Sentiments by Denise

A Little Color

 
Just a little color often adds the perfect touch to a room.

 
These flowers were "leftover" from a bouquet that I got at the farmer's market last weekend - pretty little wild flower arrangement that I cut down and placed in a votive candle holder.

When I first started thinking about color for my new kitchen, I knew I wanted something a bit bold, as I've lived with country blue and ivory for the past 17 years and it was getting tiring to look at. Our house had been given a little "facelift" before we bought it with fresh paint, wall paper, and carpet, but we didn't really do a lot to it in all these years until recently when we embarked on our renovation project.

I received a new KitchenAid stand mixer for Christmas back in 2009 and I love using it. I had requested a RED one and that's what I was given! So, it made sense (at least to me!) to make it a focal point of my new kitchen.

 
It has a little place of honor in the baking corner of the kitchen counter!

Ed was very leary of a bold statement in the kitchen when I suggested red walls. In fact, he nixed the idea right off the bat! He's one who likes the subtle, neutral colors and most of the time I'm okay with that - but this time we had to reach a compromise (which we did several times in the course of our remodeling project!). Along with the help of some of my dear girlfriends, I was able to convince him that a little splash of color (for at least 2 walls in the kitchen) would be a good thing and would be relatively painless for him.

He's coming around.

(plus, he loves that mixer - it makes great chocolate brownies, which are his favorite!).

 

In The Beginning - It's Simple!

We had been talking about remodeling/updating our kitchen for several years, but for the longest time it didn't happen for one reason or another.

You've heard me say before that we have a small home - it's 3-bedroom with one bathroom, ranch-style. But, I really like the size and especially so now that it's just Ed & I living here. Just the right amount of space. We sort of had that in mind when we bought the place, as we knew we didn't want something too big that it would be difficult to manage day to day. I'm not a big fan of house cleaning and it's everything I can do to stay ahead of the clutter that can creep in, so this house is perfect for the two of us.

 
I found this book - Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider -  not too long ago, that has really helped me see the importance of simplicity in my home - staying organized and reducing clutter. In the coming days I'll be sharing about our remodeling experience and showing some before and after photos (which many have been anxious to see!). Being intentional about keeping things simple helps so much in bringing balance and peacefulness to my life.

I still have some work to do in this area (my craft studio still needs an overhaul!), but I'm moving in the right direction and feel so much more freedom when things are organized and simple.

Can't wait to share more with you!