Nina's Nest

A Kitchen re-do....well, almost.....Welcome to my second Metamorphosis Monday, hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch.
Be sure to visit her blogsite for pictures of her lovely home, as well as some great ideas.

Unfortunately, we didn't take pictures of the "before" (3 years ago) because frankly, we were thirlled to be getting rid of that look! So....imagine stained cabinets, green paint on the soffet, and white formica countertops. We usually do things in stages.....my DH stalks a product for a while and then we get it....then it starts over again. He really liked Silestone countertops, so we replaced our formica with them first - love 'em! A year later we found a guy who is EXCELLENT at re-doing cabinets. Since we liked our solid wood raised panel cabinets, we chose to have them painted and glazed. But, before we did that we removed the soffet above the kitchen sink to give some height - one of my favorite changes! Also we added 7 canned lights and sent the flourescent light to the graveyard. We decided to have the island done in black. It is distressed, but hard to see in the photo. This is a large kitchen/sitting area (keeping room), so I'll give a panoramic view and then pose a question.

Closer view of window over sink


Yes, the oven is new....no, the surface unit is not. It is 30 years old and still working like a charm. We'd love to replace it, but we don't replace things that are working. I know something else would look better, but..... Hey, my washer and dryer don't match because my washer lasted 25 years and my dryer lasted 38 years! Go figure!

Moving around the room, there's my grandmother's sewing machine. She made EVERYTHING the family of 6 wore - even my grandfather's shirts and pants! That was the Depression for you.
(Plus a lot of talent)

You've already seen my cabinet redone by my daughter. I did add a blue plate the other day and soon I'll find a new home for the sound equipment! I've got a stack of blue dishes, etc. in the basement asking to come upstairs again. (I also love the idea of covering a board with fabric to brighten up the back of the cupboard...on the lookout for something.)

Check out the 2nd window - no window treatments : (

Check out the bay window - no window treatments.

See my Rooster pillows on the bench that Debbie at Confessions of a Plate Addict talked me into getting - I'm glad she did!

Back to the beginning and window #1. I have brought a lot of red into the kitchen and I'm dragging it across the whole room. I thought it would help tie the blue (chair and toile sofa)and red,etc., together. (This would have been easier if we had done everything at once, but we do things in stages!) I can't decide what style to do....don't want to block the windows. We have gorgeous trees in the backyard. Sooooo.....my questions for you window treatment lovers...

a. Do you think the fabric works? or something different?

b. Is it better to have a curved shape or a straight shape with pleats for 2 windows and a bay?

c. I've even thought of bamboo shades just sticking out from under a tailored valance.

This treatment is just make-shift right now...up on a tension rod.

If you have any thoughts or suggestions of things you have done or seen, please let me know. I would love to say the kitchen is finished! Thanks so much for visiting. Next time I'll have to fix something with a lot of calories and serve some hot tea. Be sure and visit Susan at

Between Naps on the Porch and see who's participating in Metamorphosis Monday. Thanks so much for dropping by!