Command Central expansion

It's not enough to have an organized pantry, a beautiful kitchen, and a morning launching pad, I needed an expansion of mommy-command-central. Enter the back of the pantry door.

A Dry-erase calendar (purchased from target), a menu planning board (inspired from here), a chalkboard for notes (our repurposed writing slate), and a kid-level mirror (so the little ones can put on their own sunscreen).

The mirror was a dollar store find that I taped off and spray painted gold during our spray paint party.

One again. The door before:

After:

The menu board had a few failed attempts. The first one I forgot to take into account the 8x10 opening instead of an 8 1/2 x 11 opening. Oops. Then I got it right.

I link to these awesome parties:

Sunday: I Heart Naptime, Nifty Thrifty Things, Inspired Honeybee, Delectable Home, It's Overflowing  Monday: Between Naps on the Porch, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Thrifty Decor Chick, Alderberry Hill, Debbie Doo's, Home Stories A to Z, Home Savvy AtoZ , Evolution of Style Tuesday: Coastal Charm, Nest for Less, Tip Junkie, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Carolyn's Homework, Made in a Day, Our Delightful Home, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Get Your Craft On, Kurtz Corner , Organize and Decorate, Natural Nesters, Uncommon Designs Wednesday: Savvy Southern Style, Mommy Solutions, Power of Paint, Newlyweds Recipe Linky, Southern Lovely , Home Happy Home, Crafty Sasse Wednesday, Grateful Belly Thursday: The Shabby Creek Cottage, Made in a Day, House of Hepworths, the 36th Avenue , Bloggeritaville Craft, Scrappy, Happy, 52 Mantels Friday: One Artsy Mama, Serenity Now, Tatertots and Jello, The Shabby Nest, Thirty Handmade Days, Addicted 2 Decorating, Funky Junk Interiors, Financial Friday, Furniture Friday, At the Picket Fence, The Rooster and the Hen

Pin It

White Marble Dream Kitchen

You've seen a snapshot of the kitchen corner. That same corner with UV shades. Then I showed you a bit of it looking into the dining room. Here is the whole thing.

This is our coffee-making corner. My husband used to take a quick walk to coffee each morning, but now that we live way up the hill and have three kids to wrangle, that is pretty untenable. So we used a gift card and bought the Nespresso Pixie espresso maker  which he adores. It's pod-system so he can make once cup at a time. I don't need coffee, just give me the KitchenAid mixer and some muffins/cupcakes/frosting/cookies anytime!

The kitchen is my favorite room in the entire house. We splurged big time, amazing solid wood cabinets from Christopher Peacock Cabinets (with walnut drawers!), Calcutta Oro marble counters, polished nickel pulls, a killer 48 inch Wolf range, two (2!) Miele dishwashers, and the prettiest fridge and freezer ever (also from Miele). And, oh, it is so worth it.

Looking through the dining room to the living room (with deer head over the fireplace).

Doors closed.

And just because I'm in love with every single aspect of this room, I'll show you a few of my favorite drawers:

A walnut crescent knife block? Yes. Yes, please.

I love storing dishes in drawers, it's easier for my kids to help set the table and with no upper cabinets, the walls are free to have plenty of windows!

The wine glasses (I just buy them by the dozen from Overstock) are in a drawer in the island near both the fridge (for access to wine and champagne) and the dining room beyond. 

Jessica

Thanks for stopping by! 

Please feel free to follow me with all those nifty buttons in the sidebar:)

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or RSS Feed

I link to these awesome parties:

Sunday: I Heart Naptime, Nifty Thrifty Things, Inspired Honeybee, It's Overflowing, A Rosie Sweet Home  Monday: Delectable Home, Between Naps on the Porch, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Thrifty Decor Chick, Alderberry Hill, Debbie Doo's, Home Stories A to Z, Home Savvy AtoZ , Evolution of Style Tuesday: Coastal Charm, Nest for Less, Tip Junkie, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Carolyn's Homework, Our Delightful Home, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Get Your Craft On, Kurtz Corner , Natural Nesters, Uncommon Designs, Centsational Girl  Wednesday: Savvy Southern Style, Organize and Decorate,  Mommy Solutions, Power of Paint, Newlyweds Recipe Linky, Southern Lovely , Home Happy Home, Crafty Sasse Wednesday, Grateful Belly, Gingersnap Crafts  Thursday: The Shabby Creek Cottage, Made in a Day, House of Hepworths, the 36th Avenue , Bloggeritaville Craft, Scrappy, Happy, 52 Mantels Friday: One Artsy Mama, Serenity Now, Tatertots and Jello, The Shabby Nest, Thirty Handmade Days, Addicted 2 Decorating, Funky Junk Interiors, Financial Friday, Furniture Friday, At the Picket Fence, The Rooster and the Hen

