitchen table...

She recently decided that she no longer needs to use her booster seat and is fully capable of sitting at the table just like her big brothers.

Of course, I see exactly what I had intended to. She's so little sitting there all alone, fully intent on eating her lunch.

But I also see what the little design-inspired voice in my head has been telling me for quite some time now...

That hutch needs a makeover!

We bought this hutch in 2000. It was one of our first "real furniture" purchases that we made after we bought our first home. I love this hutch! For sentimental reasons and because it's a great piece! Sturdy and good looking!

But I'll admit, I didn't buy it for its color. I've made it work and it has never looked bad - in fact, I still don't think that the color looks bad! I just think it could look better...

(I have to smile because I know all of you designer/DIY type's know exactly what I'm talking about!)

Here is my inspiration:

photo found on Auction Girl Vintage

How beautiful is that hutch?!
That's making its way right onto the "Someday Wish List"

photo courtesy of Country Living

This one is similar in a lot of ways to my hutch. I love the black!

photo courtesy of PotteryBarn.com

Black and White = the perfect pairing
I have an affinity for black and white kitchens!

photo courtesy of PotteryBarn.com


Finding those was inspiration enough, but then I remembered these:

Layla painted the inside of her hutch a spring green.
Love it!

She wrapped the black all the way around her kitchen by painting her cabinets black too.

Layla's is one of my favorite DIY kitchens!
Click here to see all of her posts on how she transformed her kitchen!
You've got to see the "before" to appreciate the "after"!

Look at this transformation:

You can see the whole makeover over at Chatting at the Sky!
She has fantastic "before and after" pictures!
Can you believe the change?
I think it looks great!


So...black it is!
I wish I could start on this project now, but it is still too darn cold out! I'll have to wait for spring, or maybe even summer for this one. I'll need lots of open windows and some warm weather.

Stay tuned though!
This one should be good!