Feb 16, 2007

In memoriam

My house is largely undecorated. Why? I cannot commit to a design style. When I lived in west L.A. I was into modern, form/function, minimalism. That's where I bought my modern bedroom furniture. Now I hate it. Next I decided shabby chic was the style for me. That style landed in my kitchen. I got tired of it very quickly and settled on traditional style for my living area. Now I like a little bit of everything and I have decided that eclectic style is the way to go. Right now my house looks like someone with amnesia decorated it. There is a different style in every room. I'm working on achieving a more cohesive look so I can invite people over and not feel self-conscious. My kitchen will be receiving a face lift sponsored by the U.S. government (our tax return). Although I will miss it, I am ready for a new look. As a tribute, I will post some pics of the shabby, grandma cottage of a kitchen and events leading up to it's creation.

The Inspiration: A suit I bought at Ann Taylor on the way to a job interview in Arizona. I fell in love with this color and decided to use it as a kitchen wall color.
We selected Martha Stewart's "hellebore green" paint, as it was a close match to my suit. J-P's cousin was looking at our photos online and noticed the source of my inspiration. He superimposed the above photo to a photo of J-P painting the kitchen and posted it for the whole world to see. He said he couldn't resist. I was so embarrassed.

Next step: the curtains. I am such a sucker for fads. I found a red toile fabric in the textile district in downtown L.A. that I had to have. I had to convince J-P. This was my pitch..."Come on, toile is timeless, I'll never have to change it." Now every time I tell him I want to change it he retorts "I thought toile was timeless." I had a great time bartering with the Persian millionaire whose children I probably taught. We settled on a price and I was off to make curtains.

The finished product:

Now that I've paid homage to my kitchen I don't feel quite so guilty changing it after only a year and a half.

5 comments:

Natasha said...

You know I've always liked the color of your kitchen. But only you can get away with it. If I were to do it people would say, "what in the heck is she trying to do?" I do understand it may be a color that you might tire of after a while. Is the hutch from the Potato Barn the original color?

[M] said...

Yeah, we bought it like that. We got it on super sale because they said it looked so worn out. They tried to talk us out of buying it, told us it was a piece of junk.

dandee said...

Good luck with your project! You'll do great! My mantra is: Stay away from themes and only incorporate things you can't live without and you LOVE. If you only love it for a year or so, then tell yourself, you've had a good year together. Then guilt can't bog you down.

Alicia Leppert said...

I love your kitchen, but I guess that makes me out of style since you don't like it now. I just love any room that has been actually decorated, not just thrown together, like mine. I am the exact same way as you. I cannot decide on a style! I love them all. But luckily for me, it doesn't matter, because I have no money to decorate, so that's my excuse.

[M] said...

My kitchen has to change because it totally clashes with the adjacent living area. I hardly spend anything decorating, can't afford it either. If I want something I by it used on craigslist or make it myself. I made the chairs and curtains, they turned out looking not so great, that's why I don't like the kitchen. Thanks for the tips danyelle, my only problem is that I can never find anything I love. So frusterating!