Making it mine.

The house we just moved into couldn’t be farther “off the map” from my comfort zone.

It’s new (relatively speaking at 10 years old), contemporary, and single-story.  It’s the fourth home I’ve owned as a adult and a real youngster compared to the ’70s  clapboard box, ’40s brick cottage, and ’20s stucco mansion I have called home.

It’s also the most light-filled house I’ve ever owned and there’s nothing like light to perk up your decor. And your mood.  There’s also scads of storage and a layout that, though simple, is deceptively livable.

My favorite room is the kitchen.  It’s large, features plenty of windows, and offers a well-designed work space.

It wasn’t much to look at, though, when we first walked in.

The blue Formica was hard to swallow and the large expanse of oak cabinets was both overwhelming and boring. The florescent light and cold white walls cast an antiseptic pallor on what I knew could be a warm and inviting space.  While the rest of the house offered more to recommend it, the kitchen was about as alluring as a newly fabricated mobile home.

Still, it didn’t take much to make it mine.

I added some paint, new hardware, an apron sink and a faucet with vintage appeal, an expanse of admittedly luxe marble countertops, and a few of my personal items — and suddenly, I was home.

Fifteen years ago I lived in a drywall box with about as much charm as a ’70s suburban tract home could offer.  The kitchen was a very Brady shade of Harvest Gold. I had more elbow grease than savings back then, so I transformed the whole place with paint — in celadon, white and taupe, much like this Jadite/white/grey combination. I painted the gold Formica to look like marble and dreamed of the day I could afford the real thing.

So I guess this is my “full circle” kitchen.

I still need to ditch the blue shades and switch out the florescent light for a pendant of some sort, but I’m almost there.

Here’s a view of the keeping room, which sits at the north end of the kitchen.  We’re a family of four and we fight over the two chairs. I’m still searching for a seamstress to sew a couple of slipcovers in a cheery green and grey floral. I can imagine that the slipcovers will really tie the room together, man.

It was a blank slate before, albeit a blank slate with the cheesiest light fixtures Lowe’s offers.

The handiest spot in the kitchen is the built-in desk.  It’s a prefect place to pay bills and research internet recipes. I heart my kitchen desk.

More than the desk, though, I heart the little touches that make this kitchen mine.

All mine.