kitchen Refresh

Do you follow Nesting With Grace? It’s definitely one of my favorite blogs. Brooke has such awesome style. Brooke posted an Instagram story recently that had me inspired to refresh my kitchen. Brooke shared how she removed everything from  her kitchen counters and then brought it all back in, but placed it in a new spot. This is a great way to change up your kitchen, or any space in your home for that matter, to make it feel fresh and exciting again. 

 I haven’t shared pictures of our kitchen in a while because not much has changed in here since the last time I shared it with you, but after switching just a few things around, our kitchen does feel a little different and so I thought it was worth writing up a blog post and talking more about those little changes I made.

I painted our cabinets, for the fourth time, about two years ago and I don’t plan on painting them again anytime soon.  I mean, I have thought about it, because I love the feeling of a new paint color and how it can instantly make your kitchen feel brand new, but this color (BM Wrought Iron) has been great and I’m not sick of it yet.  It could use a few touch ups here and there, but that’s really no big deal.

Once you go from light cabinets to dark, I don’t think there is any going back.  I say this because white cabinets get so dirty so fast and it’s so nice to not have to constantly wipe them down with the darker color. Yes, the dirt is still there, but what you don’t see wont hurt you 🙂

My upper cabinets are still white because I like the contrast. Also upper cabinets don’t get near as dirty as lower cabinets. I have thought about painting my upper cabinets dark too but can’t decide if I should or not, what do you think? Yes or No?

Anyway, sorry I’m rambling. This blog post is not about paint colors, it’s about decor, so let’s move on.  Something that I’ve recently added to our kitchen is this curtain. I bought the fabric at a yard sale and used curtain clips to hang it up.  So very simple! It’s amazing at how much curtains can change the look of a room. 

 Like I mentioned in the beginning of this post, I was inspired by Brooke, and so like Brooke, I first removed everything off of my counters, gave the counter tops a good cleaning and then started bringing things back in, but placing the things in a new location.

 I started with this side of our kitchen that has a built-in hutch look. This area always becomes a catch-all in our home. It’s where we throw our keys, phones, ipads, etc. etc. You know what I’m talking about, right? I think every home has a spot like this. So I brought in this white box with rope handle. The plant is just placed there for the picture, but in real life this will be a great spot to place all of those phones, chargers, and what not’s. 

Function really is the most important thing in a kitchen.  So when bringing my decor back in, I really thought about what was working and what was not working for us.

Next, I focused on the other side of the room.  This is the counter that we use most for preparing food and so I tried to keep it cleared from extra clutter.

I placed my large jars along the back wall. I’ve had these jars for years and they have been wonderful for holding baking staples.

The large jars and  the wood tray that they are on are all from yard sales. Of course 🙂

Tucked in the corner is one of my water fountains. I have a couple of water fountains around our home because I absolutely LOVE them. They really make our home feel extra calm and relaxing.

I usually have a lot of stuff around our kitchen sink like candles, plants, soaps, lotions…etc. etc. and so for a nice change I removed it all and am currently liking the clean and simplicity of this area.

I bought this paper towel holder at a yard sale this summer and think it’s the coolest thing ever.  I looked online for it so I could share a link with you, but have yet to find it. I did however come across a ton of other really neat paper towel holder options during my search, so I may just write up a blog post to share them with you, and hopefully I can find something similar to this one as well. 

Most of the decor around our home has come from yard sales or thrift stores. I love to collect things that speak to me and then find a place for it all in our home. 

So basically what you see on this little wall in our kitchen has all been “junk” I’ve collected over the years.  The anchor plate however can be found HERE at Wayfair.

Now let’s move on to the other end of our kitchen. I ended up putting most of everything I had here to begin with back in its original spot. It just seems to make sense leaving these items where they were. However, I did hang up a dinner bell on the wall and placed a bread box in the corner to hide our coffee and coffee filters. Oh and I also used a little galvanized tray to hold some oils and spices. Even though they were little changes, those little changes still made a difference in our kitchen.

I have a love for Hawaii, and so every time I see one of these pineapples made from exotic woods at a yard sale or thrift store I have to buy it.

I also gave our fridge a much needed clean slate. Before it was over loaded with pictures and notes and now it’s ready for a fresh start.

I get a lot of comments on my kitchen stools. I bought them at a yard sale and have covered the seats a couple of times. The fabric that is on them currently is some lovely fabric I picked up while on vacation to Hawaii.

And Again, I feel like I’m getting off topic 🙂 The purpose of my blog post today was just to share how I have refreshed our kitchen, and hopefully inspire you to change a few things around your own homes as well. Just making a few little changes can really help to make your space feel fresh and new. I think that we all get into a styling rut sometimes and it’s such a good feeling to switch things up every so often.

  And now I leave you today with this funny picture of Liam.  My boys love to jump in front of the camera whenever I take pictures of our home and I thought this one was just too cute not to share.

Please let me know if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions about our kitchen, I’d love to hear them.

Thank you for stopping by today.

     Emily