There is something about this time of year that really makes my nesting instinct kick in. I want cosy. I want comfort. And most importantly, once December kicks in I want sparkle, twinkle and glitter...Food is very much a focus over the festive period too (which, in this house at least, runs from the beginning of December all the way through to the second week of January! ) which means spending more time in the kitchen so if there's one thing I don't want it's a messy cluttered kitchen! Unfortunately my kitchen, tiny as it is, has a tendency to get messy AND cluttered whenever I turn my back for 5 mins.
Time to take things in hand!
I wasn't intending on redecorating the kitchen this winter (to be fair I was actually intending to do it during the summer but just never got around to it...) but, well the urge took hold and sometimes you just have to go with the flow.
I simply don't have the time to do the whole lot in one hit so I have decided to tackle one wall at a time and work my way around. This week I did the window wall.
Here's how it looked before - the yellow seemed like such a good idea at the time but the kitchen (like the rest of the house) just doesn't get enough light so instead of looking warm, bright and sunny, most of the time it just looks a bit dark...
One coat of paint (Dulux Natural Calico if you were wondering) and it's already brightened up a bit. It makes the white boiler look less conspicuous too which can only be a good thing...
I picked up this corner unit from a charity shop for £2. A couple of coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White transformed it. I love chalk paint - you can pretty much paint anything with and, although a bit pricey, the tin just seems to go on forever!
It scrubbed up lovely don't you think? I am currently loving the red, white and sky blue colour scheme but the best thing about a white back drop is it's easy to change accent colours when I fancy something different.
The red and white crockery is from Matalan. The cute little birdie tea light holder was purchased in the sales after last Christmas and the lovely tall pitcher was a charity shop find.
My lovely little white witch was a Christmas present a couple of years ago. She's now hanging in pride of place and watches over me while I do the washing up.
These two glass shelves came from my mum. I've used little pressed glass sundae dishes (another charity shop find) as supports. There is just enough room to display a few little trinkets I picked from elsewhere in the house. I will probably put some pots of herbs on the top shelf in the summer but it will, very soon, make a perfect stage for Christmas candle holders, pine cones and glittery reindeer...
It's amazing what a transformation can be made with a bit of paint and lot of de-cluttering!
The rest of the kitchen still looks rubbish but now I've made a start I'm itching to carry on. Hopefully I'll be able to show you Cute Kitchen Makeover part 2 next week...
Candle light and disco ball fairy lights.
Just because!
