With Each Brushstroke

Sitting here watching the grey drizzle dance down the window pane I reflect on my recent week off work and how much I managed to accomplish. It started with a chesty cough and a runny nose but cold symptoms aside I managed to spend the first weekend decorating our kitchen. I wanted to move away from the twee, cottagey kitchen in pale blue with cute vintage teacups hanging off the shelves to something more grownup, bold and modern. I started by painting all the wood, which lined the walls 3/4 of the way up, white. With each brushstroke over the original pale blue shade the kitchen appeared to grow bigger and more spacious. I then moved onto the horrible magnolia which looked so dated and painted this a beautiful shade of navy blue. This in contrast with the white woodwork, shelves and white tiles looked brilliant and I only kicked myself for not having done it sooner. I then minimised the amount of items I had on display and stripped back the kitchen from all its collated clutter. I now love cooking in there which has improved our weekly menu drastically.

The next step was the dining room which is open plan with the kitchen. Due to the high ceiling I had to rope in my mum to help me with this one. I followed a similar design to the kitchen and painted all the magnolia walls white except for the chimney breast which I painted the same shade of navy as the kitchen. This helped our white fireplace stand out and made it look so modern. I loved painting over the old paint work and by choosing white walls and white woodwork or dining room and kitchen looks so spacious and clean.



I then spent the Easter weekend fine tuning the accessories within both rooms. I painted my spice rack navy and mustard shades, painted my polaroid frame navy instead of white so it stood out more and I recovered all my dining chairs in mustard Orla Kiely material. We bought a few new things too such as mustard lamps and a mustard cushion for the chair in the corner. I now have my eye on a blind in the same material as the dining chairs and some mustard drawer knobs for my writing desk. But these will come with time...and wages! All in all I love our new kitchen dining area and love that we have put our stamp on a house that was so plain. Hallway and stairs...you are next!


Love
Blue Sky
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