Mrs R Great Room and Kitchen part 2

We started Mrs R's Great Room/Kitchen design yesterday.

To continue with our design ....the plantation shutters have been ordered and the entire space has been spruced up with new bright and light colors on the ceiling, wall, trim and doors.


I dissected the Great Room/Kitchen area into sections. For the kitchen I sat down with Mrs R and pinpointed the design features she wanted to change or highlight.  We started off with the kitchen island. It is such a stand out in her Kitchen area, especially with the beadboard detail. She took a huge leap of faith and decided to paint out the island.  I knew the trade off would be huge. It would brighten the dark kitchen cabinetry that surrounds it, as well as highlight her gorgeous granite counter tops. The color choice came down to a creamy white or robin egg blue.  She worried that after a few years she would grow tired of the blue and want to change it, but the creamy white would allow her to change any accent color she used in her Kitchen and Great Room space. I recommended she use the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in "Old White". I love using chalk paint because it adheres to almost any surface without prep work or sanding. If you finish it off with the Annie Sloan clear wax it protects the chalk paint from chipping or scratching which makes it perfect for a kitchen island that her kiddos will sit up to with bar stools. Here is a great before and after...

This turned out to be a labor of love. After you apply the wax you have to buff it until it gives a matte like shine. Poor Mrs R's arm...it almost fell off, but the island looks A-MAZ-ING!! Now Mrs R is totally buff. HAHAHA!  She actually loves the look of her island and is glad she took the leap of faith. 

Next we focused on updating the lighting in the kitchen and dining. Nothing updates a space like lighting, especially since the pendant lights that hung over the island and the dining room fixture were a light shade of brown. Here is a before of the pendant lights and dining fixture.

Mrs R chose a chandelier for over the dining room and clear glass pendants for over the kitchen island. Both are from Pottery Barn.

found here

found here

They look awesome!!

 Next we tackled the bar stools. Being conscience of the budget, we found a fun yellow fabric and recovered the current ones she had. We used outdoor fabric and scotch guarded it so that the fabric would hold up to her 4 children. This was a great way to bring in a pop of the yellow color that she wanted without having it take over the color scheme.

The kitchen was then finished off with some accessories on top of the cabinets and on the window sill. The accessories we used were purchased from Home Goods, Hobby Lobby, and Marhsalls.

Tomorrows post will include her new dining area as well as the family room!

Mrs R's Great Room and Kitchen design

I've taken a break from blogging for a little while. It seemed that a fun filled jam packed summer turned into a busy fall too. Although the posts have been few and far between, I have been busy with lots of fun projects.

Mrs R's Great Room and Kitchen design was started at the beginning of summer and finished in late July. I just recently got all the pictures of the finished space photographed, and ready for a fantastic reveal.  I want to start with some of the before shots to show you just how far we've come.

I was approached by Mrs R about her desire for a brighter lighter Great Room, Kitchen space. I was excited to see the possibilities inside her darling home.

This home has fantastic bones!!! Beautiful details inside her home include, to die for hardwood floors, custom molding and doors, a gourmet kitchen with gorgeous granite counter tops, beadboard island and custom cabinetry. Her dining nook is the perfect space for great family dinners filled with windows overlooking the back yard. The windows flow along the back wall of the Great Room into a spacious Family Room. This room has a large corner stone fireplace, that's a amazing focal point in the space. What a gold mine to work with!!!

When she suggested that she wanted more of a light and a brighter look for the space, I thought that maybe there wasn't adequate lighting or enough windows, however once I took a look, I realized that the colors and textures all tended to be on the darker brown side of the color wheel.

After the initial consultation, we discussed a plan and a budget. One of her main desires for the space was to have plantation shutters installed on the entire main floor of her home. I loved the idea and dream about shutters in my own house. We talked about going with white shutters throughout to brighten the space, but her husband had a dark wood tone that matched the kitchen cabinets in mind. After much debate they decided to go with a dark wood tone plantation shutter throughout. You might think it would be hard to brighten the space while bringing in a dark element like plantation shutters, but they actually add a architectural accent to all of the lovely windows her house offers. Here are some great examples of a light and bright room with dark plantation shutters.

The next step was to change the paint on the walls, ceiling, trim and doors. When the house was built a 6-7 years ago they used a darker two tone tan color on the walls and ceiling, and a dark brown/green color on the doors and trim. Now a few years later styles have changed to a more white/brighter look. After looking at some color schemes, Mrs R decided to go with a creamy yellow for the walls, a bright white for the ceiling, trim and doors. She also wanted to accent the nook in the dining area with a light Robin Egg blue color. Here are some of the color schemes that helped her decide.

