The other part of my theme in the kitchen and dining area are metal trucks.
Ok, some cars have snuck in as well.
I love decorating them with artificial succulents.
It occurred to me that the chickens and the trucks are combined in a funny song I heard when with my granddaughters.
Every time I hear it I laugh and have these great memories of watching their faces light up as they giggled over the lyrics.
In case you've never heard this little ditty (that's for my daughter Christy), I will share it here.
Click Chicken Truck to listen.
Long Live the Queen of the Chicken Truck
In my attempt to create a somewhat vintage look in my home I've started to collect chickens...lots of chickens.
It started out innocently enough with these little guys from Hobby Lobby and they were a nice accent.
Then I found this metal one and just had to have it with it's lovely bluish green patina.
Oh but wait, there's a brightly colored one that is equally as lovely.
And wouldn't this simple white and red one look great on top of the fridge.
This one was spotted at Hobby Lobby and looked like the rooster that used to terrorize me when I was sent out to gather the eggs from the coop on my aunt's farm. I half expected it to peck me as I carried it to the car.
Holy crap. Where am I going to put this one? I'll tuck him under this small table so he's out from under foot.
I now have a total of eight chickens, but I'm sure more will be coming my way.
Long Live the Queen of the Coop
Wanting to make the house our own and not a compilation of stuff left by the previous owners, I set off on a mission of removing the old furniture and buying new things just for us.
In the Arizona room we now have three recliners and a small swivel club chair. The two recliners are wall-aways and the reddish brown one was purchased from our neighbors. My chairs always seem to have a blanket on them because I like to cover up when watching TV. The bookcase provides storage for supplies for my massage table and sewing things.
I bought the TV console with a fireplace to match the bookcase I'd gotten earlier, and the new furniture seems to fit in very nicely.
In the main part of the house we have two gray recliners for conversation and watching TV in the dining room area.
I moved the old TV console with a fireplace into this room and it provides a nice area by the window for decorations and such. This will be a cozy spot for reading when winter hits and I can snuggle under my blanket with the fire blazing. We have a small portable fireplace on the deck. Yes, we live in Arizona and have three fireplaces...it gets cold here!
We (meaning Left Brain) removed the last of the shiny gold fixtures and replaced it with this more vintage looking one I'd found.
The photo below shows the old light fixture over the large table.
This is where the new table and chairs reside. We both loved the big heavy oak table as it was a beautiful piece of furniture, but it was simply too large for our space. The smaller table still allows for four people to sit comfortable and two more can be squeezed in with folding chairs if needed.
He also replaced the old fixture over the kitchen sink with this cute little glass pendant one to keep with the vintage look I'm going after.
The result of these changes is a much more spacious area to live in.
Long Live the Queen
The new stove is being thoroughly enjoyed, but has created a new problem. Because the stove is slightly deeper than the old one, we were unable to open the kitchen drawers. Sigh.
The old stove shown below only allowed about a one-eighth inch of clearance to open the drawers, so I didn't have much to work with.
Yes, I could have probably found another stove that had a smooth top that may have fit, but when I spied this induction stove with a convection oven I didn't care what size it was...I had to have it! I love using induction cooking and already had all the special pans required.
Everything is a tight fit in our little abode, but I simply cannot give up this much storage space so a solution was needed.
Fortunately I am the creative one and Left Brain can accomplish almost any project I throw at him... so we make quite a team. I get the idea and he gets the heavy work...works for me.
We (meaning him) ripped out the drawers and supports from the problem area so we could install the sliding drawer system purchased at Lowe's. I saved the old cabinet doors from where I had removed some of them and luckily one of them was tall enough to work, but not wide enough.
So Left Brain added a piece of wood to the front of the cabinet to remedy that problem and how I have a usable space that is actually better than it was previously.
We liked it so much that we (again meaning him) installed an additional one in another cabinet. Now my cooking tools are at my fingertips. Does that mean I'm preparing more wonderful meals than before? Not so much.
Long Live the Queen of Roomy Drawers
The remodeling continues and I've wanted to get rid of the old almond colored electric stove for ages. It works, but I really like the smooth top design I used to have.
When I initially looked for induction ranges all I could find were things in the $3000 range and well, let's face it...I don't do enough cooking to warrant that kind of money.
Just when I was ready to order a plain old smooth top electric range I stumbled upon a Frigidaire induction range for $800. AND I had a 10% off coupon to use before October 31st.
I ordered it online and set up the delivery and was so excited when it arrived...but bummed out when it wouldn't run. Drat! It wasn't a problem with the range, it was our plug. It appears that pulling out the old stove and moving this one in was just too much for the dear old thing and it gave up.
Luckily I am married to a Mr Fix It and Pete went to buy a new box and installed it himself. Problem solved.
Now I'm a happy camper with my induction range and a convection oven. Oh the things I can cook now! Oh..wait, now I suppose I have to actually cook something. Oh well, it looks lovely.
Long Live the Queen of the Range
