The Nest: Kitchen

Nest up on the Nest Tour, every grandma's favorite room, the kitchen.  It just so happens to be my favorite as well.

With that said, it needs work.  Even after the MAJOR scrub down it received after moving in (possible post on that someday).  Like most of the apartment, its dark and a bit outdated.  One feature I do like is the opening into the dining area, which you can see here:

 Notice my baby?  That is my Martha Stewart teal kitchen-aide mixer in the corner.  Thats right, mixing is serious business in the Nest.

I'm definitely not a fan of the honey colored cabinets or the (impossible to keep clean) white melamine counter tops.  The appliances (big surprise!) are also outdated and (!) bisque colored.  Ick.  Since painting the cabinets is out of the question, I'm considering removing the top cabinet doors and using colored contact paper on the wood to make the kitchen look lighter and less heavy.  As for the appliances, well, not much can be done for those, though I have seen some pretty transformations on similar appliances using stainless steel sheets...I dream.

I do like the layout, which you can see in the blue print I made below:

It's a relatively small space, large enough to move around in, but not so large that using multiple surfaces is like running a long distance marathon.  I've had to be a little creative with storage, though that's new to no one.  Here's some storage I added to the kitchen wall:

This represents about a third of the gadgets I have floating around.  You can also see my beloved pot rack, a holdover from our first tiny studio apartment.  I've now sworn allegiance to always storing my pots like this, so convenient!





Notice the earthy tile back splash?  That's the only kitchen upgrade the landlord had done.  Its not bad, but has noting to do with the look of the rest of the apartment.  Not sure what to do with it.  Ideas anyone?

As far as improvement goes, I've already done most of the painting, a cheery blueish-green color (Martha Stewart) and installed several wall storage options. 

There's still so much to do:
-finish painting
-remove cabinet doors
-cover cabinets with contact paper?
-upgrade cabinet lighting, think Ikea
-buy or crochet kitchen rug
-install stainless steel sheets on appliances
-install dish drying rack over sink
-hang art work or plates on wall above cabinets
-make eco-friendly cleaners
-replace ugly lighting fixture
-replace brown light switches

The Nest: Bedroom

Next up on the Nest Tour is the bedroom.

We were fortunate enough to have a pre-painted bedroom when we moved in.  Grey!  My favorite color.  Well, one of them anyway.

We're still (technically) newlyweds, and appropriately we have less than a lot of furniture.  As a result, our bedroom is fairly spartan.  I'm digging it.  Of course the largest piece in the room is the lovely bed which always features our favorite wedding gift- our custom made quilt (in our wedding colors).  We nixed having side tables since they looked to cluttered, and instead went with a little charging station and a small set of overhead shelving from IKEA.  There is no overhead light in the room, so I installed the two bendable lamps onto the shelving.  They make a really nice glow at night when aimed at the wall. 

Across from the bed is the other piece of furniture in the room, the dresser.  You can see the jewelry hangers I made above the dresser.  To the left is our lovely walk-in closet (the largest closet I have personally ever owned).  It stores pretty much everything at the moment.  



I'd love to play up the grey on walls, eventually working in a Grey/Yellow/black/teal-green color pallet.  Here's the to-do decorating list:

-make or buy window treatments for the THREE huge windows
-make a large canvas rug
-replace the heavy wooden dresser with a smaller, vintage fixer-upper
-expand the shelving
-make or buy duvet cover/sheets in updated color scheme
-install light kit on ceiling fan
-install second charging station
-put up framed art

Next up on the tour: the bathroom.

The Nest: Entryway

Now that we've been settled into the new Nest for over two months, (and almost everything is out of boxes) its time to start the nesting tour (OK Grandma, you win).  First up is the entry way, which currently leaves much to be desired. 

The entryway should signal what the rest of the home looks like, and this entry isn't cutting it.  Sadly the apartment was built in the "we don't need any natural light" days, so its dark.  Its also fairly narrow, and opens up into a weird triangle shape.

On the right you can see the two bedrooms and the door to left is the bathroom.  Straight ahead is the Chuppah I embroidered for our wedding.  Its so big, that nook seems to be the only place it can call home at the moment.  When I outfit the second bedroom as a craft room/office, it will likely live in there.

Another view of the entryway triangle.  You can better see the bathroom entrance here.  As you may have noticed, the hallway is half painted (a work in progress), with the odd diagonal wall painted in Sultana Green (Martha Stewart) and the other walls in a blueish turquoise whose name escapes me presently.  Fortunately, 75% of the apartment has hardwood floors.  No brown shag to contend with here. 

Finally, the view into the kitchen hallway.  I found little removable vinyl wall stickers at Papersource that perfectly match the color scheme.  They look super whimsical.  Sadly, Husband is not a fan (yet).  The bi fold doors on the right hide our washer/dryer.  More on that little space later.

The wall planner to the right is a little dumpster reject I found and painted with contrasting wall paint.  Now its our home for the letter sorter, bill/social calender and notes of encouragement from parishioners.  Please notice how many lovely notes we have up.  Our congregation is the best!

Here's the Entryway Project Breakdown so far:

-Paint all walls

-Clean out airvent/replace air filter

-Put up hat/scarf storage on Green wall

-Clean out black cubby, assign cubby spaces, add baskets

-Get/make a floor runner

-Replace/improve existing hall lighting

-Move Chuppah to new wall

-Put up storage or entry way seating on existing Chuppah wall

-Light Chuppah Wall

-Put up/make wall art and light it

-clean and repaint white trim work

-clean out Coat Closet, make visitor Friendly

-shoe storage?

Progress!

The Tour

And now, with no further adue...the long awaited apartment tour:

The Apartment Tour from Courtney Walling on Vimeo.