Coffee and the machines that prepare it for us

16 Wednesday Mar 2016

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I first started drinking coffee when I was in my late teens. It was a bit of an acquired taste for me and I added half and half and sugar. When I met/married Mr. B he had lived in Germany for 2 years and loved well brewed coffee. I dropped the sugar once I tasted a really good cup of coffee and have never looked back, but adding half and half is still my first choice when drinking the dark pick-me-up. Whipped cream and cinnamon is welcome on a cold day!

I enjoy 1 1/2 – 2 cups every morning but am pretty cautious about drinking it past noon as it keeps me awake. Through the years we’ve had a variety of different machines to prepare our coffee, including a French press—some of the best coffee was made using our French press. So today’s post will include some very pretty kitchens and their placement of a coffee maker of some kind.

This is one of my favorite kitchen ideas…utility mixed with the right amount of art and flowers. If I was confident I could style shelves this well, I’d definitely go for open shelving in some part of the kitchen next time.

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Oh, and the inspiration for this post was an article in the New York Post talking about how coffee can help reverse liver damage from drinking alcohol. I don’t drink that much but I do enjoy a glass of wine after work most evenings, so I thought this might be a win-win. 🙂

Now here is where it’s crazy in the GHP house. We own this beauty. It makes espresso and steams milk…it’s very pretty, however, we own a drip maker as well. Seriously, Mr. B!? My kitchen counter space is limited…2 coffee machines?!

After ~~whining~~ discussing this with family, I was given this clever machine by our California kids. It makes espresso and a regular cup of coffee, all from one machine.

But, (there’s always a but) it’s an expensive cup of either espresso or coffee, comparatively. And environmentally safe disposal of the pods is a bit of a headache. I love the sleek lines and I appreciate only one machine on the counter. Am I ever satisfied? Um, maybe not.

The forethought of this kitchen design feature is pretty cool. A coffee cupboard that has it’s own water source. And you can close the doors when not in use. Maybe in another house.

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The coffee maker in this kitchen has the bonus of a shelf for coffee cups…convenient.

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This lovely kitchen has what looks to be a stove top percolator…a blast from the past. Fitting for such a beautiful kitchen.

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An Ikea kitchen, isn’t it pretty? It looks like their coffee source is an espresso maker tucked in the back corner.Coffee makers continue to change and possibly improve.

This is a Siphon Coffee maker from Williams Sonoma.

I haven’t read the reviews, but it looks pretty, doesn’t it?

Tell me, are you a coffee drinker? Several of my friends won’t touch the stuff. If you are a coffee drinker, do you make your own or rely on Starbucks, Peets or some other fabulous coffee house? Have a great Wednesday and a beautiful upcoming weekend! ♥ Karen

Organized yet?

17 Wednesday Feb 2016

Posted by Karen B. in House and Home, Kitchen, Storage/Closets/Pantry

≈ 35 Comments

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Organizing

I’m one of those people that actually enjoy organizing closets and drawers. Still, as we’ve lived in our house for 34 years in April. {I’d love to say I was 10 years old when we moved in, but I’d be lying} We raised our kids here and we’ve handed off most personal belongings to our California son; Our Texas son still has items in “family storage” [read: our attic space in the garage].

As I reported early last year, the Mr. B. and I have been paring down, analyzing each box with the understanding that we’re not getting younger, and our married sons have little interest in lots of the things we’ve amassed. We’ve made inroads but it’s amazing how you can pare down so much and still find more!

So, I’m going to share some pretty organized spaces in pictures…it’s what I do to keep me going on projects as large as this. 🙂

I’d like to start with the pantry. I think that’s an easy one for me…I check dates on foods (no, I won’t use the Jello pudding mix which has a ‘best by’ date of June 2012). I chuck or give away foods that were gifted to us if I know we’ll never eat them. I’d like to say I only need this much pantry space, but that wouldn’t work. Still, I like to keep like items in close proximity to make my pantry look organized. I use baskets for certain foods, like you see here.

