How Our Living Area Usually Looks These Days...

Before I get onto today's post, I just wanted to give an update on those lost photos of mine.  About an hour ago, I thought I'd have another go at locating them and like magic, there sitting in the folder that had been giving me grief yesterday were my missing shots!!  I don't know how it happened or why they vanished but they're back and I'm so happy!  

Anyway, today I thought I'd share some photos of how our living area typically looks lately.  With the wintry, 'stuck inside all day' weather we've been having here, when we're not out and about, the girls and I spend the majority of our time in the open plan living / meals / kitchen area.  After all, with our gas heater glowing away, it's definitely the warmest part of the house to play in.  Here's what you would typically see if you were to stop by our place lately... 

The 'clutter basket' on my bench is growing by the day.  So much so, that Paul just emailed me a moment ago to ask if I could pay the electricity account that's sitting in the middle of this basket as he just received an SMS to say it was overdue.  Oops!!  The pretty irises however aren't a typical occurrence.  Sick of seeing this end of our bench looking bare, I treated myself to a bunch the other day.

I am proud to say however that the rest of our bench remains clutter free these days.  I have been making it a priority to keep our living areas tidy and even though there are currently beds unmade and shower screens that need scrubbing, having a clear bench makes me feel SO much better.  It was becoming quite the dumping ground (one of the downsides of such a big benchtop) but usually it looks as it does above.  As for the clothes drying rack in the background, that's typical around here lately too.  We don't have a dryer, nor do we have the space to put one and so the rack above is frequently used on rainy days...

... Here's our other way of drying clothes.  With our heater on come most afternoons, I rotate items I'm desperate to dry in front of it.

As for playtime, the girls are often in the warmest spot on our rug.  Grace tips out all the baby toys and pleads for Sophie to be 'restrained' in her Bumbo so that she can build towers without her little sister destroying them.  Our Bumbo is now destined for Gumtree though as Sophie wormed her way out of it for the second time yesterday.

As soon as there's been a spot of sunshine however, I've been encouraging Grace to head outside to play.  Blowing bubbles on the patio has been a popular activity lately along with painting on her easel.

And while I'm on the subject of our living area, I thought I'd share a photo with you of what those wooden stools I sanded back and painted currently look like.  They're probably a slightly darker blue than the photo above which was taken when the light was streaming in a few mornings ago, but the one on the right is pretty true to colour.  The shade is starting to grow on me so I think I'll paint the top coat over the weekend and finally be settled with my decision.

Enjoy your afternoon everyone!  I'm off to make another cuppa and cosy up in front of our heater before the girls wake from their naps...

Kitchen Ponderings Times Three

I had intended to share a recipe with you all today for some biscuits I tried out yesterday. However, I’ve decided to give them another go and perfect them a bit more before I do that. Instead, I thought I’d share with you some thoughts I have for a few small touches I’d like to add to our kitchen…

For some time, I’ve been searching for two bar stools for our kitchen bench. I wanted somewhere for Grace to sit and help me bake or to be able to have a snack while I prepared meals. They had to be simple, not too heavy and not stick out too far from underneath the counter top. Last week, I bought two cheap ones which I think will do the trick nicely. You see, my idea for these stools is to paint them. However, now that I’ve sanded them back and had Mum’s partner trim them down as they were a smidgen too tall, I’m a bit apprehensive about the actual painting part. My initial thought was to go with a soft colour, in a pale or icy blue. Part of me now wonders whether that is the way to go though or whether to stick to good old white.

In other decisions, back before Christmas as I was rushing through a department store trying to finish our gift shopping, I spotted a plate which stopped me in my tracks. Anything blue and white is bound to catch my eye and this Villeroy and Boch plate above sure did that. I snapped it up as a ‘Christmas present for myself’. My idea for this plate is to hang it on the wall above our oven. It was a suggestion a few of you gave on an old post of mine where I was asking for some ideas for our kitchen. Now I’m trying to decide whether to put it up there by itself, or whether two find a few smaller ones to accompany it.

The final thing I’m pondering is whether or not to spend some of my birthday money on the cute pewter measuring spoons above which have been on my wishlist for some time now. I think they would be perfect on the wall in our stovetop nook where all the tiled walls look very bare. However, the width of the copper rail the birds are sitting on falls virtually exactly on the grout between our tiles. There’s also a power point beneath (although I’ve heard there is some little gadget you can buy to help you detect whether there are wires where you want to drill.

So dear readers, what do you think of my ideas? Blue or white? One plate or several? To purchase or not?

