The Bungalow Kitchen

I just got my kitchen clean so I thought I better capture it before a tornado hits again! For some reason, my kitchen is the catch all for my kid's papers, backpacks, shoes, etc. We even have a mudroom that they have to pass to get to the kitchen and it all ends up here! When my kitchen is clean, I love it. It has obviously been updated but the charming built-ins were left and they add so much character to the room. Because houses of this era have a closed floor plan, I can't get just one big picture of the room. 

This picture is looking from the back of the kitchen. Both of the mossy colored cabinets are original to the home. To have built-ins like this now would be considered an "extra" and would cost you extra. I love old homes because it was common to have these included.

This is the china cabinet that you can see in the left corner in the picture above. My grandma gave me the china that she got in the 1960's. She said that when she did her grocery shopping, she earned points and could redeem them for gifts and this is what she chose. I love the story behind this set and will treasure it forever because it came from my grandma.

This is the other cabinet on the right side. There's nothing special about it but I think it's really pretty. Behind the doors is an unorganized collection of plates, bowls, and cups. If you can't see the chaos, it's like it doesn't even exist, right?!

This view is looking in from the living room. With the updated cupboards, we have quite a bit of storage space. That cute, little, white door that is closed is a spice cabinet. It's just deep enough to fit spice jars and has enough shelving to fit about 200 of them. I don't know that I'll ever be that savvy of a chef to accumulate that but it's cute to look at.

If I have too many things on my counter, I get a little crazy. I can't even keep my toaster out. I was excited when I saw this open shelving because I can have cute kitchen decor and not feel like I have a cluttered mess. My very favorite thing on there is the blue Ball Mason jar. My friend gave it to me a few years ago and it dates back to 1910. I filled it with fake cherries that I got from Tai Pan trading and put a galvanized lid on it. I have a friend who is 85 and I told her that I love antique things. She pulled out the Yuban coffee can and told me I could have it! It's all rusted out on the bottom just how I would like it.

The only sad thing about this kitchen is that nothing gourmet ever happens in it! If you've ever seen the saying "this kitchen was made to dance in", it pretty much sums this right up. I used to hardly cook at all. It just isn't something that I have loved doing. But Chance and I realized how expensive it was to eat out all the time, not to mention it's not healthy. So we resolved to cook more. So it does happen almost every weeknight now. But it's seriously easy, boring, nothin' to write home about- meals. If you love to cook, or heck, even like to cook, please help me!!! 

Sorry to get off subject. If you have made it this far and you're still reading, you deserve a treat! Just don't expect it to be homemade, ha!  I hope you all have the best night ever.

-The Red Brick Blondie

Marley's new 'do and giveaway WiNnEr!!!

We got to do our very first perm at school today. I had to bring my own model in for it and finding one was a task I don't want to repeat! Apparently people aren't into perms nowadays. Guess what everyone, 80's hair is comin' back so we'll be seeing lots of perms in the near future. Well, what do you do when you can't bribe anyone to come get some curls? You make your seven year old be the lucky girl! I'm actually really glad that I brought her in because it turned out soooo cute and it's going to make the mornings that we just can't wake up so much easier. Her hair is stick straight and hasn't ever had a chemical service so I didn't know what the outcome would be.

The whole process was really long for a seven year old to sit through and because she was doing me a favor, I put up with all the complaining and "are we done yet's"!! 

I think she would agree that having to sit still, getting soaking wet down her back {oops}, and smelling that yucky perm smell all paid off because it turned out awesome!!!

Now, onto the giveaway!!! I want you all to know that I wrote down every single entry and Miss Curly Sue herself drew a name. Thanks to everyone who entered. And if you're not the winner, keep your eyes open for my giveaway coming next week! And the winner is Meredith from semi balanced mama. I will DM you to get you your prize. Congrats!!

XoXo, Kimmy

Dining room decor and a giveaway!!

Hey guys, I'm excited to show you the other half of my great room, my formal dining room, today. I use the word "formal" loosely because there isn't anything formal about it! Read on to get all the details and to find out how to win the cutest sign from the cutest shop on etsy.

