Nautical Kitchen Design!

There is nothing quite as challenging and rewarding as re-designing a space! It took me weeks to pick out the paint colors in my home!!! Weeks!!! Lots of research, lot of wall samples, lot of paint stores!!  

This week I was given a great opportunity to help one of my oldest friends redesign the family kitchen and breakfast area. What started off as "I think new curtains would look great!" turned into "Check out this email, do you want this look for your kitchen?"  Luckily, I got the green light!!  AWESOME!!! This opportunity helped try out new things I had been meaning to get to....diy painted curtains!!

 

 

The look I was going for was a Nautical kitchen without the beachy feel, a little more oceanic. I wanted the room to seem manly without the "bachelor pad" feel. I kept the items minimal, and used the colors in the fabrics to really convey the room's intention. The white and blue fit perfectly with the soft beige existing color, like the color of soft sand. I kept the color pallet minimal, white, navy blue and red. By re-using the existing home items that no longer worked, I was able to personalize the space with minimal spending. Always a plus!! My challenge was: how great can this look for as little $$ as possible?

The first thing I focused on was the curtains. I thought the striped curtains would be PERFECT. They would be bold enough to make a huge statement and would be the focus of the room. I had been dying to try out the striped painted curtains. I bought Ikea's simple white drapes and hemmed them to size.

I found a few plastic drops still in the garage from when I first moved into my home, which was great!

I decided a 7 inch stripe would give me the look without seeming too modern as I think the thicker lines tend to give. I cut a simple manila folder to seven inches and marked lightly with a pencil all the way down on both sides. 

And started the taping process.  I had a long piece of  board that went from one side to the other. I placed these on the 7 inch marks which helped guide me to a clean straight light all the way across the panel.

My roommate had to practically force me to start painting. It was scary! What if it didnt work? What if I just damaged the entire panel???!?!?!?!

The best instructions I found are here:  http://abritofhappiness.blogspot.com/2013/05/diy-navy-painted-curtains.html.

The process went by smoothly. Meaure, mark, tape, press on tape X 10000, paint, peel tape and let dry.  I went with OLD NAVY from Benjamin Moore. It is the perfect shade!!  

I bought textile medium, but I was not impressed. I think I used it on the first panel only. =)

As soon as I painted the stripes, I would peel the tape. The scariest part!!!

 Next I went on to Artwork. I gathered all the extra frames I had "inherited", removed the glass and coated them all with a nice fresh clean white!

 This is by far the best coverage I have gotten! Love it!!!

 Don't they look so fresh and ready to go??!?!

 I bought a poster in Hobby Lobby and sized it to fit in this frame.

 Marked it!

 And cut! (sorry flag)

 It fixed perfectly snug!

 The finished product! In place!

 This is a before shot, with my supplies already spread out!

 And the after! ta-da! You guys should FEEL the energy in this place!! Its so light and airy! So bright! It definately looks young and modern....to me! Clean and simple but everything is to the point and has its purpose! No randoms allowed!! LOL!

I am specially happy of this wall! It ready to help the family organize their schedules and important dates!! 

 I bought these cute little guys at Micheal's.

 Attached these round "thingies" I found in the same aisle for dimension.

 And added them to the screw head.

 This area is ready for future art and planning!

 Another view of the window and frames. 

 Above the pantry door.

Overall, this was a great experience. I got to try new things and I like the finished product! Just a little effort and time changed the look of this kitchen. It is great knowing that this beautiful space is going to hold laughter and family memories! Yay!!!