Pin It

UV Shades to Keep out the Sun

As you have seen, our kitchen gets a lot of sun. With our exposure, south and west, the sunlight pours in, especially in the afternoons. With all the white, it can get a little glare-y.

Imagine you are standing next to the windows.

Now look up.

Those pockets, or soffits, if you want the correct architectural term, house automatic UV shades. That means when it gets too sunny I can flip a switch and the shades descend to temper the harsh daylight.

Much better.

I link to these awesome parties:

Sunday: I Heart Naptime, Nifty Thrifty Things, Inspired Honeybee, Nest for Less, Delectable Home, It's Overflowing  Monday:Between Naps on the Porch, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Thrifty Decor Chick, Alderberry Hill, Debbie Doo's, Home Stories A to Z, Home Savvy AtoZ , Tuesday: Coastal Charm, Tip Junkie, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Carolyn's Homework, Made in a Day, Our Delightful Home, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Get Your Craft On, Kurtz Corner , Organize and Decorate, Natural NestersWednesday: Savvy Southern Style, Mommy Solutions, Power of Paint, Newlyweds Recipe Linky, Southern Lovely , Home Happy Home Thursday: The Shabby Creek Cottage, Made in a Day, House of Hepworths, the 36th Avenue , Bloggeritaville Craft, Scrappy, Happy, 52 Mantels Friday: One Artsy Mama, Serenity Now, Tatertots and Jello, The Shabby Nest, Thirty Handmade Days, Addicted 2 Decorating, Funky Junk Interiors, Financial Friday, Furniture Friday, At the Picket Fence, The Rooster and the Hen

Pin It

The Pantry

I am jumping on the pantry bandwagon. I want a neat and organized pantry too. Here is a quick peek of the vastly improved pantry.

Before, it looked like this:

On the plus side, the pantry is painted a pretty Tiffany Blue (just like the library). The brooms are already hung up and off the floor (kind of gross to keep cleaning things in the pantry, but I need them close to the mess-making). I have everything I need to make it organized, the OXO pop-up containers, tiered racks for cans, now I just needed labels and to organize the space. I already have a spice drawer next to the stove.

Enter my trusty assistant.

After discovering that I had marshmallows in two different containers that I could condense into one (we like to make s'mores in the living room fireplace, what can I say?) I set to work taming the chaos. In addition to many things (you can see my blog goals here) this blog makes me actually organize my pantry, hooray! The well deserved after takes my breath away, there is so much empty space! Who knew a pantry could have clear shelves and empty bins?

I link to these awesome parties:

Sunday: I Heart Naptime, Nifty Thrifty Things, Inspired Honeybee, Nest for Less, Delectable Home, It's Overflowing  Monday:Between Naps on the Porch, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Thrifty Decor Chick, Alderberry Hill, Debbie Doo's, Home Stories A to Z, Home Savvy AtoZ , Tuesday: Coastal Charm, Tip Junkie, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Carolyn's Homework, Made in a Day, Our Delightful Home, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Get Your Craft On, Kurtz Corner , Organize and Decorate, Natural NestersWednesday: Savvy Southern Style, Mommy Solutions, Power of Paint, Newlyweds Recipe Linky, Southern Lovely , Home Happy Home Thursday: The Shabby Creek Cottage, Made in a Day, House of Hepworths, the 36th Avenue , Bloggeritaville Craft, Scrappy, Happy, 52 Mantels Friday: One Artsy Mama, Serenity Now, Tatertots and Jello, The Shabby Nest, Thirty Handmade Days, Addicted 2 Decorating, Funky Junk Interiors, Financial Friday, Furniture Friday, At the Picket Fence, The Rooster and the Hen

Pin It

Spice Drawer, it's almost like the pantry

The spice drawer is almost like the pantry, right? So if I organize it, then it will take me one step closer to an organized pantry. Or not. I'm just dawdling and I know it. Our spice drawer is just to the left of the stove, which is perfect since I can season as I cook. I love keeping the kosher salt in a ramekin (bottom right corner). It's accessible, but since it's in a drawer, it doesn't get gross.

