Barn Kitchen Reveal!

To see a VERY post on our kitchen and niche, click here!

Mangia! That's "eat" in Italian. We finally have finished our kitchen! Yay! And, just in time for my family to come visit us in Germany, then we are off to bella Italia! The kitchen is always the most important place (for me) to complete in a home first because it is the area that is most used, the area people congregate in, and we all know it's the heart of the home. This rental kitchen was bright yellow, neon orange, and very dark before. With permission from the landlord I have painted the walls and ceiling (to show off the gorgeous beams more). I also switched out the light fixtures for ones that I found at a flea market in Belgium. Lights are the easiest thing (besides paint) that you can do in a rental to really customize the look. When you move out, put the old ones back in and take your gorgeous fixtures with you!

Here is what our kitchen looked like before..

 and here is after...

 Hanging the wooden spoons and copper Turkish espresso pot on little hooks reminds me of the gorgeous kitchen we saw at a restaurant in Brugge, Belgium. Click here to check it out!

 One of my favorite things to do is highlight simple things by putting them on display, like the cup of coffee beans in the picture above.

 Everything in my kitchen has a purpose and is set up to maximize the space. 

 I hung a vintage tray over the stove so that I can magnet recipes to it while I am cooking. 

 I used the island that I bought from Ikea for our contemporary kitchen. I spray painted it cream since the high gloss white didn't fit in with the cabinets so well. I added the German antique meat grinder, baskets, copper and mixing bowls to make it a bit more rustic looking. Also, I just needed to store that junk somewhere...

 I absolutely love having a fireplace in our kitchen... It is so cozy and quaint feeling in this little barn. The rug in the picture above (that I also got for a bargain at a thrift shop) really ties the red of the fireplace in with all the greys I have going on in the kitchen. 

 This cage is perfect for keeping my pomegranates from flying away. Decorating with food keeps the room feeling fresh, colorful, and natural.

 The ladder below was found in the barn before it was renovated and works great as a towel rack. The Polish pottery-cow head is a lovely apron holder. I picked up this French bottle dryer in Metz, France. I have been wanting one of these for years and finally scored one I could afford. They are typically between $400-600 on the low end for one this large when purchased in the states. 

 To see how I created my cafe style chalk board, click here.

I was blown away at how my creme dining set matched our kitchen so, so perfectly. It looked as if it was made for the kitchen. To see how I quickly and inexpensively transformed my (free) dining set by painting my own fabric and re-upholstering the chairs, click here. Phew, that was a long sentence. 

Here is our new blue table...

To see our updated kitchen niche, click here!

I am off to work on some fall decor and shoot some of our other finished rooms! Don't worry, not with a gun, with a camera...

Until next time,

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