Lighter and Brighter

Two weekends ago, T was out of town for a bachelor-party-fishing extravangza, so I seized the free time to tackle my kitchen nemesis: dark red walls. T and I just celebrated the one year anniversary of buying our home, and now that grad school isn't standing in my way, I have slowly been making my way around the house and making the decor reflect our style. The previous owners were pretty into dark and enclosing colors, and my taste tends toward light, calm colors with as much natural light as I can get. 

Here's the red in all it's dark glory. In the great rush to begin freeing myself from the holds of the red, I nearly forgot to take a "before" photo (I was also apparently too excited to hold the camera steady). I have had a year-long struggle with this room because our longer-term goal is to turn the walls you see above into a large cabinet/island space that opens to our living room. I had a mental block about investing any money/effort into something that I knew eventually I wanted to take a sledgehammer to (you can sense the anger I have harbored for these walls). But, then I thought, 'Paint is cheap! Why don't you enjoy this space more even if you are in it for a little while?' So, to the paint store I went...and yes, I fully encourage self-talk about decor.

 

Two wonderful coats of paint later, and I arrived here. Talk about a transformation. Even after the first coat, when the red was still fighting its way through and the walls looked a little splotchy, I still liked it better than the red, and the hope for lightness and brightness motivated me through the second coat. 

 

 

I added an extra dose of love by hanging some family photos, centered around this vintage print from Sun Harvest Citrus. Remember this place? T's ice cream heaven.

 

I was so inspired by the transformation, that I finally got around to hanging our birch "me and you" art. These pieces were part of the head table decorations at our wedding and were made from birch trees cut at our family's cabin. This is a favorite saying of ours and T has it engraved in my handwriting on his wedding band (isn't technology cool?). I'm so happy to get to see it every day now, hanging above a picture from a cabin hike. 

At this point, you may be wondering...where is the food?? Well needless to say, on Sunday after the painting and picture-hanging was complete, I was in the mood for someone else to cook delicious things on my behalf. So, T and I headed to Wise Acres (I know, you already guessed that) and enjoyed another delicious meal. 

 

Per usual, I ordered the scone of the day: caramel cinnamon with peanuts. It was lovely. And super per usual, T stole many bites. 

T ordered the "Back to Bed French Toast," with a side of bacon. The perfect order for someone who really did need to go back to bed after surviving a bachelor party weekend.


I ordered the Bacon and Brie Burger (again), and it was as delicious as ever. T "shared" (or stole) several of the fries. 

What kind of transformations have been happening in your favorite cooking places lately?

-The Delicious Dabbler