Pantry Perfect

04 Tuesday Dec 2012

Posted by melissaoconnor in Everyday Design, The Home

Tags

design, interior, kitchen, organization tips, organize pantry, pantry, shelves

Having a pantry in your kitchen is such a great thing. It’s just nice to have everything in one place. Even though mine is quite small, I appreciate being able to keep all our food in one area and you can bet its nice and tidy. However, its also one place that can get messy and out of hand.

My husband and I converted a small coat closet to create our pantry. I knew there wouldn’t be enough space in the cabinets so it was a given. Although I always keep it organized, about two to three times a year I take everything out, clean it and reorganize. Since the door was always in the way, we took it off and hung a cute curtain that matched the country feel of our space. Much better.

There are plenty of ways to keep your pantry looking neat. Here are some great design ideas I found to help you create a useful space in your home.

If you have to create your own pantry, purchase a small cabinet with shelving, drawers and enough room to house all your perishables. In some cases, you can even make it look like it was always there.

Photo Credit: Better Homes and Gardens

Or you can build a recessed pantry where you have an open wall space.

Photo Credit: Better Homes and Gardens

Using frosted glass to cover the pantry is a modern way to keep it hidden while still being able to see what it’s inside.

Photo Credit: Better Homes and Gardens

Keep it cool with unique style and get creative with the doors.

Photo Credit: Shelterness

I love the idea of a cubby style pantry. You can have so much with materials and labels with this one.

Photo Credit: Better Homes and Gardens

If you have a modern or contemporary kitchen and don’t mind having stuff out in the open, a simple bakers rack or metal shelving would work wonders. Even if have a rustic kitchen this would work. Just use wood or another natural element for more warmth.

Photo Credit: Better Homes and Gardens

Or just leave your walk in pantry all open. Just make sure its neat!

Photo Credit: Quaker Rose

If you’re handy, try repurposing another piece of furniture to use. Items like an armoire would work perfect.

Photo Credit: Better Homes and Gardens

Creating a Designer Kitchen on a Budget

19 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by melissaoconnor in Everyday Design, Guest Posts, James Harper, The Home

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Tags

appliances, cabinets, Caple, color, design, diy, floor models, Frigidaire, General Electric, home, interior design, james harper, kitchen, Kitchen Appliance Centre, redesign, refurbish, shopping, sinks, vintage

The average custom kitchen can cost upwards of $20,000, but in this poor economy not many people can afford to spend that much. If you’re willing to put in some sweat equity, you can have the designer kitchen you want without blowing your budget.

Add a Splash of Color
Bold, bright colors are everywhere; candy-apple reds, sunny yellows, and rich, warm tones are very popular in appliances. Electrical stores and kitchen specialists offer a huge range of products to suit all budgets, look for established brands Neff, Zanussi and Caple and do your research to find top of the line products. Buying your appliances from a discount outlet will give you the high end look you want at a much lower price.

As an alternative to spending thousands on an appliance that will have a permanent place in your kitchen, consider buying changeable panels for your dishwasher, stove and refrigerator. Other less expensive options include freestanding appliances in bright colors, changing lighting fixtures, adding a bright splashback, or re-facing cabinetry and changing hardware. These smaller projects can cost less than $100, but make a big impact.

Photo Credit: Kitchen Cabinet Design Ideas

Refurbish Vintage Pieces
Today’s less structured looks can be achieved at a lower cost by taking some styling cues from your family room. Get the look by using different finishes on furniture-style cabinetry; a cheap way to do it is to refurbish old pieces like dressers, armoires, and even rolling carts to create additional storage. For even more personalization, incorporate architectural pieces from the salvage yard.

Photo Credit: Ghoofie Design

Buy Floor Models
Manufacturers such as General Electric, Frigidaire and Caple frequently have stock that’s been slightly damaged; in most cases, the “damage” is a slight scratch that you won’t even see once the appliance is in place. Buying from scratch-and-dent stores or getting a floor or demo model can give you the kitchen you want without breaking the bank.

