Musings on Momentum

design a life you love

Home Goals: Kitchen

My dream kitchen is bright and open with white cabinets, light countertops and rich hardwood floors.  The kitchen in our new home possesses only one of those characteristics – it has light countertops.  Nothing else about it is quite in line with my dream but you know what?  That is totally okay with me because this beautiful little jewel of a kitchen is going to be a huge upgrade!

Our current kitchen has not been modified since our building was built in the 1980’s.  All of those gross features that flash through your mind when you think of a 1980’s kitchen are alive and well in my current home. It was never a huge deal for my fiance because in his last job he was constantly on the road and was never home long enough to be too bothered by it.  I however was immediately horrified by the state of disrepair and did my best to scrub every surface I could get my hands on.  I figured that even though it would  never be easy on the eyes it could still be a lot cleaner and in working order.  I never loved our current kitchen, I never even liked it, but it was what I had and I was going to make the best of it.

All of that changes next Thursday!  We are going to say farewell to the 1980’s kitchen and hello to a gorgeous remodeled one!  I’m brimming with excitement over having such a beautiful space to cook in.  Since I found out about the move and viewed an example of the kitchen I have been collecting loads of images and ideas for how to lighten up the small, somewhat dark space and really make it my own.

Dark Kitchen Inspiration #homegoals

This image is a great example of how a kitchen can still feel open and uncluttered even with dark cabinets. Major kitchen envy!

I am incredibly excited to accessorize our beautiful new kitchen and am going to do everything in my power to make it as lovely as possible since I’m the one who spends the most time in it.

Airy kitchen details #homegoals

I adore these natural elements and plan on bringing in a lot of existing items I have for a similar feel.

Kitchen details #homegoals

I love the overall neutral and natural feel of these accessories and plan on using several of these ideas in my own kitchen.

Creating a better system of organization in this kitchen is another aspect I am looking forward to.  Storage space is very poorly utilized in our current kitchen and that is all changing with the move.  While I won’t be able to do a complete overhaul immediately, I have definite storage goals I am working towards.  Having a feeling of uniformity inside the cupboards is high on my list and I plan on using a method similar to the one featured below to achieve it.

Ball jar kitchen storage #homegoals

Image via 86 Lemons

Thank you all for joining me in my kitchen dreams today, it is a lot of fun to share my vision and  home goals with all of you!

Home Goals: Living Space

Our soon to be living space is currently a frustration of mine.  The room itself is beautifully finished and an absolutely dream.  My dissatisfaction stems from the fact that I’d like to completely start from scratch with furniture and accessories but, understandably, can not.  This leaves me living with a much more “collected” look than I would prefer for this room.

Ideally I would opt for a more streamlined neutral look with some modern, natural and high end touches thrown in than what I’m going to be living with.  Keeping that in mind, I’ve tried to find images that blend together my dream with my reality in hopes of inspiring myself to focus on solutions rather than on problems.

My initial plan of attack for our living space is to begin with the basics that we do have and re-purpose them to give them new life and hopefully lend to my image a bit better than they currently do.  At the same time I’m on the lookout for inexpensive upgrades and DIY’s that I can tackle to add in the elements that we are missing.

Graphic prints, greenery, light accessories, luxe, living space, #homegoals

This space combines our existing elements of graphic art, a traditional couch and a sheepskin with easy upgrades of lighter pillow cases, greenery and a metallic.

To our great disappointment, we are losing two nine-foot floor to ceiling built-ins with this move.  I’ve selected an industrial-looking shelving unit to house some of our items currently on display, but sadly most will not make the cut.  Since we are going to be drastically paring down, I am gathering a lot of inspiration from these neutral, styled shelves.  I am leaning towards storing our more colorful books for the time being in order to achieve a similar look.

Styled Bookshelf, living space, #homegoals

Styled Bookshelf, moroccan, metallic, leather, living space, #homegoals

A very “unique” challenge (I’m referring to it as such in an attempt to make it feel like a fun problem to solve rather than a glaring eyesore) in our living room is our inherited coffee table.  Once upon a time, maybe in the early ’80’s, this coffee table was saweeeet!  It was nicely finished, gigantic and has a swanky top that raises up to provide a “table top” at the couch.  Fast forward the entire duration of my life to today and this relic’s finish has been destroyed, it’s still just as massive and it still has the swanky top/desk which is actually useful when one is trying to work in the living room.  (One point for the coffee table!)  I have attempted to replace this monstrosity but our roommate is inexplicably attached to it and refuses.  Now this beast is moving into a shiny, gorgeous new apartment and is literally going to be the elephant in the room.  Yaaaaay.  That was a very roundabout explanation as to why I am currently obsessed with coffee table styling.  I have to do whatever I can to disguise the monster.

Coffee Table styling inspiration, living space, #homegoals

Trays, books, accessories, I’ll try it all!

I am going to conclude today’s dose of inspiration with an eye on the fireplace.  Oh yes, we have a fireplace.  In Los Angeles.  Sometimes we turn it on because it looks pretty but it is a completely pointless feature.  Never the less, a bare mantle must be styled!  We are 95% settled on the photograph that is going to be either sitting on the mantle or hanging directly above it, but I’d like to compliment it with some muted accessories like those seen below.

