I have had visions of the project I’m sharing today dancing in my head ever since the very day we moved into our home a year and a half ago, and I am so excited to finally be sharing it with you today!
Our kitchen is absolutely, positively the beating heart of our home. We eat our meals here, gathered around a table brimming with food and conversation that nourish our souls as well as our bodies. My children do their homework here. We play board games together, assemble Legos, and draw innumerable pictures. The majority of my sewing projects happen on this table.
With all of its functionality, our kitchen is very near to my heart! The only problem was that until about a month ago, our dining area looked like this:
Uninspired. Blah. And dare I say fairly ugly? 😉
Armed with a vision of the cozy, vibrant space I wanted this little corner to become, I set to work turning it into something special.Here it is today!
My jumping off point for this space were my black and white striped drapes. The moment I first saw these DIY striped drapes over at The Yellow Cape Cod, I knew I had to have some in my kitchen. Instead of using her no-sew option for constructing them, I made these in much the same fashion as the drapes I made for George’s nursery earlier this year. Full details for exactly how I did it are coming up soon, so stay tuned!
I opted to treat the doorway just like I would any other window and flank it with the drapes to give the illusion that it is a window instead of sliding glass doors.
Another big change came in the form of a fantastic new area rug from Flor.I cannot say enough how much I love this rug! It is so easy to clean, so durable, and with Flor’s innovative system that allows you to configure your rug precisely to fit your space, it turned out to be just exactly what I was looking for. I love how the checkerboard pattern of the rug gives the illusion of the checkerboard tile floors that are so current, and it does an absolutely bang-up job of masking the vinyl flooring underneath! (By the way…if you love this rug, stop back in Friday, because I might just have a big surprise in store!)
Next up? Time to give that big, blank wall some TLC! And what better way to do so than with a healthy dose of my beloved polka dots.
Creating the polka dot wall was as easy as can be, using the Large Polka Dot stencil sent to me to try out from Cutting Edge Stencils. This was my first wall stenciling project, and I have to say that I absolutely love this technique! For the background, I used the same blue from my Hallway Command Center project (Paridiso from Benjamin Moore), and I then cut the paint by about 50% with white paint before stenciling on my polka dots. I love how doing the dots in this monochromatic motif makes the polka dots more subtle and sophisticated.
Once the wall stenciling was complete, I applied a faux board and batten treatment to the wall. The helpful folks at Lowe’s once again came through for me in making my board and batten efforts a piece of cake. I walked into the store with a list of specs in hand, and they did the hard work of cutting all of my trim pieces to size. Love that! In my opinion, there is nothing that can be done to a space that will instantly impart more of a homey, intimate feel than adding molding and trim like this. The difference is remarkable!
With the heavy lifting complete, it was time to accessorize! I opted to incorporate the same framed chalkboard (which I made from an ugly old mass-produced painting) and shelving that I had previously used in the space. I also hung my brand-new Romantic Ruffled Wreath and my Ceiling Medallion Wall Clock.
I found these gorgeousvintage botanical printsfor free online, so I printed out four onto cardstock and placed them in cheap Walmart frames which I spray-painted white. Not too shabby for $5 a pop!
On the table, the pitcher was a Target purchase from a few months back. I love filling white pitchers with flowers in bold, bright colors for an abundance of inexpensive impact!
The basket and rooster were purchases I snagged on clearance at Home Goods. (They even knocked off an additional 10% from the rooster since he was particularly scuffed up. They are always so great there about doing things like that!)
On the shelf, I framed a poem written by my late grandmother that my mom and I stumbled upon as we were sorting through some of her old things a couple of summers ago. I cherish it!
Last but not least: flowers! Oodles and oodles of flowers. Gerbera daisies were the stars of the floral show here, but I have to say that I firmly believe good ol’ carnations are sorely under-appreciated. They instantly add so much vibrant color to a space, and they are so affordable!
Nearly without fail, each time I embark on a major decorating project like this one, I find myself with a serious case ofGotta-Have-It-Itis.Unfortunately, this project was no exception. Suddenly, when looking at gorgeous spaces in my favorite magazines and catalogs to inspire my efforts, my old, wood-grain-formica-topped kitchen table (which we inherited from my husband’s grandmother when we married) and our less-than-showroom-worthy vinyl floors left me feeling a bit decor deflated. Not to mention, heavy sliding glass doors leading into our back yard aren’t nearly as attractive a dining backdrop as a nice, airy picture window would be.
I learned something so important in this project, friends:Satisfaction in one’s home can only be achieved when you stop focusing on what you don’t have and start appreciating what you do.
I love the natural light in this room. The long, blank wall that houses so much decorating potential. The vintage look of our dining chairs, some of which I sat on at my family’s kitchen table when I was a little girl.
As I embarked on this project, I determined myself to focus on what I liked instead of dwelling on the not-so-stellar elements.The end result is one of my most gratifying decor projects to date!
I hope you’ve been inspired to take a fresh, positive look at some of the spaces in your home, too!
Amy @ Positively Splendid
Having grown up in a home brimming with sewing notions and paintbrushes, Amy has a deep love for all things creative. On any given day, you’ll find her knee-deep in her latest creative endeavor, with projects ranging from sewing and crafts to home decor and kid-friendly ideas. Amy believes that everyone, regardless of skill level or experience, possesses the ability to create something beautiful, and Positively Splendid was born of her passion for helping others harness their innate creative potential.
