A Kitchen I Love :: A Kitchen I Can Use

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As I have settled into our little newlywed home with all of our registry beauties, I was not completely content with the look and functionality of our kitchen.  The problem was I felt like I was not using the kitchen to it’s fullest potential.  When I would go to cook I would naturally grab my glass or plastic bowls, while my pretty dishes just sat there collecting dust.  I decided I wanted my pretty things to be more accessible which needed to start by getting rid of the non-pretty things.  From now on I am only surrounding myself with things that are both pretty and functional. 
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I repainted my open cabinets green.  The blue I had before was not dark enough for the white dishes to really pop.  Painting something green was definitely a risk for me {similarly to when I started going gold}, but I figured the inside of the cabinets was safe enough to give it a try.  And I am so glad I did because I love it now.  I am even planning on painting the inside of one of my hutches the same color {the paint was from my stash of free Glidden paint :: paint color is prairie sage}.
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Once I allowed myself to embrace green, color came so much more naturally.  I originally wanted an all white kitchen but I am beginning to find the color additions give it so much more life and whimsy, yet still feels airy.
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We do not have a ton of storage space, so finding accessible room for my abundant baking pan collection while still having space for our food is pretty difficult.  So I decided that I would put out my most commonly used kitchen items for easy access and to double as decoration.
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My collection of cookbooks add a little color and accessories like framed scrapbook paper and lamps add brightness to the darker tile.  I used to hate the tile because it is so much darker than the rest of our white decor.  Yet with the mixture of color, I am happy to say I now love it!  My husband is happy about that too!  No need to rip out the tile anytime soon!  And what a lesson on learning to love something about your home that you are not in a time or place to fix!
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I still have a collection of serving dishes on the top of our cabinets, but my more commonly used ones are now down and easy to get to. 
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Instead of one big bouquet of flowers I started placing one or two stems in smaller vases spreading out the flower happiness all throughout the house.
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Our kitchen is now both functional and beautiful.  It makes being in the kitchen so much more enjoyable and the preparation process so much easier.  No more digging through cabinets and no more prep in boring containers.
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With all this reorganizing, I did some heavy cleaning and restructuring of the kitchen.  More about that soon!
What do you need to take out and enjoy in your home?