Kitchen Valance and Other Details

Last weekend I revealed our freshly painted white kitchen cabinets.  Since then, I’ve been sprucing up the kitchen a bit more.  Those white cabinets made the room feel stark and cold, so a bit of colorful accessorizing was called for.  My specialty!

I showed you this fabric (Braemore Gazebo in Cloud) that I loved for a curtain, and lamented how it was wrong, all wrong.  Well, after some more consideration, I decided to go back to the fabric store and buy a half yard just to see if would work after all.  (I also saw a kitchen window shade over at Young House Love that they had made with the same fabric!  So, I figured it might work in my kitchen, too.)

After a bit of measuring and some sewing I whipped up this little valance:

My original concern was that the print was too large.  Yeah, it is kind of big, but I think it’s okay.  And my second concern was that the green color wouldn’t look good with our yellow walls.  But it coordinates with all the other green accents in the room, yay!  And I managed to get a strip that had some aqua in it, which was important!  I cut the valance so the aqua sections were front and center, while still squeezing in as much green as possible. :)  The gray also works well in here with our stainless sink and gray/black countertops.  I love it!

I trimmed it with a little piece of aqua grosgrain ribbon that I had.  I wanted to highlight the edge of the swag as well as bring in more blue.  Then I put a little tuck on each side to make the bottom swag up in a curved shape.  I just hung the shade up and then pinned them in place until they were doing what I wanted.  Then I stitched them in place from the back.  The tucks make the bottom corners kind of flip out, but oh well, no one will notice that unless they are looking at the following view. :)

I hung it using a tension rod so it would fit securely inside the frame.  Then I put the tripod on the ledge of the sink to get this shot for you. :)  While we’re up on the counters, here’s another look at my new kitty cat towel hook.  The tail is the hook part:

Speaking of new things, I also updated a few things on the other side of the room, too!  The first is an unlikely item from a cattle sale of all places!  My mother dragged me to the local cattle sale the other day.  I had never been to a cattle sale (didn’t have much need for livestock) and I was totally shocked to see rows and rows of vendors selling dry goods, produce, toys, clothes, old tools, tires, hubcaps, junk, parakeets, hens, and rabbits, too!  It was just a little much for a Monday morning!  But after the initial shock wore off,  I managed to find a cool vintage soda crate for my kitchen.  (We also bought a few crystal vases, a blouse, and had our watch batteries replaced... haha!)

I put it in that nice empty spot on top of the fridge (Sorry Michael) and stacked a little daisy arrangement on top.  I think the peeling paint and rusty spots are cool.  Plus it has dividers (for the soda bottles back in the day) so I could eventually repurpose it for craft storage or to organize my acrylic paint collection.  For now, I’m enjoying it as kitchen decor.  :) 

I have also been looking for a chalkboard to fit next to the fridge, and I finally found one!  This one is an 11 x 14 frame from Target.  I spray painted the glass insert with chalkboard paint and wrote out my weekly menu on it:

I am only responsible for advance planning of six meals a week.  That other day we can fill in as necessary with leftovers, takeout, or spontaneously whip up something!  :)  This little chalkboard keeps me accountable since I am bad to neglect my meal planning duties, which results in random things for dinner and multiple trips to the grocery store. :) 

Sometimes, it’s the little things that make a difference.  Like a new curtain… or a vintage soda crate! :)

What do you think?  You like the new kitchen accessories?