The Painted Kitchen

Birthday cake and cards, and hydrangea from the garden
Thank you all for all the wonderful birthday greetings!

Phase one of the Visual Vamp Kitchen Revamp is completed! And that would be the painting!

Gone is the French mustard color, and here is the lovely perfect Greige that is getting very popular around town. I have suggested it for two design projects, and it has turned out to be one of those magical paint colors that works for everyone and everywhere.

Cabinet in breakfast area

The miscellaneous pieces of furniture also got their paint job. These are odds and ends that I use for storage, and painting them in shades of Greige unifies them visually.

Birds eye view of the breakfast area
Black and white elements added
to play off the dining room chairs I have had for years
The bench from the dining room ended up here

I snapped a few down and dirty photos for you, not styled, just to give you a glimpse of a project in progress. There's demolished birthday cake on the table, the trash can visible, and the ladder is still up.

Breakfast area

Vintage Melamine fish platter

The new acquisition of the antique Louis Phillipe style mirror got hung over the mantle. Gone are the Majolica plates and tole candle sconce. One vintage Melamine fish platter made it onto the mantle, with a pair of modern lamps. The life size skeleton anatomy charts have been rolled up and put away, and the cross collection has met a similar fate.

Louis Phillipe style mirror above the fireplace

Detail of the fireplace

View of kitchen stairs
No more cross collection!
The pantry "armoire" Alberto made to fit under the stairs also got Greige

Bar under the stairs

Painted kitchen furniture
The lace curtain is temporary
Fabric has been ordered to make a Roman shade here
And drapes for the window in the breakfast area

The Union Jack from Appliance Art
I won it from Bohemian Hellhole!
Thanks Alice!
It was very easy to install -
It's just a big sticker actually
and came with a handy smoothing tool

The bakers rack got a coat of paint

The next thing we will be doing is the new counter top. But first Alberto will finish the cabinet doors he's been working on, the ones for the cupboards with the white ironstone. The doors he is making are so cute. They have chicken wire insets.

Upper cabinets will get doors with chicken wire insets
Go HERE to see how the kitchen project started months ago

We love the progress we are making in the kitchen. It is so nice to sit and stare at what we have accomplished, and have a think about the things to come.

I love having a project, despite the hard work. Don't you find it rewarding to do something so transformative? Painting is amazing. I used 2 gallons of paint on the walls and ceilings, and trim that cost $40. And another $20. for the paint for the furniture. It's the best bang for the decorating buck any visual vamp can get!

For the most part I am using what I have for this phase of the kitchen. Moving things from other parts of the house is a great way to keep a design cohesive and budget friendly.

So don't wait to do a project because you don't have a huge budget. Just do it! You won't be sorry. I love the work I see so many bloggers do to their homes, whether it's a project that is blessed with great budgets and big name designers, or ones that involves lots of DIY and Craigslist finds. You guys keep me stoked and energized!

Tommy Hilfiger's kitchen

PS I love this kitchen in Tommy Hilfiger's new apartment HERE. He calls it a bistro kitchen, and I swear to Gawd that I have been saying I want a bistro feeling in my kitchen!!!

Happy Weekend!