are you planning to redecorate your kitchen, like S?

the butterflies in question

Anyone who knows me knows I can never stick to a design plan or scheme for too long before feeling an intense urge to change it up. There is something extremely monotonous about waking up every single day to the same thing, usually it starts with moving around the furniture, maybe sliding a potted plant to the other side of the window sill before I’m resolved to stripping the paint off the walls at three am. This is pretty much how I am feeling about my kitchen. I like to thing the kitchen is one of the most important rooms in the entire house – or in my case apartment. The room is where the food lives and considering I’ve become a ravenous pig in my advanced age, I have been spending a lot more time in there.

When E and I initially moved in we came up with a design plan which included a mustard-yellow accented with brushed silver butterflies. We live within walking distance of the beach and have the luxury of feeling the cool breeze off the water during the summer (and winter, but we were not so amped about that fact) we wanted to make the kitchen as natural feelings as possible. So, ergo, choosing light summery colours for the kitchen.

It was great … for about seven months and now I want to rip each butterfly off the wall and stomp on them.

Living in a rental is a tricky business because you find yourself contending with the previous tenants poor design taste during decorating. The previous tenant in our unit had painted the kitchen a hideous shade of orange – not just the walls but everything else as well, including the cupboards – so, as you can imagine, every once and a while orange pops up to say, ‘hello!’. Orange and I have never really had a great relationship, in fact I hate her guts; she makes my skin appear death-white and turns my kitchen into Anita Bryant’s wet-dream.

So, this time, we are going all out. I figured the cabinets are going to need a new coat of paint and I’ve chosen a bright stark white for them, the same shade as the white IKEA floating shelves. I think this will give the kitchen a nice freshness it’s been lacking, painters white yellows after a few months if not updated. The yellow will be replaced by a deep teal which will not only look fantastic against the white but will serve as a beautiful backdrop to our cooking books, food jars and appliances.

I’m also working on getting E to allow me to buy a beautiful white antique birdcage to hang in the corner by the window, I think it will look great, she doesn’t understand the need for one if we do not even have a bird. She clearly has never gone antiquing before (and – to be honest – I’ve never done it properly) and fell in love with some object you have never needed. Then we will be hanging fabric swatches in matted frames to create a sort of focal point for the walls and to bring some art into the kitchen, something muted which won’t be as ‘in your face’ as the butterflies.

Damn those butterflies.

isn’t teal beautiful?

The most important part about any redecorating challenge is budget for it and really think about what you want to say about the room, this will help you avoid racking up unnecessary charges. It also cannot be something you do on a whim – which is actually a good thing – it will allow you more time properly flesh out exactly what you want to see. I think too many times you think about a redesign in parts and jump on the bandwagon long before you’ve secured wheels to it, suddenly your sitting in a rectangular box with a purple striped wall and no idea where you were going with it.

Do not forget to also pick out what accessories you want to see in the space and properly budget for them as well, this is not just about the paint and the brushes. And finally use the redecoration as an excuse to sit down with your roommate and discuss what you want to keep within the kitchen (coffeemaker, toaster and microwave) and what you can afford to lose (butterflies, lead painted fruit tray and any remnants of orange)

When E and I complete the kitchen redesign I will be uploading some photos to our facebook page and a video for our YouTube page, so look forward to those. And because I’m a masochist by design I will also be posting my budget for all to see, and judge.

Are any of you planning a redecoration? Do you have some great ideas that you are brimming to share? Email us at thetwentiesproject@gmail.com 

Pssst! Wanna see how S’s redecoration plans are coming along? Click here to read more.

seven days of cookies: day five: orange crunch cookies

We’re in the home stretch, people! If you haven’t been following along, we’ve been making a different batch of cookies each day to countdown the arrival of Christmas Eve. I’ve intimidated you with some pretty tough ones, so why not try this easier one and take a break from all that elaborate rolling and cutting?

Today we’re making orange crunch cookies and although I live in Canada and there is nary an orange tree in sight, I still manage to think of Christmas when I think of orange-y flavors. Maybe it’s because there’s always a clementine in the toe of my stocking. Or maybe it’s because it’s been a long-standing joke in my family that we give my dad a Terry’s Chocolate Orange from a “mystery person” every year. Or maybe I just like orange because it pairs so nicely with all those Christmas spices. And chocolate. Man, does it ever taste good with chocolate.

Orange Crunch Cookies

1 c. all-purpose flour

1/4 c. butter, diced

1/3 c. soft dark brown sugar

1/2 egg yolk, beaten

1 tbsp honey

1 tsp orange zest

Icing:

1 c. icing sugar

3 tbsp orange juice

Sift flour in a bowl and rub diced butter into it until it forms a bread crumb-like texture. Using a table knife, stir rest of ingredients in the flour until mix forms clumps. Working with your hands, work dough into a small ball. Roll into log and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 1 1/2 hours or until firm.

Preheat your oven to 350F. Slice log of dough into thin discs and place on a parchment-lined or lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake 7-9 minutes and allow cookies to set a bit on the pan before transferring them to a cooling rack.

While the cookies are baking, you can make the icing. Beat sugar and orange juice together to form smooth paste. Pour into a piping bag and drizzle over cooled cookies.

Cookie tip: To create orange zest you can use a zester or you can grate the orange lightly on either a tabletop or hand-held cheese grater. Just make sure you don’t start grating what’s called the “pith”- the stringy white stuff that’s underneath when you peel an orange. Including that in your recipe will diminish the sweet orange flavour that’s coming from the peel and instead just make it bitter.

Instead of drizzling with orange icing, why not try dipping cooled cookies into melted chocolate or drizzling with a chocolate ganache? Better still, leave cookies as-is so they can act as the perfect dippers in a mug of your favourite hot chocolate.

Happy baking!

B