Kitchen Love

Todays post is all about the white kitchen. Why white? It's a classic choice for your kitchen. It's light, airy and will always be timeless. It seems that all of our new construction projects involve white kitchens and quite a few of our renovations/makeovers end up white as well.

How many kitchens has Moving Designz painted white during the last year? Six! That's right we've been involved in 6 projects this year where we've painted out wood cabinets to white. Nancy's, Tracy's, Susan's, Beths's, Joan's and Angela's have all been made over with a coat of Benjamin Moore Cloud White. Coupled with new hardware, lighting or countertops all of these kitchens look and feel brand new.


I had my own kitchen cabinets spray painted white about a year after I purchased my house. Here's what you do. Have all the doors, hinges and hardware removed. Fill hardware holes with wood filler and then clean them with a mix of TSP available at most hardware stores to remove any greases. Give the doors and filled areas a good sanding so the paint will adhere. Then take the doors to a company which sprays furniture and have them do all the spraying for a nice even finish. Spray All painting in Charlottetown does most of ours. The cabinet frames and interiors can be hand painted while waiting for the doors to be finished. Some people prefer melamine paint but a good semi-gloss will work fine with less smell and mess. Then it's simply a matter of reinstalling the doors and adding new hardware if needed.





Today's inspiration kitchen. I love the feel of this kitchen. Love the french doors, the wainscotting, the checkered floors, the chandelier, the faucet, the sleek cabinet doors and last but certainly not least the marble countertop. Well done! Very pretty!






Another lovely white kitchen. I love the way they've carried the bulkhead up over the upper cabinets. This is such a good idea because without it way up there collects alot of dust!





The white kitchen from the movie "Something's got to Give". A personal favorite of mine.

Another view same kitchen. I like the way they've used not one but two islands. One for kitchen prep while the other acts as a sideboard/eating nook/piece of furniture.

Here's a small galley style kitchen that looks uber functional with plenty of cabinets and a nice layout.

A farmhouse style with a free standing island/eating area.

Another farmhouse style with the same table idea. The upper cabinets are pretty interesting with the double shaker style framing.

I love the double lighting pendants over the island. Very chic chic and hung at an appropriate height.

Moving on to a little more contemporary look at white kitchens.

A white breakfast area under construction by Moving Designz.

I like the way this corner area has been left as open shelving for displaying decorative items and whiteware dishes. Whiteware is a favorite of mine. It goes with everything and food looks good on it. Look for a wide selection of new whiteware serving dishes coming this fall to Moving Designz.

White subway tile on the backsplash is another classic choice.

If you've looked carefully at all of these images almost all of them feature wood flooring. The warmth of wood sets off white cabinetry beautifully. Add upper cabinets with glass inserts for a classic feel. There's something about glass fronted cabinets that really open up a room. The profiles of the doors are all kept simple in a classic shaker or flat style. Don't be afraid of stainless steel appliances. Yes they will require a little extra effort to keep clean but look so right with white. Be experimental with your selection of door and drawer hardware.

If you are looking for a more traditional feel go for knobs on all of the doors and simple cup pulls on the drawers. For a more contemporary feel choose long bar style pulls or simple door tabs. To add value and glam factor use natural materials like marble, slate, wood or granite counter surfaces but be aware they will require upkeep and annual maintenance on the finish. I would stay away from solid surfaces like Corian as I find they tend to scratch over time. I like using quartz. It's a great material that comes in a variety of colours. It closely resembles granite but is stain, scratch, heat and bacterial resistant. AKA known as low maintenance. The extra cost is well worth it.

Thanks for reading. Have a great long weekend!

Susan

Just Kidding Around

I'm back from Toronto and The Canadian Gift and Tableware Show. Actually I've been back for a week now and have been slowly catching up on all my work. Time now to update the blog. It was a great show. I purchased a full Fall and Christmas line up of home decor, furniture, accessories, lighting and personal accessories for Moving Designz Home & Cottage. I love my job!

For this weeks post I am covering a topic I've never really touched on before. We've had lots of people asking Moving Designz for decorative items for childrens rooms and shower gifts for new babies so I thought it would be interesting to post some images of beautiful childrens and baby rooms. Since people are looking for accessories for childerns rooms...we are listening and have started to bring in more and more things to fill up your little ones rooms.

Last week while I was at the buying show I ordered lots of really neat things for children and babies. The finds from the show will be coming in during the next few weeks.

I hope you will find these images inspiring.




This is my inspiration picture. I'm sure those of you who are Sarah Richardson fans will recognize this little girls room from her show Sarah's House. How pretty!


A cheery coloured childrens room with beds for 3.

Katie and Megan's room. I love the combination of pink bedding, green walls and crisp white furniture. If you are looking for the monogram letters we carry them in the shop in off white. Perfect as they are or they can be spray painted to match any rooms decor. Monogram letters remain a hot accessory for childrens rooms.

This room is fit for a princess with delicate blue flowered bedding. Lots of extra storage is created under the bed with lined wicker baskets. Perfect for holding toys or off season clothing. Moving Designz carries a wide variety of quilts and duvet covers in all sizes including crib bedding.

I think this coastal inspired childs room is just adorable. The map wallpaper is a cool decorating idea.



This room is so bright and cheerful. I love the mix of pattern and colour. The decals on the walls are an easy way to bring all the colours together. I bought some wall art like this and also wall quotes at the show.

Bunk beds for little boys.

I like this room especially the wall niche behind the bed perfect for lamps, alarm clocks and little pictures.




I've been doing some webstalking and shopping online at Restoration Hardware. They are big into brown and blue for boys rooms. So classic...





Here's another boys room done up with chocolate and blue.





And for little girls it's all about the pink mixed with accents in brown. We have lighting and lamps coming in that are very similar to those show in these images.







The two above images I will refer to as hotel chic for girls





Here's a very lovely room done in pink and white with a beautiful chandelier complete with sparling pink crystals. Moving Designz has a wide selection of chandeliers we can special order in for any room.

This is the babies corner at Moving Designz. We have nice photo frames, rustic white bedside tables, pretty wicker baskets lined in blue and pink gingham, soft velour blankets and various wall art. We typically don't stock crib or twin size bedding but we do have a fantastic selection available by special order.

A close up of our baby corner.

Let's look at some inspiring baby rooms.

That's all for now. Look forward to new furniture and home decor coming into Moving Designz over the next few weeks and into Fall. I'll be posting images of products as they come available.

Thanks for reading. Have a great week!

Susan