Wow!

Our hardworking double team of Paul the Painter and Alex the Builder have produced fantastic results over the last week. So far we have seen our kitchen move one huge step closer to completion and it's heaven to look at a fully painted wall instead of a motley arrangement of colour samples.

The cutting in begins

You might remember the debate I was having about choosing to continue our green theme or paint the kitchen white? The final decision was to go with the green and we are very happy we did, it looks wonderful.

Here the wall was beginning to take shape. Notice there is no masking tape? Paul doesn't use it because he is so skilled that he somehow manages to paint exactly to the edges. It's amazing to watch.

 Finally this corner starts to look like it matches up.

And here's the final product. It's just wow, that's the only word I have.

Now for the next important question. What should I use to cover the large sliding door?

More paint questions- feedback please!

We've painted a few of the panels in the kitchen with three paint options. We have some opinions based on how they have turned out but I'd love to hear your opinion too. What do you think?

Green on the left, Antique White USA on the right.

White on the left, normal unpainted panels on the right.

Green or white?

I have a rule that I never share pics of my kids on my blog. But all rules are meant to be broken right?

I'm sharing this one for two reasons:
1. Because Tiny Girl looks so lovely
2. Because we are going to be painting the kitchen this weekend and I'm having an internal debate with myself about colours. At the moment the kitchen walls are bare and the lounge room is green. I'm tossing up between painting the whole house a creamy-white (more white than cream) or just using the green and continuing that colour scheme into the kitchen.

What do you think? Do you like the green?

Monday's kitchen

I am meant to be putting the sheets back on our bed. I also have a pile of ironing and a dirty floor. So I bargained with myself. I'm allowed to blog once the dinner is on. So the slow cooker is preparing chicken as we speak and I'm getting on with the important work of blogging.

Thought I'd share two images today of my kitchen in its current state. I wanted to take this picture last Friday but  I forgot to insert the memory card in my camera. So you will have to enjoy my roses in their wilting glory. I've started buying myself flowers every shopping day because, let's face it, if I wait to be presented with flowers I'll be waiting forever. So flowers are my newest 'must have' on my weekly shopping list as a simple reward from me, to me. There's nothing nicer than fresh flowers. (Please ignore the kitchen clutter, I told you it's an 'in its current state' day :-)

The second picture is a genius idea I stole from Martha Stewart. There is nothing uglier than a huge bottle of dishwashing liquid on the drainer so i decant mine into a lovely glass jar. Coordinates well with the hand sanitizer too don't you think?

Can I offer you a cup of tea?

See those right there? Behind the cup? Behind the kettle? Yep, tiles. Finally, we have tiles. Subway tiles no less. In MY kitchen. No longer will people come over and remark on our lack of tiles. Or ask quietly 'so, you do plan to tile there don't you?'

What's even better is that we did this as a weekend project together. No tradies to pay, no mess to clean up (well other people's mess anyway.) We love the result and are scratching our heads trying to figure out why we didn't do this a year ago.

Of course I'm always right, right?

Most people are afraid of being stuck in a lift. I'm afraid of being stuck in the car for long periods with my mother in law. Here's why.

I recently purchased a gorgeous chandelier from a seller on Ebay. My intention is to put it up in the kitchen which I think will match perfectly with the French Provincial theme I have been working towards creating. You would think that was a fairly fun topic of conversation wouldn't you? Apparently not when my mother in law is involved.

Imagine the lip biting going on when listening to this:
'You know, I think the kitchen is the wrong place for a chandelier.'
'No-one puts a chandelier in their kitchen, chandeliers are for lounge rooms and bedrooms.'
'You really should ask someone else [presumably a chandelier expert] what they think.'
I haven't yet mentioned to her that I also intend to put a chandelier in the bathroom.

Just to prove that she is wrong and I am right here are two lovely kitchen chandeliers. (Pictures lovingly stolen from the forum at http://ths.gardenweb.com.)

View from the kitchen

Choosing windows was just one of the many dramas we encountered during the build of the bottom floor. Because we wanted our new floor to be in keeping with the old upper floor it meant we had to source windows from specialist suppliers, not your average run-of-the mill window company. Of course that means added cost as well.


I had designed our kitchen space to take advantage of the view of the backyard and I really wanted a servery window, though I'm really not sure what I thought I would be serving through it! (I don't serve much any way, let alone through a window.) In the end we compromised and ended up with these windows. I adore looking into the backyard when I'm in the kitchen, even when it is unkempt. I get a great view of the pool and the kids and I love the feeling of being 'in' the garden, whilst also being in the house.


So here's a pic, please excuse as yet un-painted window surrounds and bad photography.