Kitchen Wish List

I was looking at kitchen cabinets online and found some things that I wish I had.

Isn't this rack neat? The bottom rack adjusts to different pot sizes. This is a good idea because I try to keep my lids on my pots when they're put away but I never use the lids so they always end up a mess until I clean them all up again.

Kitchen aids are so heavy. Seems a shame to waste a whole cupboard though.

Who wants to look at their garbage can? Again, wasted cupboard space unless you have a huge kitchen.

I love this one. I would put it in the space between the garage door and the refrigerator. I have a plethora of cleaning supplies. Don't believe the Swiffer commercials. I own a broom, mop, regular Swiffer, and Swiffer Wetjet and I use them ALL! I'm sorry but a Swiffer Wetjet doesn't get all the grime off the floor, and those little swiffer cloths can only pick up so much debris. They're good for little clean ups. Right now all of these are located in the spare bedroom. The pantry and the coat closet aren't the best places. I just bought some hooks to hang them all up in the garage when I get around to it.

I have all my spices in a cupboard and have to rummage through them to see what's hiding in back. Plus those pesky oil bottles and Pam cans are so tall they don't fit in the cupboard and end up in the pantry.

I loved this idea because I don't like to leave my toaster out on the counter and it's regular home is in the cupboard over the refrigerator. Not a very convenient place. There was also one I saw called a "wall appliance garage". I couldn't steal the image for it. It's basically the same thing but the door opens upward like a garage.

Another brilliant pot storage solution. My cupboard for my pots are super deep and sometimes I have to get down and reach in the back. It would be so much easier if they just pulled out. Laziness at it's finest!

I wish I had drawers for all my containers. When I had to clean my cupboard out today I found containers I forgot I had because they're clear in the back. Also it would be easier to stack and store the lids close by.

I love the idea of having my pots next to my stovetop. One of these days. *sigh*

Halloween

This is totally making me want to throw a halloween party! All photos are from marthastewart.com

Clothes pin bats

Candy wreath

Inspiring ideas.

Amy Butler wall art.

An old globe cut in half.

A lined drawer.

Scrapbook paper with molding glued to picture frames.

Wall paper.

More Amy Butler art.

Scrapbook paper and die cuts. I like these colors together. Yellow, green, blue and brown.

More Amy Butler. I checked to see how much these prints cost and they were over $200. Are you kidding me?!! I'll just frame the fabric!

Hardwood Floors!

The hardwood floors are done! Yeah! It was quite the process. It took them 2 days to complete. I'm really happy with how it turned out and the color. They didn't have to remove any baseboards, which makes me really happy. It was quite the process getting all the dust cleaned up from the installation. I had to wipe down everything in the house. I only had enough time yesterday to put everything back in place and clean the living room up. I left the kitchen for Chris to do and he wiped the counter and table off but didn't sweep and mop the tile so all of us have been tracking more dust onto the hardwood. Sheesh! I had to work today so it won't get cleaned up until tomorrow. We had a scare with the piano when we were moving it back into the living room. That thing is so old and the wheels don't cooperate most of the time so we had it half way moved before we realized that it was starting to scuff the floor because the wheel wasn't turned. Luckily it didn't gouge or scratch it, and the scuff just needed to be buffed out.

Ignore the dust and the messy kitchen. The point of this picture is to show the transition from the dark wood to the light wood in the kitchen. I was really having a hard time choosing a color and was originally going to do a lighter wood floor since the kitchen is but I loved the dark wood colors. I finally went with the dark wood thinking that the tile would be enough to break up the living room and kitchen so that it wouldn't look weird. I think it ended up working out okay and my framed tapa cloth kind of helps since it has both colors. What do you think? Did the gamble pay off? I think it did but what do I know? I just live here. I think if I went with a lighter wood, it might have been overwhelming.
Don't believe those Swiffer commercials. Just because I own a Swiffer, doesn't mean I don't use my broom too.
I love Mockie's face in this picture. Silly girl!
What do you think of this rug? I think it serves it's purpose.
The beast of a piano!
Those are my temporary curtains. I had them just sitting in the linen closet and just put them up so that I can have something until I get around to making curtains. Those blasted couches! It really limits what you can do colorwise. We're debating on getting new couches this year but I think it might end up being next year since we've spent so much on the floor and we still have the yard projects to do this summer. You can't tell in the pictures but the wood is hand scraped, which means that it's distressed. This will help hide any scratches that might turn up in the future. We also went with this one because it had a lifetime warranty on the finish.

So what's everyone's verdict?

Lemon and Lime Centerpieces