Colour of the month for March–{green}

Back again – and it hasn’t been 2 months!  Surprised?  I am!  It’s hard to get back into the swing of things, but one of the things I love best about blogging was what I learn in my research for posts.  And this post has taught me plenty!

Part of the new structure for this blog are some regular features.  This is one of them.  Each month I will do a “Colour of the Month” post.  And what better colour for March – GREEN!   In my little corner of the world, March signals the end of winter, the return of warmer temperatures and the promise of spring flowers and lush green lawns.

Source: countrycupboard.tumblr.com via Donna on Pinterest

And not to be ignored by any means, is the fact that March 17th is St. Patrick’s Day – a holiday that honours the colour Green!

Source: flickr.com via Candy on Pinterest

 

And here is what I’ve learned about Green (with much thanks to Wikipedia) :

Green is not a primary colour, but created with a mixture of blue and yellow.  Depending on which colour wheel you are looking at, the complement of green is magenta or red. 

Source: whereisthecool.com via Donna on Pinterest

 

From a language perspective, green has it’s roots (pun intended) in the Old English verb growan, "to grow".  The word green has been used as a slang term for many things; someone who is naive is considered “green”; money is often referred to as “green”; someone who “green around the gills” is probably not feeling very well; and “green” has taken on a very significant meaning in relation to the environment.

In nature, we are surrounded by green in plant life, thanks to the chemical chlorophyll that produces the green colour in plants.   Green animals, reptiles, amphibians and birds appear green due to layers of green and blue colours.

Source: etsy.com via Donna on Pinterest

 

Nature has also produced a couple of my favourite gemstones – emerald, which was the prominent stone in my engagement ring, and peridot which happens to be my birthstone.

Source: google.co.nz via Donna on Pinterest

 

Green eyes, which I happen to have, are the least common, and result from the combination of amber and blue colours in the iris.  

The original source of green clothing, back in Elizabethan days, was lichen, a fungal plant (ewwww!)

Source: augusta-auction.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

 

So enough with the education … let’s see some green at home!

I love the use of green in this room – the wallpaper feels very bright and lively but is balanced nicely with the white headboard, bedding, chair and lamp.  Very inviting!

Source: freshhomeblog.com via Donna on Pinterest

 

Can’t you see this Robert Kaufman fabric as drapery in a fresh bright sunroom?

Source: robertkaufman.com via Donna on Pinterest

 

The green in this kitchen/family room is a muted shade that makes the kitchen pop.  And what I love best, besides this amazing kitchen (drool) is that the green is kept to paint colour and accessories, meaning the homeowner can change the entire feel of the kitchen just by changing the paint colour!  Great job!

 

traditional kitchen design by new york architect Crisp Architects

The combination of the green, wood, and texture in this room gives it a warm inviting feel.  The green was chosen to complement the wood tones.  The cream chair and rug add another dimension of colour, texture and warmth.

 

eclectic living room design by atlanta interior designer Global Living

And how about this green door?  On the inside it gives a wonderful focal point to this narrow entryway, and on the outside, tells the world that they are welcome in this home!

Source: houseandhome.com via Donna on Pinterest

Are you a fan of green?  If so, how have you used it in your home?

Happy Monday!

Checking in on the Matawatchan Project

Recently, hubby and I spent the weekend with our friends at their log home property in Matawatchan.  You remember the Matawatchan project.  I wrote about it here and again here.  Well our friends A&N have been very busy over the last 18 months (yes it’s been that long since I last posted about this), and have made tremendous progress on the house, now with windows, doors, sunroom and screened porch.

Here’s a couple of shots of the progress we’ve seen:

The front of the home with a retaining wall that took A quite some effort to complete.

The front entrance and garden has a wonderful rustic appeal.

Here is the screened in porch where we spent a good portion of our weekend, with some great food and no shortage of red wine :).

Now, down to work…

One of the major areas they’ve been working on is the kitchen. Last we left off, we had settled on a kitchen layout that felt right.

Well, while we were reviewing the layout, we came across the fact that the stove would need a fan of some sort.  The first option was an overhead unit like this one:

Source:  Sarah Richardson Design (via Pinterest)

Not wanting to obstruct the views within the open layout first floor space, the overhead unit was vetoed. That left an integrated unit, like this.

Source: www.dacor.com

Two problems there, first, with a raised glass breakfast bar, the room for pop up vent was limited.  And secondly, where do you vent to?  After some discussion we decided to modify the floor plan somewhat to accommodate an outdoor venting of the stove.  Here is the new layout:

You’ll notice we’ve moved the stove over to the other side of the kitchen.  It’s now on an outside wall which facilitates the venting for the stove.  Not only that, there is now a really nice big space for food preparation.  A vent hood hasn’t been selected yet, but there’s plenty of room to house one now.

The next step for the kitchen is finalizing the cabinet configuration, that is drawers versus doors.

Currently A&N are trialling the new layout using a combination of cabinets they removed from their condo in the city with pieces they’ve used up to this point for their makeshift kitchen.  The reviews so far are good!

 

It’s a long term project, but I’m very excited to see the progress as we move towards the finished project.

In my next Matawatchan post I’ll tell you all about some of the issues we have with the master bedroom layout upstairs.

My latest TV addiction

Now that the cooler weather has arrived here in the Great White North, I’m beginning to take notice of the new fall TV season. 