I bought this rusty "junk" sign from my friend Michelle. She goes picking in Texas every year and brings back the coolest stuff to sell. Before I got it, I went back and forth trying to decide if I really wanted it because I know a lot of people would probably think it was really strange, ha. But I love junk and I love this sign so I decided I should do what makes me happy and not worry about what other people think. Cute, right?

I have a current obsession with Hobby Lobby. My designer friend, Jenn, who I've talked about in the last two posts (she's going to be famous soon) kept telling me how everything is so cute and so affordable. So I went and now Im addicted. Don't ask me why it's taken me so long to figure this out. Anyways, I got the mirror, heart, and frame there. I got this most adorable wood sign from The Swanky Plank and I am giving one away to one of you! To enter you need to follow both of our instagram accounts here and here. Once you are following us, tag 3 friends on the giveaway pic! I will announce the winner via instagram on Tuesday, February 23 at 5pm.

I got my dining table from Michelle as well. You can follow her here to get your own vintage junk as well as order the yummiest gluten free treats in Utah. When I saw all of the white, chippy goodness of this table, I was sold. I get more compliments on my table than Jennifer Aniston gets on her hair. 

I got the chairs from Downeast Home. I seriously do not buy furniture new or ever spend a lot of money on it. So these chairs are the most expensive thing I have ever bought as far as furniture goes. It killed me a little bit, a lot actually. But I haven't had one regret about them. 

These windows are another one of my favorites of my house and one of the first things I noticed. They add so much charm and character. I love all of the natural light that floods in and I have the best view of the mountains. I couldn't get a picture during the day because of the natural light so you'll just have to take my word about the view!

I hope you all have the most fabulous week ever. Now run and enter my giveaway, and good luck!!

XoXo, Kimmy

Living Room Decor

We just moved here in June of 2015. We had been living in a two bedroom townhouse and I had my third baby in January and we had just outgrown it. We decided we needed something a little bigger and we really wanted to have our own yard for our two oldest children to play in. When I was looking at places to rent, I was specifically looking for old homes. There is just something about them that draw me to them. When I saw this house, I immediately fell in love. My landlord did an AMAZING job at restoring it to it's natural beauty and charm.

When she gave me the tour, we entered through the front door which leads into the living and formal dining room. When I saw the original hardwood floors, I died a little inside. SO pretty. I wanted to have a very funky, eclectic, "anything will go" vibe and I am really happy with how it turned out. My favorite thing about this room is the fireplace with the built in cabinets and darling little swing-out windows with textured glass. LOVE.

I didn't waste any time decorating! I ordered these cute, gold, metallic, vinyl polka dots off etsy about a week after we moved in. I put them up right when they arrived. The hardest part was hanging the very first row. I sat and measured over and over again to make sure it was going to look good. Once it was done, It went a lot faster because I already had a pattern going. Chance built the coffee table out of an old door from my cousin's 1950's home. He cut the door so that it was the regular length of a coffee table and then he added the legs. My cousin is super talented at refinishing furniture so she came over and helped me paint it as well as the pink sofa table under my T.V. She has a page on facebook called Simply Beautiful Creations where she sells her refinished furniture. It is all gorgeous and her prices can't be beat.

I turned 28 two months after moving in. I had been looking at accent chairs for this space and Chance went out and got this one as a surprise for my birthday. He chose it all on his own and he did pretty freaking good if I do say so myself! My best friend, Jenn, is an interior designer so anything she gets me is always totes adorbs. She got me the pillow for my birthday {they didn't plan it} from Nordstrom Rack.

The last thing I wanted to show you was my mantle. This is where the decorating really got fun for me. I love photography of my kids. I try to get their pictures taken once a year. I can't bring myself to take the old ones down so I just keep adding to what I already have. I love my mantle because there is plenty of room to put lots of pictures and still throw other decorations up as well. I usually switch things around for different holidays but right now I just have things that work year round. I have a thing for skulls. I don't know why, I just do. After the gold polka dots went up, I got this skull to match. He usually sits on my mantle but I will move him around if I have holiday stuff to put up. The fox is actually a cookie jar! I saw it at Target and thought it was really cute. I can't find the exact one but here is a cute doggie from the same line. Everything else is stuff that I have had for a really long time. If there is something you are wondering about, let me know.

I hope you like my living room as much as I do! Connected to it is the formal dining room and I will be showing that to you next.

XoXo, Kimmy