thanks for coming on this little tour with me!  you can see my living room here and my dining room here.

today we’re going into the kitchen!

this is the view of the kitchen from the dining room.  the walls are again silver sage by restoration hardware and i’m not sure of the white – i know it was one of the brightest i could find.

i’m one of those people who like to know where everything goes in a kitchen, so i’m going to tell you what mine is like.  the cabinets above the fridge hold large drink dispensers and carafes, baking sheets, muffin tins and cooling racks.  to the right of the fridge is our pantry.  its a pretty odd shape and suuuuper deep so everything is on roll-out shelves.  tucked in under the upper cabinets is a little nook for our coffee maker  baking supplies, paper plates, etc, and cofee mugs are to the upper left of the stove.  under the counter on the left is where we keep our snacks and dry goods.  bottom right of the stove are the pots and pans and cooking utensils.  above the toaster are spices and oils, and never used cookbooks.

our island is the workhorse of this room.  it is topped with pine butcher block and we cut right on it (other than meats).  we oil it every once in awhile and we just sanded it down (lightly) for the first time to take out a couple minor stains.  yes there are cut marks all over it, but i love that.  we have our microwave set in the island because i really didn’t want to see it up high or take up counter space.  under the micro is a drawer for tupperware and the tall drawer to the left is the trash can.

since we are using all side of the island, there are some false fronts on this side.  only the middle drawers are functional, as well as the cabinet under the sink.  the top drawer holds all prep utensils (anything you’d need to use standing at the island).  the next drawer holds mixing bowls, and the bottom drawer holds misc. baking dishes.

all the hardware in the kitchen, and on all the cabinetry throughout the house, is from houseofantiquehardware.com.

the bar stools are from ikea (a gift from my parents) and they are showing their age.  when we replace them i think i want something metal…

on each side of the stools are wine racks.  or toy storage.  under the counter where the stools are is more storage cabinets holding random holiday decorations.

this area next to the sink holds all of our daily dishes.  the top cabinets  hold mostly cake plates.  the drawers on top of the counter hold cloth napkins and placemats.  under the counter in the big drawers are silverware, plastic wrap/tinfoil/sandwich bags, kid plates, and kid cups.  the drawer to the left of the sink hold dish towels and under it is deep storage for all our small appliances.  the sink is a single deep bowl and i love it!

i stole the idea of using baskets here form a friend.  they pretty much hold lots of junk that needs to be weeded through, but at least its not on the counters!

the counters are a quartz composite called caesarstone, in a color called either cement or concrete.  the have been great so far.  we are by no means gentle with them.  when there is any sort of blemish you can just use the scrubby side of a sponge and get it out.  the subway tiles on the backsplash are from a local company in town.

i really like to use hooks, i’m realizing!  we have some in every room!  i love how the aprons add a pop of color and texture to this bright white area.

just past the kitchen is the tiniest hallway between silas’ room and the guest bath.  on the wall hangs my family rules sign.

i just added this bottle opener – love! (from world market)

see how its all pretty much one big room?

after i saw meg’s kitchen i knew i had to steal her idea with the globes!

i put my mom on the task of finding thrifted globes for me.  she is very good!  i love how the luggage adds to the effect.

the school house pendants over the island were from who knows where and i paid god knows what for them.  all i know is they were too much money, but i needed to get ones with a swivel top since we have a vaulted ceiling and i needed 2 different custom lengths.

the fabric covered board on the side of the fridge is just soundboard covered in fabric and nailed into the wood.  under it is a chalkboard.

i hope you enjoyed my kitchen!  if you have any questions i’ll answer them in the comment form rather than emails.

welcome to part 2 of my house tour!  today we’ll be in the dining room, since it sits just past our living room.

the dining room is open to the rest of the main living space, and has the same wall color as the living room – silver sage by restoration hardware.

the chandelier has moved with us since our first apartment.  we got it at the rose bowl flea market.  we originally had it white, but white felt too soft here and black was the perfect contrast. (i’m seeing now the chandelier is reeeeeally high.  it isn’t normally so, but i forgot to drop it after gracie’s art party)

the table is one of the few pieces of furniture we bought new.  this is a really large space and we have really large extended families, so we knew we needed something substantial.  we found this table at pottery barn on a massive price break.  i don’t think they even sell this table anymore.  the chairs were an amazing find by my sister-in-law, who spotted them hanging from the rafters in a friend’s garage and asked to buy them for me.  they were practically brand new and i think i paid like $20 a chair?

this has been our table centerpiece for quite awhile now: old coke tray, basket of napkins, straws, s&p, and family devotional.  this area needs this color since it is otherwise so black and white.

our gallery wall holds lots of precious pictures, but hopefully i’ll find time to update them soon.  our most recent pic is of silas when he was 6 months old.  he’s almost 4.  i’m hoping to add more color pics from this photo shoot.

the frames are almost all from aaron brothers and the shelves are from ikea – very reasonable price.

our galvanized buffet is the real workhorse around here.  the glass front cabinets hold all our serving dishes, collections of vintage pieces, and my mason jar obsession.  the drawers hold the kids’ art supplies, linens, platters, bowls and candles.  the box on the left is actually a crate on it’s side, and was a gift from my bff nicole and holds vintage tablecloths and a cute basket filled with junk.

these hooks are on the end of the buffet, just inside the back door, where we always enter from the detached garage.  we have a major clutter issue here and the hooks at least help to get the backpacks and my purse off the floor.  and they’re really pretty (from anthro).

and the sweet little beach sign?  i don’t even remember, which is a rare thing.  i can remember totally useless details, but i can’t remember my children’s birth weights.  *gasp*

again, any questions you have i’ll reply to in the comment form, so check back for your answer!