Kitchen Inspiration

I wanted to tell you about the outdoor pillow covers and curtains I sewed, but it wasn't until my camera died that I realized I left the charger plugged into the wall at a San Fran hotel.  Total bummer.  Anyhow, Rob ordered a battery charger for the camera from Amazon so I should be able to fill you in on these projects within several days - once I juice my battery back up. 

In the meantime, I've been taking pictures with my iPhone.  Although I think the iPhone takes pretty good pictures, they're not the best photos to enlarge.  The iPhone is the only thing I have to work with right now so forgive my not-so-perfect shots.

Tonight I want to share my kitchen inspiration for our Kitchen Makeover - Part II.  One of the first rooms we tackled when we moved into our town house almost two years ago was the kitchen, found here. 

When we decided to install "Kashmir White" granite countertops, I began searching images on Google to see what other people did.  I knew that I wanted a lighter, more modern, cleaner and sophisticated look.  We talked about painting the kitchen white to open it up and make it feel more airy.  Personally, I wasn't crazy about the "white" idea.  White reveals smudges and dirt -- and with a 60 lb. English Bully brushing up against the walls all day long, smearing who know what along the way, white was definitely a no-go.  What I had in mind (which I had to convince Rob of since he has a hard time visualizing) was a cool, light grey color that tied in nicely with the Kashmir counters. 

Anyhow, here's some inspiration images I found on the internet that caught my eye:



We knew we wanted to install a backsplash.  I was thinking white subway tiles, but I was afraid the kitchen would be too white.  After numerous trips to Lowe's and Home Depot, and about six different backsplash samples, we decided to stick with a subway tile...just not white.  The slate backsplash we chose can be seen in the images below. 

One thing I have to add as part of Kitchen Makeover - Part II is a chandelier, which will most certainly bring in the sophistication I'm looking for.  We pondered buying a chandelier from Lowe's for around $139.  But I remembered seeing amazing DIY chandeliers online two years ago while scowering the internet for all sorts of inspiration, and before I started my blog. 

Check out these awesome chandeliers:

I KNEW I could score a basic chandelier from a thrift store with no problem -- I spot them on my thrifty travels ALL. THE. TIME.  I wonder if the people who throw them out wish they wouldn't have if they saw what they looked like after these quick DIY transformations.

So when I saw this sassy brassy beauty below, you know I had to snatch er' up.  Take a look at our old new kitchen chandelier!!

I had to have Rob hold her up there so I could see how awesome she'll look.

Anyhow, I will post the full before and after of our Kitchen Makeover - Part II as soon as my camera battery arrives in the mail.  As for the chandelier, I can't wait to make it over. 

Have a good night.