Take the Tour: Kitchen Makeover Reveal

When we first moved into our house over a year ago, I was determined to decorate every square inch immediately but, despite giving it my best shot, I couldn’t keep up that decorating pace for very long. Instead, this room makeover has slowly happened over the past year. I’m a firm believer that decorating your home is an ongoing process and doesn’t happen overnight, and today’s room reveal is a true testament to that.

Today, I’m finally revealing our decorated kitchen, a room that I’ve been struggling to decorate for a full year now. I’ve been promising to show you an update for months, but to be honest, I was stuck.

It took an unexpected flash of inspiration while out grocery shopping to spur me to finally decorate our kitchen. Want to know what sparked that flash of inspiration? A bag of green apples. As odd as this may sound, those apples renewed my energy to complete this room makeover.

Before we chat more about green apples, let’s back up.

The Beginning

Our kitchen was supposed to be one of the very first rooms I decorated when we moved in. The previous owners had a lot of painting done when they listed the house, including fresh white paint on the kitchen cabinets. I am sooo grateful to them for giving me white cabinets to work with! Despite loving the bright white, it looked horrible next to the tan walls. I really don’t like boring tan walls, and have been working to ban all of them from our house.

This kitchen was a nice clean slate for me to work with, though. Check out how bland it looked when we moved in…

I was also determined to do something about this empty corner. This little area had me perplexed and I just couldn’t handle the empty, purpose-less space.

The Mood Board

About nine months ago, I shared this mood board with you, and at that time I was feeling so motivated to completely transform our kitchen. I had the colors picked out and a clear vision of what I was going for. My kitchen was going to have some life in it! I had decided at this point to add a little breakfast counter under the big window to fill up the empty corner. I thought it would add a little extra seating, give us some more counter space, and have a cafe or coffee shop vibe. I just knew it was going to be amazing!

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Blue Walls

I painted the kitchen last summer, and was instantly in love with my choice to go with a dark color to contrast with the white cabinets. I also painted all of the trim white.

Once I finished painting, the room felt so much better! But this is when I lost my steam. With so many other projects in progress, I didn’t do anything else to the kitchen for several months.

Breakfast Counter

Later last Fall, I got around to installing my breakfast counter under the window just like I’d envisioned. I’ll share details about the counter in a future post – it was super easy and affordable!

Finishing Touches

It was only this past week when everything clicked and I felt inspired to add the final decorating touches to this room. Green apples were actually the trigger, believe it or not. I saw them in the grocery store and thought they’d make pretty decor, even though I admittedly don’t really care for eating green apples. The apples made it into my grocery cart, along with some pretty green glass soda bottles. When I set them on the counter in our kitchen, they looked so perfect against the blue wall.

The very next day, I was walking through WalMart and thought I’d peruse the fabrics really quick, something I rarely do. A pretty blue/green pattern caught my eye and I bought a few yards on a whim. Once I saw the fabric in my kitchen, I immediately wanted to use it for curtains.

I spent this past Sunday working like a mad woman to sew curtains, spray paint flower pots, decorate the room, and take photos while I still had daylight. It was a marathon of a decorating day, but it felt so good!

The Reveal

I am beyond excited about the state of my kitchen right now and couldn’t wait to share it with you, so I’ve scrapped my blog post plans for today in lieu of a long overdue tour of my kitchen.

Here are a couple before and afters for your viewing pleasure:

When I look at the pictures of my newly decorated kitchen, the word “refreshing” keeps coming to mind. Citrus hues like bright greens and subtle hints of yellow combine with aqua accessories and a cool blue wall to create what I’m calling “a refreshing blue and green kitchen retreat”.

I’ve packed the rest of this post with lots of pretty photos. For those of you who are curious where to find the decor items in this room, here is my source list. This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. See my disclosure policy here.

Source List

• Blue Paint – Valspar Blue Thunder
• Carlisle Bar Stools, set of two – Target
• Black & White Graphic Rug – Hobby Lobby
• Curtains – fabric from Walmart, DIY project-tutorial coming soon
• Breakfast counter – DIY project, tutorial coming soon
• Towels – Target (this blue one and similar aqua one)
• Spice Rack – Target
• Blue/Grey Drip Vase on Counter – Walmart
• Small Round Blue HoneyComb Vase – Michaels
• Small Blue Box With White Stencil On Top – thrifty tea box DIY project
• Artificial Plant in White Pot – Michaels
• Aqua Bowls with Apples – thrifted wooden bowl spray painted in Kryon Aqua
• Potted Plant – terra cotta pot spray painted Krylon Aqua and Krylon True Blue
• KitchenAid Mixer
• Blue Bowl Holding The Oranges – Fiesta Ware in Cobalt

I’m a big fan of blue, and I’ve also been digging black and white patterns lately. What do you think of my new rug? It was an awesome Hobby Lobby find recently!

My pretty breakfast nook is finally complete, curtains and all! Doesn’t it look so cheery? This window looks out over our backyard. That fabric really adds some citrus happiness to the kitchen.

I’m in love with these stools from Target. They come in a set of two, which was perfect for my project. I was really tempted by all the pretty color choices, but ultimately chose a classic silver (here’s my affiliate link if you want to check them out).

I even spruced up the top of our fridge a bit. It’s amazing what you can find to decorate with if you just start looking around your kitchen. I found a big package of these wooden skewers I never use, and they look so cute stuck in a mason jar. I also have lots of colorful cupcake liners that might as well be used for decoration since I’m not much of a baker. Moral of the story: shop your house for decor.

I have a tendency to hoard glass bottles and jars. Don’t tell my husband, but I have a whole stash hidden away in a high cupboard we never use. They make for great craft supplies and decor. This little bottle was a local wine I picked up a couple years ago and I couldn’t part with the pretty thing. Now it fits right in with the rest of the greens in this room.

There is one piece of my original plan that I haven’t done yet. My goal is to add some open shelving to this little wall to give us some more storage (and decorating) space. I’ve been searching for the right shelf for a year, but nothing has stood out that is anywhere near my price range. Once I come up with a shelving solution that meets my vision, I’ll definitely share an update with you.

I hope this post is encouragement that decorating doesn’t have to happen overnight and, in fact, it shouldn’t. It’s so easy to see all of those speedy room makeovers on HGTV and think you’re doing something wrong, but true decorating evolves over time.

I have been feeling stuck with this room for months now, and then it just finally all came together this past week while out grocery shopping. It really pays to wait until inspiration strikes, and to also be patient and collect decor over time. Your wallet will thank you, and your home will be much more interesting than if you go out and buy a bunch of matching decor all in one day.

I’m so happy with the state of my kitchen right now, and it was heavenly to walk into the cheery room when the sunshine was streaming in those windows yesterday morning. While I’m considering this room complete for the time being, it will never truly be finished. I can assure you it will continue to evolve, just as all decorating should.

What do you think of my refreshing blue and green kitchen retreat? Do you like all the happy greens I added?