January 26, 2010
I’m Dreaming of New Kitchen
We live in a small house-about 800 square feet. Our main living area is an open box: half living with a working (yay!) fireplace, two doors (one at the front and one at the back of the house), a small dining corner, and an L-shapped kitchen with the stove and refrigerator on the small part of the L. We’ve got two other windows-one on the same wall as the fireplace, and one above the sink. So we do get lots of light since we have a window on each of the outside walls. The fourth wall contains the hallway to the rest of the house. When Mr. Husband bought the house 10 years ago, they billed the house as a 4 bedroom, 1 bath house. Two of the so-called bedrooms we’ve repurposed: one is now the laundry room and one is a walk-in closet. So that leaves us with two bedrooms. Our “master” bedroom with has room for our full-sized bed and two night stands and just enough room to walk around the bed without bumping into anything (barely). The second bedroom is slightly smaller and holds my old full-sized bed, two book shelves, and all of Mr. Husbands dead computer equipment and my craft stuff. Needless to say, we can barely walk around the room. The house was built in the late 1970′s, early 1980′s so it’s newer but it was still built as a lake cottage-a part-time home for a retired couple. Then the husband died and while the kids tried to keep and maintain the place, they eventually decided to sell it. Mr. Husband bought it in 1999 and we are only the second owners.
Mr. Husband, in the 9 years that he lived here before I moved in, didn’t do much in the way of decorating. The floors still have the original carpet and hideous 1970′s linoleum in the kitchen and bath. He did paint but it’s been about 10 years. He and his dad did turn the one small bedroom into the laundry room but aside from that, the house is pretty blah. Of course since I have moved in, I have tried to spruce up the place but I am limited by budget. We are saving some money and hope to do at least the main living area in the hardwood laminate flooring. Come spring break, I’m going to paint the main living area. So I’m searching for some design inspiration. The looks we I love are retro, cottage, country, and rustic. But we don’t want anything so kitchsy that when you walk in you say “Oh this is retro, cottage, country, etc.” We’d like an evolved look. So far, here’s what I’ve found that I like:
Source: countryliving.com
Source: Unknown
Source: countryliving.com
Source: countryhome.com
Source: countryliving.com
Source: Coastal Living
I love red obviously but I hesitate to do such a strong color in the kitchen since it’s open to the whole living area. Currently, our couch (new) is brown and our recliner is hunter green (older). And I just realized, all of the pictures show white cabinets. I’ve been leaning toward painting our cabinets black. I love lots of light, and with white cabinets, the room would seem light and airy. I just think black cabinets would show less dirt and grime.
So be patient with me on my decorating journey. I’ll probably change my mind a bunch of times before I settle. And if anyone has any advice and/or experience on paint colors and decorating a very small house with a tiny open living area, please send it my way!
I tried to be thorough with my sources but I have one picture without a source. If this is your picture, send me a message and I’ll gladly give you proper credit.