Shop Smart
Other kitchen necessities can be bought on the cheap as well. Caple sinks, custom cabinets, granite countertops and flooring made of bamboo and other materials are all widely available from discounters both in-store and online. With all the options available, it can be hard to find the look you want at a cost you can afford–online comparison-shopping tools make the process much easier.

Do the Work Yourself
Some of you may be reluctant to get your hands dirty, but going the DIY route can help you get a designer-look kitchen without the designer price tag. Installing your own countertops and splashbacks will give you a tremendous sense of accomplishment (and a fatter wallet). Of course, your pricing will vary depending on the products you choose, but you’ll definitely save on labor.

Photo Credit: CabFabLab

Written by James Harper on behalf of the Kitchen Appliance Centre

Guest Post: Tints & Tones-Brilliant Colors that Work for Every Room

30 Thursday Aug 2012

Posted by melissaoconnor in Everyday Design, Guest Posts, The Home

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bathroom, bedroom, color, decorating, design, home, interior design, kitchen, living room, open colleges, tess pajaron, tints and tones

One of my favorite parts about starting a new decorating project, or moving into a new home is picking out the color palette. Color has an instant effect on how we feel every time we step into a space. They can help define the mood in the room and can even have an influence on how we act. Each room, however, is different. In some rooms, you want to sleep in a relaxed and peaceful environment, while other rooms are made for spicing up your life with some culinary excitement. Because of this, your color scheme will change depending on which room you are decorating.

If you are starting a new design project, or moving into a new space, here are a few tips to get you started as you choose your colors and make your home your own.

Kitchen
The kitchen is one room where you spend a lot of time whipping up delicious meals for you, your spouse and your friends. In this room, the senses are generally very fine tuned as you smell your food for the perfect spicing, sip your wine as you cook, or listen to your favorite music to make you feel at ease. This is the room where people also head to fit their cravings, and painted with the wrong color, all of this can go awry.

Red and yellow are two of the most popular colors in fast food chain logos. The reason for this is because they inspire hunger and action. While it is true that you head to the kitchen to make something to eat, having your kitchen painted the wrong color can actually affect your appetite and cause you to eat more than you should. These are two colors to steer clear of.

In the kitchen, keeping colors that allow you to unwind while you cook are a much better option. Take a cue from nature and use the psychologically calming color of green. Green kitchens offer a great place to unwind after a long workday as you prepare a culinary delight as they lend themselves to feelings of relaxation. For a touch of sophistication, add deep purples. Not only do these colors go well together, but the touch of purple will inspire just the right amount of creativity you need to make each meal extra special.

Bedroom
The bedroom is your haven to relax and get your much needed rest before heading out into the hustle and bustle of the world again. Because this is your place to escape, you will want to feel at ease as soon as you enter the space to relax and go to bed each night.

The best color to do this with is blue. Blue inspires a natural feeling of serenity. The color of water and nature, this hue can help you feel as though you are mentally washing away the troubles of the day and going to sleep each night ready to be refreshed when you awake. Studies have shown that people who look at the color blue have actually experienced a slowing of their blood pressure, respiration and heart rate. All of these bodily functions inspired by the peaceful color of blue create an optimal setting for rest.

To use this color right, it is best to avoid blues that are too light or too dark. Lighter blues can give the room a cold and unwelcoming feel, which is the opposite effect of what you want in your bedroom. Dark blues on the other hand can inspire sadness – a feeling no one wants to be surrounded by. Using blues in the middle is the right pick for bedrooms.

Living Room
Your living room and family room are the opposite of your bedroom in that they are places to socialize and converse. When you bring people together in your home, you want to create a warm area where people feel at ease and able to be themselves.

The best way to create this space is with a combination of colors. To start by creating a warm feeling, using neutral colors is best. Whites, tans and greys are perfect colors to use on the walls as they inspire a feeling of calm. To peak conversation, however, using red and yellow accents can brighten a space and make people subconsciously want to converse. This hue helps to boost your heart rate, making it a good color for night time conversations and parties where people stay late.

