Kitchen Islands

Topic for the day- Kitchen Islands. If you do not have one I bet you wish you did at lest that is my theory. We have had an island in all of our homes except the one we are in now. I hated that but The Hubster agreed we could purchase one.

The space we thought was too small for a standard size island so this was my compromise. A smallish butcher block furniture style island. I purchased it in Baton Rouge at an unfinished furniture  store. Shortly after we moved in I finished it in black with distressing and a dark walnut glaze. I loved it. What I did not love was the fact that though it gave me extra work room it was still just too small. 

The rents in law came from Ga a few weeks back and brought me this! They just finished having their kitchen redone due to an unfortunate water leak in their kitchen back in June while we were at the beach. Since The Nana had a new island built she offered this one to me. I originally thought it was going to be too large in the kitchen and was planning on using it in my sewing room as long as The Nana and The Papa were okay with me tweaking it. They were so I was excited. The Hubster wanted me to try it in the kitchen first though before they moved it up the stairs seeing as the granite top makes it weigh a ton!

They brought it in and I was unsure but at the same time was kinda digging it. After a day I feel in love with it! I had soo missed being able to sprawl out everything and the functionality of this island can not be beat. The baskets hold our bread and the drawer and cabinet are double sided! It surely was a winner. The Hubster and The Papa were excited as well since they were not going to have to lug it up the stairs.
My creative thoughts started running wild and I double tripled made sure it was okay to tweak the island. See even though it is a wonderful piece it does not flow with the french country feel I am trying to create in our home. It has more of a modern feel than a traditional feel. So of course paint will play a huge roll in this overhaul.

I had asked abt the possibility of chopping the legs off and putting on some bun feet. Possible but practical I don't think so. As for color, I was thinking maybe going with black again. Yes, it already has a black sometime greenish granite but I will get to that in a moment.

Instead of bun feet I decided that I wanted to make it look like it is built in. The Hubster and I went to Lowes last weekend and we found some trim to go around the bottom like this island. Though there is not enough room to be as fancy as this one I think it will still look nice. See the bead board on the end of that island? I am thinking of adding that to the sides of mine or just doing a picture molding. What cha think?? And what abt the cream color with a glaze??

Then again what screams french country more than a red island!! Not sure if I am brave enough for that or not.

How about a green finish with a cream undercoat and of course distressing!? See that wooden top on this island and several of the others? Yep, the granite is going in the closet and we are buying a wood top from Lowes!! I am soo excited! The Nana got a good "are you crazy" laugh when I  mentioned a wood top but she will become a believe I think. Besides we can always change it back if we want.  

This is our kitchen table and chairs. So mull it over and tell me what color you would paint it. I am gonna put a poll on my sidebar. I kinda already have my choice picked but I am keeping that a secret!;)

P.s. If ya are from around these parts and need a smallish butcher block island in like new condition minus one tiny lil' spot let me know! I NEVER cut on it. They sell anywhere from $500-$1000 on the Internet so I am sure you will agree it will be a deal!

P.s.s Still getting use to this new blogger. Urgh! This is my third attempt at this post. Gone are the days of posts taking only 20 minutes!:(

Linking up to Vanessa's Inspiration Friday over at Southern In My Heart! Stop by and say hi! Also linking up to Miss Mustard Seed Creations Furniture Feature Friday!! I just love all the inspiration on her blog! She is very talented!

Making a House a Home A Year Later

It is amazing what all changes in just a year. It seems like yesterday we were packing up and heading back here to Texas. Our home was a complete and total blank slate which made me love it all the more. Our home in Baton Rouge was just a stop over and since I knew we would only be there for 2 years I did not really do anything to it to make it our very own except the landscaping in the front yard but if you have been reading along for awhile you know all about how that went.

Anyways, I just finished up a few projects around the house and stood back looking around. It looks sooo different from when we first moved in last year.

Here is how our living room looked for the first two months or so. I knew how I wanted the curtains to look before we even moved in so we purchased the fab at HobLob literally the same day the movers were packing up the truck to head here. My inspiration came from Shannon over at Bless Our Nest. Many things have changed since those first few months.

