Copper accents for the kitchen

I like shiny things. I can't help it. Copper accent pieces have been my weakness for awhile, but I'm trying not to overdo it. In our kitchen especially, we already have a metallic mosaic backsplash, so I gotta reign myself in. 

That said, I have found four copper items that happily reside in the kitchen (three of which happen to be purchased from Amazon, my other guilty pleasure). 

Indoor Compost Bin
In an effort to reduce my carbon footprint just a smidge, I purchased this little countertop compost bin last year. It's basically a copper pail with a lid that has a charcoal filter to absorb odors. So instead of throwing fruit and vegetable scraps (and other compostable items) in the trash, I toss them into a liner inside this little copper pail. To be clear, the pail itself does not turn food into compost -- it's just a cute, non-smelly way to contain your food scraps. Since I don't have a yard composter nor do I use compost in our yard, I take this little bin to our office when it's full and dump it into buckets which are picked up by a community composting service.

Moscow Mule Mugs
Moscow mules might be one of my favorite drinks, but surprisingly we did not own a proper vessel to drink them from until recently. Once we finished our floating shelves in the kitchen, I knew that Moscow mule mugs would be the perfect dual-purpose accent (decorative and functional!). After researching a few options on Amazon, I ended up purchasing a set of two that also came with two mini-mugs which I assume are the equivalent of a shot glass. All in all, it contributes to a nice little shelf display. 

Styled Floating Shelves in the Kitchen

In my last blog post, I revealed the new floating shelves in our kitchen. Since then I've played around with decorating them and am actually pretty happy with the results (although I'm sure it won't be long before I'm ready to change things up again). 

First I shopped around our own house, pulling out some items we currently had on hand (including Moscow mule mugs, wine corks, and a couple mini succulent plants). But I also needed wanted more white accents for a nice contrast against the metallic backsplash and natural wood shelves. Nothing that a trip to Target and Home Goods couldn't solve! I came back with some small square plates, a couple white coffee mugs and a white coffee canister (all of which serve both functional and decorative purposes). A couple styling sessions later, this was where I ended up:

New Floating Shelves in the Kitchen!

Hello and happy new year, friends! (Yes, it's already February, but I haven't posted here since December, soo...) You might remember that last time I shared some photos of our almost-complete kitchen, minus the floating shelves on either side of the microwave. Well I'm happy to say that we've made some good progress lately, and the shelves are finally installed! 

First of all, let me backtrack a bit before the reveal. The brackets we used were the Aksel shelf hardware from Shelfology. These things are pretty heavy-duty, so we could rest easy about the weight of the shelves and what we put on them. We installed the brackets prior to the backsplash - I'm not sure if there's actually a recommended method there, but to us it seemed easier than adding them after the backsplash. (Although it probably caused some frustration for the guy we hired to install the backsplash.)

Our Modern Farmhouse Kitchen Makeover... almost complete!

Happy December! I don't know how it got here so fast, but then again I say that every year. My morning was spent doing some laundry and general cleaning, then running a couple errands in the blustery weather. Thrilling, I know. Now I'm trying to warm up in the basement with a Christmas movie on in the background as I fill you in on the latest developments 'round here. Which brings me to the big announcement:

Ladies and gentlemen: We. Have. A. Backsplash! I think I'm still in disbelief. It's no exaggeration when I say I thought this day might never come. It felt like ages that we were backsplash-less as we trudged through the multiple layers of our DIY kitchen renovation. In reality, it's been about two and a half years since it all really started in this room (summer 2016).

First, let's take a look at what our kitchen looked like wayyy back when we moved in (circa 2008). Because the end result is always much more impactful if you know what it looked like before!

(These were obviously taken in different lighting, but the paint color's the same in both.)

50 shades of beige, gold and orange, amiright? Then a few years ago I painted all our walls gray, which was a much-needed improvement.

Coming Soon... New Kitchen Backsplash!

