Learning to embrace neutrals

I never used to be a big fan of neutral colored paint on walls. I loved to express my personality with bright, colorful paint. I didn't quite get the whole "make walls and furnishings neutral and personalize with pops of color" decorating thing. But this house is changing my mind on that. After 2 years of living with a horribly ugly and busy wall paper in my kitchen I just couldn't take it anymore. On Thursday of the week I was sick I just started tearing out the wall paper. I spend so much time in the kitchen and the wall paper made the room feel cluttered and claustrophobic. I realized that the kitchen would need to be painted a neutral color because it connects to 4 rooms and there isn't that much wall space. So I was going for a color that was warm, yet neutral.

Before:

The wall paper, board across the top, and shelves in the alcoves made for a very busy and cluttered space. Not restful at all. And no matter what I did the kitchen always felt messy and untidy.

In process:

Just taking off that wall paper made such a huge difference! It already felt better in there even without paint on the walls. (The walls were nicotine stained, hence the brownish/yellow color. Yuck!)

After:

Ahh! So light and bright and uncluttered! This picture makes the paint look much yellower than it is. It is really a very neutral, creamy color (Gold Coast White by Glidden).
I took the opportunity to clear the clutter from off of my counters. I am lucky to have so much cabinet space that I can easily stash stuff out of sight.

I still have a few things that bring some color and personality into the room. This wall (where I cook and bake) has some colorful artwork as well as the inspiring reminders that I print and post on the cabinets. I also like to put pictures in cheap plastic frames so I can easily change them out and move them around. I like to pray for people I love while I am working. The stove is ancient (and cream colored) but still works fine, when it stops working it will be replaced with a white stove.

This little alcove area has the tendency to get very cluttered very fast because it is a convenient place to just drop stuff. My goal is to keep the counter top area cleared off.

The "turtle room" (our mudroom) which is visible through the door is always in a state of chaos no matter how hard we try to keep it clean and organized. Having the kitchen uncluttered keeps me from panicking and feeling overwhelmed with clutter in every room. Plus, we have a curtain on the door that I can close and block the view of the mess.

Late last year we took the shelves out of the alcoves and painted them with chalk board paint. I love it! I regularly change out the verses or inspirational quotes. It helps me keep some personal, yet inspiring touches in the room that I spend to much time it.

The kitchen is definitely not perfect. I really dislike the brass hardware on the cabinets, the counter tops are a strange fake marble laminate, and I am not particularly crazy about the finish of the cabinets. But for right now the simple change of color on the walls has made a big difference and transformed a room that used to leave me feeling anxious and overwhelmed into a room that feels bright, airy and calm. Now, if I could just get the kids to quit leaving their random Star War figures, Lego's and art projects on the counters...