Walk right in

As I constantly renovate my kitchen in my head I have come to one conclusion: I would give up coveted cabinet space in my kitchen for a walk-in pantry.

I know cabinet space is premium, but I'm convinced that fewer cabinets combined with a large walk in pantry with open shelving is a better solution compared to a kitchen where cabinet space in plentiful.

My imaginary walk in pantry would be outfitted with simple, open, industrial shelving around the wall. A basket, lazy susan or two for organization but mostly just unobstructed, easy access shelving.

As is customary, most of the shelves would be reserved for food--now with lots of space for bulk purchases. But there would also be space of the shelves for all of the appliances and cookware I use, but use infrequently. Things like my huge dutch oven, bunt pan, food processor. I really think I would rather a walk across the kitchen to bring these things out rather than digging to the back of bottom cabinets on my knees.

Convinced? No? What if I promised to add these yellow barn doors?

I want to be ...

Ina Garten when I grow up.

With the lack of new TV on this week I found reruns of Barefoot Contessa to DVR and have been watching them nonstop. I would love to visit (or live in) her NYC apartment.

Image from Bandelle.com

The "barn" in the Hamptons isn't bad either.

Image from House Beautiful

Her style and food always seems like such relaxed elegance.

Dark Chocolate

It actually looks a little chocolate grey to me. Regardless it makes me want to paint something (like maybe my kitchen).

Images from Country Living

Open Shelving (or Not)?

I really like the idea of open or glass shelving for some of our kitchen cabinets. So I finally took the plunge, removed one set of doors and started arranging. So my question... does it work like this:

Or does it look like our kitchen cabinet doors just fell off, which means I should go back to this:

Discuss...

Southern Charm

"The South is a very special place, rooted in tradition and strength of character-both of its men and women. As a professional business woman, I have always admired the strong southern women who maintain grace, but hold their ground and the Rhett Butlers of the world who embrace them...Southern women seem to balance strength, femininity and a spitfire perseverance--and thrive in a world even more traditionally thought of as a 'man's world' than the rest of America." -Katherine Stefan, Editorial Director/Publisher

The quote is from an editorial I clipped in the last few years from a local lifestyles magazines. In recent years, I have come to accept how growing up in the South has shaped much of who I am as an adult, including my general attitude and notions of home and hospitality.

Try as I might to escape to the world of Ikea, I continue to be drawn first to the grand yet relaxed and classic southern style which is often times just modern enough for me with a Lucite table or shiny tile in the design. Seeing pics in print of this style is getting a little tougher as it seems like all of the Southern design mags are folding. Recent posts on Garden and Gun's Design Blog, Belle Decor highlight the loss of some of these mags as well as profile Southern Designer, Suzanne Kasler. Her work in the South (Atlanta) for Southern homes of all styles, not to mention her new book set to arrive later this year is truly inspiring, Southern style.

Images from Suzanne Kasler Interiors

In addition to seeing more of Suzanne's work at Belle Decor also check our Garden and Gun's article on the "The Southern Part of Heaven".

On the Road

Roadtrippin' to Virginia to visit my college ladies. I'm not back until late Sunday.

In my absence take a look at this article about reviving true cocktail parties. So true, especially the part about "Use glass." I think this means I should be living in the 1960's. Maybe I can pretend when I get my vintage bar cart set back up in our dining room. That's right, I found the one I mentioned in this post. It's going to take some cleaning up, but I'm pumped.

AM insipiration

This is where you would have found me this morning. Since we have managed to stay home a few weekends this summer I have discovered how refreshing it is to spend an early Saturday morning on our patio (I say early because its only 9am and already pretty warm, but 7:30am was nice).

Coffee, pillow, laptop and tennis ball (for the dog)

I took my coffee, laptop and cookbook with me and returned a few emails planning fun girls weekends, decided to make some fresh pesto, caught up on a few blogs and found some awesome inspirational images thanks to Haven and Home.

The zebra table runner is from Z Gallerie and take a look at that hood in the last kitchen picture, wow.

I'm off now to get ready for a weekend of making pesto, a girl friend visit, shopping, and maybe even Julie and Julia with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams.


(I'm not really sure why the last paragraph is underlined.)

Inspiration...

