My mix and match kitchen tour.

Mix and match comes with the territory of bargain hunting. My style really is a collection of lucky sale finds at otherwise pricey stores like Pottery Barn and Anthropologie, mixed with inexpensive yet classic finds from Ikea, garage sale hunting, craigslist, thrifting, Ross, and Home Goods. Whenever we travel I like to pick up something for our home, adding something functional and unique. We do have some really nice things we got as wedding gifts too, and those things are special because each time I use them I think of the person who gifted it. The kitchen is a perfect example of mixing and matching, taking what you already have, and coming up with cute ways to arrange and set everything up. Pinterest has a way of making me want to start from scratch and do a whole new design and color feel, but I like to challenge myself to figure out ways to use what I already have, or DIY it for cheap, and style on a dime. Our kitchen doesn't have one set color theme, because it is a collection of things from the past to now (Yes, I even thrifted for house items before I had my own home....you should ask my mom about the closet situation I had during my teen to young college years. At one point there may have been lamps, artwork, kitchenware, and linens stored up in there. Dowry? Hope chest? Quite possibly my version). This kitchen has already doubled as my project area and makeshift dance studio.  It is also our dining area for when we have guests. I spend a lot of time in this room, so I want it to feel pretty, bright, yet functional. It is so much bigger than my last kitchen! (disclaimer: lots of photos in this one.)

Mexican hutch: Garage sale

Soon to be made over stools: Craigslist

Cushions: Home Goods

Rug: $10, Urban Outfitters Sale

Antique cake pedistool: Wedding gift from Caitlin

Match stick cup: $2 votive from Anthropologie, diy 

Spoon rest: Find from our Mexican travels

Egg timer and Russian doll cups: Anthropologie gifts

Dog treat containers: Thrifted jars and diy paint touches

Cork Board assembly and inspiration  here.

Table with expandable leaf, Chairs, cushions, step stool: Trusty Ikea (I'm in need of a fitting table cloth or runner, and that stool could use some sprucing up!)

That fish bottle opener I found, yet again, on sale at Anthro. I gave it to Matt for Christmas one year and it is maybe one of my favorite things in the kitchen.

Repurposed pottery made by Matt, and Ikea.

Anthropologie Pure and Good Hand Duo (gift, but I would have splurged, because you can refill it with inexpensive soap and lotion. Money saver in the long run.)

Turtles: From my grandmother

    

Utensil crock: Made by Matt.

Dark wood cutting board: Made by my grandpa.

Other wares: Gifts or sale finds.

Rug: Home Goods

Flour and Sugar containers: Repurposed from our wedding day decor

Indoor/Outdoor Rug: Tuesday Morning bargain

Dog: The best bargain hunting of my life, Burbank Animal Shelter

Elephant hook: From my grandma's kitchen

Cork Board Tetris.

My best friend Miranda requested the kitchen be up next for our photo house tour. That meant I needed to get to work putting up the kitchen wall decor I had been avoiding as it sat dormant in the second bedroom (more like cave, less like bedroom) .

When waiting to make a return at Ikea one day, back in the land of Burbank, I was sitting thumbing through the catalogue, when BAM!, cork boards in the kitchen. I loved how the 6 Ikea boards all put together created a solution to massive wall space. And, very very affordable with the potential for the boards to be painted. At our home in Denver, the wall we share with our neighbors spans from front door to back door (we live in a duplex). The wall is pretty large. Breaking it up was a thoughtful process, and again, because I didn't want to purchase anything new, or more than $10, I made due with what I already had...the cork! 

At our last place, the boards served as a place for papers to be pinned. It was a makeshift gallery, with the potential for anything to be switched around. 

I kept the gallery going in the kitchen, but will be keeping my thinker open for new things to pin. (Hey, its like a real live Pinterest, although I don't see myself pinning delicious foods and outfits in my kitchen...but maybe.) Pinned are tiny postcards of art from our travels, a page from an old book of Degas' ballerinas, polaroids, playing rules to Monopoly circa 1930s found at my grandparents, and a small quilt my grandmother made. I like that the neutral tones combined with the red and green from the quilt and the sky blue in the polaroids tie into my kitchen colors. The papers that are pinned also have a worn in feel, which I think balances the bland new cork boards that canvas them. What are your large wall solutions? What would you pin on a cork board?