Moving

I'm moving my blog over to Tumblr.

www.christopher-cupcakes.tumblr.com

Hope you will join me over there!

Happy Bastille Day

Kitchen Before

I can't believe what a bad blogger I've been. I'm hoping to get back to posting regularly. Here are some shots of the kitchen in our new house. This is the horrible before shots of course. The after pics are to come soon. The renovation on the kitchen is complete, we just have to paint and move everything back in to the room, hang up pictures etc.





These show the original butler's pantry which we decided to leave alone. It is exactly how it was when the house was built in 1933. We are going to make this our food pantry, and kind of utility sink/area.

The next picture is the left side of the main wall, which leads from the pantry, the next is the center wall with two windows, and the last is the right side of the kitchen. The kitchen is pretty big but the other facing wall that is not shown in the pictures is along the main walkthrough, and holds the basement door, so it was not a usable space.

The new kitchen still kept everything open so it looks way bigger than I thought. Hope to get the After pics up soon.

You Can Never Go Wrong with Hermes

Kitchen Inspiration

So we put in an offer on our second choice house (we were outbid on our first choice house) and it was accepted. The house has been renovated and everything is perfect to our needs and wants, except for one...the Kitchen!

It looks like they started renovations and then stopped. It has beautifully done tiled floors and backsplash, but the counters are like cheaply made from the 1960s or something! After spending some time online and at different kitchen remodeling centers we have settled on doing WHITE cabinets! Oh my!

I never thought in a million years we would want to do a WHITE kitchen. But after seeing some inspiration kitchens we are totally in love with the idea. Everyone is doing maple or cherry looking cabinets, dark granite countertops and stainless steel appliances anyway. We want the feel of the house to be more French Country with a bit of Parisian chic/luxury thrown in.

Of course we have to have an island, and I want the feel of the kitchen to be kind of farmhouse chic, so I'm totally loving the idea of the island being more like a farmhouse work table like the photo below...

Or even this one! Plus I like the idea of being able to move the table around if needed in order to open the kitchen more. Plus you could store some really cute looking baskets, etc on the bottom for extra storage as well as design.

I do want the cabinets to have some kind of decor or design element that makes it look a little more luxorious, like these below. We plan on doing a light grantie countertop in some shade of gray. Our plan is to also have some cabinets be glass front with a lead design like these below.

We've found a great place in our area that can design the kitchen and add some great textural elements to the cabinets that we had not even considered. The end of the cabinets that cover the fridge for instance, will be a small cabinet that opens up to reveal a cork board and a dry erase board that will be great for Honey Do Lists, Grocery Lists, Messages and more. It will take up the whole length of the fridge, so plenty of space.

I think we are coming close to the look and feel of the pictures above and below.

I defintely want the island to have enough room on one side for stools. I love to sit and watch the hubby cook!

This was not a project we wanted to spend the money on, or to take on, but now that we have been doing some inspirational shopping for a new kitchen I'm excited for the project! Another room to decorate. Yay!!

Before and After pictuers will be coming soon for all rooms. We dont close to mid April, so I have plenty of time to continue my window shopping!

Living Room

So we are putting in an offer on a home, and starting to think about how we want to set up rooms and decorated. The living room is actually VERY similar to the one above with the green walls. I love the way the seating is arranged around the fireplace, and we want to do something similar. I even love the color green of the walls. I think we might do something VERY similar to this set up.

I can't wait to get in and start decorating and designing our living spaces.

New Year's Resolutions?

So it's that time of the year, when we start to look forward and make/start our New Year's Resolutions!

I've decided to set goals for myself instead of Resolutions. Most of them I have already put into action before 2010 even ended. I felt getting started on my goals for 2011 a little early, would help me ease into the New Year!

So here we go!! My goals for 2011 ( I have even set some long term goals that pass 2011, but let's just focus on this year shall we?):

* I will improve and continue my running by completing two Half Marathons (and a few 5Ks and 10Ks)

*I will run my first FULL Marathon, the Washington DC Marine Corps Marathon in October.

*I will drink more healthy things for my body such as water! (It's been nine months since we quit drinking alcohol completely!!)

*I will go back to being a Vegetarian, and focus on a mostly Vegan and Raw diet

*I will pick back up my Yoga practice, and practice different types of Yoga regularly (at least 3 times a week)

* I will research and move into a position to start training for my Yoga Instructor certification

*Quit my job as a Makeup Artist and move into a more health focused career (DONE!!)

* I will become a certified Reiki Practitioner.

*We will buy our first home this year and prepare to start a family.

*We will pay off ALL credit card debt this year.

*We will adopt a dog, possibly another Yorkie

*I will continue to write on my book, blogs, and online websites



Seems like a lot YES?! Whew!! But most of these goals go hand in hand. Yoga will support my running, eating healthy will support a more healthy lifestyle. So on and so on!

So...what are your New Year GOALS?? I'd love to hear what others are focusing on for this New Year and hopefully I can be there to support you along the way!