ummmm.. it seems I have been doing it again...

Decorating in Photoshop that is.  Good grief.  With the time it took me to do this, I could have had half a wall painted.. or numerous projects done! ha ha!  Procrastination much? lol  Although, it does allow me to visualize some ideas before I get things home and go "OMG.. what was I thinking?"  Not that that has happened before or anything. ha ha!

So.. I have been on a kitchen kick lately... ever since painting the island.  The other day, I took everything off of the counter top and did some serious de-cluttering and moved some things around.  Put mini appliances that I only use now and then on shelves in the pantry.. etc.  It was refreshing.  

So, a bit about our floor plan.  It is open.  There is no separate kitchen, dining room, living room.. it is all open.  Yet, far enough apart that they could be seperate.. know what I mean?  It is open, but not together.  The 'kitchen table' or rather the 'dining room' table is quite far from the kitchen.  Here is my issue.. I have always wanted a 'kitchen table'  ..a sit down and have coffee type of table.  When we have company, we always always gather in the kitchen.  We stand. ha ha! ..it is just the natural gathering spot in our house.  There are 2 stools at the counter, but when there is a group of us, that really doesn't work.  We don't really have company all that often, but it is just one of those things.. I always think "why don't we sit at the table?" ..but the dining room area, which is open directly to the kitchen.. just doesn't seem to ever work out.  It does but it doesn't.  I will live with it, which is most likely the case, but it sure didn't stop me from playing around in Photoshop for a bit! lol

I am going to start with the table.  I love this table.  It is knock off.. but I still love this table tremendously.  When the 'man room' is finished in the basement with the bar etc.. I want this to be the table we put in there.  Unless we put it in the kitchen first of course.  My friend Amanda has plans to put it in her kitchen.. so I am going to copy her. ha ha ha! ;)  Kidding.  I have table envy is all.. and she knows it, I told her so.. what can I say, it just such a classic.. how can you not love it right?  Simple, streamlined.. pretty table.  Plus, it would match my lamps in the family room heee!  They have the same base, with teal/turquoise shades of course! lol

Anyhoo.. rambling there huh?  Here is the kitchen before my poor Photoshop skills kicked in..

 

There is usually a plant stand beside the desk cabinet in the kitchen.. and notice that the dining room table is right there... so that might make the whole concept I have going on here a little bit weird, but that is why I am decorating in Photoshop first.. no money involved on a table that wouldn't work! lol

Now for the edited version..

 

Oh.. and I added a fruit bowl.  And I painted.  All virtually of course.  It is quite addicting really.  All of a sudden I was all like "what else can I add in there!?" ha ha!  

I really like it.  I have no idea if the table is to scale or not.. I would have to use masking tape and actually mark out whatever table we did end up planning to get, to see if it would work.  I think I would also have to change the chair at the desk to a simple little stool.. that would be a lot of chairs in one area. lol  I definitely like the paint.. I think that adds a lot to the look I am going for.  

This would also lead to the mission of finding a dining room rug, I think I would need that to help define that as a bit of a separate space.. work on making it feel a bit more 'formal' but not formal.. just more than the normal kitchen table look it has right now.  We used to have a dining room rug.  Until Piper (our boxer) ate it when she was a pup.  She has grown out of that now though.. thank goodness. ha ha ha!

Do you think the 2 tables are too close?  Do you think if I made the dining room area, feel more 'special' that this could possibly work?  Simple little causal eating/visiting spot.. I like it, but am a little scared of it as well.  Working with this open concept plan is a bit challenging at times.  Like the painting, I want to paint the kitchen like that.. pretty simple update... but where does one end?  All the walls join up at some point.. ahhhhhh!  Challenge right?  I am up for it though!

Oh and the table.. we were at Ikea last year, and they had probably 6 or so of those tables.. in their 'as is' section, they were demo tables from around the store... and they were cheeeaaaaaaaap, like probably could have got two for the price of one.. but we didn't have the room in the car to bring one home from Edmonton, it was almost painful to leave it there. lol  Oh well, maybe we will get lucky again.  Wishful thinking?  Probably.

OK.. off to get something actually legitimate accomplished! lol  Later! :)

Comments

[nicki]

Did you paint your island in the kitchen? i LOVE the color...if so, what is it? Thanks ;)

[Jen Johner]

Me again. :) I just did a quick google search, and was drawn to this image. This is kind of what I am thinking.. just a small table, relaxed chairs on either side... looks like the 'real tulip table' can come in the smaller sizes, but that would cost a small fortune! ha ha! Anyhoo, if this helps visualize a bit better then my horrible Photoshop job heee! ..http://bit.ly/aB8gDP Thanks for helping me through this you guys! You are the best!! :) Jen

[Jen Johner]

I know hey.. it is a tough one. Tara, to the left of the table mock up is a big open space and then the living room. I know what you mean about the couch/lounge chair idea.. I have seen that online a few times too. Sarah, no there wouldn't be any room between.. likely the chairs wouldn't sit right there.. but I didn't know how I could rotate the chairs in photoshop to put them on the other side of the table lol! I am wondering if I could find more of a bistro type table and chairs.. something a wee bit smaller.. it would have to stay round though, just because of the space it would maybe be in. I dunno.. it probably won't happen, but it was fun to play around with! lol The big open space between all of the rooms is screaming at me to do something with it, I just don't know what yet! lol

[Sarah]

I love that you "painted" the top part teal!

I'm wondering how much room will be between the kitchen's built-in desk and the chairs. Will there be enough room to walk around even if someone is sitting at the table?

[tara pollard pakosta]

I would need to see more of the whole area where the table is going to go!like to the left of it, what is over there? what about a small couch instead? I have seen alot of people throw a couch in their kitchen and it looks awesome>! I like the beautiful kitchen already though! can't wait to see what you do, and I am sure it will be fabulous since you do have some great decorating skills. want to come do my house?! it's a BLANK slate and has been since 2006 when we moved here. all white walls. boring! we want to paint it but are stuck with picking out colors. our house is an open floor plan too, so it all has to coordinate!
tara

[JustLulu]

Hmm.... It might be too many tables/chairs in one area. But it's harder to tell from the pic. BUT, I'm loooving the added paint. Definitely do that! :)