Sunday, December 7, 2008

A Christmas Walk of My Own Home - Day Two


Welcome to Day Two of a Christmas Walk of my own home. I don't want to repeat the same information everyday, so if you don't want to miss anything, check yesterday's post for Day One of my Christmas Walk. Today's featured room decorated for Christmas is my kitchen. Now first of all its time for me to throw a pity party. I am someone who lives in my kitchen, cooks constantly, and throw numerous large parties throughout the year, and yet I have the smallest kitchen of anyone I know (I take that back, my friend Pam has the smallest kitchen of anyone I know, and she has 5 children! Sorry Pam) Anyhow, if I could wave a magic wand and have a bigger kitchen, I would. I tried to talk my husband into knocking out the west wall and EXPANDING the kitchen, but he wasn't too keen on knocking out a wall of a 100+ year old home. LOL! So, we made the best with what we had and SQUEEZED in extra storage space wherever possible. Even though its very small, I love my kitchen because its so cute and cozy, and surprisingly its also many visitors favorite room of the house.


Nothing of what you see in these pictures was original to the home. Now you would think that if I bought a historic home that I would be 'Blessed' with all the original moldings and character. NOT! Someone in the 1960's gutted my entire house and ripped out every inch of character the home had and replaced it with thin, cheap moldings, orange laminate counter tops, harvest gold appliances, hideous wallpaper, and shag carpeting. How sweet of them. LOL! So, my husband and I have spent the last ten years restoring the home to its original character. All the intricate moldings you see were hand made by my husband. The first photograph shows the china cabinets my husband made. Where one china cabinet is, a door once was and where the other china cabinet is was a partial wall with a 'hole' above it. A total waste of valuable space if you ask me. So they were both taken out, filled in, and replaced with china cabinets. The second photograph is the windowsill above my sink and shows the winter view of one of my gardens. The yellow vase usually holds fresh flowers all summer long, but in the winter I put in my artificial ones. All the Christmas colors in the kitchen are blue and silver to match the colors in the room. In the picture on the left, is a cubby my hubby made. There is one cubby on each side of the sink. I placed berries on all the shelves for Christmas.


This is a silver fruit arrangement above the sink. Another one of my 'Goodwill Finds' that I simply sprayed silver and added glitter.



Here is a view of the dining room as seen if you were standing in the kitchen.

I have numerous village houses that my husband and family have given me over the years, and I place them on the top shelf above my stove. Notice the ceiling in this room? Its wainscoting. I added Christmas plates and more berries on the shelves for decoration.










This is a decorative plate display that my husband made for me. I change the plates out for every season: Summer, Fall, and Winter. The teapot and saucer images were stenciled on two of the walls and a chair by me. I sort of have a teapot and rooster theme going on in this kitchen. There are various teapots and roosters scattered throughout, did you notice the teapot clock in the first photograph?



Here's a closeup of one of the Christmas displays in my kitchen. Just blue and silver boxes leftover from a previous Christmas present and a silver wire star and candles.


I actually have to thank all my friends for helping me decorate this kitchen, because just about every decorative item in my kitchen is a gift from a friends. My friend Leni gave me the roosters, my friend Sheila gave me the yellow cookie jars, My friends Paige and Sandy gave me almost every piece of blue and white ceramic ware you see, and MORE! Sandy also gave me the boxes and the wire star as Christmas gifts one year. My daughter also bought me some blue and white pottery and my friend Debbie gave me some plates and a Christmas candle as well. So thank you ladies, as you can see, all your gifts are well-treasured and well-loved.


See you tomorrow for Day 3! Amy





2 comments:

  1. Awesome kitchen ... so cozy! If I were there, that's where I'd be standing waiting for you to brew us up a cup of tea!! I too have a teapot collect ... and a Santa collection, which I must starting putting out before Christmas comes & goes and I don't get them out again. Your home is awesome (and again, my daughter is going to be so jealous!) Your husband must be quite the handyman ... love all the personal pieces he has made for you ... how great!! Looking forward to our walk tomorrow ... I wonder what room I'll see on Day 3?? Thanks for doing this!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Amy your house is sooo pretty, and clean and shiny. Everything looks so inviting. I'm looking forward to the rest of the tour. I also like the snow out the window...we have a couple inches right now too. I have a few of the blue masons and some cobalt wine bottles...what is it about blue that can be so warm and calm.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for leaving a comment. I love feedback from my readers. If you have a blog, I always return the love by visiting within a week whoever leaves a comment.