Den Bookcase

To match the new pillows, I changed some of the accessories on the small bookcase in my den.  I finally found a perfect home for some Japanese fishing floats I received for Christmas last year.  And I was able to add a vintage globe (ca 1947) and some glass insulators.  The glass insulators are all from Whitall Tatum, where my grandfather worked.

Den Pillows

I decided the pillows with black trim did nothing to complement the coral and white pillows and that they would look better with solid pillows in a deeper coral.  No problem to make them, right?  Wrong.  Coral is a very difficult color to match!  I looked at every fabric and sample at Calico Corners and Boca Bargoons and I found one special order that was close...name of the color was Persimmon.

Then I pulled out an old swatch I had clipped at Boca Bargoons a few years ago and I like the way it looked.  Fortunately they still had it as well as a deeper shade of the same aqua.  I whipped out that sewing machine and got to work.

I love the way this looks (and I discovered the pillows look better with narrower flanges) but many of the black accessories in the room looked too heavy.  That set off a re-accessorizing frenzy.  Fortunately, I got pretty lucky at Marshall's.  It also inspired me to perform an overdue tchotchke purge/reorganization!

Tulips

Suddenly available in Publix and not that expensive....I'm surprised at how much I enjoy having fresh flowers in the house!

Cooking Area Complete

Will from Creative Cabinet Refacing finished the cabinet work around the new range and microwave today...so nice to have that project done. The cabinet above the microwave has turned out to be a good place to store kitchen linens which leaves me with an empty drawer in the bottom cabinets. Hmm...how to reorganize that space?

Microwave Hung

Not surprisingly, the opening for my cooking appliances was not square. This has happened with blinds and new countertops too. So, one spacer at the side will need to be reworked. That should be done along with the doors over the microwave next week.

New Range

The new range was delivered today along with the microwave which the cabinet guy will install. So far, so good...tomorrow morning the electricians are coming to put in the circuit for the microwave.

This is what it looked like with the old range removed. If you look closely you can see remnants of the hideous wallpaper that was here when I moved in.

And the new range - perfectly level - too bad the electricians and cabinet people will probably have to move it again!

New Kitchen Project

I'm not a cook and my 25 year-old range is functioning just fine but availability of bisque appliances is making me jumpy. I contacted GE to see if they had any plans to discontinue bisque - they say they don't - but I can see the choices becoming fewer and fewer. And my friends with smooth top ranges love how easy it is to keep them clean. I've been thinking about replacing this for awhile but the lack of access to my attic had held me back because I will need an additional circuit. Well, an air conditioner crisis last summer necessitated adding access to the attic (and when I saw how easy it was to add it, I wonder why I waited so long!). My seventies-era range in all its glory:

This morning I had the cabinet guy come to talk about what to do about the spacer at the top. It's not a big deal at all and his company will install the microwave/fan when they rework the cabinet above the stove.

I visited two local appliance stores. The first was a disappointment - the salesman was nice but not that knowledgeable. The second place was great (and cheaper!).

The salesman there pointed out the differences between the microwave I thought I wanted and the less expensive ones and I actually liked the cheaper ones more. And everything can be delivered within two days!

He also gave me some good info about bisque appliances. They're still very popular in Florida though not in the rest of the country and he doesn't think they'll ever go away totally. I did consider stainless - bought a roll of dull silver wrapping paper and covered the stove with it to get an idea - but stainless just looks too "cool" in my cream kitchen: