How To: Styling Shelves

Here it is. Our newly styled hutch. 

As I mentioned, styling shelves is one of my favorite things to work on, but this hutch really had me rethinking everything. So much so that I had to gather inspirational images to help me get to this look.

Our hutch has had a couple looks since we first brought it home, but they never seemed quite right. Too cluttered or too plain. Previously, I chalked it up to working with what I had and not purchasing specific pottery to fit. But, as it turns out, I just needed to re-evaluate my method.

1. Start by adding the big ticket items, anything large that would dominate the space. Like the pitcher, large scale bird, and soup tureens. 

2. Next, add your background pieces. Like plates, platters, and in my case these vintage silver casserole covers. 

(Remember I'm using what I have!)

3. Then, start adding your filler pieces. I tried to add a variety of pieces for a touch of whimsy and color while varying heights and textures. 

Some of my favorite combinations are shown here. My Mom gave me the green platters, which I paired with a couple of salad plates from our formal china. 

You know how I feel about blue and green.

A collection of blue and white tea cups and a sweet little bird atop a stack of saucers.

4. The final step, is to add natural elements for further texture. I topped simple white bowls with decorative moss spheres, included a silver bowl of limes, and added large pinecones to a white serving dish.

I've kept the pallet to mostly tonal shades of green and white, with a good dose of well loved, tarnished silver and just a hint of blue. Not too neutral, but not overwhelming with pattern and color. Just enough to keep you interested.

Hope this little step by step helps you with your next shelving project. 

Speaking of, with this change of dining location, our former breakfast room has been in need of a new purpose. A new purpose, means new tweaks to our storage shelving. More to come on that later...No shelf space is safe in our home at the moment. It's a shelf-a-palooza!

linking in with:

Shabby Creek

Beyond the Picket Fence

Stone Gable

Shabby Nest

until next time, 

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Shelving Inspiration

Styling shelves is one of my ultimate favorite things, but I have to admit that working with our hutch really threw me for a loop.

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So I did what I always do and turned to the internet to find some inspirational images. 

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It seems there are definitely two trains of thought. Some lean toward a minimalist look with quite a bit of negative space. 

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While others go for a more layered, full look.

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So it would seem that one should:

use a cohesive color pallet

vary heights and depths

add texture

Good to know. 

Next up, I'll share the styling of our hutch. 

until next time, 

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Switcheroo, Part 2

In case you missed it, last week we moved our harvest table into the dining room. Something we've been wanting to do since we moved into this house. To read more about it, click here. Unfortunately, this little move left a gapping hole in what was our media stand. 

But fear not, because a little more furniture rearrangement and we came up with this solution. The former dining room sideboard, turned foyer sideboard, now media sideboard. 

Although its a smaller surface space, we still have room for a little decorative touch.

Plus, it fits the space so much better. Love the flanked chairs. But, most of all, I love how it really opens up the whole room. 

Ready for a little flash back?

Here's a look at the harvest table as the media stand - shortly after the remodel (1.5 years ago).

And again a couple of months later. I did love the two lamps, but alas, you can't have it all. I'm sure I can find another home for my lamp.

In other news, I'm off with the girls for a week in the sun. I'll be back next week, so hopefully, I'll see you then.

linking in with:

Met Monday

Homestories A to Z

The Farmhouse Porch

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The Best Tomato Soup I've Ever Made

The weather is beyond frigidly cold, so I know the title of this post stopped you in your tracks...

soup + cold weather = match made in heaven.

I actually made this soup ages ago, but it wasn't until I pulled the leftovers out of the freezer this week that I remembered I never got around to posting it. So, here it is. The best tomato soup I've ever made. 

Creamy Tomato Soup

I'm sure you won't be surprised to know that I found the original recipe in the BBC Good Food Magazine, November 2012 issue.

Why do I love this soup? Let me count the ways...

1. So rich and hearty, you'd think it was bad for you. But, it's not!

2. Loads and loads of hidden veggies make up the base, but you really can't taste them. Which works wonderfully for my super picky 4 year old that won't eat anything green. 