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The use of this typically dead space is so clever. It appears that it serves to store more than just pantry items. Do you see the little etched glass letter on the door…too cute.

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This is the exterior of my pantry. When we remodeled the kitchen our designer friend recommended that we build something that looks more like a piece of furniture. I’ve not been disappointed, but certain times of the year I could use a little more space.

Since we’re in the kitchen anyway, take a look at the drawer organizers the talented Joan, for the love of a house uses. This makes the kitchen drawers look pretty as well as organized. {if you’ve never visited Joan’s site I urge you to stop by, you won’t be disappointed}.

{for the love of a house}

While we’re still in the kitchen, I think cupboards that hold glasses, plates, etc. are important, especially since Mr. B. likes to remind me of the number of sets of dishes we own!

This hutch installed in an Atlanta Home by the talented Carter Kay Interiors is a dream of mine. It has appeal for the styling of the items, while having a lot of room for stacks of plates. My good friend, Gretchen, has a cupboard similar and I’ve always admired it for its style as well as functionality.

{Carter Kay Interiors}

This is a nice piece as well…I could definitely organize my collection of plates in one of these.

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So next on my list is the clothes closet. This is an ongoing battle. I should get rid of more of the items that I don’t wear as often as the “organizing gurus” recommend. I often worry that if I get rid of something I’ll need it for the next outing. Does this happen to you?

Wouldn’t you love it if your closet held just the things you wear often and love?! Oh well, it’s a work in progress, I’ll keep trying for a capsule wardrobe.

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Leave it to real simple to come up with some handy tips on organizing drawers. I loved this idea.

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Stores, like Pottery Barn, have components you can purchase to help with organizing your closet. Container Store as well. This example is nice but I don’t have a spare room to convert into a closet. I always imagine that if you have lots of space it’s easier to stay organized…is this true? 🙂

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The final space I have to share is something I’ve always thought would be wonderful. A room of my own where you could craft (not that I do much of that), wrap presents, store things that you know you’ll need for that next project and a desk space to type your blog posts. 🙂 How cool is this…

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The biggest obstacle I’ve encountered are the heavy photo albums and photo boxes of photographs. To scan and save them will take me forever, yet I know I need to do something…any handy tips on organizing and possibly paring down this part of our lives?

Mirrors and art in kitchens

18 Wednesday Feb 2015

Posted by Karen B. in Kitchen

≈ 40 Comments

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kitchens

Good morning! Happy Wednesday!

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Today I would like to talk about one of my favorite rooms in any house…the kitchen. Have you noticed over the past 10 years, maybe longer, that kitchens have evolved to a higher level of beauty? No longer is it just the functional room where we prepare food and bake the occasional batch of cookies or birthday cake.

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Don’t get me wrong, we’re still performing those tasks, and the kitchen remains the hub of the family for most of us…but boy, has it been elevated to so much more. It now warrants a specific decor.

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I love this design transformation. I like the idea of one more room in the house that can reflect personality and livability with style, all the while retaining it’s official duty as sustenance central, counselors office, coffee shop and all round work room.

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So, its no surprise that I love the unexpected addition of mirrors and paintings that you find in so many kitchens that grace the internet as well as magazine pages. Why not?! Although there are a few mirrors in locations that make me wonder how often the window cleaner comes out from beneath the sink to shine the glass!

This is one of my favorites, this kitchen appears to be smallish, but the mirror and light fixture gives it style and elegance.

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The juxtaposition of a nod to industrial style while hanging a vintage/antique portrait painting, lovely.

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I really like the looks of open shelving with a little painting, or two….so pretty and adds so much interest to the kitchen.

This kitchen is a little busy for me, but I love the Hermes lamp and the art on the easel at the end of the room.

