Kelly's Tour of Homes - Kitchen Edition

I have finally succumb to guilt...I have been viewing everyone else's homes over at Kelly's Tour of Homes and just felt guiltridden that I'm not participating.

So here goes!

Our home is 22+ years old, and it shows! ha. When we moved in I thought for sure we'd only be here a year, max! That was in 2005...boy was I wrong. I would love to paint my cabs and counters. I was inspired first by my bff and her newly renovated home...

Isn't that gorgeous??
And then by The Nester and her sister at Chatting at the Sky. Can you believe that transformation?? And more recently, I was inspired by THATfamily {the second link on Kelly's Tour of Kitchens}. I would love for my counters to look like this or this or this. I think that is sooo cool...and you will quickly see why!

Okay, now on to MY home!!

This is the view of my kitchen from the playroom/office. The laundry room is directly to the right.

Looking on to the dining room and adjacent living room. Do you like that fancy beam?

There was once a wall there, and that is all that remains. On the eve of having new floors put in, I told my husband, we do it now, or we never do it. So armed with a sledgehammer and some muscle, we took down that wall and still made it to Sunday night services on time!

The wall that was...

Back to where we were...once you enter from the playroom/office, the fridge is directly on your left. I would prefer that wall be even with the door to the freezer side because it is impossible for me to open that door completely. When I do need to, I just simply pull the honkin' thing out, get what I need, and push it back. Simple as that.

Here's a view of the top. Complete with my glass beverage dispensers, canisters {courtesy of mom...they were sold at Sam's over the Christmas holiday...they were full of cashews! Now they're perfect for my rice and spaghetti noodles}, cokes from MX and the Coke factory in Atlanta, and my clearance chocolate cake plate from HL.

A closer look reveals the following...is that a Twix bar on top of my fridge? Hey "Sunday guys"...ya'll wouldn't know anything about a candy stash on my fridge, would you??

Moving further to the right reveals my "pantry" cabs, new chalkboard, and exposed sheetrock from said wall demo. Oh, and all those pics on the side of my fridge...it seems my SS fridge front is not magnetic. Why? My daddy says the more SS a product, the less magnetic. You can go here to read more about it...I trailed off after the first paragraph.

Raegen decided he needed in on the tour too. I LOVE my chalkboard and can hardly wait to use it. I finished the final coat this afternoon and need to wait 24hours before use. I'll post a before and after soon.

This sign was in my stocking I received from my MIL at my first Stain family Christmas.

If the dust on the sign is an issue with you, you should reread the sign. I'm kidding. In all honesty, it hangs on my top "pantry" cab and at 5'2", I'm just too short to reach it.

Alright, here's a look back at where we've just come. That's the laundry room door straight ahead, and the playroom/office door to the right.

A place for everything, and everything in its place.

Dog treats for Dusty.

Candy for moi!

Peanuts for B! The bowl to the left is for the shells, and yes, it is strategically placed NEXT TO the sink!

I've never been a fan of fake plants, maybe it's the need to dust them?? The small ceramic pot houses my dishrag made of toille {if you don't have one, you don't know what you're missing!! My wonderful MIL gave me mine and I have all but worn it out...hint, hint...I'll be needing a new one soon!}, sink plug, and PC scraper. My sis introduced me to putting my dish soap in an oil bottle quite a few years ago and I absolutely love it. Practical and beautiful. I also always have on hand, handsoap and my PC timer.

No one can ever find my can opener. Probably the #1 asked question in my kitchen. :)

Paper towel holder and bread box courtesy of Tar-jay. Fruit decor was a gift from a friend.

Oh, and there's a picture of my grandaddy...say howdy! I got him out for use with another project and he hasn't been returned to his home yet. I'll get to you soon!

I LOVE this basket for all our gadgets {cell phone chargers, battery chargers, etc.}.

A must have for your wires...these were stocking stuffers for Christmas. Can you say OCD? or CDO? Might as well put it in order too.

Here are my new "love'emtopieces" canisters. I've been searching for new canisters for some time and I found these at "crack for crafters" {a.k.a HobLob}. I bought each with a 40% off coupon...never pay full price for anything there! I had mentioned to a friend I was on the hunt for some new canisters and she replied in disgust, "for your counter?" haha...yep, I bake way too much to not have them handy. My criteria this time around was it had to be airtight...hence the need for new canisters. The cookbook stand is also from HL {50% off!}.