One of my favorite go to's to help a client decide on a color or color scheme for their space is Pinterest. Pinterest has lots of pins that show color schemes and colors, and is a great visual reference for clients. Be aware however, that the actual colors might vary quite a bit from the picture you see on Pinterest. It's always a good idea to have the actual paint chip in hand and a test sample of the color to be sure.

Mrs R loved the creamy white and light blue from the top picture with pops of red and yellow from the bottom picture. Off to Sherwin Williams I went to get a sample. The colors listed in the picture from Pinterest did vary quite a bit. I did my best to match the colors and tried a few samples of their creamy white until we found the perfect shade, "Eggwhite". The blue she picked for the nook was "Copen Blue", and the ceiling, trim and doors were painted "Snowbound".

Wall Color

Dining Nook

Ceiling, Doors and Trim

With the plantation shutters taking up the bulk of Mrs R's budget, she and her husband painted the entire space (walls, ceiling, trim and doors) themselves. YAY way to go!!! This was not an easy task, but saved them a pretty penny in labor costs.

The immediate change was very dramatic. The space seems so much brighter and happier with the lighter ceiling, trim, door and wall color. It also made the custom darker features of her home...kitchen cabinets, fireplace stone, etc stand out more. I love it!! 

Come back tomorrow to see how we continue to brighten this space and bring fun color to make it POP.

Ammo Box "WINNER"

Thanks again for all the support and love for West Creek Design. Our Ammo Box "WINNER" is Angela Jacob!!!!! Congrats Angela, I'll have your box ready on Tues for you to pick up.  For everyone else who entered this drawing, if you are still interested in purchasing a Ammo Box, they are posted at $45. Because of a recent accident involving my darling friend Brenda Zaugg. I'm now offering the Fresh Flower box or Fresh Herb box for $35.00, with $10 of every purchase going to the #BrendaStrong fund to help with her medical costs. You can message me on FB or instagram or email me @ westcreekdesign@gmail.com to purchase either boxes while quantities last.

Studio 5 "Ammo Box Table" segment

http://studio5.ksl.com/index.php?nid=61&sid=31392833

Seen on Studio 5 today "Fresh Flowers" & "Fresh Herb" Table Centerpiece Boxes for sale

I have a few more of these darling "Fresh Flowers" table centerpieces or "Fresh Herbs" window sill boxes available.

If you are interested in purchasing one please contact me @ westcreekdesign@gmail.com 

 

The cost is $45.00, they can be finished in either the Annie Sloan "Old White" (Fresh Herb Box shown) or "French Linen"( Fresh Flowers shown). The boxes measure 19"Wx21"Lx7 1/2"H . Local pick up is available or shipping for additional charge of $20.00

Featured today on Studio 5 today! Not your average "Ammo Box"

A few weeks ago I was wondering around a military surplus store here in northern Utah and came across a gem of a find. A wooden ammo box. I knew with the darling rope handles and rusty hinges whatever I did with this box would be to die for.

 

After some thought I decided to turn it into a console table for my family room. To do this I came home and blasted the box with my garden hose. After I was sure there were no living things inside I took a sander to it, making sure to lightly sand in order to leave intact the original character of the wood.

 

Next I took off the top lid of the box by removing a hinge. Then I made the legs by using 2 2x4's for each leg. I measured the height I needed it to fit in, and cut the 2x4's with my miter saw.

Next I used my nail gun to attach the 2x4's to the upside down ammo box. For the feet I used 2 2x4's again, but cut these at a 30 degree angle for a decorative look.

 

For the painted finish I used Annie Sloan chalk paint in "Old White" for the top, and the same brand of chalk paint in "French Linen" for the base. I used my rub technique process. This is where I take one of my husbands old socks and dip it into the paint and then rub it onto the wood. This painting technique allows you to give the wood a uniform look but still allows the character of the wood to come through. Afterwards, I sealed the paint with Annie Sloan's clear wax.

 

Tada....my finished console table. I love it and the fact that it's a one of a kind:)

 

Here are some other fun projects I was able to pull off using the Ammo Box...

A Table Tray

 

A Porch Flower Box w/ caster wheels

 

 

A Darling Table Centerpiece

 

A Herb Garden Box

Pallet Wall Art