Planning A Kitchen Island

Hello there! After a week long, spring break staycation, things are finally getting back to normal around here. The older kids are back to college and the younger ones back to school. I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend- ours was exceptionally nice this year. I probably say that every year but it's just so nice having the family all together! 

I've picked up a couple of jobs over the break, one of them being a kitchen design. The focal point of this particular design is the island. In my recent guest post at West Pear Avenue, I discussed how important it is to consider how you actually live in your kitchen. This particular client explained that her daughter and her daughter's friends hang out around the existing kitchen island all the time and that they all like to cook and prepare food together. That got me to thinking about islands like these:

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A second consideration is that a wall between the kitchen and an adjacent sitting room was just removed. Now there is a clear line of sight directly from this sitting room, as well as the front entrance, right into the kitchen. That got me to thinking of islands like these:

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One last consideration is that a cramped eating area could be eliminated if enough seating could be incorporated into the island or possibly a small, (potentially portable) table could be incorporated.

Something like this:

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 I wish I had enough room in my own kitchen for any one of these awesome islands. 

They definitely would encourage gathering in the kitchen!

Do you have an island and is it the "hot" spot in the kitchen?

PS I've really missed reading all of my blog friend's blogs! I'll be making my way around to see what you've all been up to :) 

Guest Posting at West Pear Avenue

Holly over at West Pear Avenue has invited me be a part of her Tools Of The Trade Series where she invites a fellow blogger to share some of their background and a few design tips. I'm thrilled to be a part of it- please stop by and check it out and check out the rest of her blog. It won't take long for you to see that Holly is a young and enthusiastic mom- well on her way to establishing her own decorating business. We've chatted about her business on and off the blog and I'm looking forward to watching it bloom!

Isn't it hard to believe that this weekend is Easter? Every year my mom and sister and I exchange egg ornaments that we have decorated. I usually make an Easter tree out of pussy willow branches to display them but with the unusually warm weather that we had a couple of weeks ago, the pussy willows came and went before I even noticed. I was so mad- it was mid March for crying out loud...that is just unheard of.  

The tutorial from last year is HERE. 

wisteria.com

These hand painted porcelain eggs at Wisteria had me thinking. It might be fun to try. I could use a blue sharpie for the outlines and fill in with watercolors.

Some other ideas that are inspiring me are these.

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My thirteen year old, Dominic, whose becoming a talented artist in his own right, was the first to tell me about zen doodles. I hadn't realized that this so called conscious doodling had actually become such a popular art form. It's pretty cool. I like the eggs in black and white- just grab a black sharpie!

 I'm trying to come up with that perfect blend of pretty but quick and easy.

marthastewart.com

These lace eggs are quite lovely and very simple. Just wrap lace around an egg and secure it with a rubber band before dying them. A very pretty alternative to hand decorating.

Of course just spray painting is easy. These look so very elegant.

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At the other end of the color spectrum are these vivid silk tie died eggs. Come to think of it, my husband has a few silk ties that are sooo ugly- I'm sure he wouldn't mind! I'm going to try this right now!

[Time Elapsed 30 minutes]

Oh my gosh...I can't wait to show you! 

That was soo easy!!!

Because I'm making egg ornaments, I blew out the eggs that I used. 

Tutorial for blowing out the eggs HERE. You could also do this using whole eggs.

Seriously, he is not wearing this tie! 

1.) Start with a silk tie and some eggs

2.) Cut the tie into pieces large enough to wrap around the eggs and secure with a piece of string.

3.) Wrap a piece of white cotton around the silk covered eggs and secure that with a string. You could use an old t-shirt or pillow case torn into smaller pieces.

4.) Put the eggs in water (I used about a quart of water and about 3/4 cup white vinegar). 

Bring to a boil and boil for 20 minutes. Since the eggs were hollow they wanted to float. I weighed them down by laying a lid on top of them.

Then I rinsed the hot eggs under cool tap water and carefully unwrapped them. I really was shocked!

Now I'll just add a ribbon to hang them and voila! I'm still going to try and do the blue and white ones and maybe even the zen doodles but these were just so quick- I can't wait for the kids to get home so we can do more.

You've got to try these!