Wednesday, May 28, 2014

first peek into the kitchen: open shelving

There are many differences between life in the States and life in Germany.  Some subtle and some not so subtle.  Some that make complete sense and some that just plain puzzle me.  One of the differences that has puzzled me is that Germans take their kitchens with them when they move.  Yep, the kitchen sink and all!  Light fixtures too.  Hence that lightbulb dangling from the ceiling in the photo below.

Lucky for us, my husband's company has a warehouse of kitchens and they fit it to suit the house.  Of course I asked if I could pick out the cabinet colors, but alas, no.  Hey, it was worth a shot.  Anyhow, the kitchen turned out much better than I anticipated.  I was nervously expecting outdated cabinets from the 80s.  But thankfully, they are fairly up to date and basic.  However, the cabinets have an orange-ish tone I could live without.  But in the grand scheme, they work and there's always the art of distraction to tone down the orange undertones.  My plan is to add a lot of white and pops of black to distract the eye.  We have a great set up, but it could use a little tweaking.



There was a blank wall between the refrigerator and bank of upper cabinets.  So much wasted space.  This was the perfect opportunity for open shelving.



Since this is a short term gig, I went for the cheapest shelving I could fine at the local hardware store. I think it was 2 euro per bracket and 8 euro per shelf.



These shelves make me a happy woman!  Seriously, giddy!


I missed my chalkboard from my kitchen at home, so I remedied that with some chalkboard contact paper.  An easy and inexpensive tweak that makes this rental more like home.  I've since added washi tape to frame the chalkboard and it feels much better to me.  I was too lazy to take an updated picture, but it will be in a future post I'm sure.


The wide open space in front of the cabinets is screaming for an island.  I had hopes of a low cost DIY, but it was a bust.  I bought industrial shelving, building only half of it and putting a butcher block on top.  It was way too wobbly, so I've conceded to spending a little money to get a sturdy island.  Sometimes it's worth spending the money.   The island is an IKEA trip away.  Can't wait!


That's it for now.  Be back to share more progress when there is more progress.


2 comments:

  1. It's lookin' great Kim! I've always been 'afraid' of open shelving, but that spot you chose is perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What an exciting adventure! I have family in Europe and I've always wanted to move there for 6 months or a year. Thanks for sharing this journey. Those open shelves look great!

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I'm so glad you stopped by for a slice of Plumberry Pie today! Your comments make my day, so comment away!

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