I can't believe the day has finally come. After months (and months) of slowly chipping away at our kitchen renovation the DIY way (tearing out old backsplash and countertops, painting cabinets, custom-building a new breakfast bar, installing a new sink and butcher block counters, and adding floating shelf brackets)... We are finally having someone come to install our backsplash tomorrow. Eventually you come to a point where you realize you just don't have enough hours in the day to do it all yourself, and that's where we're at right now. 

In fact it's been such a long process thus far that I don't think I'll actually believe it's happening until I see the backsplash up with my own eyes. We bought these boxes at Menards long ago, and the mosaic tiles inside have just been waiting for their time to shine. 

Mohawk Grand Terrace Metallic Medley

Here are some photos of our kitchen I just took tonight, in anticipation for the "before and after" pictures of course. But I figured I might as well share this quick update now, since I've been slacking with regular blog updates about all the other aforementioned projects. 

Space-saving Solutions for the Pantry

My biggest achievement of the week is actually hidden behind a closed door. Go figure. But that doesn't make it any less gratifying!

Lately I've grown increasingly frustrated with our cluttered pantry. I've already come to terms with the fact that it will never be a bright, beautiful, Instagram-worthy pantry — but surely I could at least improve upon its current state: 

The issue really boils down to not using the space that efficiently. Although the freestanding red wire shelves have certainly helped by giving me two levels to work with, there was still a lot of vertical space to be taking advantage of. So one night last week I headed to Amazon in search of organization inspiration. 

Farmhouse Kitchen Sink Update (Part I)

It's been awhile since I posted last about our kitchen, so I figured an update is long overdue. With that said, my piecemeal blogging efforts lately are pretty representative of how this whole renovation process is going!

While we did get the butcher block countertops installed on one side of our kitchen, the counters for the other side have been on hold until we get the new farmhouse sink in.  And that was on hold until we got a new base cabinet built to hold it. 

Let me rewind, as this tends to get confusing quickly. Here's a look at our old setup with the standard stainless steel sink (say that five times fast!) and the higher countertop. 

So we pretty much torn out the entire thing, with the plan of creating a single-level breakfast bar that extends out beyond the sink toward our open living space. The framework for the new base cabinet was also re-oriented at a different angle in order to line up better with our two new pendant fixtures.

Prepping Our Butcher Block Countertop for the Kitchen

Although most of my previous kitchen makeover posts have been cabinet-related, there's been other progress (slowly) happening as well. Just to quickly recap, we decided to go with butcher block in our modern farmhouse kitchen as it's a very cost-effective option for the amount of counter space we'll have. (Especially considering we're adding a breakfast bar.) 

Old tile countertops.

Getting these layers off was not fun, in case you were wondering.

The new countertops we chose are builder oak from Lumber Liquidators. Although something like walnut would have been beautiful, the oak was much cheaper and still gives us that natural look we're going for. We actually ordered them about three months ago, but they sat in their boxes a good while before we were ready to do anything with them. Finally, a couple weeks ago, we figured we could go ahead and at least get two simple pieces cut for one side of our kitchen. 

Painting Interior Doors: From Outdated Orange to Updated Gray

In the process of our kitchen renovation, we came across a minor dilemma recently. What to do about our pantry door and garage door? I had already painted all the surrounding woodwork white, but the doors were still that orange-y Colonial Maple stain.

It's worth noting that these are your average flat panel doors with no detail or interest whatsoever. Painting them white just seemed like it would be too much white, since the two doors are right next to each other. And I didn't want them to detract from or compete with my newly white upper cabinets. 

(Old picture before the cabinets were painted and the floor was removed.)

But buying some fancy new doors was not an option, so the solution had to be found in a paint can. After much debating, we finally came to our conclusion: the door to the garage would be painted to match the wall color, and the pantry door would be painted to match our dark gray lower cabinets. In my mind, it was somewhat of a bold move since all the other doors in our house are white (but they're also six-panel doors instead of completely flat). 