Pewter measuring spoons image from Charleston Gardens

New Kitchen Touches

I was flicking through some photos I’d taken recently with our new camera and realised I hadn’t yet shared a few small additions to our kitchen. Back in February when I posted some kitchen snaps as part of my Homely One House Tour, things were looking rather bare. Our kitchen is relatively new following a big renovation (see here for before and after shots) and I had mentioned it was lacking those finishing off touches that add warmth and character to a room. I am slowly making progress in this area.

One of the additions we’ve made is a little shelf above our bench. I wanted a ‘tea and coffee making station’ close to the kettle as walking back and forth from the pantry wasn’t practical, especially with me who enjoys several cuppas each day. After searching and searching, I eventually found the perfect canisters to put on top of the floating Ikea shelf I had Paul install. Not only does this make things more easily accessible, it adds something to the previously bare wall.




Also, I have found a better ‘home’ for my recipe books and folders which were previously hidden down the bottom of one of the kitchen cupboards making them very difficult to use. With some inspiration from Nicole’s kitchen, I now have them positioned neatly above the fridge. My recipe folders (which I talked about in a previous post) are separated into two Kikki K magazine holders (one for savoury things like meat and pasta and one for sweet things like cakes and desserts). Any ‘not so attractive’ books are kept in the third holder. Inspired by a post on Nina’s blog, I made some ‘Dymo’ looking labels using a free font found online.

There are still several bits and pieces needed to finish off our kitchen but I’m liking the way things are headed and now have a clearer picture in mind of the look I’m aiming for.

A Splash of Colour

Happy Monday! I hope you have all had as lovely a weekend as we did. On Saturday we bought our new vegetable planter and got that filled and into position and then in the afternoon, I spent most of my time in the kitchen baking and cooking. Yesterday we celebrated my lovely mother-in-law's birthday by taking all the grandkids for a ride on the Castledare Miniature Railway and then we pottered around the house for the rest of the day.

I am really happy at the moment that after all the recent renovations we've had going on (which have meant we've had endless boxes lying around), I finally have our living areas nice and tidy (just don't step foot in our study!!) The biggest challenge for me in these areas is keeping our huge bench clear as it tends to become a dumping ground throughout the day. I've felt happier this week seeing it free from clutter apart from the little basket I keep at the end of it and now I just need to work on sorting through that more frequently to stop it overflowing.

Also making me happy over the weekend were these pretty blooms I bought. I've never been a huge fan of pink but lately I've been liking it more and more. These flowers really seem to complement the little hints of pink in the artwork on our kitchen walls.

What lovely things did you all get up to over the weekend?

A Very Fine House Feature

Today, our kitchen renovation is being featured as the Wednesday Walk-Through on the wonderful blog A Very Fine House. I really enjoy following Katrina and Julie-Ann's blog so if you haven't already, head on over for lots of great posts with ideas and inspiration for all things homely...

Homely One House Tour - The Kitchen

Seeing as I already posted a few kitchen photos last week, I thought I’d start with this part of our house for the Homely One House Tour. Our kitchen has probably undergone the biggest transformation of all the areas in our home. When we moved in, it was functional but not at all attractive – ugly face bricks, dark brown cupboards, chunky cream benchtops, a dated oven and stove and dated wall and floor tiles (see before shots below)...

While we kept to the same layout when renovating, the addition of new timber flooring, cupboards, tiles, downlights and benchtops has made a huge difference. It is amazing how much lighter and brighter this space is now. As for the meals area, we have since replaced the old security screens with the new ‘invisible mesh’ style ones and the window frames are charcoal grey instead of mission brown.

I love our kitchen, but it really needs some homely touches added to it. The wall above the oven/stove needs something but I’m not quite sure what exactly. I’d also like to make better use of the space above the fridge for a display of some sort. Any suggestions? I’d love your feedback…

Kitchen Love

This week’s My Place & Yours theme (chosen by Nic and Tracy) is to share what you love about your kitchen. This topic is quite ironic as without knowing, I had taken a whole bunch of photos of our kitchen on Saturday for an upcoming series of posts I have planned.

Our kitchen has had quite a makeover from how it was when we first moved in (more on that at a later date when I show you some before and after shots). One of the things I love most about it is the huge bench. Not only is it great for preparing meals as I can spread everything I need out in front of me, it is also great for parties and entertaining. Being part of an open plan living area, I love that I can be working away at our kitchen bench while chatting away to Grace who will watch me happily from her high chair.

The other part of my kitchen that I love is the pantry door which is strange as this was the original door before we renovated. We were going to replace it when we re-did our kitchen with a more solid panel but instead decided to give it a fresh lick of paint. I’m really happy we kept it – I really like the slatted door and feel that it adds a bit of character to the area.

To see others’ kitchens, head over to Punky & Me…