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Isn’t this the greatest mirror for a kitchen? Notice the clock in the top of the mirror? I also like the refurbished vintage stove.

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And last but not least, have you seen these mirrored subway tiles? How great would these be in a kitchen, if you could keep them free of water spots. 🙂

Do you have a mirror or painting in your kitchen? What do you think of the idea?

Thanks for stopping by, it’s always nice to chat. ♥ Karen

{Home} Kitchens: Light or Dark

01 Wednesday Oct 2014

Posted by Karen B. in House and Home, Kitchen

≈ 40 Comments

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countertops

Happy October 1st, how is it possible that we are steam rolling towards the end of the year already?! O.k. folks, let’s all slow down and take time to sip some warm apple cider with a cinnamon stick, put a fire in the fireplace and/or simply curl up with a good book/Kindle and enjoy the cool days of Autumn. Let’s start a pact that says Thanksgiving, let alone Halloween, come first. Christmas is at the end of December!

When we moved into our house in 1982 it showed promise but you really had to use your imagination to see it. The kitchen had harvest gold Formica, unfinished aluminum steel windows [way past their prime, if they ever had a prime], and a dark linoleum on the floor. The cabinets were a dark wood(?) that had seen better days. (Sorry, I haven’t found any before pictures, I try to keep unpleasant memories at bay).

The band-aid cure was to replace the cabinet fronts and paint the new doors and cabinet base white, knowing we’d remodel someday. We added a bay window and found a very inexpensive tile guy to tile the counters. [You get what you pay for, but that’s a story for another post] These fixes made a vast improvement and I loved our white kitchen. Like most of you, I dreamed of my “perfect” kitchen based on a file full of ripped pages from magazines, ideas galore, but I was patient for the right timing [read: funds].

In 2003 we met with a friend who happened to be a designer. She drew up plans for our dream kitchen and when it came to cabinet color, Mr. B. said he really wanted stained cabinets. His reasoning was we had lived with white cabinets for 20+ years and he felt we would appreciate a change. Every other detail in the kitchen had been pretty much my choice, so I agreed.

While I love our kitchen, even after 11 years, I miss a white kitchen. So the file (Pinterest) is filled with images of white kitchens. I don’t expect to remodel the existing kitchen since it’s really held up well…yes, the granite may date our kitchen, apart from that all is well. Still, I think to myself, what if we downsize? There might be one more kitchen in our future.

You can see, we actually use our kitchen. Why did I take a picture with a pan on the stove?! Real life, I guess.

Our granite ages our kitchen a bit, but I don’t hate it. I remember when we had tile and that seemed classic to me at the time, much like the consensus on granite when we installed it.

My question to you, my dear blog friends, is if and when I were to do a white kitchen, would I use dark counter tops or light?

Here are a few of my favorites…both sides of the argument (dark counter tops vs. light) are featured. There are no wrong answers. Let me know what your thoughts/experience has been…

I like the creamy white of these cabinets, the dark trim on the windows and dark counter top is very pretty. Contrast is a good thing for me. I also like pops of black. As you can see above, our kitchen pantry was built to look like a piece of furniture and is painted a satin black with some slight distressing on the edges.

Yvonne, over at StoneGable Farm, has a lovely kitchen and accompanying her white cabinets are dark counter tops. Such a great look.

I love this kitchen, from the pendant lights to the subway tile over the stove, it’s easy for me to imagine this as my future kitchen. The counters appear to be a warm beige color with a butcher block island top. Hmm, more to think about.

My favorite cookbook writer and food.tv star, Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten, in her “barn” kitchen. This was built on her property in the Hamptons expressly for filming her television show. White cabinets, black counter tops. A pattern of interest seems to be developing…

An all-time favorite kitchen from Traditional Home magazine. White on white, with dark hardware and steel windows.

This is one of my favorite houses online. Joan of for the love of a house has soapstone counter tops and white cabinets. Visit here to see more of this incredible kitchen.