Sometimes we need a little just to keep us moving. I am going to pretend that an evening of cleaning and touching up paint on our baseboards will magically turn my kitchen into this:

Or This:

The (Bar) Cart Before the Horse

One accent that I have seen pop up in lots of living, dining and even outdoor rooms is the beverage/bar/cocktail cart.

Image from Southern Accents

The trend has come around again from a time when Manhattans and martinis were more than just a SATC reference and hosting or attending a cocktail party meant, "Everyone owned the essential bar ware, a swank cocktail shaker, an atomic designed cocktail tray, and cocktail glass. Then there were the unspoken rules. The rules of dress, music, and vocabulary. Seemed as if everyone embraced the leisure of the cocktail party." (From http://www.retrovintagecollectibles.com/).

Image from Style Redux

Being ahead of the trends as I so often am (not so much:), I had a vintage cart in my college apartment. It was my grandmother's and looked very much like this one (expect mine was chrome):

Image from Bryn Alexandra

As I packed up to get married and move in with Carolina Husband I passed along the cart (maybe to my sister, I can't really remember) expecting to never think of it again (sigh). Now that they are all over the place again I would love to have it back in the only modern-ish room in our house--our bright red dining room.

Can't you picture this (filled with similar glass ware and beverages, of course):

Image from Restoration Hardware

somewhere in this room?

Black or White?

My Notting Hill shared images from South African designer John Jacob Zwiegelaar of John Jacob Interiors. The design is from his own house. I couldn't help spread the love.

All Images From John Jacob Interiors via My Notting Hill

I was feeling the Black & White (with punches of green) palate. But really I could have shared his whole gallery and been happy and inspired. Check it out here.

Pretty Picture

If I ever have to hang another flat screen TV on our wall I am doing this:

I think that Mrs. Limestone did it best. Go here to see her Picture-in-Picture.

In my own little corner

I wonder just how many ikea shelves I will need to add this to a corner in my office.

Image from Beach Bungalow 8

Hunting for Treasure

One of the things that the world of blogging (at least home related blogging) has seemed to do is underscore the value of your local thrift shop, and not just for "college apartment" furniture. There are a lot of talented, creative folks out there that can create designer rooms and renovations with their great "thrifting" finds and a few gallons of paint or yards of fabric. 

The movement (I guess you can call it that) comes at a time where everyone should be able to see value. Why?

1-It is a "green" way to shop. With just a little work, thrifting or flea market shopping allows you to reuse, recycle and give new life to items that would otherwise be discarded.

2-It is a reasonably priced way to decorate. If you are willing to spend the time, creativity and sometimes the sweat equity there is lots of furniture, decor and kitchen pieces out there to create stylish rooms and tabletops. If nothing else it can be an inexpensive way to keep your home decor fresh.

3-Thrifting helps your local economy and many times a local non-profit. Goodwill and Salvation Army thrift stores and Habitat for Humanity Re-Stores use their sales to support the connected nonprofit organization; many domestic violence programs have second hand clothing shops as a revenue source for their programs.

Here are some of my favorite blogging "thrifters" and their finds or projects:

From Censational Girl

Anything banished to the store for its "brassiness" can be painted.From Everything LEBWith a little bit of fabric and a staple gun re-upholstery should not be scary.

From The Newlywed Diaries

A small decor item or large furniture piece that you love from a flea market or thrift store can be the start of a collection or add vintage flare to your room.

I have a few things that I am hunting for. I will let you know how it goes.

A Room with Padded Walls

This doesn't sound like I place that I would want to be voluntarily unless you were talking about these fabric panels. I would love to find a room in my house where something like this would work. I think for now it will have to stay in the inspiration file.

It does seem like a fun DIY project.

Image from Better Homes & Gardens May 2009 via 320 Sycamore

Recognize these walls?

Image from InStyle via Pretty Little Things-For Home

It's Serena Van der Woodsen's room from Gossip Girl.

Image from Casa Sugar

And as if taunting me to try it. I had lunch today in a hotel ballroom similar to this one. Only the fabric was much more lively.

Bedtime Stories

Summer seems to be the perfect time for bed bunking. Impromtu sleepovers, multifamily vacations and extended family reunions mean girl talk in the dark (For us girls anyway, I'm not sure what the boys do in the dark, I only have two sisters:). What better ways for tons of kids to each have a space of their own while keeping everyone all in one place (and not tripping over air mattresses and sleeping bags).

It makes me long for the days when early June ended worry over "school nights" until August.

Both images from Traditional Home.