DIY Farmhouse-style Wall Organizer for the Kitchen

For quite some time now, this idea has been percolating in my head. With the ongoing transformation of our "modern farmhouse" kitchen, I knew we would need a new wall organizer customized for this space. (Here are a few kitchen de-cluttering inspiration ideas I posted recently.) 

The existing organizer, which hangs on the narrow wall behind our door to the garage, was very sad and outdated. Along with being a holder for our keys and dog leashes, it had become a dumping ground for random receipts, appointment reminder cards, gift cards, etc. Quite frankly, we had let it get pretty junky looking. 

At first I thought of just painting the wood frame white to give it a fresh updated look.  (That's pretty much what I've done with everything else around here.) But I still really didn't like the look of the corkboard anymore, and the three cubby holes were too small.  On to Plan B...

Operation Declutter: Organization Ideas for the Kitchen

I'm generally a pretty organized person.  I like to have a place for everything, and everything in its place.  I try to sort through junk mail right away and deal with the rest as needed.  

With that said, I have my moments where things start to get a little out of control.  Our current kitchen renovation being one of them.  For some reason, it's less motivating to stay organized when everything around you is just a mess.  But once we get the kitchen all put back together and it looks amazing (hopefully), I'm going make a conscious effort to get-and stay--organized again. 

It irks me when papers, junk mail, and other random things accumulate on the counter.  Counter space is valuable real estate in our small kitchen, so I'd prefer to keep it as uncluttered as possible.  I've been brainstorming a few ideas for a mail station/organizer to hang on the wall behind our door in the kitchen.  Aside from mail, it needs to be a drop zone for keys, dog leashes, sunglasses/wallet/cell phone, etc.  A low profile is also important since it's right behind the door.

Kitchen Cabinet Chalk Paint Makeover: Part IV

[NOTE: Be sure to check out Part I, Part II, and Part III to see the progress from the beginning!]

For the past few weeks, the painted drawers and doors for our lower kitchen cabinets have been spread out across our house while we removed the existing tiled countertop and backsplash. (NOT a fun process, but my hubby did most of the dirty work on that part.)  This past weekend though, we decided it was probably safe to put them back on the cabinet bases so we can at least have a somewhat-functioning kitchen.

The process took a little longer because we still had to drill holes in the drawers to add the hardware.  But finally, everything was back in place. And it looks just as good as I had envisioned -- if not better! The contrast of the crisp white upper cabinets with the graphite lower cabinets looks really sharp. Apparently this style is known as "tuxedo" kitchen cabinets, according to this HGTV article. It's also been identified as one of this year's hot kitchen trends, which isn't too surprising given how much I've seen it on Pinterest.

Enough of my rambling -- let's get to the progress pictures!

Our temporary "countertop" is actually the plywood that was beneath all the tile. My husband cleaned it off and we just laid the plywood back on top so we at least have a working surface for now. 

Our Modern Farmhouse Kitchen Inspiration

I've already posted some of the progress of our massive kitchen makeover (see Cabinet Painting Part I, Part II, and Part III), but I've never really shared the overall vision for the kitchen.

Even though I have a Pinterest board with plenty of ideas for kitchen inspiration, I thought I'd put together a little vision board here because A) it's helpful to see all the specific products together and B) it's just fun to create one! I'm calling it this "modern farmhouse" but with all of the blending of styles out there these days, who really knows? All I know is I'm a fan of mixing and matching different materials, finishes, and textures to create something unique and individualized. 

If you haven't been following along up until this point, we will also have white distressed upper cabinets, and dark gray distressed lower cabinets.

The only things we've actually ordered so far are the pendant lights and the cabinet hardware, but I think we're fairly set on the rest of it. I'm sure I'll share an update with final selections once our kitchen is done, but let's face it -- that's weeks (if not months) down the road.  In the meantime, sources below!

