Studio B transformation in process

Studio B has turned in a B&B this week with guests in from Indiana.  I started painting my kitchen cabinets on Monday.  I got about 1/3 of the way through the upper cabinets and not even a quarter way through the lower ones.  Guests came for New Years so we put aside the painting while our guests were here, opting for lots of cooking rather than lots of painting.  (Good choice!)  I’m waiting on cabinet hinges to show up but they won’t even ship until January 4^th.  Once they are here we can get some of the doors back up and it will be fun to see how things turn out.  I'll be posting photos soon, but for the moment, here are some photos that were an inspiration to me as I considered paint colors.

Plus over the last few weeks I've cleaned out the cabinets and reorganized things.  I found some stuff that had been missing, like the fertilizer for my violets, and got the rest decently organized.  I love organization!

I really liked the look of dark lower cabinets and lighter top ones, plus it's more practical choice for us.

Various shades of gray give a different look.  My floor is white and charcoal tiles in a harlequin pattern (which I LOVE!)  and my upper cabinets are "ultra white" and the paint color on the lower ones is called "iron frost." 

So far I'm really loving how it looks, but it's a little hard to tell until the hinges come and I can get the doors back up and then take a step back and look at it.  I'll be sharing photos soon, but for now it's time to get back to my guests. 

Happy New Year, Happy Creating!
Love,
Carmen Rose

Kitchen Ideas

Love those black chairs!
I’m giving my kitchen some consideration. I am not crazy about it at the moment, there are lots of ways I can update it here and there, the biggest being a nice fresh coat of paint on EVERYTHING! That will come, but for now here are a few photos I've collected that show ideas I like. (I realize now I should have also been collecting info about the photographers so they could get credit but it didn't occur to me since I never expected to actually post them.)

Love the floor on this one, great black and white without being harsh.

Oops, that's not a kitchen photo, how'd that get in there? Must be the floor again. Has to be the floor, the rest is frumpy.

Love this kitchen nook idea! I don't need to do that in my room, I have plenty of room for a kitchen table but this is a great idea for a kitchen short on space. A hint of color on the wall, and a greenish photo display area.
I just love the drama of the black and white in this one but it could have a bit more finesse and not be so overpowering. It's just too dark and not enough color and neutrals to soften it. Children make cute accessories! =)
These miss-matched stools make me happy and I love the details in here, the teapot and clock.
A kitchen with mostly black cabinets, but the upper to the right of the sink is white. That's interesting... why not mix and match? And is that really a turquoise floor? Why not!
Yeah, that's in there for the floor. I do like European style cabinets but don't like the color of those, it is an old photos, and is it just me or is that kitchen TINY?!
Ooooo... LOVE that SHOT of HAPPY color!
Nope, not happening in my house. My ceilings will never be that high and the room feels overly crowded to me... but otherwise that's a smashing dining room. Love all the fabric on the windows and the color on the table. Needs a Melody Johnson quilt on the wall though, spot just perfect for one right there waiting.
Black kitchen with lots of great white contrast. Interesting. Then the other colors in the room seem to sing like the red chairs and the robin's egg blue sofas. This is too traditional for my taste.
Yes, tis good, tis good. Like how clean white can look! I designed a kitchen with my brother (he's a stellar kitchen designer!) that had the white cabinets and I liked them for the most part. They weren't easy to keep clean but that's because two dogs came and went as they pleased tracking in whatever they got into. We don't have the "doggy door" in this house and the dogs stay much cleaner at this house.
My favorite kitchen I ever designed was maple cabinets with black counters and it was beautiful. Very European with lots of great artistic details. We sold that house a year ago and I'm starting over on a new kitchen. I'm not going to rip out all my cabinets and start over though, that's not an option. But a can of paint is certainly an option. So I'm just giving it some thought. Don't know if I am really ready for it, I just keep considering my options. One of these days I'll be off shopping for paint and sandpaper and then who knows what will happen!