Another favorite, Alison over at The Polohouse has a beautiful kitchen. I remember her telling readers that the island is a piece of furniture she found (or was given, I can’t remember which) in any case, it’s a wonderful kitchen.

This Randy Boyd kitchen is exactly the look I’m after, contrast, charm, and a great stove.

Do you like white kitchens? There are so many options and each one can pull me towards something different. This is an exercise, just visualizing in my mind what I might enjoy if change were required. You understand, right?

{Home} Be careful what you wish for…refinishing wood floors

26 Wednesday Mar 2014

Posted by Karen B. in Decorating, House and Home, Kitchen

≈ 42 Comments

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hardwood floors

As a homeowner, I have always kept a ‘to do’ list of projects that require attention. About the time you feel like you’ve got everything in order, something will pop up that needs to be repaired or replaced. I know you know this if you’re a homeowner.

On that list, for the past few years, refinishing our wood floors has been right at the top. The wood floors are in every room of the house except the bedrooms. Fortunately, our house is small.

A week before Thanksgiving we noticed that the floors in the kitchen, going out to the side yard, were buckling slightly. Long story short, we discovered our ice maker had developed a pin hole in the line running to the ice maker. Who knows how long it had been spewing this tiny spray of water?!

With “the holidays” around the corner we got our bids and told Cooper Floors we’d be ready to start the renovation by mid-January. I’m thrilled with the result, and thanks to our sweet friend’s, Gretchen and Stu, we were able to stay with them the 4 days during the work of sanding, staining and sealing, making the experience pretty painless {thank you, Gretchen and Stu}.

The kitchen floors had to be replaced but our floor guy made sure it was interwoven with the existing floors so the new wood, compared to the old wood, isn’t noticeable. All of the floors were sanded down to bare wood and stained and sealed in the end, giving us essentially new floors everywhere.

It’s been awhile since I’ve shared pictures of our house so I thought I’d share the kitchen, where just a couple of months ago, there was chaos and construction, at least where the floors are concerned.

{I hope to get pictures of each room to share with you this year. It requires some planning to dress each room for a photo op. This may take more time than one might imagine}

As you can see, our kitchen is fairly compact but it works well for us. We remodeled it 10 years ago…I still can’t believe it’s been that long.

Essentially a galley kitchen, it’s easy to maneuver when cooking. It is a one-man kitchen, extra bodies tend to bump into one another.

My nod to spring (below). I collect bird’s nests once the owners vacate the premises (when I can find them). The quail eggs are real but store bought. The Halcyon Days enamel egg is the first Easter egg I bought when I began collecting these boxes…that year Mr. B and I had gone up in a hot air balloon…this egg will be a reminder of that fabulous adventure.

The nest in my antique French scale is not real, but the little wren keeping watch over the eggs was hand carved by my dear friend’s dad {Linda (Bainbridge Island) and Gretchen (Irvine)} Linda and Gretchen are sisters and they have adopted me as a sister, which is special since I’m an only child. 🙂

Confession: Since our kitchen is short on counter top space I’m hoping that somewhere down the line I can get the new Nespresso Vertuoline, which would streamline our coffee counter. We’re big fans of coffee…so we have a drip coffee maker and a Breville espresso maker. The Nespresso Vertuoline does both all in the compact confines of a beautiful machine. I only wish this was a paid advertisement for Nespresso!

I must say, the best thing in my kitchen is the Viking Stove. I honestly didn’t realize there was any difference between one stove or another until we bought this hard- working lovely.

The black piece at the end of the kitchen is our pantry. The woman who helped with the design of our kitchen recommended creating a pantry that looked like a piece of furniture.

Here’s a close up of the floors, our large dog has broken them in getting up to chase something outside…we need to buy her some booties.

Garden, Home and Party: wood floors 2014 Do you have any major projects on your list for this year? I hope to take pictures of some of the other rooms in our home and share them with you this year.