Opulent Cottage

Our New Red Kitchen Cabinets

Have I teased you all about this long enough? *sorryaboutthat* Well finally, here is the reveal of our newly painted RED cabinets!

 

I didn't know I wanted to paint my cabinets red. But I have been lightening and brightening my wardrobe, and suddenly wanted to brighten everything in the house too. I walked into the kitchen one day and knew I couldn't look at those black cabinets one more minute.

 

You know how those light bulb moments happen. I was standing here looking at my Dutch oven and admiring the sort of ombre effect of the glazing, and thought somewhere in between the orangey-red at the top and the purpley-red at the bottom is the perfect color. And sure enough, in my stash of oops paint samples from Home Depot, was that exact red. That sample that cost 50 cents set this whole thing in motion!

 

As luck would have it, the guy who color-matched the sample decided to take the intensity back about 10%, so the red wouldn't be too bright and overwhelming. He definitely made the right choice. I bought a quart of Behr Satin with primer, and it covered everything beautifully. There are still way too many nit-picky things to be touched up, but I'll get to those in the heat of summer when it's too hot to be in the garden. And wow, I realize the red looks different in every single photo. Trust me when I say that it's not this bright in person.

 

I think part of the reason that I was stalling on the reveal is that the black toile sink curtain is just not working for me any more. I finally found the perfect fabric, and I'll share as soon as I get that whipped up! The applicances sort of worried me, too. They seemed to disappear when the cabinets were black, and I wasn't sure how they would look with the red. But honestly I don't mind them. Certainly wouldn't want to live without them, now, would I?!

 

We all still really love the vintage-style glass pulls. Some of them are actually vintage, and some came from Restoration Hardware years ago. I have figured out since then that there are lots of Etsy sellers who carry them, for really good prices. Every once in a while we break one, so I keep a stash of a couple extra now. 

 

You can see how the kitchen looked before here. It's a fun change, isn't it? $16 worth of paint and a little sweat equity, and it's like I have a whole new room. 

Who out there has been hankering for a change? Can I persuade you to go for it?!! You could feel like you have a new kitchen, too :)

xoxo, Andrea

Joining:

Kim's Wow Us Wednesday

From the Farm blog hop

Nita's Mod Mix Monday

Brenda's Tweak It Tuesday.

Black and White Cottage Kitchen Tour

Is anyone else soooo ready for fall?! I know I am really ready for a break from the 100+ degree temps. But I'm also not quite ready for pumpkins and mums, not just yet, anyway. I decided to freshen our black and white kitchen with a palette of mixed greens! It's the perfect cool, soothing mix of colors for early fall here in Texas :)

Our little galley kitchen in our 1926 Tudor-style home is just 8 by 10 feet. Believe me, this kitchen gets a workout, because I serve up three meals a day here! Maurie and I both love to cook, and we make almost every cuisine. Every inch has to count! 

I use plenty of green in our home decor, and the Bordallo cabbage plates have long been a fixture on our shelves. Mixing these with the brighter, zippier green of Fiesta dishware gave me the *punch* of green that I was craving! I shopped the house, then headed out to my favorite thrift store to see what else I could find. When finished, I had given our kitchen a fresh, early fall look, for under $20!!

These black scrolly shelves decorate the wall between our kitchen and breakfast nook, and can be seen througout the house. It's a perfect spot for displaying items for each season! The table underneath is a former potting bench, and we love its chippy charm. This area gives us some great storage space, too. In a few weeks the shelf underneath will be bursting with freshly canned tomatoes, pickles, and anything else I can find locally to preserve. Yum!

Our circa 1970s Sears and Roebuck cabinets have been through a few transformations since we bought this house in 1986. I love their vintage vibe, and just spruced them up last winter with fresh white paint. One thing I will never change is the authentically-weathered cabinet doors, with their insets of chicken wire.

A few years ago I painted our lower cabinets black. It felt like we had a new kitchen! They are actually due for a touchup, and I'm thinking about a new treatment with some distressing and a touch of Miss Mustard Seed's white wax. I'm hoping it will bring out the charming detail on the doors. 

An ever-changing display of seasonal goodies is contained in trays on either side of the sink. It leaves me less room for chopping and plating, but hey -- priorities!! The basket in this corner is small and just perfect for this tight space. I love that it's the color of the burlap curtains, which you can read all about here.

For years, this area contained a space-wasting pantry that didn't make any sense. A while back we ripped it all out, and added a lower cabinet and three upper shelves. The cabinet underneath gives us almost as much storage as we had with the old pantry, and now I have these wonderful shelves for seasonal display. Glass canisters help make up for lost pantry space. 

Adding a bead board backsplash brightened the whole kitchen. Someday the countertops will be Carrera marble, but for now the wood tone suits us just fine :)

Glass knobs and a 50'sVent-A-Hood bring that vintage feel that I adore! On the stove, an old photo frame got a coat of black spray paint, and scrapbook paper to give this area a shot of color. A tiny cabbage plate holds our stainless salt and pepper shakers, and suddenly this area seems a lot more cheerful.

This simple palette is invigorating, but soothing also, if that makes any sense! I love the aura of simplicity and freshness that paring the colors down brings. 

There's more to share, too! Soon I'll show the attached breakfast nook, my kitchen desk/office area, and our tiny laundry room that's off the back of the kitchen. Thanks so much for coming by to see my kitchen :)

Joining:

Kim's Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Sherry's Open House Party at No Minimalist Here

Yvonne's Tutorials Tips and Tidbits at StoneGable

More Valentine's in the Kitchen

We're in full-on Valentine mode here! I dove straight into it this year, and took advantage of having some items I could use when the Christmas decorations came down. 

Remember when I said that I scored some after-Christmas goodies at WalMart? Well, this little tree is one of my found treasures! Isn't it a cute one to use for other holidays? Actually, it's two of the trees, stacked, which made it a little bit taller. At $1.75 each, they were a bargain. As of a couple days ago, my WM still had some, by the way. I bought two packages of Dollar Tree heart picks and just wiggled them in there. 

This cute glittered Love cutout was in the dollar bin at Target. And I still love love love my striped heart plates from Target, they may be my favorite Valentine's decoration ever.

And how festive is this printable? You'll find it here.

And I have news!! Tomorrow I'll be at Debbiedoo's, with a first-ever home tour of Opulent Cottage! I hope you will stop in and say hi :)

I'm joining:

Debra for Be Inspired at Common Ground

Courtney for Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Cindy for Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Debbie and Shannon's Power of Pinterest Party

Kim's Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style