Sunday, July 8, 2012

Heart of the Home

In my home, as in most, the heart of the home is the kitchen.  Not sure how that originated. Probably in "caveman times" when those furry homo sapiens huddled around an open fire, roasting dinosaur leg, telling stories of hunting the T Rex and staking claims on who invented the wheel or discovered "fire".  Like our ancient ancestors, my family gathers to the counter that encircles my stove and while I cook and talk as if I am Julia Child filming a television show, my audience - my family contribute to the conversation, often questioning my culinary skills (the nerve) while nibbling on food and indulging in sips of wine.
My father has spoke fondly of his childhood growing up in the state of Washington.  In the winter (before walking 10 miles to school, as he has claimed over the years...he may have been barefooted at some point) he would wake up to a cold, frosty morning where the only heat was in the kitchen.   There  he would find his mother feeding the fire in the stove with wood.  On her stove, she boiled water for washing, brewed a pot of coffee and fried bacon and eggs for breakfast.  My father would have to be gently reminded of the danger in standing too close to the stove in his flannel pajamas as he tried to rid himself of the winter chill.
This isn't my grandma, but like this lady, my grandmother was rotund in shape and wore loose ankle length dresses. 


When we remodeled our house five years ago, we opened a wall from the kitchen and added on a family room.  Now my kitchen sits in between the family room and living room - all three rooms opened up to each other.  Sounds nice, right?  An open floor plan?  Here's my dilemma, I decorated the living room in an Asian/Hawaiian decor honoring my husband's birthplace, Hawaii and his heritage, Japan.  In return, I was able to freely decorate our family room in a French Provencal style....white walls and fabrics with dark woods.  With two strikingly different decors, how do I decorate my kitchen?

It's been an ongoing process.  The look of my kitchen changes as often as a snake sheds it's skin.  FYI, there are no snakes in Hawaii.  I have gone from the vibrant colors of Provence with oranges, reds and greens - grapes and herbs and lemons in bowls.  Recently my kitchen was sporting the urban vintage look with crockery, wooden utensils, painted tins and industrial fixtures.  Right now, my kitchen has been softened with whites in the form of baskets with shells and shell shaped plates.  To add to the beach chic, I included vintage mason jars and bottles the color of the sea.   There are rusty wire baskets from France on top of my refrigerator, white French enamelware holding my spatulas, spoons and whisks and cobalt blue mixing bowls from the 1930's which sit atop my granite counters.

But lately, Pinterest has my mind drifting ..... take a look at these fabulous kitchens!
This is my ideal of "perfection".

I love this rustic French country look!


I like paintings in kitchens and bathrooms.  I have a painting in my kitchen in the coffee nook...an Ebay purchase of $7 in a white sea glass frame.  

Polished and Pretty

Now this would work in my home.  The marble top island, the tiled floor and blue cabinets.  Lovely.

Big SIGH

This decorator added a little of everything...even a Greek column.



With the exception of that cowboy painting, I love the shabby look of this small kitchen.  The sink in the photo is just like mine, only smaller.  Ooh, the hardware.

I don't have much wall space in my kitchen.  But if I did, I would cover it with blue transferware.

I would like to put some columns like these on each side of my sink.

Actually, this kitchen would be perfect for my eclectic home.  The rustic whitewash wood, clean crisp cabinets with a burlap skirt below a country sink is charming.  Shabby charm with some beach chic!
emmybeth:

The gif I made of the fireworks last night! Canada day! 
By the way!  I didn't post a 4th of JULY message.  Hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day...


Hope you were able to put your feet up, watch fireworks and....

eat lots of Mom's apple pie =)












All photos are from Pinterest and are not mine.  Please contact me if you are interested in the original source.

wood burning stove photohttp://old-photos.blogspot.com

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