Here is the mantel. Nice as it was it was just a mantel. Nothing special that said hey look at me. Notice my seasonal tree. It was retired after much peer pressure. I would decorate it for every season. Now it sits leaning against the wall in "my" closet. "My" closet has been dedicated as the decor closet and holds all my pretties and Christmas decor. I know crazy but true. I am not a big clothes or shoe horse so one closet works out just fine for The Hubster and me.

Here is our living room today. Come on in and visit awhile! What a vast difference a year makes uh!? I painted the walls Whole Wheat by Sherwin Williams back in November before I busted out the Christmas decor. It completely warmed the room right up. Two weeks ago I had found sheers at Tuesday morning and after a few adjustments was able to carry out my inspiration pics that I had filed away on the desktop. I was excited since I had been looking for sheers for a while now and found ALL six at one Tuesday Morning instead of having to hunt them down at differ stores. It is a hit or miss with those places. I originally had planned to do bamboo blinds but glad I went in a differ direction. What is even nicer is that the sheers were just $4.99 a panel!

Here is the fireplace today. It got a face lift back in the spring when I decided to take a leap of faith and painted it. It actually took me two tries before I ended up with this look. I hope to one day maybe change out the granite surround. I know this sounds crazy but I love me a beautiful brick fireplace! It took me forever to find a mirror I liked for the mantel. I had purchased one from Kirklands but it just did not feel right and is now in the dining room. Then one day it dawned on me that we already had the perfect mirror for the mantel tucked away in our closet. It actually goes to our dresser but we do not use it. I think it adds great scale to the area. I still need to find flowers for the tin hanging on the wall. I moved one of the frenchy chairs that was in the dining room in here. I always had wanted a chair by the fireplace. Hunting for some new pillows for the chairs and couch.

Last week was the first time I really enjoyed the vignette on this table/dresser. It makes the perfect spot for my frenchy decor books. I love my angel! She actually goes to a Manger scene that The Nana purchased for me a few years back. I just thought the she was soo pretty that I have always left her out on display all year long. I like to think that she helps watch over us.

This is my fave addition to the spot! It is a picture of my mom and her family. My mom and I look almost identical! I will have to find pics of us at the same age and show ya'll one day. I still need to glaze the frame. It use to be gold.

This here needs some loving but I am at a lost. I figure it will come to me sooner or later. Pretty pretty sad right now though. Suggestions welcomed.

I just changed out the fireplace vignette last week as well because The Hubster bought me that cool rooster candle sconce ya see over there in the corner.

We were in Steinmart a few weeks back and I saw it and LOVED it!! It is made from what would have been an old clay roof tile. I almost did not get it because it cost $30 and well I thought that was insane for one candle sconce but it was the only one they had and so I went back in and got it since The Hubster said go ahead. I figured I could always take it back if I ever came to my senses. Well after I rearranged and made a home for it I knew it HAD to stay. Last night after looking thru Romantic Homes magazine I decided to visit some of the websites that were advertising in there. There are a ton of sites with french country inspired home decor. I could have spent hours going thru them all. Anyways, I happened upon one site and they had almost identical sconces and you will not believe what they were asking for um!!?? Go ahead and guess. I bet you never would imagine that they were asking $190 for just one!! So that $30 is not looking too bad after all! Ha!

Last but not least I found these knobs at HobLob last week while shopping with The Nana before The Papa decided that he was no longer in his "I am feeling fine" stage. I have been trying to find some knobs that would work for awhile now on our tv armoire. This is like the fourth set. I think they will stay for awhile.

So it has been a year and even though it would have been super easy to have redone everything all at once when we first moved in if we had had a money tree in the back yard I do not think that I would have been as happy with it. The most important thing I have learned is that you do not have to buy all new things or even spend a lot of money to make your house a home. Sometimes you already have what you are looking for right under your nose and it doesn't have to cost a thing! As for our living room I think I am safe in saying that other than some new pillows it is actually one room in our home that is 90% complete. The other 10% would be new hand scraped wood floors which I am officially holding my breathe till I get!;) I am still looking for that money tree in the backyard. Next up on my completion list is the dining room! Not far to go in there and I can not wait to share the new curtains! Well not new but improved curtains.

Hope you all are enjoying your long holiday weekend with family and friends!

Heading over to party at BNOTP Metamorphosis Monday! See ya'll there!