Decisions, Decisions...

Thought I would tackle an easy post as my first one back in almost a year! I think it's just this time of year that makes me want to come back on again... so cold outside, so I am using my free time to peruse the design blogs I love with a cup of coffee or tea. It's so cozy! Anyway, lots of design inspiration out there (too much of you keep looking long enough!) combined with the desire to change things up a bit to get out of the winter rut.

Cozy and inspiring! Love. :)

I have this garage-saled bookcase that I decided to put in the kitchen after being inspired (that word again) by a few posts last summer. Yes, I said bookcase and kitchen in the same sentence! It's in a special spot that I needed to "cover up" - this spot is where the dogs' food bowls were located the whole time we've lived in the house... and after we lost Cody in June, I just couldn't stand to look at that double stand full of nothing but emptiness. :( Then I moved the bowls out, and it looked even more empty!

I remembered the bookcase, and the design inspiration and put the two together, throwing in a handful of dishes and cookbooks... and voila! An instant mood lifter. I have gotten so many compliments on it, since it's one of the first things you see when you walk into our house - on how neat it looked and the interesting use of the bookcase. It's been here since June, but the layout constantly changes - I love how versatile it is... what I don't like is how open the dishes are to dust. :( It's a worthy sacrifice to make sure to wash what I need before I use it, so in all it has turned out to be a fun addition to the kitchen.

(kitchen to the left, gray everywhere!, blue-grays in kitchen with cobalt and teal accents already)

Now, the next step is to spice it up a bit. I have always wanted to throw up a color or a pattern on the back of it, to add a little splash and further tie it into the kitchen. After lots of deliberation, I have decided to go with some paper, the pattern to be decided. Help!

I could have gone with wallpaper, but it's too expensive and you can't just get a little bit (unless you go with a patchwork of complementary samples, which would still be neat) - so I thought about using good, thick wrapping paper. I remember seeing it on NieNie's blog back some time ago (she just used a roll from Target that she liked). I have narrowed it down to three choices, and the choice will help the accent color path for the rest of the kitchen. I think I am slightly leaning toward the yellow/blue umbrella pattern - I like the subtler yellow and the less busy pattern - the soft yellow and blue-grays already in the kitchen - but the red and the poppy blue are both still exciting! And I adore cherry blossoms... hmm. Decisions...

All of these papers are from a sustainable luxury stationary company that just happens to be located in Syracuse. It's called Smock Paper. They have so many lovely things on their site, and for this application, the paper is a steal (compared to wallpaper!). Have an opinion? Let me know what you think!