Living a simple and laid-back life in the city!




Thursday, June 24, 2010

~ A Green Kitchen ~


Hello Dear friends, I've been talking about my kitchen for a while but other things came on my way that were more important, so I had to stop this project and turn all the way to "my kids" and forget the kitchen a bit.
The school year is almost at the end and my three kids are very excited for the summer that finally arrived here in Alberta. Now the sun goes down around 11pm and the day starts early too! @ 4am. The only thing I have to say is: Let's us "Canadians" enjoy the summer. In other Provinces they have flowers, vegetables, fruits way before us here, but that's the way it is. My pot flowers are done, herbs, and the tomatoes....I'll probably see them in the middle of August.
So....the KITCHEN!!!! As I've been debating about the color, this and that, I decided to go with white and PRONTO!
I would love to hear your opinion, since the walls I "might" live it the way it is (it's called Sage color), but if you think it will be better in other color, I really appreciate your comment! When I did bathroom make over, I have to say following some advice from you guys, made my job so nice and at the end I loved that I change the wall color! Even though "painting walls" are not my speciality, I enjoyed the results at the end.
So, today I'm busy preparing also our 1st GARAGE SALE for Saturday. As the weather is promising, we are going to give it a try. I've never did one, so wish me luck! What I hear the most is garage sales are too much work, at the pend people get stressed out, and on and on...but as I am a person who believe "you don't try you will never know", I'll try a garage sale. We have lots of very good items and as it will be a beautiful weekend!
As I show my kitchen pictures how it is right now, I'll also write a few ideas I had.
All the material we got so far are "Eco Friendly" made out of recycled and not-toxic. WE changed the floor to a laminated imitating stone (really interesting one) and is a recycled material as well. A year ago we bought new appliances and searching in our budget and also for something nice, we ended up buying stainless-steel which are easier to recycle in the future as well.
Okay, here it goes my little kitchen:


I'm thinking to paint all the cabinets in white and change all the knobs and pulls to stainless steel ones. For the drawers, I'll go with cup pulls. What do you think?
This is our PANTRY  and the door that lead us to the garage.

As the budget is short, I won't change the sink (which I would love to) and the counter top. They will remain the same. Do you think just by changing the color of the cabinets will look better?
In this space I used to have a table with bar stools.  We did this cork corner to protect the wall from the previous iron chairs we used to have. Should I paint it in white as well? I kind of like it the way it is...
And this big frame will be a chalk board I'm planing to do. We need a board in the kitchen for reminders...
And the plates on the wall will be gone. I have a wood shelf and I put 5 little hangers for our 5 breakfast personalized cups that will be in the left wall where one of the plates are.
This is a laminated floor: they come in big plates that attached one into the other and they are made out of recycled material and are non-toxic. I also painted the kitchen a years ago with non-toxic paint as well.
Here is where the I'll replace the plate to the white wood shelf.

I'm planning a kitchen island instead of the table. We need more space to cut the veggies, cheese, etc. and we barely use the table in the kitchen.


OK friends, I think that's it. AS I've been more out than in, at least today I could save some time for this post and I'm already taking the cabinets off (the hardest work!) and soon I'll be painting them (outside!) Yuppie!!!!
Feel free to drop me a line with any suggestion. I love to read them and all the nice ideas that come from you all!
Have a awesome week, coming already to a weekend!
Love,

Li :-)

22 comments:

Pamela said...

Hello pretty Li!
Love your ideas! I so agree with painting the cupboards white and the handles you are going to use sound perfect.
I cannot wait to see the end result!
Pamela xo

Razmataz said...

Li, I am going to email you a photo of my cottage kitchen that Ij ust painted. It is very similar to yours. I think cup pulls would look fantastic.

Laura said...

Hi Li,
I am sure that you will not regret painting your cupboards in white, I think it will look fantastic. I also would paint the walls and trims (around the cork)in white as you have lots of colour with your lovely floors and they will really stand out and look fab. You also could put a little blind on your window, you know the ones that are made of a grassy material which is a natural sort of colour. I cant describe it, but i think you know what I mean!!
Good luck at your garage sale tomorrow; I have never had one, but I think it would be kinda fun!
hugs, Lauraxxx

Unknown said...

