Every Girl Link-up: Kitchen Coordinates

Guys, I was a hot second from not joining this link-up today.  Astleigh and Rachel's Every Girl Link-up today is Home DIY.  Honestly, we can't really take-on major DIY projects living in an apartment.  We don't have the space, the supplies, or the freedom to knock down a wall or build a table from scratch.   But, Astleigh shared a craft DIY, see it here and Rachel refurbished a table here.  So, I decided to resurrect a draft post about our kitchen decorations that I've been meaning to share for awhile and tweaked it for today.  

I really like clean, simple, and classic style (think neutral hues and elegance).  I love people who can pull that style off well, like Astleigh and Rachel.  But, alas, despite how much I like it, it's not mine. I need a little wild.  I'm not over the top rainbow and unicorns but I'm not smooth and mellow either.   My style is more like a fun and fancy free with a little bit of bold pops and touches of cute and whimsy (to me, cute means hedgehogs and flower hair accessories.  Whimsy means twinkly lights and scented candles).  Dan just lets me do whatever I want and he seems to like it.

I decided with our kitchen if I picked three bold colors I could do a lot.  When you pick bold colors and an assorted style it's easier to get away with mixing and matching (this is just my theory I really have no authority to discuss style).   The pots and pans that I got as wedding gifts are Rachel Ray and have orange handles so I decided on orange, plum purple, and Fiestaware turquoise as our kitchen colors.  We got a paint color to match the turquoise and painted my old counter height table and stools when we first moved in. 

See that beautiful runner?  I made it.  I've talked about it before. It was my first ever sewing project on the machine.  Thank the Lord that cousins Kourtney and Kaleigh were staying with us at a time when I tried to use said machine.  They gave me so many great tips and pointers.  Let's face it, they pretty much made it.  I had the idea and did the cutting.

The runner is reversible.  I picked two fabrics, one with a chevron pattern in orange to match our chair cushions and one in a turquoise more busy pattern.  Mandy told me the best way to mix patterns is to pick one geometric pattern (like chevron, stripes, polka dots) and one floral or busy pattern.  With two contrasting patterns and colors I chose the plum purple to be the solid that pulls them together.  I got a stripe wall decal in purple that I put on the wall below the cabinets as a faux back-splash.  You can see it best in the photo below.  The decal has held-up really well.  

I flipped the table runner over for fall.  Because pumpkins are orange and orange equals fall right? 

I used the extra fabric I had to make a fun bunting for the kitchen to hang from the walls.  I mentioned this project back here.  Kourtney made the first one, thankfully, as I would have likely destroyed the sewing machine out of rage. 

I made the bunting and runner in April and cut the fabric for the tablecloth and then just stopped.  I finished the matching tablecloth this summer.  Right now I have a fall tablecloth on the table.  

Oh, and remember how Mandy made my feltie flower shadow boxes to match?  They are hanging above the table on the wall.  She has an adorable listing in her shop of something similar here.  Get it before I do.

None of this is perfect, in fact FAR from it but the point is I finished it and no human, husband, or sewing machine was killed in the process.  It's a unique look, it fits my style, and I'm trying my darnedest to be happy with who I am and what I have.  Be Your Own Rainbow.