Capitol Lighting 10-inch Mini Pendant - Graphite with Aged Brass

[ via 1800lighting.com ]

Grand Terrace Metallic Medley Hexagon Mosaic

[ via menards.com ]

Williamsburg Butcher Block Co. Builder Oak Countertop

[ via lumberliquidators.com ]

Cosmas® 701ORB Oil Rubbed Bronze Contemporary Cabinet Hardware Knob - 

1-7/16" Length - 10 Pack

[ via amazon.com ]

Pfister GT529BF Briarsfield Pullout Spray Kitchen Faucet with AccuDock Technolog, Tuscan Bronze

[ via amazon.com ]

Olde London Double-Bowl Fireclay Farmhouse Sink

[ via wayfair.com ]

It's worth noting that once the oak countertops are sealed/oiled, they'll probably be a little darker than what the stock picture shows.

And, we're still debating on the mosaic tile -- Menards also has a Copper Medley style.  But the all-silver tile may add more of that "modern" contrast we're going for. So of course I had to swap it out for another vision board!

What do you think?? We'll probably just have to bring home a sample of each tile once we have the butcher block countertops installed.

NOTE:

Little House on the Corner is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Crazy for Copper: Top 12 Copper Home Accents

Whether it's smooth or hammered, shiny or antiqued, rosy-hued or bronze-hued... I'm crazy for copper!  This beautiful metal is so versatile as an accent in home decor, and mixing it with other metals is a big "yasss!" in my book. 

Copper adds such warmth and richness to a space. So with fall right around the corner I thought it would be a great time to compile a list of my top 10 favorite copper looks. Well, except I had a problem narrowing it down to just 10. So with that said...  get ready to indulge in some swoon-worthy copper goodness!

Kitchen Cabinet Chalk Paint Makeover: Part III

[Be sure to check out Part I and Part II if you haven't already!]

If you can't tell, I'm breaking down this cabinet painting project into lots of bite-size blog posts. First of all, it's much more manageable than trying to do just a couple massive ones. Second of all, this project in itself is very loooong and drawn out as part of a total kitchen renovation that's becoming quite the behemoth. It will probably be a 10-part blog series by the time it's all said and done!

Anyway, I've completed all of the upper cabinets, which are painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Pure White.  We then ripped out the countertops (to eventually be replaced with butcher block) on one side of the kitchen so I could start painting those cabinets with Annie Sloan Graphite.  

Bye bye, honey oak!

Luckily the Graphite is darker and therefore has better coverage than the Pure White.  I was able to get away with just two coats on the inside of the cabinet doors, and three (for good measure) on the fronts. This also means I might be able to cover all the lower cabinets with just one can of chalk paint... my fingers are crossed. This stuff isn't cheap!

Kitchen Cabinet Chalk Paint Makeover: Part II

I thought it was about time to share another update on our kitchen cabinet makeover. (If you missed Part I with "before" pictures, be sure to check it out here!) I've finished painting all of the upper cabinets with Annie Sloan Pure White chalk paint, followed by some hand-distressing and finally a coat of Annie Sloan clear soft wax. Whew!  It makes me tired just thinking about it.  

I removed all of the doors and painted them separately from the cabinets.  It took a full four coats of paint for a completely uniform appearance that covered up the old stain color (which I like to call "Orange Oak.")  Confession: I skimped and only did three coats on the inside of the doors... you rarely see them anyway!

Without further ado, here are some more progress photos of our newly-white cabinets: 

After four coats (!) of chalk paint

Kitchen Cabinet Chalk Paint Makeover: Part I

The list of renovations we're working on has slowly gotten out of control grown over the last few months. Like, to the point where we're pretty much removing, replacing, or repainting everything (besides the walls, which I already did a couple years ago).  

Amidst the chaos is a much-needed kitchen makeover, which will consist of "new" cabinets, new countertops, new backsplash, and new sink. Our existing cabinets are the run-of-the-mill, builder-grade variety. Nothing special here. They are very un-special, in fact. And the Colonial Maple stained oak has long worn out its welcome. All I can see when I look at our woodwork these days is orange. (Which also doesn't do our gray-with-a-hint-of-blue walls any favors, either.)

