[Essiesmom]

The kitchen is done and painted....thank goodness. I love love love it. we are however stuck with one little spot that needs something...or nothing. A few pictures first.

I wanted to wait to take them when everything was clean, but with 3 kids that is an impossibility. So the island.


The eating nook with a church pew seating.



The pantry area


The spot. This is opposite the island and feels like it needs something. A bench, an ottoman, something. It really cannot afford to be more than 12 inches deep to keep out of traffic flow. The walls are hepplewhite Ivory, the coutnertops are grey and we are doing accents of green and bright red.






To the one side is the curved hallway.

[nda227]

I think people have a tendency to fill every space with furniture or baskets or just anything to keep spaces from looking empty, but a lot of time wind up just making things looked cluttered (not to judge, I do it all the time and I can't seem to stop myself lol) I'd go for one big piece of artwork if I were you. Then again, I also have a tendency to clutter up my walls with photos and artwork all over every inch of wall, so maybe you should just ignore me...

[zeuss]

I think that wall is calling out for a great piece of art!!!

I doesn't need to be 'real' art, it could be from Ikea or Buy Posters, Art Prints, Framed Art, Wall Decor, Photographs -- Barewalls.com But I think it could afford to be quite bold.

Or you could get your red, green, ivory and grey etc. acrylic paint and let each kid loose with a blank canvas. Or get a matched set of frames from Ikea, and a good piece of paper cut to fit inside. Get each member of the family to do one. It is a 'family' kitchen afterall.

[zeuss]

The homemade art I did for my sister's kitchen ends up being one of the highlights people comment on when they first go in kitchen.

[DesignDiva]

I agree with Susan, art would be perfect to fill that wall and not cause any traffic issues. But, if you want something a little more functional, it might be a great spot for family mail baskets. You can get baskets that hang on the wall and aren't very deep, kind of like pockets, and have one for each member of the family. You could use them to keep all sorts of little things that sometimes go astray, or stuff that would normally end up on the island A small wall shelf below it or even a piece of art in the center surrounded with several baskets would be beautiful AND functional!

[Essiesmom]

Oooh I love that idea. A punch of color with some art would be great. My daughter's art teacher wanted to do our backsplash tiles with her, but maybe they could start on something for there.

Susan, I love what you did for your sister....ideas ideas ideas....I will get working on it.

Allison

[Emmie9999]

Art would be perfect for that spot! If, for some reason, you cannot find something to frame, how about something functional that could work as decoration? Eva's mailbox idea could work well. Or, you could use the spot to hang pieces of china like serving platters, etc. Those could be taken down and used as needed, and put back when not on the table. I'm thinking of larger serving platters, or your grandmother's serving dishes that you only use at Thanksgiving, that sort of thing.

I have an idea for a small angled wall in my own kitchen, although it's not working out as I had hoped. My grandmother and my DH's grandmother were both wonderful cooks and bakers. I'm trying to find photos of them cooking that I can frame and hang there. I'm having trouble finding pictures of my DH's Nana in her kitchen, but I may find another picture of her to put there. Maybe you have family pictures of all of you in the kitchen, or you helping the kids to make cookies?

[zeuss]

We also did this practical wall for the family in my sister's kitchen. This wall isn't quite finished. I want to get a 1960's red wall phone for this wall as well. But you can get the idea. Mail slots would be great, but we didn't have the space to walk by anything sticking out too much.

I've been told there is magnetic paint you can use under a colour. If we had known that, we would have put the magnetic paint under the chalkboard paint.

Remember, you can make a cork board more decorative by covering it with fabric, but we were able to find a grey one instead of the regular brown.

[zeuss]

Love the black and white photograph idea. I plan a wall with a whole bunch of family black and white photos but with all the same style frames.

Or since it is a kitchen, what about some vintage food and drink ads in your bold colours????

[nda227]

If you decide to go functional, they not only have chaulkboard paint, but they have dry erase board paint and magnetic paint. You could do a big family calendar w/ the dry erase paint. Or perhaps a square of each. They can be tinted and everything.

I'm big on homemade art. i just painted my kid (well it started w/ her feet then quickly got out of control and next thing you know we were doing her belly button!) w/ jewel toned blues and purples and gold metalic paint and did body part prints. Came out great!

Or if you a family pic you love, try Rasterbator...I know, sounds bad, but basically it'll help you print out a regular pic into a huge wall sized print. I found it on Not Martha who has a great explanation and close ups of how it works.

Good luck!