First of all, here’s what this area of the kitchen looked like before…

It was in need of color, and with all of the slick surfaces, it could definitely handle some texture too.

First thing on the list was to put something inside the huge two-gallon jars sitting on the counter. For now, we’ve got one filled with flour and the other with apples. And yes, before you ask, they’re fake apples. Truth be told, I’m normally not a huge fan of fake fruit, but these guys look insanely real, and they add some needed color. I’m contemplating adding a third jar, but I’m not completely sure what I’d fill it with. I also added this cute set of salt and pepper shakers. I found these at Michaels for $1.50 a piece. I love how the simple white pottery look gives it a little bit of Jonathan Adler vibe.

Now to the island peninsula. It’s massive – so much more massive than it looked like in the drawing when we ordered the cabinets. But we’re definitely not complaining! It’s an awesome work surface to have; not only for cooking, but for house projects, too. On the other hand, when the countertop isn’t being used as a project surface, the wide open space is pretty empty looking. “…room to make her big mistakes”. Sorry. Old school Dixie Chicks moment. Anyway, I didn’t want to fill it  with a ton of clutter, so I was on the look-out for something simple, long, and at least slightly colorful. I also wanted something thin enough so someone could comfortably use either side of the counter without having to move it. Luckily, I found this guy at Home Goods…

It was long, had clean lines with a semi-rustic touch and, for $29.99, it fit the bill. Done!

Now it was time to address the book shelves on the end of the peninsula. Up until now, we hadn’t paid much attention to them, but every time I went to rearrange something, it would never look right. It drove me crazy! Then, it dawned on me… less is more!

There’s Rufus, Bentley’s BFF, trying to photobomb the picture. I took out a shelf (duh!) and, after a few minutes of stacking and rearranging, here’s what the bookshelves look like now:

I stocked the top shelf with cookbooks, a kitchen timer, and a small jar (that used to be on the counter with the two large ones) filled with cookie cutters. The bottom shelf could probably use a little more in the future, but for now we’ve got a silver ceramic pear (an oldie from ZGallerie) and more cookbooks held up by a wood recipe box.

Here’s a fun detail shot for kicks…

And yes, that is indeed a Star Wars cookbook. As for the glass cabinets…

I added a few little pops of color to the glass cabinets with a stack of small red baking dishes (from Home Goods), a butter dish (from Anthropologie), a set of vintage Pyrex bowls (from my mom) and a few ceramic farmer’s market baskets (also from Anthropologie).

Oh, and a few of you asked for a photo of the cabinet side of the peninsula, so we made sure to sneak one in…

Yet another step closer to being “done”. Someone get me a pen and paper, I need to make a list! Again… ; )

Have you entered the DENY Design giveaway yet?! They are giving one lucky reader a super cool custom duvet cover valued at $182! Click on over to enter…

I’d had my eye on these zinc letters over at Anthropologie for a while. On the other hand, I’ve always been a fan of the colorful fabric “EAT” letters on in the kitchen on the set of Cougar Town. By the way, if you haven’t seen the show, it really has nothing to do with either kind of cougars. The only problem was that the zinc letters from Anthropologie were too light (we have enough light already!) and the fabric letters (also from Anthro) aren’t available anymore. Plus, I think the colors/patterns would be a little much with all of the subway tile. Not to mention, having fabric wall art over a stove seems like a bad idea. So I decided to combine the two concepts and get my DIY on! Here’s what I ended up with…

I picked up these paper mache letters from Hobby Lobby for $2.47 a piece and gathered some oil-rubbed bronze spray paint, acrylic craft paint (gold and black), a couple of brushes and some satin finish polyurethane – which I already had on hand.

I started out by spray painting the letters with Rust-Oleum Metallic Oil Rubbed Bronze Spray paint…

They actually looked really good after just this one step, but I wanted to distress them a bit to give them a weathered metal look. I added a few small dabs of black and gold paint here and there. I fully intended on using brushes, but for the most part, I just used my fingers. While the paint was still a bit tacky, I used some fine grit sandpaper to dull down the finish. By sanding the letters while they were still tacky, the finish ended up looking a lot less intentional.

You really can’t mess this up… just go with what you think looks good. If you mess up, just spray paint them again and start over. Come to think of it, giving them a light second coat of spray paint might make them look even more layered/weathered.

Since these were going in the kitchen right over the stove, I wanted to make sure they would be well-protected from possible food splatters. So I sprayed them with a light coat of Rust-Oleum satin polyurethane. This stuff dried super fast, and the letters were ready to hang within minutes…

We hung them on the wall using handy dandy 3M picture hanging strips (just like we hung the art on the other side of the kitchen).