Layered fireplace styling, living space, #homegoals

After giving this post some thought, compiling photos and sharing my plan I actually feel a bit better about the journey to perfection that our new living space is going to embark on.  We aren’t that far off and it’s important to have an ideal to work towards.  Can you say #homegoals?

Lulu & Georgia Miss Me

…at least according to an e-mail I received from them yesterday they do.  They noticed I haven’t purchased anything lately and wanted to see if they could provide assistance in any way and change that.  Oh Lulu & Georgia, you could, you could!  You see, I’m moving into a new apartment in a couple weeks that is oh so lovely but also oh so expensive compared to my current “lived in” apartment and I will not be able to properly decorate for quite a while.  Perhaps you could find it in your hearts to help a girl out?  I’m totally kidding.  I’ve happily accepted my fate of living in a less than dreamy home for the time being and am feeling pretty darn fortunate for all that I do have to fill it with.  I do however have a list on hand of items I’d run out and buy in a perfect world and was able to find loads of inspiration and prettiness on your website that I thought I’d share.  Let the dream decorating begin!

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Let’s start in the living room…

 

Lulu & Georgia

This would look oh so lovely next to the couch and really help anchor the “living room” area of our open floor plan. It feels just a touch feminine which is a nice contrast to the more masculine vibe of the room.

Lulu & Georgia

Do we need more coasters? Does anyone NEED more coasters? Particularly agate coasters? Probably not, but they’re beautiful to look at.

Lulu & Georgia

I so desperately want this tray on my coffee table. It’s drop dead gorgeous and would help to cover up the horror that is the table our roommate refuses to part with.

 

Now let’s move into the kitchen…

Lulu & Georgia

It goes without saying that anything involving marble and stripes needs to be in my home.  I’m loving the contrast between the cheese board and the rug below.

Now this is a bold move for me...rugs in the kitchen are always questionable ideas, particularly when one lives with someone prone to spilling coffee on the kitchen floor on a daily basis. But I love the way a rug can dress up a kitchen and since I am the one who spends the most time in there I figure, why not?

Now this is a bold move for me…rugs in the kitchen are always questionable ideas, particularly when one lives with someone prone to spilling coffee on the kitchen floor on a daily basis. But I love the way a rug can dress up a kitchen and since I am the one who spends the most time in there I figure, why not?

Ohhhhh, this basket. I have so many feelings for this basket. I'm dying to have it tucked in a corner of the kitchen, home to odds and ends. Big spoons perhaps? Rolled up linen napkins? It could go so many ways.

Ohhhhh, this basket. I have so many feelings for this basket. Rose gold is what my dreams are made of.  I’m dying to have it sitting in a corner of our new, darker than I would like, kitchen serving as a home to odds and ends. Big spoons perhaps? Rolled up linen napkins? It could go so many ways.

Now let’s get some ideas for the bedroom…

Lulu & Georgia

The foot of the bed could really use a cozy throw and I love the smokey color of this one.

Lulu & Georgia

I have been eyeing this peace print for quite a while and would love to have it sitting in a black frame on top of one of my dressers.

Lulu & Georgia

I would love these candlesticks arranged on the corner of one of my dressers with dark candles in them.

And finally let’s end in the bathroom.

Lulu & Georgia

I find these two prints soothing and they would bring a much needed bit of greenery and cheer into the bathroom.

Lulu & Georgia

This rug would be perfect for the area in front of our bathroom sink. Those hardwoods are going to be cold on winter mornings!

Thank you for letting a girl dream Lulu & Georgia.  I’ll return to you someday.

Mod Rough Luxe

We are unexpectedly moving in the next 6-8 weeks and I have a lot of mixed feelings about it since I am a vigilant planner and this came out of left field.  The management company that runs our building is doing a massive renovation in the next year and redoing every single apartment.  Ours happens to be in the first wave of this project.  We received an October 1 eviction notice a couple of weeks ago and have been scrambling ever since.  The good news – we got our applications in first for an apartment currently undergoing renovation RIGHT ACROSS THE HALL from our current one that will be ready on, you guessed it, October 1.  I am so, so, SO excited for this brand spanking new apartment.  We were able to tour a similar unit that had just been completed and the work that has been done is amazing.  Living in this new apartment is going to be an absolute privilege.

I of course have lofty decorating plans for the new apartment that will take  a while to execute due to budgetary constraints.  (Naturally along with this beautiful apartment comes a not so beautiful hike in rent.)  Never the less, a girl can visualize and dream and I have been doing a lot of just that.  While we won’t be able to do anything close to a full makeover when we move, I have a definite direction that I want to take this apartment in that I like to call Mod Rough Luxe.  This Mod Rough Luxe of mine combines natural elements like wood, wicker and greenery along with modern lines and subtle luxurious touches.  Without further ado…I give you my Mod Rough Luxe inspiration.

mod rough luxe

mod rough luxe