Kitchen Conundrum

29 September 2008
photo by Seattle Municipal Archives

As many of you know, we are in the process of remodeling or 85+ year old house. It's been an interesting ride so far. We've finally got color up in the living room after having it only primed for weeks. It looks fantastic! We also have the kids rooms mostly painted. Ashley's is lavender and Tris is sporting Home Depot orange and white walls. I'll try to post some updated "work in progress" pics soon. We've decided what we want to do in the bathroom, it didn't even take that long to agree on, lol. But the kitchen is another story.

The decorating is what's causing problems at the moment. We have had a rooster/chicken theme going on in the kitchen for a few years now, and I love it. We also really love cowboy, ranch, western themed stuff...we have a very ranch theme happening in the living room. It works well...there's chickens on the ranch right? And then there is this print that I just must have, but can't find anywhere that I can afford. One just like this hung above my late grandparents kitchen table for as long as I can remember. To me a country kitchen is not complete without it! Anyway, I wanted to paint my cabinets barn red, to go with my over all country theme, but the color in my mind seems to not exist. So, we've spent literally hours checking out paint color charts and honestly don't like anything.

Then, I've suddenly developed a fetish for vintage kitchen linens, and that is making me imagine all sorts of stuff in the kitchen...none of which involves cowboys or barnyard animals. A big part of me wants a kitchen straight out of a 1950s copy of Better Homes & Gardens. Think June Cleaver's kitchen. I have not mentioned any of this to poor Dan, for fear his head might explode. Although, he frequently refers to me as Edith, as in Bunker, so maybe a retro theme wouldn't shock him too badly. But 1970s retro and 40s/50s vintage are two entirely different things. I think I'm in trouble here.
So, my current mission is to somehow meld these two concepts together, so both Dan and I will be happy in the kitchen. I'm beginning to think that having an actual decorating theme is hopeless and that we should just make it a big eclectic mix of whatever makes us happy. After all, as long as the space works for us and brings us joy, who cares what anyone else thinks. But, that still leaves us with no paint color for the cabinets and walls. The joys of redoing a home!

4 comments:

lynette355 said...

you know that you should just enjoy. let it go and let it grow as it does. have fun with this room. as you see here my style is grandma's house gone mad. of course i would love color myself.

Bekah said...

hi! let me first of all say how much i love your adorable blog template. seriously one of the cutest ones i have seen anywhere.

I say go june cleaver style, only because i once unfortunately painted a wall red, and while it was great in theory it drove me crazy, then i had a heck of a time repainting the darn thing!

Heather said...

That 50's retro theme is soooo fun!

Unknown said...

I am in the same boat...trying to decide what kind of theme I want to go for... I am going to start posting pictures & see if I can get some input!
Great blog! Thank you for stopping by today! Going to go look around yours!
PS I had a red kitchen(walls) in the states & LOVED it!