You might not be able to tell in the photos, but the finish is really cool. It looks different at every angle (and in every photo) and you wouldn’t guess they were paper mache. Greg and I both really like the way they turned out! It adds some much needed darkness to the stove wall and keeps with the whole “clean lines with a few semi-rustic accents” thing we’ve got going on.

Speaking of the kitchen, we’ve got even more kitchen-related goodies coming your way tomorrow. We’re getting closer and closer to that big “Kitchen reveal” post. Ahhh, that will be a happy day for us!

Btw, have you entered the DENY Designs giveaway? They’re giving one lucky reader a custom duvet cover (a $183 value!). Click here to enter!

Today, they are giving one lucky reader a custom queen duvet cover with the design of your choice (a $183 value!). DENY’s custom duvet covers are made with ultra soft machine washable microfiber fabric. Make the duvet cover uniquely yours by choosing from their awesome collection of over 250 designs including graphic art, photography, watercolor and cool textures. Here are just a smidgen of my and Ash’s favorites…

During our last giveaway, we switched it up a little and test drove a new and improved way for you to enter giveaways. We had some great feedback from you guys so we’ve decided to keep it around. If this is your first time using the system, here’s how it works: To enter the giveaway, either log in with your Facebook account or enter your email address (as always, your information is kept private). Once you’re logged in, you’ll be shown the entry requirements set by yours truly. Click the “Do it!” button, answer the question and click “Enter!”. Now that you’ve entered, you’ll see some optional entry options. To gain additional entries and increase your chances of winning the prize, you can do one or all of them.

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The movie takes place in the heart of New York City and Audrey’s character (Holly Golightly) lives in an apartment in a four-story brownstone.

Even though she’s been living in her apartment for about a year, Holly’s decor – or lack thereof – was very sparse and looks as though she just moved in.

The shelves were pretty much empty and a majority of the furniture that she did was is made up of suitcases, wooden crates and boxes. Little did the set designers know that would be “in” fifty years later. Oh, and you can’t forget the bath tub sofa!

Like the main living area, Holly’s bedroom was pretty simple and bare. My favorite part of the bedroom is her vanity. It looks so interesting and full of sparkly things. I’d love to know where all of those perfume bottles are now!

If you look real closely, you’ll notice that the vanity was actually made up of old pieces of wood…

One of my favorite features (actually, I don’t think you’d call it a feature…?) is how Holly converted her mailbox by the front door into a mini “prep station” complete with a mirror, lipstick and perfume. In college I always had the urge to stash a tube of lipgloss in my campus mailbox. 

I couldn’t write a Breakfast At Tiffany’s post without including a screen shot of my absolute favorite scene when Holly and Paul Fred go to Tiffany’s to get the ring engraved… “This, I take it, was not purchased at Tiffany’s?” … “No, actually it was purchased concurrent with, uh, well, actually, came inside of… well, a box of Cracker Jack.”

Later in the film, Holly sets her sights on the wealthy future President of Brazil, José Luis de Vilallonga. Trying to gear up for domestication, Holly takes up knitting, cooking and fills her apartment with “real” furniture… and a bull’s head.

Here’s yet another screen shot we can’t be without. Ever since we got Bentley, I cry at this scene because I can’t imagine letting him off into the street alone like Holly did Cat. But they, including Cat, live happily ever after.

Now for my favorite part of Around the House posts! Here’s my take on Breakfast at Tiffany’s:

1. Kristaller Chandelier ($39) | 2. Bath Tub Sofa ($2,982.70) | 3. Breakfast from Dean & Deluca | 4. Legion Pallet Table ($401) | 5. Vintage Telephone ($15+) | 6. Fuchsia Fiesta Floor Pillow ($89.95) and Amethyst Batavia Ikat ($39.90) | 7. Zebra Rug ($500) | 8. Vintage Typewriter ($55+)

The brownstone in Breakfast At Tiffany’s, located on East 71st street in the Big Apple, recently sold for around a cool $6,000,000. All of the exterior shots as well as some interior shots were filmed here.

I wonder if the new owner has a cat… ; )

 Movie poster found here (btw, it’s 27×40 and only $29.99!). Audrey & bathtub sofa photo found here. Images from the actual Breakfast At Tiffany’s house found here and here.

We purchased these pieces a while back and I’ve spent the last two weeks (off and on) finally unpacking my last few boxes of office stuff and organizing every nook an cranny of my new storage furniture. I’m not an avid crafter or scrapbooker – so I don’t have piles of glue, stickers, and other crafty gadgets – which is probably what this furniture was intended for. Instead, I have things like greetings cards, paper, envelopes, a Sharpie collection, 3-ring binders, art prints, magazines, files, and a few “crafty things” here and there.

