Haha! Not really, but it sure feels like it. Right around the time we bought our house, I saw this picture on Pinterest:
{source: the vintage wren via Home Front7 on House Ideas}
The wheels in my head started turning, and I knew I could do this in our kitchen if I got my own shelf-a-majig. The only problem was the shelf in the inspiration picture cost $99 at Hobby Lobby. Now you other Hob Lob lovers know that their 50% off sales are the best thing since s’mores, so I knew I could get it for $50, no problem. My frugal li’l self couldn’t bear to part with $50 for a shelf, so I waited.
I almost got this shelf from Ikea that would have worked pretty well, and it was only $30, which was easier to part with. But, my fabulous mum and dad got me a $50 Hobby Lobby gift card for my birthday specifically for me to buy the dream shelf. {thank you!!}
So one rainy Saturday afternoon, Andrew put it up for me {what? you didn’t expect that I put it up by myself, did you? that thing is heavy!} and we’ve both been enjoying it ever since.
One of the things I love most about it is the space in our cabinets we gained when I accessorized the shelf. By putting cookbooks, coffee mugs, and all our drink stuff {coffee, tea, hot cocoa, hot apple cider mixes, emergenC, and Crystal Light} up there, we gained almost a whole cabinet. Another bonus is that we actually drink a lot more {not that kind of drink, c’mon!} so I don’t feel like we’re wasting money on coffee and drink mixes.
It’s just so cozy and reminds me of the bar at our local coffee shop. Now I can have my own coffee shop whenever I want it! I just pull a stool over to the counter, grab a book, and sip some coffee. Bliss.
As far as the rest of our kitchen, painting the cabinets is never far from my mind. The ugly dark brown stuff must go. I am excited about one thing that I completely forgot to show you all. Another of my Pinterest inspirations has been open shelving. As a minimalist, I am in love with the beauty and simplicity of the look.
Right after Thanksgiving, I took the doors off one of the cabinets in my kitchen. I had wanted to for a month or so, but never asked Andrew to help. One day I got fed up with forgetting to ask him and took them down myself.
Since then, we’ve take the doors off two other cabinets and are loving it. A confession: I am absolutely awful about closing cabinet doors. If I’m cooking or baking or putting away dishes, most of the cabinet doors are standing open. So this totally works for me. Andrew is liking it too, and I’m contemplating pulling the doors off the other two overhead cabinets. I defintely need to paint in there to make it look really nice, and I can’t wait to see how it looks when it’s all done. So who knows when we’ll start that project. Painting the three bedrooms is definitely next on the list.
The week after I took my cabinet doors off, a friend of mine took hers off a cabinet too, and she actually did something pretty with it. Check out Molly’s blog header for her beeea-utiful cabinet! I was just glad to know I wasn’t the only crazy one pulling cabinet doors off!!
Anywho…that’s the long and lovely post about my coffee shop in the corner of our kitchen. Whatcha think?
Question of the day: what color should I paint the cabinets??? I am thinking about white or a darkish, dusky gray. Help me, peeps.
