I'm in the kitchen, but I'm not cooking....

If you read blogs like I read blogs, you surely know all about Harper and her sweet mama, Kelly........ Harper was born with a serious lung condition and through the power of prayer and God's healing with the help of his amazing servants...the doctors and nurses...she is now a healthy, happy baby girl. The blog world followed Harper's progress as she got better and better and now I feel like she is the baby across the street.

Kelly is hosting a tour of homes....room by room....every Friday, called Show Us Where You Live Friday. Today is the kitchen edition. I could have gone in and taken some photos of my kitchen today....but it would mean some cleaning, and cleaning would mean I would have to get up and get busy....and busy would mean distracted and who knows when I would get back in here.... so I am pulling up some pictures I already have.

From the back door, looking to the left of my kitchen. We painted and distressed the island and replaced the original island tile counter top with granite.



The desk was white, but we added some molding, a leg (on the right) and painted it black to make it look like a separate piece of furniture. I covered foam core board with a black & white toile fabric and pushed it to the back of the upper cabinets....of course, not much shows, but it lightened up the back of the shelves. The tv is in this cabinet and the doors are rarely closed, so it's nice to see a peak of the toile. I found the 3 tiered wall file at TJ Maxx. One file for each kid....if they can't find it....it's probably in their file.

We put in a brick paver backsplash replacing the old 2 x 2 white tiles that were here when we bought the house. This cute metal wall hanging was a gift from my good friend Karen. It couldn't be more perfect.

I loathe (if that means more than hate) my kitchen sink......see that shallow little sink right in the middle? We tend to wash and rinse everything right there in the middle. I have never left the sink with a dry shirt as water sprays and pours over the edge. You would think we would learn but no. One day I hope to replace it with one large sink but I am having to wait patiently for that. I've got the "wait" down, but not the "patiently" part.

See that black door that leads to the utility room above? It was a discarded screen door that I grabbed out of a neighbor's trash pile. Chuck put a masonite board on the back...I painted the door and board with black paint...but the top half of the front is painted with chalkboard paint.

Coming around the corner are the pantry door and ovens. See that space above? One day I looked up there and thought...."I wonder if that old window that I brought back from Georgia would fit up there?" And it did. Perfectly. Before it was just an opening over this cabinet. Now it looks like.....like.....well, I don't know what it looks like but I love that the old window fit up there.

Our fireplace opens to the kitchen and great room. This is the kitchen side. I also painted it black a couple of years ago.....I still look around here and think, "what else could I paint black..." I looked at the dog and she tucked her tail and ran.

This room sees a lot of action so it had to be fun enough to make me want to go in there. The red metal cart was retrieved from a dumpster outside of a dollar store in Mississippi. Never underestimate someone else's garbage.

This picture was taken at a baby shower I hosted.....it's the only picture I could find of the other side of my kitchen. Hope these pretty ladies don't mind. See the chalkboard door? I drew a big A on it in pink chalk for the baby girl that we were showering....Abigail. I have alot of fun with that chalkboard.....you should get you a little bit of chalkboard somewhere.

And you've made it back around to the eating area.

See the doggie door? Best thing we did in this kitchen! I have way more time to waste at the computer now that I don't have to let the dogs in and out and in and out all day.

If my scanner was working or my technical person was home, I would show you some Before pictures of this kitchen when we bought this house in 1999. The wallpaper was a tiny, tiny calico floral, pink ceilings (YES) and a tiffany lamp over the island. The island top and backsplash was a 2 x 2 white tile with a row of burgandy. And white grout. WHITE BUT NOW GRAY GROUT. That had to go quick. Life's too short to spend it bleaching white grout every dang day.

See yourself out the door.