Kitchen Dreams

There are some fabulous home & decor stores out there with even more fabulous websites with extra, extra fabulous catalogue rooms and crazy ridiculous price tags!  Pier 1, Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn... and one of my favourites, Ballard Designs.  Besides the inspiration I find in magazines, Pinterest, and through some talented bloggers I follow,  I could spend hours drooling over browsing the websites of these non-budget-friendly outlets while looking for ideas for our home... all the while hoping I can pull off a similar look without breaking the bank.   That little voice inside my head is always niggling away with thoughts like "I wonder if I could do that for cheaper..." or "That would be easy to do myself..."

This is our current dining nook.  For our living space, we have one big open concept room off the deck (which we use as our main entrance).  The room includes our living/tv room and eat-in kitchen, both of which need some serious updating  horrid mismatched lighting fixtures, dated cabinets, ugly countertops, cracked walls, and (shudder!) mustardy/goldenrod-ish coloured walls.   The fieldstone you see is the left side of our fireplace.  It needs an updated mantle

This is a kitchen design that I'm thinking (one day when I have an actual budget of ANY kind - little, big, just a budget, please!) I can incorporate into our living space.  I'll even keep my dining nook neat and tidy and catalogue photo ready (snicker!)  

Kitchen Inspiration:  Constance Kitchen {Ballard Designs}

I love the clean, neutral feel of this dining area.   The colour is perfect too! I love the rustic lantern look pendant (Delaney Pendant, $229) for over our seating area.  I love the round table with a bench tucked into a little dining nook.  I love the panelled walls (wainscotting? or what's this look called? I'm drawing a blank here!)  I could live without this particular rug and would prefer something with more of a sisal feel.

We already have a round table that just needs a little TLC.  Sanding it down and painting or re-staining (or maybe both!) are on my to-do list.  I had never really thought about adding a bench...but I have to say, I'm liking that plan for additional seating.  The bookcase as shelving is fabulous, but I could also work with a buffet instead.  

See the dishes featured on the shelf???? Southern Living Dinnerware.  Cute, functional pops of colour, no?  I need my pops of colour!   They're good solid pieces with pretty details like scallops and fork-pressed pie crust edges.

So what do you think? Does it scream "Lindsey" to you?  Could it work in our space? I think yes!