French Country Kitchen

Our home was built in 1980 as a model (so my neighbor says), so the cabinets came with the home.  I know a lot of designers like to paint or replace the cabinets.   But..............

Our cabinets are solid oak.  I think they go quite well with French Country.  Our built in shelves hold my wide assortment of cook books and decorating wisdom.  If my cabinets look a bit weathered I just  take out the Liquid Gold and they look like new.

I have a lot of cabinet space which holds an assortment of china.

Our back splash is tumble stone for a natural look.  We replaced the cook top with the flat surface which makes cleanup very easy. 

I found these tiles at the last minute to create a soft design.  

Our French Country Chandelier makes the room.  We purchased this after the flood at Lees Lighting in Frisco.  Our contractor recommended the place and we were very happy with the selection.  It had been reduced in price and the minute I saw it I fell in love.  It felt like a gift from God  I started laughing with joy because it was what I had always dreamed of.   

Our kitchen has a vaulted ceiling so it makes the lighting more dramatic.  We have a little window from the upstairs which over looks the kitchen area.  For many years our sons would call down and peek through the window to ask

 "Is dinner ready?'

My mom made the drapes from a Toile Fabric we found at a wonderful fabric store called, Cutting Corners.  Our favorite thing to do was going shopping for material just to see what was new.  Toile fabric tells a story.  I like the picture of the husband and wife working together on their farm.  Since a hundred years ago most people worked in the rural areas its a little bit of history.  

I also found the same fabric at Calico Corners.  I will probably never replace them because it reminds me of my mom.  I also have a matching French Chair she recovered.

Sue, which means Grace,  was always very stylish and had a flair for decorating.  She was an excellent seamstress and recovered sofas and chairs. I'll post another story to feature her home.  I think decorating is a complex mix of who you are, culture, and colors you love.  

Decorating always tells a story.  There's always a reason why you purchase something.  My favorite thing about our kitchen is the oil painting I purchased in front of my favorite place, Museum D Orsay.

I visited my girlfriend since 7th grade who lives in Germany teaching military students.  After a family trip to Europe i stayed an extra week and my girlfriend and I took a road trip to Paris.  We had the best time watching people at sidewalk cafes  So every time I see this oil painting it brings back a  very happy memory.

Accessories also make a room.  I found the lamp at a special store in Dallas.  I wasn't looking for a lamp but this one cried out to me.  Purchase!!!!!  I've loved it ever since.  The clock is a nice green which brings together the colors.  It's always nice to know what time it is.  

Our table was purchased after the flood.  My husband and I went shopping together and fell in love with the rod iron.  The chairs are very sturdy and we both liked it.  I had my grandmothers table for many years made of solid oak.  But because it was built over a hundred years ago the chairs would break.  He wasn't a fan of the chairs breaking but it was difficult to part with something that belonged to my grandmother.  So he was very happy to find a new table we both liked  It was even on sale so i laughed again with joy.  This was a gift from God.  i believe he cares about the little things.

Our sink came when we purchased the granite about eight years ago.  I enjoy the faucet because it has a strong flow.  The granite is Cecilla Gold.  I had put off buying granite because I thought it might be too porous but it has turned out to be a great decision and will never be outdated.  

It's nice to have fresh basil to pinch for cooking.

It's fun to play with flower arrangements.  I'm always changing what i like.  Blue and white is traditional for French Country.

I also love table cloths and change them frequently.  I am blessed to have white roses outside our window which bloom from April to November.  

It's July and my Christmas Poinsettia is still blooming and alive.  All it needs is a little water and sun.

It's interesting how another photograph from the same space can  feel so different.  I love decorating magazines because i always wonder what the room really looks like in person.   

 

Here is a nice photo of the vaulted ceiling.  I think the architect was very creative when they designed our home.  The window makes me happy.

Mauve Drapes

Before the flood this is what our living room looked like.  We had the same mauve drapes I picked out with the JC Penny decorator the year after we got married in 1989.  I loved the drapes with traditional swags and a darker outline of pink.  They matched the floral couches we bought at Dillards.  I thought my room was complete.  However in the 90's mauve was not a popular color.  So it felt very outdated very quickly.  It seems like mauve became the oh nooooo word over night.  Yet in the 80's everyone decorated with mauve.

Lesson learned.  I grew to love my mauve drapes.  I pretended they were a flower petal.  They became different shades of pink in the light.  I could pull them shut with the cord.  My husband always said I think those drapes are just right every time I talked about changing them.  So I was excited when I found this floral print to blend with the mauve drapes.  My mother made matching pillows for the sofas.   Does anyone have any mauve stories?  

Rods For Drapes

Decorative Rods

I was able to choose from a selection of rods to give a finished look to the drapes.   My final decision was a walnut color to go with the wood strip on the top of our living room.  The drapes pull with a wand to open and close.  I had the traditional pull drapes from twenty years ago so it was a change to get use to.  But its fun to close the sheers at night at the end of a day.

Drapes Verses Blinds Or Both

Open window in living room for wonderful view of the trees.

I

A lot of people told me when I was decorating don't put any drapes back up, just use blinds.  But I feel fabric softens a window.  So for a compromise I used Blinds for the family room to block the glare on the TV but did not use blinds in our living room so we could look out and enjoy the beautiful trees.

I used the same drapes my mom had made from years before in our family room.  It's nice to be able to close the blinds for privacy.  My mom made the drapes with one long piece so it was easy to drape over the fluer de li sconces giving it a French Flair.  It also reminds me of our sons Boyscout days.

I'm not sure if it is a regional thing about using blinds.  The Texas Heat perhaps requires a little more protection,  I'm curious to see how others feel about it.  It seems like heavy drapes got a bad rap in recent years so it was easier not to use anything.

Sheers are nice for privacy too.  I pull them with a magic wand.  

After the Flood

After the flood 

Our family had a wonderful vacation on a cruise.  But while we were away our upstairs bathroom toilet sprung a leak.  Thanks to our neighbor she noticed a river of water coming down our stairs.  I found out while we were on the cruise that everything was submerged in water.  My neighbor Jos said on the phone over seas,

"It's bad Sandra, really bad."  

The tone of her voice made me wonder how bad was it?  

As we arrived home I opened the door to see everything moved out of our home.  Luckily Servpro had been busy with fans blowing to dry the structure to keep it intact.. The next six  months was a journey to what to buy?  What was my plan? Who do I follow?  What is my style?  Do I follow my instincts?

I was raised with a mom who loved fabric.  She could cover her couches and make drapes from her sewing machine in her bedroom.  If she was about to change the living room or den it was countless trips to the fabric stores to see what was the perfect covering for her devan.  If we weren't decorating we loved to go to fabric stores just to see what was out there.  Cutting Corners was our favorite so it was the first place I went to study my plan.

I've always loved Country French so I was so excited when I found this fabric by Alex. It went with Comfort Gray paint color by Sherwin Williams.   My neighbor was so sweet and held it up to get a vision of how it would drape for my dining room.

The other choice was a favorite color but didn't stand out as anything special.

Before I decided on the dining room drapes I needed to have something to coordinate for the living room.  So I went on another trip to Cutting Corners.  The aqua fabric stood out as a friend.  I think of pieces of material as friends because you live with them for quite awhile.  It's not like you can have a fight and say I  won't call you again. (Not that I do that ) The fabrics you choose must feel right.  They are apart of your life.