An “Apothecary” Style Kitchen

The kitchen is about finished. It looks nice. It isn’t what I would call my “dream” kitchen. I worked with what we had and the result is that I have a cute kitchen for cheap. It works with the house. All you really need is something that works, that gets the kitchen duties done. Our kitchen does that. It does that while being a total “cheesecake” of a kitchen with its pink counter tops, aquamarine walls, and black/white checkered floor.

early 20's apothecary

If had to start from scratch, I would like an “apothecary” styled kitchen. I love a Belle Epoque apothecary vibe for any space really, but I always thought it would be cool to have an “apothecary” kitchen since this is where my creations are born.

I look at antique apothecary pics frequently. This 20’s one is one of my favorites. It has amazing millwork, ceiling tin tiles, interesting floors, and of the course the built-ins are fabulous. I would love to have a kitchen like this. I would have a stove, fridge, all of that shoved in there, open cabinets, cute jars for my spices/dry goods, and that amazing kitchen island for workspace and dining. I’d love beat up wood planked floors and oil rubbed brass fixtures. The colors would be light with dark rustic woods. This is my dream kitchen. This doesn’t go with my house.

I also found this kitchen in Southern Accents magazine (RIP this month, right?). I love the rustic, creepy vibe of it. I wouldn’t mind elements of this kitchen in my pretend “dream” kitchen as well. Just like the apothecary look, it adds a bit of macabre.

Southern Accents kitchen

And it’s functional. I pretty much love everything about it from the taxidermy to the rough plank floors to the types of bowls they have out on the island. It is almost an antiquarian kitchen, a kitchen for collectors.

Well, it’s a bit silly to think of this kind of kitchen after my current kitchen has been finished. I don’t dislike my kitchen. It’s retro and fun. In fact it is too fun. And to be fair my “dream” kitchen doesn’t fit with the house at all. It would take a complete kitchen remodel. Not a “make it work” remodel like we pulled off on very little money. But, I love working with what I have. It’s rewarding to be resourceful.

-Victoria

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Today’s Renovation Job…

Today we are finishing removing every piece of carpet and every staple and tack strip from the stairs. Sand down the stairs, paint them black, paint all the doors in hallway/foyer and add trim around a hallway door. We are attempting to completely finish the foyer and stairway this Sunday. The exterior is being painted this upcoming week if the weather permits it. We’ve decide to really put on “the ritz” and finish up the foyer to make a nice 1st impression. The rest of our house may be total chaos but we are trying to trick. Plus, Halloween is coming up and I don’t want to actually look like a decrepit, dangerous, scary house or a local PNW heroin den.

I was wasting valuable time yesterday and was trying to find lobster mushroom recipes before we went out to forage. One thing led to another and I was looking at before and afters on Sunset magazine’s website. I found a beautiful Victorian home “transformation”. In my opinion, the home was a work of art to begin with. When you have a 155 year old Victorian in Napa Valley, don’t complain, please. It’s just rude. They painted the stairway black. This is what we plan on doing. I like the drama. The house needs that at the entryway. I was going to paint the steps black and the backs white but that is too much work. I think I’ll be happy with the solid black look. Our foyer is a neutral, boring taupe, the trim is white, there needs to be some drama there. I went with Behr floor paint in Stealth Jet (how warlike of me and yes I actually got a paint mixed, no mistint for me this time). I went with this because it appears to be a softer black, something that will distress well on a high traffic area. It will still be dark and dramatic but not “new”, not overly crisp and modern. I sure hope I like it. The ultimate plan is to get an Oriental runner in a deep red and add the brass rods down the stairway. Considering the budget and all the work to do, that is not a priority. I just work with what I have and usually that makes me happy.

I guess I should wrap up my cup of coffee and get to work.

-Victoria

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Upstairs Bedroom Is Painted

Painted upstairs bedroom

OK, I apologize for all of the slacking. We’ve been working hard on the house and at our jobs so we can have money to spend on the house. I know we aren’t taking pictures as much as we want and I know we aren’t sharing them enough. This is the upstairs bedroom, the bedroom that we are using, painted up.

It’s a Ralph Lauren $5 mistint. I ended up using this color all over the place because Home Depot had 5 gallons of the same shade. I used it in this bedroom, the “media” room (bedroom downstairs), and on the trim in the boudoir. I still have 3 gallons left.

At first I did not love this color. It was too sage. It was too “contemporary”. It would look taupe during the daytime and green at night. Now I love this color. It is a great neutral. It is a taupe with a bit of olive drab green. Once I got my stuff into this room, I love it. I’m still “decorating”. We just got our light fixture in this week. When this room is finished it will be very nice. Have I mentioned that I love mistints?

Before bedroom

In case you have forgotten, here is the room before. And in case you have forgotten, this was a hoarder house, not our mess but this is what we had to work with. I like the “original” mint walls but you wouldn’t believe the filth on them! Just black mess, layers and layers. The trim was also painted the same shade as the wall. I wasn’t wild about that. It took 2 coats of primer and 3 coats of trim paint to make that trim not look minty fresh.

More to come…

-Victoria

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2 Elegant Powder Blue Dining Rooms

Powder blue paint is not going to work with my house in its current state. We have too much Fender Strat aqua elsewhere. I do love powder blue because it is soft, light and it’s a bit conservative but still fun. It works with any style. These are 2 dining rooms that I like. I haven’t worked on our dining room in a very long time. It still has wallpaper patches. I’m trying to get motivated here.

Domino (RIP) dining room

This first one is from Domino. It’s formal but a bit fun. The powder blue looks so sophisticated and fresh. It works so nicely with that pure, true white trim. Of course that trim would work with anything; it’s wonderful. I like this dining room because it has a bit of that “French” style with attainable accessories. That crystal ship light fixture is available at Z Gallerie. It goes for under $800 and really adds so much to the room. You can find a table very similar to this at a junk store and paint it white and distress it. You could do the same with the chairs and you could use a metallic finish paint to fake a galvanized look. Portraits like that are available on Jayson Home & Garden website for under $1000. I’m sure you could go antiquing and find something you like for cheaper. I love the hobnail glasswear.All of these things can be found but it does take time. I don’t have enough of that. Since we are in this new house, we have no furniture that works. I know exactly what I want and since I refuse to purcahse anything not well made, it will take some time. Until then, we are living out of boxes and sitting on painfully uncomfortable chairs that I have refinished.

This other dining room is courtesy of Martha Stewart. I am in love with most of the colors that she uses.

Martha Stewart dining room

You can take any color and mix it with some rustic, rugged wood and I’m pleased. Oh, and brass doesn’t hurt. I want that light fixture badly. This is another powder blue room with amazing millwork and large, light plank wood floors. This color appears so light and airy with the pairing of bleached out wood, crisp white, and taupes. But, I feel it could also look amazing paired with darker woods and fabrics.

I do love this color. I used to be scared of it because I thought it was too childish. Obviously this is not so. It is very regal, formal, and classy.

-Victoria

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