First up, we have this big guy – which consists of  two separate pieces (the Eight-Drawer Flat-File Cabinet and the Storage Hutch).

On the inside of the left door is a bulletin board. I’m planning on making a large inspiration board to go near my desk for graphic design and home decorating projects. That being the case, this hidden one is mainly for stuff on my wish list (like those awesome glasses at the top) and old family photos I like having around. On the opposite door, there’s a chalkboard. I really like the concept of having both, but for some reason, I can’t seem to get chalk to actually write on the board. It’s almost like the “chalkboard” is made from something smoother than chalkboard material. I looked over some product reviews, and it seems some people have had the same problem. No worries, though! We’ve got wet erase chalk markers! I’ve actually really enjoyed using them as a substitute for the usual dusty chalk.

Let’s start on the left side of the hutch… At the very top, I’ve got one of my favorite belongings – an antique camera my Uncle Jerry gave me when I was 17. I think it’s nice to have a few sentimental things mixed in with practical useful items. It makes whatever you’re doing easier on the eyes and more fun! Next to the camera is a small white and coral bowl that holds glue sticks and a hot glue gun. The next shelf down is my craft paint stash. The paint brush cup was a plain red pencil cup that I bought from Pottery Barn about four years ago. I painted it coral to go with the coral/blue/gray/white motif I’m working toward. On the bottom shelf are my three go-to binders for (almost) everything that goes on around the house, along with my utensil caddy turned Sharpie/pencil caddy (more on that here).

On the bottom, there are two sliding drawers. They’re nice to have so that I can corral all of my random odds and ends. The drawers slide all the way out, too, just in case I want to take the entire bin to another room for some reason. To make them even more functional, I added brackets (more on that here) to label what each one is holding. I love these because I can change the labels as my needs change. Right now, I’m using one for magazines I need to go through and the other for things I may want to frame or put on the big inspiration board when that goes up down the road.

Now, for the left side…

On the top shelf is a box where I keep all of our important receipts. When the box gets full, I just file them away. Easy peasy! I reused yet another pencil holder from Pottery Barn to hold my washi tape collection. I love using clear containers for stuff like this because it’s colorful and fun to look at. Next is a small collection of my favorite home design books, held up by my crazy easy DIY bookend. Then, I’ve got a box that holds all of my phone/camera/battery chargers, a shiny stapler and tape dispenser set and another favorite antique camera.

The next thing down is my favorite feature of this furniture: the flat-file drawers. I love, love, love these crazy deep drawers – 25 inches deep to be exact. Thanks to the dividers that came with the unit, there seems to be a place for everything.

In an effort to help keep things tidy and organized, I labeled each drawer with using my label maker. I can’t resist a labeling opportunity!

The depth comes in handy when storing our art prints and mailing supplies for the Etsy store. I love when it comes time to ship a print out and all I have to do is open the drawer labeled “Mailing Supplies” and there’s everything I need to put it together.

Now we have the smaller of the two storage pieces, the Craft Space Storage Cabinet. It’s not as deep as the other cabinet, but it still packs a big punch in the storage capacity department. With the exception of the bottom drawer, this is where I keep all of my paper goods and paper-related items — greeting cards, notepads, the printer, cardstock, envelopes, and so on.

I added more bracket labels to keep things organized in this piece, as well. The bins on the door are where I keep all of our greeting cards. If I ever have more than what fits in those bins, I have too many. Also adorned with bracket labels are the sliding trays inside. I have one tray for cardstock, one for envelopes, and one for “pretty paper scraps”. They are so convenient and they pull all the way out so I can take them wherever I’m working in the house. The large cubby is perfect for the printer. When I realized it fit, it was like a magic Disney moment! Now that we know this will be the permanent home of the printer, Greg is going to drill a small hole in the back of the cabinet for the wires. Under the printer are two baskets: one for printer ink and the other houses my totally normal collection of notepads and small notebooks. Actually, the collection used to be much larger. When I was in high-organization-mode last week, I pared down the collection to only what fits in the basket – with a little room for one or two new ones. Like with the greeting cards, if I have more than what fits in the basket, it’s too many and time to purge again. I have to have these rules for myself or you’d be seeing me on Hoarders next season. 

Lastly, under the cabinet are two drawers. In the top drawer, I keep larger paper products like contact paper, poster board (along with poster markers) and small blank canvases.

The bottom drawer isn’t 100% organized yet. It’s where I keep my little stamp collection as well as extra office supplies. I want to wait until it fills up a little more before I get the containers and dividers it needs.

Well, that about wraps up the current state of my office organization. It’s a work in progress, but truth be told, I’m loving every minute of it. Are you an organizing junkie too? Can I come organize your house when I’m finished with ours? ; )