Querida, essa cozinha vai ficar maravilhosa com os armários pintados de branco e acho que essa é a sua cor, combina com você e sua linda casa! E acho o máximo venda de garagem pena que no Brasil não existe isso, sonho em conhecer uma, boa sorte! O piso é lindo, parece pedra natural! E amei sua friteira de ferro, lindíssima!
Parabéns por tanto capricho!
Kisses
Marianne

Deb said...

Hi Li, I think your cabinets will look great white! Looking forward to seeing the transformation. Good luck with your garage sale, hope you have a bright and sunny day!!! Deb

Tina said...

Hi Li. I love all your plans for the kitchen:) I think the cupboards painted white would be gorgeous and the cup pulls will look fantastic! have fun and I can't wait to see the final result. Hugs to you my friend ~ Tina xx

eva said...

yes, white would be great color for the cabinets, as for the knobs you can have a look at www.anthropologie.com at the knobs section, as personally I like this one :
http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=973278&parentid=BAYNOTE

Good Luck for decorating your kitchen and can't wait to see the result.

Kristin @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia said...

Oh it would look so pretty white!!!! Good luck
XO

Anonymous said...

Hi Li,
Your ideas are right on the money! Painting the cabinets and changing the pulls would be a great way to brighten up your kitchen. :) That's what we did in our kitchen, and it completely transformed it.
Can't wait to see it when it's done!
Have a great weekend,
Hugs ~ Jo :)

Maria | Vintage Simple said...

I concur with your plans and everybody else's encouragement: white cabinets and new pulls will make an incredible difference. What fun! I love projects that (although labor-intensive) are not expensive, but make a huge difference in a space!

Have fun painting outdoors, dear! (And I hope the garage sale went as planned!)

xoox,
-maria

Linda @ Painted Whyte said...

Hi Li! I can't wait to see your new kitchen painted white - i think its going to look awesome. How are things going with your furniture? Find any new treasures lately? Are we still planning to go to Ponoka at the end of the month? Let me know. Hope all is well with you, sounds like you've been busy.

Mariette VandenMunckhof-Vedder said...

Dearest Li,

For years already, 27 in total, I've had three white kitchens and still love it. That makes your days bright and the work is 'lighter' it truly is the very best! Even on rainy days...

Wish you good luck! Sunny greetings from Georgia/USA

MariettesBacktoBasics

Cottage Dreamers said...

I look forward to seeing this when you finish. White painted cabinets are my favorite and I think they'll look great with your counters and wall color. Your floor is beautiful, it looks so real!
I can't imagine how busy you all are with so many hours of sun. There's the saying, "lazy days of summer" but I don't know where it came from. Summer is always a lot busier, especially with children.
☺ Celeste

Stina said...

Your kitchen will be light and nice if you paint it in white. :-) Hug Stina

Tricia said...

Yes, paint them white! I can't wait to see it.
Hugs~
T

Kerri - Driftwood Interiors said...

Hi Li, I can tell you that I'm so happy I painted my cabinets white - I on;y wish I'd done it sooner! The room looks much lighter and brighter, and it even makes my benchtop look better! Go for it, you won't regret it for a second. Oh, and preparation is key to a good result (even though it's the worst part!) so good luck, and I can't wait to see how it turns out! K xx

Millygarden said...

You have a nice kitchen than should be perfect in any light colour. As you now white is my favour but light yellow,light grey,sand could also be just perfect.

Looking forward to see the final!
Hugs Marina

Ana Regiane Ivanski said...

Olá Li querida!
Obrigada pela visita e as palavras tão carinhosas...

Sempre é um prazer vir até aqui e ver imagens tão lindas. Você é muito criativa!
Beijos
Regiane

Heaven's Walk said...

Li - There's another award for you on my blog! Be sure to check it out! I just had to give you one because I'm just loving your blog!

Hugs ~

laurie@heavenswalk

aliali said...

TAKE OFF THOSE CUPBOARD DOORS!
(the ones above counter.)
it'll open up the kitchen tremendously.
paint all the trim and the doors below the counter white, according to your plan.

angela said...

Hello! I was searching the web for creamy green kitchens, and happened to come to your blog...you see, I am contemplating similar for my kitchen. I would like to paint the cabinets a creamy white, and the walls a toned warm green (and get black counter tops since my appliances are black)... I would love to see pics of how your kitchen in coming, what it looks like painted :)
Thanks!

bedroom furniture said...

Hi
~ A Green Kitchen ~
Good day administrator, I really love how it is easy on my eyes and the data are well written,
many thanks