Kitchen JOY!

The most comments I have ever received on this blog were when I asked for design help in trying to decide whether to paint my kitchen cabinets or not.

 I had already tried to brighten the kitchen with whitewashing the ceiling, painting the walls yellow, adding a new light fixture, and adding bright fabric window treatments. 

Still, nothing special. Nice, yes, but no pizazz.

The original light fixture - the light shone straight down on the island.

Many, many people said "PAINT !!!" with no hesitation whatsoever.

 Lots of people not only told me what color, but gave me step by step instructions on what color to paint the island, the bottom cabinets, the top cabinets, and what paints to use. 

My question stirred up lots of interest, and some controversy.

A few scolded me for even so much as thinking of painting the sacred antique long leaf pine.

In the end, I decided to wait.

New light fixture, Roman shades, bright walls.......still leaving me unfulfilled.

 Our house was for sale.

 One of the big selling points was, and still is, the long leaf pine and the natural stone used throughout the house.

 I agree that they are beautiful materials, but I also believe in a house reflecting the personality of those who make it their home.

 I decided to be conservative and leave the kitchen as it was.

Well, months have gone by and I have finally reached a point where I am just tired of living in a house where every decision is  based on whether we may or may not live here next month or next year.

I had been studying painted kitchens and painted floors for months on end,  pinning pictures on my Pinterest boards and searching madly through my design books and magazines for inspiration.

Finally,  I decided to GO FOR IT, with my husband's blessing.

I called my favorite, oh so talented painter, Tom Proch, and we put our heads together to do some magic in my kitchen. 

Oh boy did we do some magic!!

I could not be happier, and fortunately, my family loves it too!!

The best part was the process.

 In the beginning, I did not have a specific picture in mind of what the kitchen would look like when it was finished.

 I knew the color needed to flow with the rooms that the kitchen opened in to -  the dining room in particular. 

So, we started with the base color used in that room, Benjamin Moore Covington Blue, HC 138. 

Tom painted all of the cabinets that basic blue, and we decided to paint the surrounding area above the cabinetry blue as well. 

The rest of the way, we talked through the process.

 This is where Tom's mastery as an artist shines. 

He would say "What now?" and honestly, I'd stand and look and think and say "Hmmm....maybe a little deeper" and he would mix together some pigments from his magic tool box of paints and paint a cabinet door and say "how's this?" and I'd say "hhhhmmmmm.....maybe a little bit richer and a little more blue" and he'd nod and add a little more something......and so on and so on.

He worked magic at times with a dry brush, and he worked magic with a glaze, and the finished product is a paint finish that has depth and movement and a richness that my photos cannot possibly capture, but let me assure you, they are beautiful and I love them.

Another gift Tom has in his bag of tricks is a great plaster looking wall finish that works beautifully with the rock walls in my house. 

We never even discussed color.

 There is a finish in my entry hall that is similar, and when I said I wanted to get rid of the yellow, he asked if I would like the walls treated like the entry walls with the plaster look finish. 

Yep! 

......and off he went.

 Isn't it perfect?

And, uh, I decided to do something new with the floor as well. 

Did you notice?

So,  about that floor!!

Oh my, am I crazy about that floor! 

I looked and looked at painted floors!

 I considered all kinds of patterns.

 I needed something that did not have a real start and finish, though, because of the open ends of my kitchen; that is, the way my rooms flow openly from one to another.

I found these different patterns and finally adapted my floor from the last one:

 Still one of my all time favorite kitchens - not too trendy or fancy, but it just speaks to me. 

 Fun floor - kind of wild and colorful.

 I love this all over pattern.

It sort of reminds me of old linoleum, in a good way!

 This one is similar in feel to what I ended up with , especially with the dark, distressed wood like ours.

Love this as a variation of checker board.

This one was the final inspiration, although ours is really an adaptation.

 Ours is not quite as busy, in that we do not have an inside circle in the large circle, 

and our "fleur di lys - ish"

 shapes are bigger, and we left more floor space between all shapes.

 Looking towards the dining room......

 Looking from the dining room towards the end of the kitchen.

 Love how the stencil takes a little peek into the powder room!

 Looking down hallway from office towards TV room/den.....
We decided to leave all doors unpainted to remain consistent with the rest of the house. 

Looking from TV room into kitchen.......

Down the other side of kitchen towards dining room.....

 From the dining room looking into the kitchen.......showing some of the blue used originally in the dining room.

This picture shows how well the plaster wall color works with the rock walls. 

Tom, you are a genius!!

So,I think you get it now. 

I painted my kitchen and stenciled the floors and could not be more thrilled with it.

 It just proves once again what a reflection our homes are of us and our personalities. 

I hope your kitchen makes you as happy as mine does!

As always, thanks for reading Hill Country House!

Painted Floors

I posted a month or so ago about my kitchen dilemma - to paint or not to paint, that was the question I put out there.  Unlike some of the "big bloggers", I do not get tons and tons of comments every time I post. That is fine - I am regional (except when I travel and can't help myself) ,  and pretty random in my topics. I blog because I love the process and the sharing with like minded souls, so I don't really worry too much about how many comments I get each time.

It is fun to see what topics people respond to and are passionate about, though.

So, with the kitchen post, I certainly found out how to get more comments - ask people for advice! I loved each and every comment and have seriously considered all suggestions. So here it is - 2010 and I am still debating over the kitchen and what to do with it.

I think I had better tell you the whole truth now.

Our house is for FOR SALE...... so I am not sure this is the best time to make such a major change. With the way my life goes, I would paint the kitchen some fabulously wild color combination like this.............

and just the almost right buyer would come along and say "oh, if only she hadn't painted all that beautiful antique long leaf pine" and the deal would fall through.

I thought about a safe, but still lovely, color like this ...... (I have the black counter tops)

but I am not sure the flow is right with my dining room which looks like this..............

with the blues and greens and aged beaded board ceiling.........

Sooooo, my next thought is, painted floors! I love them and here are some of my favorites.

Love this large design like a hex sign from a barn in the northeast.

Big stripes would be fun.

 

Of course, painted floors might not be to someone's liking, either. I have mixed feelings about making changes to my house. Sometimes I think it doesn't matter - that we should do what we love and when the time comes for someone else to live here, they can do what they love.

Other times I worry about the whole "resale factor" and it really goes against who I am. Some people can live in a fairly vanilla house, or one that is safely decorated, but it is so not me. I am constantly moving furniture and accessories around and wanting to change things. I sell things out of my house and at antique shows, and then come home with new things.

I think about space and how we use it, and want to create rooms that are warm and functional and make me happy to live in them.  I think a home is a huge reflection of the people who live there. I know I am stating the obvious to anyone who is reading this, but there are people out there - I know them - who just want a nice, clean house to live in, but their passions lie elsewhere. I am not them.

So, do I follow my heart, and paint those floors or cabinets, or just the island, whatever - have some fun with it all,  or sit tight and wait for that person to come along who adores ALL the old pine and rock and antique, scraped dark floors and doesn't have that fundamental need for color?

Then I can design my own house and make it just like I want it - maybe something like this from Jon Pankratz, AIA......

 

or this, from my new friend and another favorite architect, Reagan George, AIA........

yes, another hill country house, but smaller and and tucked into the woods somewhere, designed just

 perfectly for my art and treasures.

Or maybe something like this...........

 old and quaint and distinctly old German Fredericksburg..........

so, my dilemma continues. Of course, comments and opinions are always welcome!!

All photos either from House Beautiful or from my collected files. I apologize that I do not have photographer credits.