Oh, friends.
What a journey learning to live #SlowHome has been. For us this adventure of going slow with our remodeling efforts has been full of tears, small victories, big hurdles, great fun, deep bonding, second guessing, creative inspiration, and more decisions than you can shake a stick at. But after nine months, the little seeds we planted all those months ago are starting to produce beautiful, nourishing, healthy fruit. Like our lovely, inviting, happy, warm, and open kitchen.
This kitchen is really a creative collaborative effort between me and Sweet Man. Since he loves to cook even more than I do, I really wanted this space to reflect his taste and needs as well as my own. There are a still a few tweaks to make and as we use it we may change the location of a few things, but for now we are just so happy to be in the space and to have all our stuff back!
(Some people live without their stuff for a season and find that they don’t need or want as much as before. For better or worse this has not been our experience. Turns out we are stuff people through and through. We love our stuff and we have missed it. I would like to think that perhaps this affinity for our things is because everything we purchase is chosen not just for its functionality but for the joy it brings us, or the story it tells of when and where we came across it. Or maybe I am just romanticising things because I hate thinking that we are materialistic. The truth, as always, is probably somewhere in the middle! Ha!)
While we are not 100% done (more on that at the bottom of this post,) we are SO close that we are at long last able to enjoy our kitchen and I am just giddy. Last night we actually cooked dinner for friends, and while Sweet Man cooked, we were all able to visit in our kitchen area (that can actually accommodate more than one person!) and then we all ate at the dining table (instead of balancing our plates on our laps in the living room) and then we used real napkins instead of paper towels. While there is nothing morally superior about these things, to us they are important and worth celebrating , because to us they represent being home. They are familiar and comforting routines, routines that help us slow down and be present to each other, to the moment, and to our life. So while I will never advocate that tables and cloth napkins in and of themselves are intrinsically special, I will have to say that the feeling of stability and homeyness that they bring our family is. Which is why, last night I breathed a huge sigh of relief. After a year of constant changes, it was nice to feel like something was “normal” again.
As soon as I learn to use my “big” camera again (it’s been in accidental storage for 9 months – don’t even get me started,) I will post some detail and resource post, but for now here is a little look back at where we started, where we are, and where we are headed:
BEFORE
ALMOST AFTER
LEFT TO DO
So there you have it! A little glimpse into our colorful farmhouse kitchen. Thanks for all the love and encouragement from everyone during this process!
Happy Tuesday Friends!
Hey, Jerusalem, we ate slow building our new house to look 100 years old. I love your kitchen. I think I need the glasses rack…what can you tell me about it, please? Thanks, donna
Oh I love that. We contemplated building from scratch but I knew I was not up for that. Did you seem my instagram note about the rack?
I did see your other note and I already pinned it to be ready. Thanks. Building is hard, but I have learned LOTS of skills! 🙂
Happy to see your farmhouse dreams are coming to reality! Your kitchen is lovely, all the counter space will be a treat! Love your school chairs around your kitchen table, too! Enjoy!!
Isn’t it amazing after all these years? And those chairs came from a university in the town my parents live in. Now I just have to decide if I am going to paint them or not…
Gorgeous !!! I love the peg board a la Julia Child 🙂 Enjoy !
Thanks! We are huge Julia fans 🙂
That is beautiful and inspiring! Who knew a space could transform so wonderfully :-). Congrats!
Thanks!! Sometimes we just have to be willingly to tear things all the way down before we can build it new!
I love the progress! The colors are fun and it just feels welcoming. Can’t wait to see the “final” version. We were slow remodeling too and it feels like projects are never finished around here!
I don’t know how you are doing it with 4 littles! That would mean extra-slow for me! Thanks for the love 🙂
Love your vision, lady! One step at a time. Meanwhile, I HAVE a big dining room table, but it’s always covered with crap and we still eat with our plates in our laps. (And we are lovers of stuff too!!)
Thank you! And yes, we will still eat around the coffee table I am sure – why is that tables are like magnets for piles of things?
Love your style and your vision! It is perfectly YOU!
ah thanks!!
Just gorgeous:) So worth the wait. Enoy!!
Thank you friend!! I need to have an AWB party out here 🙂
This is SO beautiful. We are doing some slow home improvement, too. Mostly for the sake of the budget. In the 3 years we have been here, I have been much more focused on building a garden but eventually I’ll get around to the big changes I want inside the house. The nice thing about going slow is that you have plenty of time to mull over things and decide on what you really want!
Sounds like we are doing things the opposite way – next year will hopefully be our garden year! And yes, Slow does mean LOTS of time to decide 🙂
It looks amazing. Congratulations on being almost finished!
Thanks so much!
Beautiful, “younique” kitchen! I’m another one who wants to know about that wonderful glass rack. Purchased, repurposed, or homemade?
Hi. What color and brand green paint is it that you used? Pls email me directly. Thanks