Bathroom
The bathroom is another very serene room as it is a place generally only used in solitude. For this reason, you should consider the place where you feel most serene. For many people, this is the beach. Using teals, sea foam green and tan colors paired with white towels and accents can make your bathroom more inviting and reminiscent of your favorite days on the beach or in the calming air of nature.

For many people choosing a color scheme is done based on gut reaction. But before you pick your colors for your next home or project, think also about the effect they will have on how you feel.

Tess Pajaron is part of the team behind Open Colleges. Her background stems from her exposure to their family-owned construction business. She is a lover of minimalist modern designs and architecture. On her spare time, she loves to travel.

Home Sweet Home: Kitchen Redesign

22 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by melissaoconnor in Everyday Design, The Home

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

country, decorating, home, kitchen, painting, redesign, rustic, vintage

On Valentine’s Day my fiance and I officially moved into our new home. We are so happy and excited to be homeowners and have a house we love. From the moment I saw a photo, it was love at first sight, and I had a feeling it might be the one. We both wanted an older home with lots of character and that is what we got. Our little dream house.

There was much work to be done and Dan and I busted our butts to get as much done as possible. Being a designer you can imagine the plans I had for the house and the excitement I felt to actually get started. This is the first post in my Home Sweet Home series where I will share our journey discovering the layers of our 1929 home and redesigning the space from inside out. I hope it inspires some great ideas of your own and gets you amped for some new projects you may have been planning to do around your own home. So lets get started!

The kitchen was one of the main rooms we had to do a lot of work to. It had blue tile board on half the walls and the rest was wallpaper. This was definitely coming down. The cabinets were built by the father of the family who lived here and are in great condition so they just needed a fresh face.

We also had to deal with an old hood above the stove that was way too big and super dirty. Taking this down was a pain in the ass because it was connected to an outlet that was hardwired to the wall fan underneath. We like the look of the fan but really have no reason to use it so we just closed it up for now. We also had to get the washing machine pipes moved and reconnected downstairs in the basement. Thank god for plumbers!

So, the day we ripped down the walls was a glorious day. Layer by layer, and there were many, I could see my vision coming alive. It was nice to start with a clean slate. We were happy the floors weren’t so bad because we had a whole list of things that had to be done and it was a relief the floors weren’t one of them.

Then the fun began. I had a few photos of inspiration I worked off of but I wanted the space to be very natural, soft and bright. My color palette would consist of creams, whites and wood tones with small touches of more colorful neutrals. These two images were my main inspiration.

After I cleaned and painted the cabinets and added new hardware, they looked fresh and new. Their 50s style shined a little bit brighter after I was done with them.

We had wide plank paneling installed with crown moulding on the walls and that totally gave the space a facelift. I wanted a modern country feel with rustic accents and the new walls helped that idea come alive. Once we painted and put up the new curtains I could see it all coming together perfectly.

Our table and chairs played an important role as they carried out the wood tones I needed for warmth. The darker laminate floors also helped anchor the room.

We purchased 100 year old barn wood on Etsy and used it for the backsplash which further added to the rustic feel I wanted. We bought it in strips so putting it up was just a matter of nailing them into the walls.

A new sink was in order so once that was installed along with our new faucet, the counter area looked much more cleaner and brighter. Because we plan on ripping everything out down the line, we decided to keep the countertop for now. Especially since it goes with our vintage theme.

The last thing on our list is the lighting which we are working on now but I have to say we transformed the space into something magical and beautiful. It may not be perfect yet but I love our new kitchen. This was all done on a budget and pretty much a DIY project all the way through. We are happy we got the help we needed for the paneling because we just couldn’t do it all.

After all our hard work, this is what we created. I wish you all tons of luck on your home projects. I always say, the harder you work and put your heart into something, the payoff is extremely satisfying. Do it yourself and be proud of what you created. I know we are!

{Shops I purchased items from: Target, Ikea, Lowes, Etsy, Home Depot, Kmart}