Tweaking The Kitchen

I love the way small details can make a difference in a room, don't you?  Maybe that's why so many of us like to tweak things periodically, and a few changes here and there keep things from being boring.

Those of you who read my blog know that we had our kitchen re-modeled three years ago.  I shared before and after pictures at the time, but the "after" pictures were a bit spartan-looking because I hadn't really finished putting my personal touches everywhere.  Then again, I'm not sure we ever finish that.  ;)  I've been gradually adding and changing a few things to the kitchen since the "reveal" post in September 2013.  I took a few pics yesterday, if you'd like to see.

When these first pictures of the new kitchen were taken, we hadn't picked out curtains or hung anything on the wall.  You can see the soffit above the cabinets; this is where I planned to hang my "Old Dutch" copper molds.  They previously hung on the wall beside the exterior door.

I took these pictures after we got curtains and hung everything back on the walls.

Sorry about the poor quality of some of these pictures.  My husband can take better pictures in this room than I can; it's a hard room to photograph.

You can see that I basically spaced the copper molds as evenly as I could around the soffit.

My three larger molds I had planned to hang on this wall with the plates and botanicals.

It took me awhile to decide that I wanted one more copper mold for the soffit to go in the empty spot above the pantry (below left).

I looked for a long time for an Old Dutch copper mold to fit this spot.  Most of the ones I found online were too big to fit here, and honestly, there just weren't many to choose from.  I bought my existing pieces about 20 years ago when we still had a Reading China store in town.  I love copper, but it's gotten quite expensive.  I think the most I paid for any of these molds back then was ten dollars.  The few that are out there now are double that price, and then some.  I guess these molds have gone somewhat out of fashion, and they don't seem to be making many now.  I didn't want a vintage one because I felt it wouldn't match with the others I have.

I got lucky a few weeks ago and found these on Ebay for about $12 before shipping.  The seller stated they were brand new, still in the packaging and box.  The box was kind of crushed (which the seller had also stated) but the copper molds were in perfect condition.

I'm thrilled that I found these because for some silly reason, that bare spot was bugging me.  :-D

I've also been trying to decide on a place to hang my aprons.  In the old kitchen, I hung them on the pantry door.  You can see the pantry was originally one big door (above)

but in the remodel we replaced the one big door with two smaller doors (with the third section at the very top).  It wouldn't be practical to hang an apron there now, and I didn't really want to put a nail or screws into that nice new door.  I thought about using the side of the pantry,

but I had my calendar hanging there.  I considered hanging my aprons on the door to the dining room, but I didn't think that would look quite right.  So --

I hung them on the side of the pantry after all.  I think they look just right here.  The pink and green ruffled apron is an April Cornell that I found at HomeGoods a few years ago.

The red, white, and blue apron was brought to me from France by my in-laws.

I found the bird hook at our new Hobby Lobby.  I'm loving that store folks.  :-D

The calendar was moved to the dining room door.  I like the way it looks there, but I keep forgetting and looking for the calendar where my aprons are.  {:)

A few weeks after MacDuff died in 2013, our Aunt Glenda sent us these Scottie cookie jars filled with delicious Scottish shortbread as an early Christmas gift.  That was such a thoughtful gesture; the one on the left reminds me of Duncan and the one on the right, MacDuff.

I have a few more small details that I'll share another time.  We're hoping to have new carpet put in this summer (fingers crossed) and I'd like to get hardwood flooring in the kitchen and dining room.  We'll see how our budget works out.

Have you made any small changes in your home lately?  Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great week!

Denise