You see, these images keep popping up in my browser of amazing dining rooms and in-kitchen dining areas that use something a bit more unconventional than chairs.  Benches seem to be a great alternative to matching dining sets and I am definitely on board to try this out…that is, as soon as I have a dining area!

Here’s some inspiration photos.  Try to pay attention to how these can work in every style of home.

Houzz

My Home Ideas

Coastal Living

Houzz

Decorpad

Houzz

Decorpad

Source Unknown

Houzz

  Michael Partenio

Houzz

My Home Ideas

Country Living

Southern Living

Houzz

Whether they are built in or freestanding, these benches make a statement and turn even the most elegant room into something cozy that invites gathering and conversation. I find benches to be the perfect alternative for someone who may not want the uniform look of matching chairs but at the same time don’t want all their chairs to be mismatched.  Throwing a bench in to the mix allows for different fabrics, colors, wood tones, etc. to come into the room without being too startling or planned.  They are also perfect for kids who love to cram themselves right next to other people and also love anything out of the ordinary.  I grew up with my mom always having a settee against the wall but pulled up the the round kitchen table.  I never thought anything of it then, but now I have realized how innovative and creative that really was!  Props to you, Mom, for inspiring me!

What do you think – would you like to be benched?

Stainless Steel Spice Rack

Not only is this a very chic and organized way to house spices, but they usually come with the spices included which overall is much cheaper than buying all the spices in the store upfront. 

Le Creuset Round Dutch Oven, 3 1/2-Qt.

What cook doesn’t want one of these?

 Clovers Plate from La Plates

I found these amazing customizable monogrammed plates on a giveaway at Little Green Notebook.  They are so cute and would make me appear to be so much more sophisticated than I really am.  Maybe I would host a dinner party!  They are amazing!

KitchenAid, Artisan® Series, Tilt-Head Stand Mixer

San has been drooling over the 6-quart professional-grade KitchenAid mixers for a couple years.  I don’t think I would ever need one that powerful (he is a pastry chef), but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want one at all!

White Ramekins

There are hundreds of great dishes I could use these to make – desserts, individual mini soufflés, etc.  They’re even great to keep small candy in and to use to decorate with.  I want some!

Pretty Tea Kettle

Spode "Baking Days" Bakeware Collection

Yes, please!

Chicago Cutlery Bamboo Cutting Board

San and I stand in awe whenever we see this cutting board.  They are so pretty and exactly what I want to be cutting my vegetables on!

Curvy Glass Water Pitcher

I have no intention of buying a glass pitcher right now because I don’t really have a use for it – but I’m always look in the cooking section of department stores.  I’m really picky – I want one with this exact silhouette – it must bring out my femininity or something.

 Cute Canisters

Asymmetrical Olivewood Salad Bowl

I need to stop myself – I could go on for days and days!  Looks like I have a lot to dream about over the weekend! 

What kitchen appliances or accessories have you had your eye on?

Let me give you a few examples of rooms I tend to decorate like (not that I am as good a decorator as the person who designed these rooms, but they amount of patterns used in these examples are similar of my design aesthetic).

Domino

Pops of color, one pattern, and lots of neutrals.

Living Etc

Domino

Even though this has the pillow pattern and the headboard pattern, I would say the headboard pattern is more of a neutral and isn’t something that scares me.

Good Bones, Great Pieces

Love this little breakfast nook, by the way, and would love to design a whole house around it.

As you can see, these images incorporate one pattern or one neutral pattern and add color and neutrals to fill the rest of the room.  I love every one of these, but think a person should not revert to these only because they are afraid of pattern.  I would love these regardless, but think I need to broaden my horizons a bit and start mixing things up a bit as you can see in the following rooms.

Source unknown

Source unknown

Sarah Richardson Design

Confession: I love Sarah Richardson’s work with a passion.  For example, I blogged about those chairs being my chair clone a while back and they are still my favorite.  However, because I am afraid of mixing patterns, this room terrifies me.  I have to look away when I see it or only focus on the chairs or the wallpaper because her talent of mixing patterns overwhelms me!  I have to overcome my phobia!