3. Easy, easy, easy to make. 

4. Perfect for grilled cheese dunkers for Miss T. Also quite nice with grilled cheese croutons for Baby E.

You'll need:
3 tbs olive oil
2 onions, chopped 
2 celery sticks, chopped
3 large carrots, chopped
3 medium potatoes, diced
4 bay leaves
5 tbs tomato paste
2 tbs sugar
2 tbs red wine vinegar
4 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
500g tomato puree
1 litre vegetable stock
1 1/2c whole milk

To do:
1. Combine the oil, onions, celery, carrots, potatoes and bay leaves  in a large dutch oven. Sauté until the onions are softened about 10-15 minutes.

2. Add the tomato paste, sugar, vinegar, canned tomatoes, tomato puree and veggie stock. Bring to a simmer, cover and simmer another 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Remove the bay leaves. Puree with an emulsion blender until smooth. 

3.  Cool slightly before adding the whole milk. Reheat, but do not allow to boil.

By the way, the first time I made this soup, I served it with the suggested cheesy sausage rolls, which were AMAZING. Can not recommend them enough. 

You must try them both!

linking in with:
Stone Gable

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A Long Awaited Change

Remember when I told you that one of my goals for this year was to really love the home I'm in? No more complaining about what this house doesn't have - time to start focusing on what we do have and making the most of it. 

So, what was my biggest complaint? 

Probably a tie between not using the whole first floor and toys being everywhere. (sound familiar?) 

I felt like we were spending all our time in the smallest room of the house, the breakfast room. This hard working room splits it's time between hosting all our meals, 1st floor playroom for the kids and a blogging space for me. Meanwhile, despite working hard to make the dining room feel less formal, we weren't using it. 

Time to do something drastic. Something I've been wanting to do since we moved our furniture in. Something that almost everyone I've asked thought was a bad idea. But, you know what, it's my house and I want to be happy in it. So, why not give it a try?

I moved our 7' long antique harvest table into the dining room. Before moving into this house, it acted as our breakfast table. Since then, it's stood in for a sofa table, then a tv stand. 

The Mr. and I have always wanted it in here. But, we had a more formal table and it was a formal dining room. Obviously, it belonged in the dining room. Right?

Not anymore. 

We are loving how it fits the proportions of the room and the less formal feel. We can still comfortably fit 8 adults, and that's good enough for us. 

I'll admit it. When we first moved the table in, we were concerned that the table was a bit thin. 

The original plan was to use our breakfast room chairs, but they didn't really add enough bulk. Then, I thought about my highly coveted natural woven chairs, which of course would be an extra expense. We decided to try our current, more formal chairs, and would you believe it - we actually liked them. 

First off, they are super comfy. Second, they are a better scale for the table and the room. Third, they are a perfect pairing of casual elegance....the overall feel and look I am trying to achieve in my home. 

A couple of questions you might have, Mom:

1. What did we do with the other table? 

We simply removed the legs and slid it under the guest bed. That way, if we ever want to go back to it, we can. Easily. 

{Although, I'll still feel like it's disproportionate to the room. And won't be able to get over the fact that the extra leaves don't have an attached apron, which kept me from using them on a regular basis.}

We are toying with the idea of selling it, so if you are interested, please contact me directly. designingdomesticity@gmail.com

2. Now you have two informal dining spaces, what are your plans for the breakfast room?

Oh, I have plans, definite plans. You'll just have to stay tuned in to find out. But, for now, I will tell you that I am loving that I don't have to put away/step over/clear off the toys/projects every time we want to eat a meal. 

3. Now that you moved the harvest table, what are you using for a TV stand?

As most furniture rearrangements go, it lead to quite a few other changes around the house, which I plan to share later in the week. Not all are permanent, I don't think. But only time will tell. 

So, what do you think? A good change? 

Let me know in the comments. 

linking in with:

Savvy Southern Style

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Dining Room Windows

We've made some real progress in the dining room this year (love saying that seeing as it's only two weeks into 2013!) and I can't wait to share it with you. 