Our kitchen is pretty small. I had to cram myself into corners

and use odd angles to get some of these pictures.

Easy Kitchen Update: The Faucet Factor

Although I'm not a huge fan of our kitchen sink (or countertop… or cabinets…), there have been other more important things on our project priority list around the house. It's not like our kitchen is out-of-date or anything like that, but let's just say that if time and money weren't an issue, I'd love to give it an overhaul. 

Anyway, recently an opportunity to make a small change presented itself, and we couldn't turn it down.

Here's our current faucet... nothing special here, folks. 

Just your standard chrome fixture.

Under-the-Sink Panels: From Fake to Functional

You know what I'm talking about, right?

Yeah, those panels under your sink that look like drawers, but really aren't. Up until recently, I didn't think there was anything that could be done to make these usable. Then I saw something amazing at a friend's house. They had turned their front panels into a storage space.

So this weekend, we went to Lowe's in search of the kit that could make this happen for us, and found it in the kitchen organization section (imagine that). We needed the 14" size, which was $18.57 for two trays.

Rev-A-Shelf - 6572-14-11-52 - 14 in. White Polymer Tip Out Sink Front Trays and Hinges

See where this is going? Maybe I'm behind the times, but I did not know such a thing existed.

At first, I was determined to make this my own project and do it without any of Luke's help. But it didn't take long before I realized my foolishness. These things just go much quicker when he lends his handiness (as much as I hate to admit it). Oh well, teamwork is a good thing, right?

The kit came with a pretty decent set of instructions, which we followed for the most part.

First, we had to take out the panels and remove the pesky plastic strip things that were stapled into them.



Then it was a matter of measuring and marking where to drill the pilot holes for the hinges and tray slots, as well as the holes in the frame opening itself. The kit came with templates to help do this.

The trickiest part was drilling the screws into the frame openings, because of the tight spaces we were working with. (And during this part, it really was helpful to have an extra set of hands to hold the panel in place.) Finally, we got them all tightened up. The result? Two shiny new storage trays just begging to be filled with crap!

Now I had a place to put the aforementioned, unsightly crap that normally clutters up the sink area (scrubber, scraper, drain plugs, water softener monitor that we never use, etc.)

The whole project probably took about an hour and a half, which I think was well worth it. Our sink/counter looks much less cluttered (except for the wand scrubber, which wouldn't fit), and you'd never know the sink panels are secret organizers now. Genius!

So tell me, did you know these sink tray kits existed? Have you already turned your fake panels into functional panels?

NOTE: Little House on the Corner is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

All Dried Out

I think I finally decided what to order from CSN Stores for my product review. And it's totally different than anything I originally had my eyes on. There were so many different home decor items (wall ledges, picture frames, accent tables, etc.) that I loved, but I don't necessarily have a place in mind for them right now and I didn't want something that would just sit around in a box for months.

So I started thinking along the lines of kitchen items instead and began browsing through the small appliances. They had anything from toasters and blenders to waffle-makers and espresso machines... and then I saw the food dehydrators. This isn't something I've necessarily been looking for or anything, but it has crossed my mind once or twice. We used to have one when I was little and I just remember loving the fruit roll-ups! I think it would be a great way to make healthy snacks and eat more fruit (and Luke, of course, is excited about the idea of making jerky).

The Nesco/American Harvest FD-60 Snackmaster Express appeared to have some of the best reviews on CSN, and I also found other positive reviews for it on Amazon. So, I think this is the winner!

Hopefully, it's an appliance that we'll actually utilize on a regular basis instead of neglecting it and letting it collect dust on our pantry shelves (*cough*...not that we have any other appliances like that...). You can be sure I'll let you know how my first dehydrating experience goes!

Does anyone else have a food dehydrator? If so, what's your favorite thing to make?