The kitchen has been a very busy & exciting place for many reasons since last weekend. First, my roommate & I decided to fix up the kitchen, instead of the back bathroom which had been our original plan. We initially wanted to get a better way to hold our spices, so we bought a shelf divider for them and moved them to a shelf over our sink. After cleaning the spices out, we realized that we should clean off our baker's rack (that is in desparate need of sanding and a clear-coat finish). It holds our microwave, toaster, toaster oven, spices, cookbooks, knives, and some decorative stuff. We got rid of a bunch of junk and cleared off the entire botteom shelf. As these things usually go, we realized that we both hated to look at the open shelves all the time; so we transformed some tab-top curtains that my parents gave me for Christmas into cute little cafe curtains to cover up part of the shelf.
After realizing that the curtain really transformed the kitchen, we decided that we should use the fabric in other places, too. See, I was initially hesitant to use the curtains because they really didn't seem to work--the shape & color were just a little off. But after using them in one place, we realized that they had serious style potential.
So it went on from there: we painted the kitchen chairs black (totally dramatic for me 'cause I really like things painted white & airy) & recovered the seat cushions with the curtain fabric. Then we put up the two existing valances over one window with a black curtain rod. In order to make the third window coordinate, we cut off the top part of another curtain, sewed up a hem, and put it up with a matching curtain rod. But we didn't stop there! My roommate turned the remaining curtain parts into a table cloth for our little breakfast table & a napkin to line the former spice basket. It is so totally chic!
The next project in the works is a decorative shelf to go over the stove that will fit our spice shelf. We've started this by cutting a 1x6 board down to fit the length of our shelf (this was left over from the shelves in my room) & painting it with black paint left over from our family room trim. Then we're going to mount it using brushed silver shelf brackets. It's going to be mounted upside-down because the brackets won't fit behind the stove because we cut the board too small. In order to make it sturdier, we'll put nuts & washers on the underside of the board to hold it in place.
I love our kitchen now! Future project: painting the pantry red & dressing up the pantry doors with chalkboard paint & trim. :-)
Update on the doves:
The two eggs hatched about 3 weeks ago (at the time of this post). We didn't notice it for a while; but since they got too big to conceal, we've been watching them grow and develop. They flew out of the next on Wednesday, I think. sigh...I feel like a proud parent. I still see them around the yard; one of them might be making a nest in our other planter. Go figure. Mr. and Mrs. Dove have returned to their nest after leaving it alone for several days. They were making repairs and improvements this morning after last night's major storm. I'm looking forward to more wee doves!
Additionally, over Memorial Day, I was finally able to plant some wildflower seeds and morning glories. We also cleared out a garden space for part-sun & part-shade plants, such as a fern, coleus, & some lilies of the valley. I hope that they will grow up to hide our gas meter & air conditioner, at least somewhat. Ok, well, got to go. The pictures of the doves aren't too great, but I'll put up some of the kitchen soon.
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