But, patience is the name of the game because today I'm only sharing our new window treatments. Truth is they came just before the holidays, I just never had a chance to share them with you. 

You may remember that I was slightly obsessed with painting the dining room a terracotta-ish coral color and that it took me forever to settle on a paint. In the end, I had a custom color made for me. {Read more about the paint, by clicking here.} Depending on the time of day, the color ranges between rose/salmon/terracotta. We're really loving it. Phew. 

So, when most people start a room redesign with a jumping off fabric that sets the pallet for the whole room, I did the opposite. Let me be the first to tell you, it's not the best plan. Finding a fabric to coordinate with the existing rug and the new paint color was no small feat. 

After what felt like ages, I settled on this fabric. In truth, I rushed it a bit and I got inpatient. 

When we first installed them, I was nervous. Really nervous. It wasn't love at first sight. It was more of a luke-warm like. But, they are growing on me and I've got a plan up my sleeve to make them a bit more youthful. 

And, just because I know everyone loves a little before and after, here's were we started. 

Hope you had a great weekend.

Come back soon to check out more progress. 

linking in with:

Met Monday

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Kitchen, 1.5 years on

I'm working on a little behind the scenes project for my site {details of which I plan to share later this week} and realized I hadn't posted updated pictures of our kitchen. A year and half after completion and we're still loving it. 

Of course, we've made a couple changes here and there. Making things more functional and pretty. :)

The biggest change, that you are probably already getting sick of, is the addition of the sofa table turned island. {To read more about it, click here.} How we functioned prior to the island has quickly become a mystery. It has turned a one butt kitchen into a two butter faster than I thought possible. Love. That's really all there is to say. 

The only downside to the island is that it restricts the view of our beloved stove! {To read more about our stove selection, click here.} We initially choose this stove because we loved the look, but have been very happy with how it works and, of course, the capacity. And no, the fact that it is not self cleaning has not posed a problem for us - even with the weekly bread cooking at 500F.

My other favorite change over the last year and a half is the addition of the cafe curtains. Living in the urban suburbs of Chicago, our neighbors are literally a driveway width away. Not great for privacy. Replacing the roman shade with the cafe curtains allows us plenty of natural light, while maintaining our privacy. Plus, the little splash of color is a welcome addition to our mostly white kitchen. 

In search of additional and somewhat unconventional storage, we opted to hang our bread boards on the wall. Kitchen artwork is always such a challenge - do you go with the obligatory food/wine image or not? Now we have something pretty to look at as well as functional. Two birds, one stone. 

Yup, that's a Christmas wreath hanging on the back door. And no, these pictures aren't old. What can I say? I like it. Holding on to the season just a bit longer. 

Check back later in the week for an update on my 'behind the scenes' project.

linking in with:

Tuesday's Treasures

Wow us Wednesday

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Joining the Ranks

We are creeping in on the second week of January. I suppose I can't put it off any longer. It's time to get back to the business of blogging. Actually, I'm kind of excited and renewed after my week long break at the holidays. Thank you to everyone for bearing with me. 

It seems as though everyones mother's brother's sister is starting off the new year with organizational posts. Far be it from me to buck that trend. 

As you may have seen in my Goals post, I've been struggling with the endless toy clutter. It doesn't help that we choose to add toy storage in the main walkway from the kitchen, through the breakfast room, to the living room. And, of course, all the new toys that came with Christmas are only making matters worse. 

So, in an effort to be happier in my own home, this happened. I'm hoping to join the ranks of Expedit lovers. So far so good. Loving the cubby style to organize toys and really loving that it comes with wall attachments. No need to worry about it toppling over. Extra bonus, my previously purchased PBK lined baskets fit.

More toys downstairs. Less toys upstairs. Now, this doesn't mean that I won't be picking up toys all day, but it does help matters a bit. Embracing the little things!

It had been ages since I strolled around Ikea. I took loads of pictures and plan on sharing them soon. Definitely some things on my wish list!

What about you - organizing in the new year?

 linking in with:

Met Monday

until next time, 

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