If you build it wait, they will come it will go on sale.


And another peek around the cab reveals the family calendar. Hello Madisyn! I'm letting her stay a few more days {she was April}, because I JUST changed the month! oops.

My red tea pot gets a LOT of use. In the background you can see my glass cake stand I received as a wedding gift from my lovely sis and my new cloche {who cares that it's really a cheese dome...it's my house and I say it's a cloche!}. Has anyone ever spraypainted their appliances? It will be some time before I can replace the rest with SS {have you forgotten the big beam in my ceiling?} so I'm thinking of spraypainting them with appliance paint. Any tips or tricks??

A closer look at my cloche and cake stand. I got cake hungry today and whipped up this bad boy.

This month's cake class will only have one cake, our final. How can I go an entire month with no cake?! I can't! I haven't had cake in at least 24 hours so I had to remedy that problem.
And why does my cheese platter cloche have a toy to display? That would be because I don't have anything else that will fit! I'm on the hunt.

I also have a before and after pic for it...coming soon!

A view from the living room...

LOVE!!! my tile. The pattern is "pinwheel" and I am more than pleased.

Did you notice the hanging planter? It was here when we moved in and I have never liked it, but I've also never taken it down! In fact, I never notice it. One day....

So much more than decoration...

Hello Raegen's bibs and after-mealtime wipes!!

My fave red stool. My Grandmother Richardson had one just like it in her kitchen. Brings back memories of butter bread and Campbell's vegetable soup.

Moving around the bar, my little nook to house all my cake decorating supplies. I have plans for some new shelves in my laundry room, but this will have to do for now.

{FYI, I bought the bag at Sam's and it's soooo worth it! 2 for $2.50 or something like that}


I purchased my china cabinet and matching buffet from my sister's MIL. She made them with her bare hands! SOLID wood people! I'm trying to decide what to do with it because I'm not happy with it the way it is. Should I darken the stain and leave the paint? Paint the entire thing black? distressed black? black with dark stain?? Suggestions, please!

Cake plate from my Grandmother Sansoucie.

This is the matching buffet. I usually have apples and bananas in the fruit basket, but I'm fresh out. Below I have an ENTIRE box of bulbs that are ready to be planted.

{perk of being married to a landscaper...wait, why am I planting them?!}

The table is Billy's great-grandmother's and is in desperate need of being refinished. It's on my to-do list {for two years now!}. The chairs match my glass top dining table that is now housed in my office.

At times I have contemplated taking down the cabs above the stove? What do ya'll think? Another blogger linked her kitchen and she did not have a venthood above her range. I left a comment asking her how she liked that, but have not heard back. Opinions??

Lastly, here is my dinnerware...

My china is Crestwood Platinum by Noritake

with the matching Christmas plates.

Growing up, we ALWAYS ate on my Grandmother's fine china for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I hope to use mine more often than that...it's here to enjoy, so use it and enjoy it! :)

And our everyday dinnerware, Corelle! Once again, Raegen is playing Vanna White.

I chose Corelle for two reasons, it's affordable and it stacks easily. After years of using chunky, heavy dishes, I was ready for something slim-lined. I grew up with Corelle and Billy already had a white collection from college. In fact, the first plate he unpacked he dropped. Surprise, surprise, it bounced! He was sold, so when we registered for wedding gifts this was a no brainer. A few weeks ago we had a friend over that told us of his plans to move out soon. I insisted Billy show him our wonderful dinnerware. {I'm sure he was thinking, "so many opinions, so little time"} I just wanted to share with him, what took us me years to realize...go with the cheap stuff!

Billy took a plate out of the cabinet and twirled it around for Taco to see.

Then I said the following,

"Throw it down, Billy, throw it down.

Do it.

Let him see how it can bounce.

Do it, Billy, do it!!"

For those of you that think I'm crazy, channel the Corelle commercial that involves

a runway,

a model,

and a dinner plate.

Got me? Okay, let's proceed.

Billy tossed the plate up and out

{later he said he didn't want it to break on him, if it indeed did break}...

and break it did!

As soon as it hit the tile, it bounced up into a ba-jillion tiny pieces. I sat in shock for at least a minute or two. That was absolutely positively NOT the result I had anticipated. It made an absolute mess, but it was hilarious and another story for us to write down.

I'm STILL finding shards of the plate...

I hope you've enjoyed this tour, check out more homes at Kelly's Korner: Tour of Homes - Kitchen Edition.