April 19, 2017

Updating my Kitchen/Dining Room To Be Kid Friendly

Yesterday we came to a crossroads in the battle of Henry vs. My Decor.  While most of my previous choices have been okay (and some changes made already, like my ottoman)- some have not. Namely the grasscloth in my dining area off the kitchen.  Last weekend I made Henry blueberry pancakes and blueberry juice ended up splattered on my paper.  After an incident with mashed beets and a close call with a crayon I’ve decided its best to replace it with vinyl grasscloth- which has gotten SO much better looking in recent years!  Sometimes its hard to tell the difference between the real deal and vinyl.

And while we’re at it, we decided we want more room in the dining area for Henry since he seems to love playing in there.  I loved our dining table set up and style since it’s our only dining area and currently provides some sense of formality- but we’re going to get a corner banquette instead so we can push the table into the corner and gain more floor space.  Since we NEVER have dinner parties there’s no point to having anything formal! So now basically I’m re-doing the whole room!

A reminder of what it looks like now (at 5:30 this morning- pardon the lack of light!).  We had to remove a window in order to make our garage big enough so I hung Ballard window-style mirrors there instead to make the room feel more open and reflect light.

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The kitchen will stay as is (this photo is pre-mudroom addition but the best pic I have of it!) I am only going to change the pendants (yes- AGAIN- these only have down light and I’ll need ones that illuminate all over since I’m losing the big dining fixture)

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So here’s where I’m headed- a banquette in blue or a neutral strip- either way in a really durable outdoor fabric- a must for high-traffic, food-centric areas of the home!  If our round table doesn’t work, I’d do the trestle version of my Gates table from Huston & Company. A chest would give us another spot to hide Henry’s toys and allow for a small discreet TV in this area.  Our favorite family-friendly bar stools from S&l and wipeable Windsor chairs finish it off…. what do you think?

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vinyl grasscloth // banquette // chest // tv // ceiling light 1 // ceiling light  2 // pendants // counter stools // side chairs // dining table // roman shade fabric // high chair (although I also LOVE the look of the new Skiphop one!)

I think the warmer neutral tones still work great with my kitchen materials.

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(similar mug here- it’s my favorite // counters are White Macaubas quartzite- which have held up great! despite my fondness of red wine and not wiping them down as often as I should)

The floorplan showing the abundance of floor space we will gain!

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I think this makes the most sense for our family as we never formally entertain and we need a little more room to move.  Other small changes to the house will be happening this year (and hopefully one big one- redoing the sunroom into a family room!)  I am actively looking for a local small builder to work on that project- the big guys don’t want to do just one small room even thought it’s a new build project).  If you know of any great ones pass them along!

 

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