The Fresh Cottage

Kitchen Design-White or Dark?

I am overwhelmed with ideas for the kitchen in our new home!

Do I go all white with touches of dark? Or, all dark with white countertops? White with splashes of color?

The choices are overwhelming...but one thing remains the same...that awful word all of us designers love and hate...BUDGET! Need I say more. I am working with a kitchen designer since kitchen design is not my specialty and is a art all in itself. I have the vision, but I need someone to work out the details for me (i.e. cabinet sizes, drawer configurations, moldings, etc.) Below are a few of my inspiration kitchens!

 

Source: House Beautiful-Seawatch Idea House

I love the amount of wall space you see in this kitchen, not your typical kitchen crammed with cabinets.

Source: House Beautiful

I like the contrast between light and dark in this kitchen. The dark wood grounds the cabinets.

Source: Ina Garten's Kitchen in the Hamptons

Love the open shelves!

Source: Unknown

Great Island!

Source: House Beautiful

The dark cabinets are wonderful paired against the blue walls. Once again a very open kitchen! Not cluttered with cabinets.

Source: Unknown

I like the use of the distressed beams. Definitely makes the room seem less formal and much more casual.

Source: Unknown

Glass cabinets are always a lovely choice. Lots of light reflecting off of them!

 

Fresh Cottage Update!

The Fresh Cottage has been on a very long hiatus and we are ready to start posting again!

In the past nine months our family has moved across the country, started a new life on the beach and are now ready to begin building our dream home.

I hope you will join me on this wild ride that I like to call "my life..." Buckle your seat belts because the next several months will definitely be filled with a lot of ups and downs! I can't wait.

Here is a sneak preview of our William Poole dream home:

 

My Homemade Menu Board

Here is a really easy project that I created this week. I had bought a cheap picture at Ross, our local discount store. Once home, I removed the actual picture, found myself a cheap piece of MDF, and traced the actual outline of the picture onto the MDF. I then cut the MDF to size using a jig saw. Once cut, I primed the wood using a basic primer and then painted the primed MDF with two coats of chalkboard paint. At this point it was pretty boring, it looked nice, but needed something more. I decided to turn it into a Menu Board. Using my computer I typed the words Daily Specials into MS Word and then changed the font size to 200. I printed this out using my printer on regular paper.

After I printed the phrase, I then turned over the sheets of paper and rubbed pencil over each letter covering the letter completely. This is going to act as transfer paper.  Next, I positioned the paper onto the chalkboard. I made sure to measure from either side to make sure the words were centered. Once it was positioned, I then proceeded to outline every letter with a sharp pencil. Once the paper is removed and every letter is traced, an outline of each letter should appear.

At this point, I chose to paint the letters in white. Just remember to use a steady hand and to not use too much paint. You can always go over it at the end. Voila! My Menu Chalkboard. I paid about 15.00 for the frame, used scrap wood and paint. Total Cost: $15.00 plus about and hour of my time! Not bad...

My Favorite Hampton Photos!

 

I was playing around with my photos. These are some of my favorites from NY and home. Hope you like them...

Homemade Granola Bars

 

These are always a hit in my family!

You can substitute your favorite nuts or dried fruits. Get as creative as you like

Homemade Granola Bars with Carob Chips, Almonds and Cashews!

 Download Homemade Granola Bar Recipe

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100 Ideas!

 

I came across this list created by Keri Smith called "100 Ideas" when I was reading Aprile Elcich's blog You Are What You Love. If you are a person who loves to journal, this is a wonderful list filled with journaling to-do's if you are ever having writer's block. Here is the PDF file Download 100ideas!

I am a sporadic journaler and a compulsive doodler. I love journals, sketch books, fine point pens, colored pencils, etc. Russell & Hazel has some of the best supplies for your journaling needs. My favorite "cheap" writing tool is the Uni-ball 207 Gel Pen, I promise you it won't disappoint!

I am making a vow to myself to start journaling on a regular basis! I bet my thoughts will lead to blog posts! Hopefully I won't bore you...

Spring Fever!

 

It was snowing where I live today, but that did not stop me from gathering a little inspiration for Spring!

I love container gardening and have been good about doing it some years and not so good other years. It always depended upon our summer vacation schedule. I hated investing lots of money in flower pots only to go away on vacation and have everything die...even when we ask the teenager next door to water!

Well this year I am gardening again. Here is a collection of inspirational photos I found on the web. You can also check out this new gardening site Plantwire. Make sure you know your gardening zone. You can use this USDA Plant Hardiness Map to help you determine what and when you can plant things in your area!  

By the way, I do not have a green thumb, I plant, hubby maintains!

 

       

 

 

   

 

   

Love the herbs! Enjoy...

Beach Cottage Chic!

 

I have discovered a gem! Perhaps you already know about this company, but if you don't, please let me introduce you. The company is called Somerset Bay and I would purchase everything in their collection if I could... Wouldn't this look great in a bedroom?

Here are some other items I love that are by Somerset Bay, enjoy!

How about this in a living room, or even a master bath!

   The antique inspired French Bed, how romantic!

Chocolate Cake Lovers Rejoice!

We had a couple of celebrations this month in our family along with Valentines Day and I needed a dessert to cover them all. I was feeling thrifty and decided to bake a cake instead of purchase one from our favorite bakery. I went on the hunt for chocolate cake recipes and frostings. I wanted something richer than your basic chocolate cake and I wanted a frosting that wasn't too sweet. Sounded like the perfect combination. Guess what? I have found the most amazing recipes. If you have been disappointed by homemade cakes in the past, I promise that you won't be with these recipes. They were incredible, probably the best chocolate cake I have ever eaten...and I have eaten some pretty good cakes! I made the cake in advance and wrapped them tightly and frosted them on the day of our celebration! I bet you could even freeze them. I had trouble plating the cake-slightly off-center, but nobody seemed to mind...Try it this weekend, let me know what you think...Enjoy!

Click here to view the recipes: Download Double Chocolate Layer Cake Download Fresh Cottage Favorite Chocolate Frosting Recipe

Darling Pin Cushions!

Here is a little project I would like to attempt in some brown, blue and cream fabric. Just follow these simple directions.Download HBSquareDeal

I love this blog. Heather Bailey is so talented. Check out her creative mind HELLOmynameisHeather.