Unlike some, I keep my baking spices with my cooking spices. I bake so often that I need the baking powder, baking soda and yeast nearby, not in the pantry (the door you see below). Plus, I do like to use traditional sweet flavors (cinnamon, allspice etc) in my cooking, especially if I'm making exotic food like a Moroccan Tangine or Chicken Tikka Masala.

When organizing I realized I had a jar of Paprika from Pathmark. That's a supermarket in Boston. Where I haven't lived since 2005. So, um, maybe a seven year old jar should be thrown out. Especially because I had another jar of paprika right next to it. So I had clearly meant to replace it when I went to Albertsons and bought their house brand. Except that Albertsons no longer exists. Not really sure how long it's been since they went out of business.... I'll just focus on how pretty everything looks.

I link to these awesome parties:

Sunday: I Heart Naptime, Nifty Thrifty Things, Inspired Honeybee, Nest for Less Monday:Between Naps on the Porch, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Thrifty Decor Chick, Alderberry Hill, Debbie Doo's, Home Stories A to Z, Home Savvy AtoZ , Delectable Home Tuesday: Coastal Charm, Tip Junkie, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Carolyn's Homework, Made in a Day, Our Delightful Home, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Get Your Craft On, Kurtz Corner , Organize and Decorate Wednesday: Savvy Southern Style, Mommy Solutions, Power of Paint, Newlyweds Recipe Linky, It's Overflowing, Southern Lovely Thursday: The Shabby Creek Cottage, Made in a Day, House of Hepworths, the 36th Avenue , Bloggeritaville Craft, Scrappy, Happy, 52 MantelsFriday: Serenity Now, Tatertots and Jello, The Shabby Nest, Thirty Handmade Days, Addicted 2 Decorating, Funky Junk Interiors, Financial Friday, Furniture Friday, At the Picket Fence, The Rooster and the Hen

Pin It

Kitchen Clock- an Impartial Time-Teller

We all need to know the time, particularly in command central, the kitchen. Especially with kids. The clock is an impartial time-teller. You aren't telling them when to get ready for bed, the clock is. (For more help with this check out My Tot Clock, best invention ever!) I'm not telling them they are wasting time before school, they can see it on the clock. This is also a reason for an analog clock; kids can visualize how much time is left before they go. For an architect like me, I need that visual representation of time.

At our old house, we had a proliferation of clocks: a clock on the microwave, on the oven, a wall clock, usually a watch. In the new house we have a deficit of clocks in the kitchen. The microwave is hidden behind cabinets doors, the oven clock tilts in and out, so it's always hidden, no wall clock, and with a new baby I often forget to wear a watch.

So off to Ikea we went, shopping for another thing entirely, when we stumbled upon this clock. Big, easy to read, and very well priced. So we added it to our cart, brought it home and it sat for a few weeks. Finally we decided where to put it; over the play kitchen!

Here's a better shot. You can see how we can tell the time from the kitchen itself, and the kids can see it from the play area. They aren't quite big enough to tell time, but I can tell my four year old "dinner is when the big hand gets to 12, and the little hand to 5", or for the 2 year old "dinner is when the big hand is at the top".

I link to these awesome parties:

Sunday: I Heart Naptime, Stephany Hyder, Nifty Thrifty Things, Home Savvy AtoZ Monday:Between Naps on the Porch, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Thrifty Decor Chick, Alderberry Hill, Debbie Doo's, Home Stories A to Z Tuesday:Coastal Charm, Tip Junkie, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Carolyn's Homework, Made in a Day, Our Delightful Home, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Get Your Craft On Wednesday: Savvy Southern Style, Crystal and Co, Power of Paint, Newlyweds Recipe Linky, It's Overflowing Thursday: The Shabby Creek Cottage, Made in a Day, House of Hepworths, the 36th Avenue, Five Things Thursdays Friday: Serenity Now, Tatertots and Jello, The Shabby Nest, Thirty Handmade Days, Addicted 2 Decorating, Funky Junk Interiors

Pin It