minihaus's Profile

My hunch is that grey isn't really your thing.

I recommend you embrace what you have, specifically the wall-with-cut-out that separates your kitchen from your living area. I would select one of the colors you mention above (magenta, purple, eggplant and orange are all wonderful, particularly since you've identified as dominant in other parts of your home) and paint that entire wall including the living room side in a bright color you love.

Bring in swatches to help you decide which color best helps the counter top recede (as you've identified it as the one aspect of the room you don't like).

And, who knows? That one bright wall may help you see your way to other changes.

You're lucky in that your kitchen is relatively neutral; that really has to be the palest, most unobtrusive "retro seafoam pattern" on the planet.

I echo the concern about expense: I love that these have such a slim profile, but could never justify spending anything close to $300 for just-under 50 gallons of storage.

Not pretty, but I have stopped and looked at these a few times:
http://www.homedepot.com/Featured-Products-Composters-and-Rain-Barrels-Rain-Barrels/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xhcZbe8p/R-100663335/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

A third of the price!

No, but I also don't put out bullets.

Wow. I really like the first impression of this, like a big bottle of Veuve Clicquot. It definitely reads as though the homeowner has created a space to love.

If I were to recreate this, I'd probably play with the values a bit (I have a feeling I'd like the grey to be darker than the orange, or the orange to be lighter than the grey).

The rub is that you need a view in order for this to work!

(i'm lovin mclovin)

<3

It looks like a few of these sets would reek of Axe and hair gel.

Dorm living indeed.

Not sure about the age of the students (those chairs look tiny), but:

Embrace the space you have and look at function first. Unify all of the work station chairs, straighten out cords, weed out what you don't need and get that space in clean, working order.

Create a communal meeting anchor in the middle of the room. Get rid of those round tables if you can. I've made several storage islands by grouping counter-height cabinets together and unifying them with a common, continuous top. Cheap Ikea butcher block would do the trick and bring in a bit of warmth. The cabinets themselves can be flat files, lockable metal cases or even simply laminate bookcases. The point is to bring everyone together for discussions/lessons/presentations while allowing them to split up into individual work stations later (if needed).

I would think more about how to display student work rather than bringing in decorative elements. Use the wire idea is for "overflow" work (student work that, after the current assignment, can hang indefinitely), but I'd recommend using binder clips (they come in color) to hang. Provide brightly colored post-its for students to tag and label their work. My point here is that your students' work is the best thing to bring color, interest and ownership to the space and you can support that with fun supplies.

For presentation of current assignment work, what about an easel or two? If the students are younger, having each present his or her work one at a time can aid in group focus. The easels could also be tabletop-sized to sit on top of the communal work space for discussion.

Kate,

I love that you took a small room and utilized one wall as a headboard. That, plus cushy bedding (I'm really digging the collection of stripes), is what takes such spaces from "tiny" to "cozy."

Thanks for the inspiration!