Calico Corners

House to Home

These are all rooms from my inspiration files, so I know that deep down inside of me I love interiors that bring together multiple patterns.  I’m just afraid to do it myself.  I’ve learned from watching many episodes of What Not to Wear, which I think can be applied to interior decorating, that a person can mix patterns as long as they are in the same color family.  From these examples, I would say that holds mostly true and is a good starting place for me to slowly overcome my fears.

What about you – what are your decorating fears?  How are you going to overcome them?

Need some examples?

  House Beautiful

Lonny Feb/Mar 2010

Raphael Designs via House of Turquoise

Houzz

Source unknown

HGTV Dream Home 2009

Elle Decor via Brabourne Farm

Domino

House Beautiful

Better Homes and Gardens

Source Unknown

Better Homes and Gardens

I’m swooning!

Ingredients:

• 4 teaspoons butter
• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast (cut into small pieces)
• 1 cup chopped white onion
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 can chicken broth (I used chicken bouillon and made broth)
• 1 can Rotel Tomatoes (your preference on hotness – I used the original kind)
• 1 package corn chips (your preference)
• 4 cups shredded cheese (your preference – I used Mexican-style taco blend)

I also added a can of sweet corn to add more vegetables and because it already has a yellow theme.  After trying it, I would definitely keep the corn and also throw in some jalapenos, perhaps some green peppers, as well as maybe a can of beans.  That’s what I love about casseroles – you can throw in just about whatever you want!

  Like most of my recipes lately, I started by chopping up the white onion.

I added some butter to a pan heated to medium heat.

I tossed in the chopped up chicken and onions.  I would suggest shopping up the chicken into even smaller pieces or even using shredded chicken to create a more even layer when it comes time to put this in the casserole dish.

I then boiled some water – I went with 16 ounces since the recipe didn’t specify how much broth, which worked out perfectly.  I then added two tablespoon of chicken bouillon.  If you have chicken broth on hand – use it, but I find this is a great alternative for cheap college students like me.

I then added the broth to a large mixing bowl.

I added the can of cream of chicken soup.  I must say, I think any recipe with cream of anything soup is delicious.  I learn from experience!

   I mixed in the rotel tomatoes. And then the corn just because!

I mixed it all up and got that.

By that time, the chicken and onions were ready – just fully cooked through. I took a few handfuls of chips and crushed them, making a sturdy bottom layer.

Then I added the chicken and onions – see why you might want smaller pieces or shredded chicken?  Don’t fret, though, it still turned out perfectly!

Then I layered the soup/broth/tomato/corn mixture over everything.

The recipe says to cover it with about two cups of cheese, but I didn’t use that much.  I used only about two and half cups for both layers total.

Then I did it all again.  Crushed chips.

Chicken and onion.

Soup mixture. And cheese.  I put it in the oven at 350 degrees for twenty minutes.

When I came back that was what I found!  Isn’t it delicious looking?  Yellow and red makes me so hungry (ever wonder why McDonalds uses those colors?).

I couldn’t help myself – I had to have some!

And man, was it even tastier than it looked!  I think this has been my second favorite recipe I have blogged about thus far, right behind Belly Buster.  I’m telling you it’s those cream soups!  I think this one is slightly healthier, however, because even though it has chips, it really isn’t that many considering this casserole contains eight servings.  Also, including the corn, there is a good amount of vegetables.  And, this recipe uses chicken instead of beef (which is healthier when substituted with ground turkey breast) so it contains less fat from the meat.  The cheese isn’t the healthiest, but I used a lot less than the recipe called for which was plenty and we all need calcium!

I say try this if you like hearty food and want to try something a little different.  It’s definitely a comfort food!

Note: I just realized that I never gave credit to the source I found this recipe at. Please follow this link to Recipe Zaar to find complete directions and ingredients. Sorry about that!