I used to be a huge television fan, but for about 10 years or so now I’ve found that television programming is pretty lame.  Investigative cop shows don’t do it for me.  Medical dramas don’t do it for me.  Reality TV doesn’t do it for me either – with one exception.  Home and design TV shows.  And lately I’ve discovered a new show that I’m loving.  9 by design.  It seems like I may be a little behind the times for this show, but what I’ve seen so far has me addicted.  You have got to check this show out. 

Bob and Cortney Novogratz are parents of 7 (yes that’s right - SEVEN) children who run SIXX Design, designing and building homes, most often for themselves, most often in New York City.   It’s not just the work they do, it’s how they manage to get that work done with such unbelievably busy, hectic lives.  Often their projects will begin with locating a property that has been torn down, or should be torn down.  Their design and build will result in a property that rejuvenates neighbourhoods and sells for amazing sums of money.

Their style is a mixture of modern and vintage and somewhat chic.  In fact I believe I’ve heard them say they don’t have a style.  They put things that they like together and it works.  Here are some examples:

     

Check out their website for more!  And if you have a chance check out their show too – it’s quite entertaining!

Odds & Ends

I’m far too mature to make excuses (well most of the time) and who am I kidding?  By the time anyone reaches “this age”, they pretty well know themselves and should be honest enough to admit it right.  So, here’s my big confession, although I think you’ve already figured this out – you are pretty bright people … :)

It takes me F-O-R-E-V-E-R to finish projects!

And that is for one reason only – I procrastinate – as I’ve confessed in my post about my dining room table.  Since starting this blog I’ve mentioned the following projects to you:

• dining room redo
• guest room redo
• furniture piece redo
• new 46” LCD TV placement
• hanging of my Matt Leblanc original won on Design Ties
• placement of my giveaway prize from Low Tide High Style

And you’ve all been very patient, waiting for news about them and occasionally reminding me about them (thanks for that :)).  Granted some of these projects are a long time in the making, but even so, I should just get my butt off this chair and show you the progress at least right?

So - let’s start with my dining room re-do. Unfortunately, there’s not too much to report on this as it will most likely be part of a much bigger reno – the kitchen.  Right now the kitchen and dining room are separated by a wall with a french door (which is never closed).  Here’s a floor plan view:

 

And this is what I want:

Based on these inspiration photos:

  (from local Ottawa Interior Designer Ulya Jensen from HGTV fame!)

And this – my original inspiration:

(from Interior Designer Phoebe Howard)

Needless to say – this is a BIG project and although it is on the list, it’s one that will require a wee bit of capital, so you probably won’t be seeing or hearing much about it soon :)!

Stay tuned and I’ll update you on my other projects – I promise :)!

Kitchen Planning …

So this past week or so I've spent in front of my computer.  Not blogging, not surfing, not gaming, but designing ;) ... designing a kitchen :) ... the Matawatchan kitchen :D !!  I’m using the Home Designer software package that I posted about here.  I am finding it fairly easy to use and it’s library of fixtures, appliances, material, paint, furniture etc… is quite extensive. 

It has been going great but ….wow, there is so much to consider when you sit down to design a kitchen. 

• where will the appliances go
• where do they best fit
• how will the traffic flow
• what does the work triangle look like
• is there enough storage
• where does the sink go
• how much space do you need between cabinets
• how big should an island be
• how does it all work in a small open concept main floor of a 125 year old log home

And I haven’t even looked at the finishes yet !

But...I am nothing if not driven by a challenge so I'm dusting off the text-books and surfing the net and blogosphere ... kitchen design here I come.

Here are some inspiration photos I’ve been collecting care of Houzz.  Hope you enjoy!  As for me – it’s back to my kitchen planning!!!

Summer Kitchens ... redefined!

So, this post was supposed to be about summer kitchens. You know, the old summer kitchen, that was either a separate room or building open to cool summer breezes, allowing the heat of a kitchen to dissipate quickly while all the summer kitchen chores get done without cooking the "cook".

If it is a room in a house, the summer kitchen is like the back porch, where windows/screens would provide a good flow through for summer breezes. If in separate building, the summer kitchen housed makeshift shelving and cabinets to provide the worksurfaces required to get the job done, be it canning the summer garden vegetables, making jam or peach pies.

Summer kitchens were found in large homes or estates, most likely where the summers were oppressively hot and humid. Cooking in the main kitchen would heat up the house and it's inhabitants too much - and there was no such thing as air conditioning.

A search for summer kitchen in Wikipedia returned NO results ... hmmmm ... although I learned an awful lot about "kitchens" and their evolution from a fire in the atrium of a Roman Villa and public kitchens for the less fortunate, to the raised hearth and chimneys of the early medieval kitchens.

FYI: Did you know the Japanese were the first to have what could be called a "stove"? It was called a kamado and dated back to somewhere between the 3rd to 6th century. Wow!

But nothing on summer kitchens. Hmmmm - well lets look at the pictures generated by googling summer kitchen. So, here's where my definition of summer kitchen gets updated. These babies are a-m-a-z-i-n-g and I want one!!!

Any of these strike your fancy??? Well, a girl can dream ... sighhhh ...

Photo credits: 1,3,13-LandscapeAdvisor.com; 2-ThisOldHouse.com; 4-Sydney Morning Herald (smh.com.au); 5,6,7,8,9,11,12-Better Homes & Gardens (bhg.com); 10-HouseBeautiful.com; 14-FrontDoor Unlocked: the Blog (blog.frontdoor.com)