Goodbye First Home: Kitchen

Prep area and tiny eat-in

Window + sink = important

Brown, tangerine, and gray.
We made it work.

When we moved in, the walls were covered in gingham-style (heyyyy, sexy ladies!) wallpaper that was incredibly difficult to remove. If you're wondering why we got rid of it, you might be imagining J. Crew prep when, in reality, it was more country charm (think geese with bonnets, instead). Once we got all that off, we selected a warm gray to go on the walls. From there, we repainted the cabinets, changed up the hardware, and switched out the counter tops. Eventually, we went stainless with the appliances (January is a good time to buy).

We also reconfigured the room where we could. It wasn't a classic, functional kitchen setup before. It was somewhere between L-shape and galley, without the desirable 'triangle' of work stations. Now the pantry and prep area are much closer to the fridge and sink. We made that stainless steel table by drilling an IKEA counter top to two Elfa shelving units. You'll note the neon green clip on the mesh shelves therein, this is to keep the kids from pulling them out or, worse, getting their heads caught underneath. (This is not mommy-doctor approved!) I will say that the nice thing about this contraption is it has wheels, so it can actually be moved to the middle of the kitchen and act as an island and put back afterwards. We also made good use of wall space, which is always critical in a small, heavily trafficked area. 

WTKA: Cabinet Doors and Knobs

WTKA = What To Know About, obviously.

This morning as I was looking around the world wide web, I spotted the following pin:

centsationalgirl.com via Maria on Pinterest

What caught my interest here is not the fine paint job, but what Maria said about the satin pulls not being in the right place. She said "I like this hardware but not where it's installed. It should line up with the top of the rail, not be in the corner."

It appears interior designers suffer from the terminology gap like us doctors. I wasn't sure what a cabinet door 'rail' is. So, of course, I did my research.

From quickdrawers.com

Now that I can see the anatomic structures, if you will, I have a better idea of where the handles are supposed to go. Here is my tweaking of the above image, which shows green lines that divide the "stile" into vertical halves. This line meets at a right angle to the bottom of the rail. It looks like the top of the knob, shown in white, should be placed in this sweet-spot.

Doing it right.

The key to this is to remember that the edges of the knob do not necessarily line up with where the holes are drilled. The worst thing one could do is drill without lining everything up first. You don't want your beautiful wood cabinets looking like Swiss cheese! And since consistency is key, methinks an $8 investment in a drilling template is worth it.

I do have a cabinet project in my future, and if I had proceeded without this knowledge and drilled holes in the 'wrong' place, it would not have been the end of the world. The funny thing now is that with this information I'm determined to 'get it right' the first and only chance I'll get.

No Sew Curtains

This is my kitchen, and child.

These rings plus Marimekko fabric at the Crate and Barrel Outlet have allowed me to create my own curtains for the eating nook in my kitchen. Oh, happy day.

(File this under "So Easy a Doctor Can Do It!")