Belly's

welcome to my kitchen (and a to-do list)

The kitchen was the first room we designed in our apartment, and the only one we did even before we moved in. Looking at these picture, they may seem like a detour of my usual eclectic, layered style, and it indeed is, as you can see in these photos, which were the initial inspiration for the kitchen:

I collected these photos - and designed the custom built kitchen  - just at the beginning of what would turn into my interior design obsession. You could gave thought I'd regret the choices I made as my style and taste evolved, but the fact is that as much as I love a layered, collected room, and as much as I enjoy looking at country kitchens in magazines or online, I really prefer a more streamlined kitchen for myself.

I cook a lot, and I'm a messy cook, and so I felt I needed a "cleaner" backsplash that will be able to endure it. I love how wipeable it all is, too. Apropos wipeable: I really wanted Carrera marble countertops, but my husband was intimidated by all the warnings and "don't you dare"s and so we went for Caesar Stone (we got marble for our bathroom instead). Everyone told me I won't regret it, but actually, I do.

 

One thing I got stuck into my head is that I want the kitchen to be almost all drawers (as opposed to doors) and all in the same size. We made partitions and smaller drawers inside the big drawers to accomodate different storage needs, like a cutlery drawer, a mini-pantry and such- and I must say, it makes me happy every time I enter the room (which is a lot! haha).

And here it is, my messy corner. We don't have enough room for a roomy breakfast table in the kitchen, so I planned this corner for going through the mail, having coffee and such. Somehow, it turned to the Mess Corner. I intentionally photographed it at its very worst, so I get the motivation to remedy that. Here's my to-do list:

• Get a big, pretty trash can (yes, I have a problem with finding pretty trash cans)
• Get a bar stool
• Declutter the shelves, and get rid of the half-functioning toaster-oven
• Frame some colorful art for the kitchen (still undecided whether to hang them or just prop on the shelves)
• Get my gorgeous Bodum toaster fixed. We never used it because it arrived broken.
• Get better lighting - I love IKEA, but those pendants look really cheap in the all-white kitchen.

So- what do you think of my kitchen? Do you have any suggestions or tips about adding color to it?

I can't wait to tackle the kitchen, and show it to you again when it's all beautiful.

ode to a fridge

It was ugly, it was old, it was tiny, and it was ours. Today we got rid of our "starter fridge" a small, cranky confection that used to belong to my great-grandmother.

When we moved to our former home we needed a refrigerator, and we needed it fast. I was seven months along with C (who turned four this Friday, by the way) and we had zero appliances and furniture, because our former rentals came furnished. We thought we'll only use that fridge for a while, but we never replaced it until today.

And let me tell you, it served us well.

So while I'm ecstatic to finally have a "real" fridge where I can actually fit some food, I can't deny there's a twinge of nostalgia inside...

But once I put some photos of C and Sketchbook's fine art magnets on our new buy, I felt much, much better.

(sorry for the phone photos!)

 

boy's room: progress report

When we moved, my first priority was to give my son Chanoch a room he will enjoy. In our former home, his room was terrible; It was tiny, poorly lit and the insulation was bad. He rarely spent time there, and he would rather play in the living room and sleep with us. This room, I wanted to be the opposite: well lit, with all his books and toys stored neatly and in his reach, with a comfortable sleeping area and space for him to craft (you've seen his water colors) and later- do his homework.

Here is what I did so far:

I designed built-in bookcases and a window seat (made of plaster, they cost much cheaper than "real" furniture), we gave him our closet (not pictured; we now have a little walk-in closet so we didn't need it anymore) and bought baskets (from Ikea) to accommodate all his small toys, like toy cars, playmobile and lego pieces. The table and chairs (the other chair is in my office so he can "visit" me while I work) and blackboard are also new, and from Ikea. The bed isn't new. I would rather a bed in natural wood, but that's what we had, and it will do for now.

What's left to do:

• Roman shade in this fabric from Premier Prints.
• Window seat covered in the Covington toile and green welting.
• Safety bars for the window.
• Lining the bookshelves in paper (plaster gets scratched so quickly!)
• Find night lights
• Find rug
• Find better bedding (right now he won't let me change the Winnie the Pooh set- and he doesn't even like Pooh!)
• Hang art and family pictures (I have a huge vintage map and some prints)

What do you think? Any suggestions?

I'm adding this room to Design Refuge's contest, it's not a complete before and after, but it's still much better than the "before" (=empty room).

{images: Chedva K for belly's button, Peter Dunham, Traditional Home, Samantha Pynn}

my eddie ross moment -or- dining room inspiration

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Last week we talked about turning a cube into home, and finally, here is the first step of a long way.

Before I even knew where to look for inspiration for the dining room, I came across this breathtaking window display Eddie Ross put together for Carleton Varney in the D&D building in NYC. Stunning, but what does it have to do with my little cookie-cutter dining room? Well, as soon as I saw this gorgeous painterly, floral fabric on the dark chair I knew I found a way to transform this sorry little dining set (we got it when we couldn't afford even one chair, let alone a whole set, so we had to make do with the questionable taste and quality.)

See?

Suddenly I realized how good the room looks with green, pink and lilac, which accidentally, are just the colors of the flowers and the vase I had this week. And- oops!- it seems the sukkah decorations which I admired all this week, are members of this color family, too. Then, when the fabric samples (which I ordered weeks ago and already forgotten all about) from House Fabric arrived in the mail the next day, it all came together! I'm still debating about the fabric because my husband thinks it's a little juvenile (my mom was just here, though, and she loves it). I might look for something more painterly, watercolor-y looking.

What do you think?

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Tomorrow I won't be posting, but come back on Friday for another outfit with a past, with a very special guest. Meanwhile, why don't you check out Karen's OWAP from last week?

{images: carleton v window display design + photos: eddie ross, all other photos + layout: chedva k for belly's button)

turning a cube into a home

We've been in the new apartment for a couple of months by now, and it's high time I get started with decorating it. Up until now I've been caught up with work, but my big deadline is next week, and soon I'll finally have time.

 

 

Moving into a brand new apartment in a brand new apartment has its many pros and no less cons. You get to plan your own space from scratch, as you wish! But then again you may make mistakes, and the house doesn't have a personality of its own to give you a clue how to design it. Mrs. Blandings wrote every house has a soul, but I think stark, empty apartments do not.

Injecting it with character is a taunting but exciting task. We've made many mistakes with the room-plan, but now it's a given (which may even give it a little character?) and that's what I have to work with. This post will serve as a "before" of sorts (though I don't believe in strict "before and afters"), a point of reference for the many inspiration, moodboard, planning and (hopefully-) executing posts to come.

Care to join the ride?