A Look at the New Kitchen Decor and Updated Before & Afters!

I finished adding in all the new little bits of decor so our kitchen update project is all wrapped up!  Well, I guess I should say wrapped up for now.  Who am I kidding, I know I'll continue to change up the decor from time to time :) but as of now this eclectic mix is feeling perfect with our new black and white color scheme!

It's a happy change from the traditional look we had going on before and I LOVE that we can add in any color when it comes to decor- that was pretty much impossible with all that red everywhere!

Here are all the updated before and after photos...

Kitchen paint color: Behr Wheat Bread & Martha Stewart Francesa (both from Home Depot)

Stove alcove paint color: Martha Stewart Francesa (Home Depot)

Nook paint color: Behr Wheat Bread (Home Depot)

I think our kitchen nook is my favorite part!  That space has been a pain in the buns to figure out since the day we moved in five years ago, I never thought I'd see it looking so nice!

We added in two Fintorp wall storage rails ($9.99 each) and coordinating hanging hooks ($2.99/ 5 pack) for storing some of our nicer pots, lids, and wood cutting boards.  I rounded out that wall by hanging our old window frame turned chalkboard vertically and placing our vintage black & white stool beside it.  We decided to keep our hutch/barmoire on the other wall (click here to see how I revamped that $40 hutch found at the Salvation Army!).  Now let's talk about the rugs...

Maybe you already noticed but I did indeed decide to layer two rugs in the nook... and after writing a post asking what ya'll thought of the layered rug idea I know that most of you probably hate it :) The truth is that I got the idea to do it when I was laying those rugs down separately trying to decide which one to go with.  Then when I had one laid over the other still comparing I suddenly realized that it looked right.  So that is what stuck!  I'm sure one day it will change anyway though but I have to say that the two rugs help to sop up all the water that dribbles out of Sadie's mouth after she has a drink from her water bowl :)

The other rug is the Hand-Knotted Kazak rug from Overstock.com that I ended up keeping.  I love how vibrant the color is and thought it brought some warmth into the color scheme.

Some of my other favorite new things are these metal Kalaset espresso mugs ($5.99 / 2 pack) and muted blue Dinera coffee mugs ($9.99 / 6 pack set) from Ikea.

I also found these Threshold salad plates on a random Target trip ($3.99 each) and had to have them!  The pattern on them had an organic handmade look and each one was a little different, love them!

Lastly, we added some wall art above the archway to the nook.  I wasn't totally sure what I wanted to add when it came to the pictures, I thought food related things seemed kind of cheesy- hmmmm, maybe I should have framed just pictures of cheese, I heart cheese :)  but I ended up deciding on a few old map type prints along with a couple photos from our last trip to Europe.  I thought the group we ended up had the right mix of color for the wall.

Well that's it... for now of course!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend everybody and let me know what you think of the kitchen!

What do you think of the new kitchen look?

Which new decor details do you like?

Do you think the two layered rugs look right or just wrong?!