Nester's having a party, to celebrate the Finale of her fun and funky 10 Minutes To A Room You'll Love series. She's been sharing tips and fabulous photos of ways to perk up your rooms using what you have on hand, also known as shopping the house. These little 10 minute spruce-ups are just the thing for taking a room from plain to pretty, which improves not only how our spaces look, but also how we -- ourselves and our families, our friends and our visitors -- feel.
I've been puttering my way through a kitchen and breakfast room renovation for the past six weeks. The kitchen is now ready for new countertops, so I've turned my attention to the breakfast room. Last weekend I hung the wallpaper, and I had my kids pull an old bakers rack out of the garage, where it's been sitting around for the past 22 years. The rack is a little dusty and rusty, but minus the dust it's perfect for the one space I have in this room for a multipurpose display and storage shelf.
Today I cleaned up the wallpapering mess, mopped the floor, and put the room back together. When that was done, it was time to shop the house and personalize the baker's rack.
My before pics are not for the faint of heart. At the post-Christmas moment when I decided to redo these rooms, serious CHAOS had set in ... the Fly Lady kind of C.H.A.O.S. ... Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome. Here's how it looked when I started:
This is where I put the baker's rack :o) Right after Christmas, this corner was piled with wrapping paper and packaging, all on top of an IKEA Lack table that is virtually buried. There's a wallpaper sample taped to the wall, and there are huge ice chests on the table and the counter, because our fridge had stopped working and we had to put everything in coolers while waiting for the part.
This picture was taken on Valentine's Day, last weekend, right before I started hanging wallpaper. The kitchen cabinets have been painted, except for the one above the stove, which has been taken down. The bakers rack goes on the wall with the arrow.
Wallpaper's up, baseboards are painted, bakers rack is in place.
Ray and I both enjoy wine, and our stash has been living in cardboard boxes since we started the reno. Now there's a spot for a few bottles in the kitchen, and an additional 4 cases (yep, 48 bottles, woohoo!) in a wine rack I purchased yesterday afternoon ... I'll be writing about it soon!
A few specifics about what's on display:
I've been collecting baskets for almost 40 years. This rattan serving tray was purchased at Cost Plus (aka World Market) in the 1970s, when I was in college, and the cheese plates were purchased at World Market earlier this month. The sweet little pitcher -- made for FTD florists -- was a Goodwill find for a couple bucks, pulled straight out of a box of unlisted eBay inventory this afternoon.
All in all, it took about half an hour to pull this look together. I ran through a couple rooms, grabbed a few things, and then arranged them. I expect that what's on this rack will change often, which keeps things fresh and interesting. I'll be hanging more pictures, and I need to install my dimmer switches before putting the switch plates back on the wall. Lots of great things are in the works, so please drop by again to see what's new.