VictoriaOC's Profile

As a CU Boulder alum, loved Sarah's clothing choice ... GO BUFFS!!! As far as, the kitchen goes ... FANTASTIC!!! Those floors blow me away! I used a mini-subway tumbled marble tile for my backsplash and used a matte seal. It doesn't need any maintenance to speak of, hides most things and easily wipes clean.... but I love your choice, too!

Ideally, I'd love to have a small desk like this in my kitchen. For now, I've set up an "office" space in front of a large picture window in my bedroom. I used a very wide but narrow hallway console table I was about to get rid of, and it not only looks nice but gives me lots of surface area. I usually do my computer work on my laptop on the sofa at night, but at least my computer, papers, etc. have a "home" when not in use and my place feels neater and more organized. Now, if only I could get my husband and son on the same page!!

I agree with the others ... full tour please!!! Your place looks amazing!

Instead of a tray, I use a small Wustoff wooden cutting board. It was a gift with purchase, and it was too small for me to use it for cutting, but looked so nice I love having it out. And since I never used it as intended, it still looks lovely and new! On it, I corral my olive oil, kosher salt, pepper mill, and stevia for my coffee. It sits between the stove and the coffee maker, so it's convenient for both. Counter looks uncluttered and it's easier to keep it all clean, too!

Watched the first episode of Lilyhammer ... not impressed ... sorry!
BUT we watched a marathon of all the Sherlock episodes ... BRILLIANT!!!! Can't wait till season 3, but it'll be a long wait! :(
Also, love Damages, but I'm really behind. I've only seen the first 2 seasons. The acting and writing, directing all amazing. Firefly if it's on Netflix, for sci-fi. Nathan Fillion and his sly humor can't be beat!

The ONLY plants that have lasted with me are bamboo and that "braided trunk" thing (both from Ikea.) I had to replace the bamboo when it got a fungus after about 4 years and the current one is about 3 years old. The "braided trunk" thing is going on about 7 years, now. Both plants sit on the kitchen counter, and I swear I think that's part of why they haven't died. I had another one of those braided things that I kept in a room that no one, other than the dog, spent any real time in ... super quiet in there. It had the same light and water but no people interacting. It never grew! I switched the plants to see what would happen and sure enough the "good" plant started struggling and the "bad" plant started doing better in the kitchen. When I switched them back, it gave up and died! Now, I only put cut flowers in that room when we have company over.

The most important project on my list is to turn an unused area of the master bedroom and a closet into an office area. It'll involve my husband purging a ton of old clothes (not looking forward to that!), along with getting rid of 2 rarely used pieces of furniture ... plus converting a hallway table into a desk and relocating a chair. I really feel I NEED to have a central place to organize my work for my job, a new career I embarking on, and a new home we're planning on building! (Plus, of course, there's stuff for my family, myself, and our current home to keep up with!)

After many (WAY to many) years in the same house, we are finally going to build our dream home! ( Actually, MY dream house, my husband only cares about the final cost!) The process will take about 2 years and in that time I'm not going to allow myself to purchase a stick of furniture or other decoration, for our existing house. So, when I'm working on this year's Cure it's mostly about PURGING (since we've accumulated so much junk over the years!!!), repositioning and repurposing what we're keeping. I'm really excited about the process of trying to make my house look clean, refreshed and renewed without spending much (or any) money!

Picture #7 ... we did a similar thing when we redid our kitchen with Ikea ... 6 years ago!! (Ahead of our time, I guess!) The sales people thought we wouldn't like mixing up the cabinets, but they were wrong and I still like it. Most of the kitchen is in the lighter birch wood color. We used a darker version of the same cabinet on the upper ones of one wall that matches our wood flooring (kind of like a cherry color). The granite was a color called Giotto Alba that I only saw at one wholesaler but it has tones in it that pick up both cabinet colors plus some black and grey that ties in with the stainless steel.

... and the frosted window is cool, too!