Kitchen Tweaking
If you're a regular reader, you probably know that I gave our kitchen a good re-vamp last year. I'm still really happy with the transformation and it's SO much better than it was, though I admit that I do dream of ripping it all out and doing that fantasy extension on a daily basis.
One thing that's become really obvious, is that we still don't have enough cupboard space in there. Despite my best de-cluttering efforts which are still ongoing (but then I went and accepted a huge tea set that my father in law wanted to get rid of - all thirty-nine pieces of it! Oops!), we just need more storage space. When the grocery shopping arrives, I really struggle to be able to put it all away. Invariably I end up having to leave a load of stuff out on a worktop, and only when stores dwindle as the week goes on, do I have the space to put everything away. Every week, it's the same old story, and frankly, it drives me nuts.
We tiled an entire wall in matt black Hexagon tiles, and much as I love it as it is, I've come to see this big blank wall as a beautiful, extravagant, waste of space, in a room where we really need all the storage we can get.
Don't worry, I'm not ripping them off! I plan to add two full length open shelves, that will hold the pretties. I've spoken before about not being an open shelving person - I don't want a load of open bags of flour, pasta and nuts on display, or the collection of spreads for that matter, but I do love an open shelf when it houses the pretties! By 'the pretties' of course, I mean the good looking pots and pans, crockery, vases, trays, bowls and glasses. And the tea set. Obvs.
There are so many totally great examples of open kitchen shelving on Pinterest that I just got lost for two hours looking. Here's just a tiny snippet of some of them.
Image credits (clockwise from top left)
Courtney Bishop Design via House of Turquoise Blog
Melissa Jill Photography via Style Me Pretty
Lena Corwin / Cup of Joe
Better Homes & Gardens
My original plan of solid oak proved too expensive for now, so I'm ordering some cut to size pine which I'll possibly stain and oil. I actually surprised myself by liking the idea of old scaffolding planks for this (rustic is not normally my thing!), but as I want to put plates and large serving dishes on these shelves, scaffolding planks won't be wide enough. I also want to fill the entire length of the wall to the centimetre, so bespoke is the best way for this project.
I've sourced some simple polished brass brackets which will tie in well with the brass cupboard knobs. They'll free up some much needed cupboard space, meaning that I won't struggle so much to keep the kitchen under control and will (hopefully!) easily be able to put the shopping away each week.
I can't wait to get these babies up and start styling! Stay tuned, I'll show you as soon as they're ready.
One thing that's become really obvious, is that we still don't have enough cupboard space in there. Despite my best de-cluttering efforts which are still ongoing (but then I went and accepted a huge tea set that my father in law wanted to get rid of - all thirty-nine pieces of it! Oops!), we just need more storage space. When the grocery shopping arrives, I really struggle to be able to put it all away. Invariably I end up having to leave a load of stuff out on a worktop, and only when stores dwindle as the week goes on, do I have the space to put everything away. Every week, it's the same old story, and frankly, it drives me nuts.
We tiled an entire wall in matt black Hexagon tiles, and much as I love it as it is, I've come to see this big blank wall as a beautiful, extravagant, waste of space, in a room where we really need all the storage we can get.
Don't worry, I'm not ripping them off! I plan to add two full length open shelves, that will hold the pretties. I've spoken before about not being an open shelving person - I don't want a load of open bags of flour, pasta and nuts on display, or the collection of spreads for that matter, but I do love an open shelf when it houses the pretties! By 'the pretties' of course, I mean the good looking pots and pans, crockery, vases, trays, bowls and glasses. And the tea set. Obvs.
There are so many totally great examples of open kitchen shelving on Pinterest that I just got lost for two hours looking. Here's just a tiny snippet of some of them.
Image credits (clockwise from top left)
Courtney Bishop Design via House of Turquoise Blog
Melissa Jill Photography via Style Me Pretty
Lena Corwin / Cup of Joe
Better Homes & Gardens
My original plan of solid oak proved too expensive for now, so I'm ordering some cut to size pine which I'll possibly stain and oil. I actually surprised myself by liking the idea of old scaffolding planks for this (rustic is not normally my thing!), but as I want to put plates and large serving dishes on these shelves, scaffolding planks won't be wide enough. I also want to fill the entire length of the wall to the centimetre, so bespoke is the best way for this project.
I've sourced some simple polished brass brackets which will tie in well with the brass cupboard knobs. They'll free up some much needed cupboard space, meaning that I won't struggle so much to keep the kitchen under control and will (hopefully!) easily be able to put the shopping away each week.
I can't wait to get these babies up and start styling! Stay tuned, I'll show you as soon as they're ready.