changes in the kitchen

 Remember this black table that I painted and put in my kitchen - the one I wasn't sure about?

Jane, from Blondie's Journals suggested that I try a burlap or tan runner to

soften the look and tie-in with the rest of the kitchen.

 I was using a light tan table topper in another room. I borrowed it to

see how it'd look on the black table. 

I like it! Thanks, Jane!

(Sorry for the grainy pictures - it's a cloudy day so my kitchen didn't have

a lot of light. If I turn the kitchen light on, it casts weird shadows.)

 

I had found a burlap runner at HomeGoods, but it was way too long

for that little black table. Fit my kitchen table perfectly though, so it's a keeper.

 Speaking of HomeGoods, I was in the tablecloth aisle looking at the runners, and 

I felt a hand on my shoulder. A woman said, "Excuse me! Could I get your opinion

 on some things that I picked out?"

She led me over to her nearby cart and showed me a couple of tablecloths, some

pillows, and a few accessories. She told me how her kitchen and family room were

an open space and how she was trying to coordinate the pillows for the couch

with the tablecloth, placemats, and candles for the table. She asked me which tablecloth

I liked better and if all the things "flowed together". I gave her my opinion, she thanked me,

and we parted ways. Now what was so funny about this situation is that things like this

happen to me all the time when I'm in public. Strangers either strike up a conversation

with me, or ask me for my help. And I was NOT the only one in the tablecloth aisle.

Go figure (shrug). My husband says I have "talk to me" tattooed on my forehead.

 I digress. Back to the little black table...

Found these cute, little turkey tea light holders at World Market.

(I baked chocolate chip cookies last night and now there's only one lonely cookie left.)

 I rearranged some things on one of my kitchen counters. It might look a little

crowded, but this counter space is not my food prep space.

Isn't this teapot adorable? It's a Paul Cardew (England) teapot.

My husband bought me a Paul Cardew teapot with cats on it years ago

and it's one of my favorites. I was browsing other Paul Cardew teapots on

eBay a couple of weeks ago and found this tea-for-one teapot. I love the design

and the colors.

A big change (well, to me) that I experimented with today was removing the door fronts

 off the cabinets above the stove to see if the "open cabinet look" would be doable. 

 In the 22+ years that we've lived here, this has always been our snack cabinet. 

I've been crushing on the open cabinet look that I see on blogs and Pinterest.

Even better, I love open shelving instead of cabinets.

But - one thing at a time.

It still needs a lot of work if I'm to keep it this way.

I'll paper the backs of the cabinets and maybe paint the shelves white.

I don't like that post in the middle either, but Brian reminded me that we'd

have to saw it off - and that I ever want to put the cabinet fronts back on -

we'd somehow have to install a new post. And we're not exactly, ummm...

Mr. and Mrs. Fix-it.

If I decide to keep this look and finish it up, I'll be sure to post

the final results sometime next week.