Adding color to the kitchen

Our little lake cottage has been through a lot. It is very old. It used to be disgusting and cats would come here to die. I’m not even fibbing! You won’t be able to tell now after our amazing remodeling… otherwise I wouldn’t have lived here. (I’ll try to scavenge some gross before pictures one of these days!)

Still, like any old lady, the cottage doesn’t quite make sense. There are oddly placed windows, the layout could be a bit more logical, not to mention a furnace room in the attic (somehow the architect forgot to include it on the main level… hmm!)

Our kitchen also serves as a dining room. There is also this odd wall that puzzled me for a while. It’s not a wide enough space for a table and not small enough to just hang a picture and forget it.

I impulsively bought a baker’s’ rack to “cover” the wall. I started hating the rack almost immediately. This is what it looked like until I finally was able to get rid of the thing on Craigslist. It just didn’t “go” there, if you know what I mean. (apologies for the terrible phone picture)

And here is what I ended up doing to the spot.

I bought the painting in the Dominican Republic (I actually ripped off one of those pushy local market guys… but that’s a whole other story that I’m not sure whether to be proud of or feel guilty!). I made the frame myself, believe it or not. All it took was 4 yard sticks, glue gun, staple gun, and 20 minutes.

I snatched the chair from my in-laws’ old pharmacy. They didn’t want it in their new modern building and I bet they are biting their elbows right now:) (Hi, Sherry!). The beautiful plant (Mass Cane) is from Lowe’s. (Hope it survives. It’s the first living thing the 2 of us are going to take care of. If it lives we will be ready for a kid.)

I love this much, much better. It adds a pop of color in our kitchen and creates somewhat of a tropical, vacation mood. We are all about that kind of mood.