Usually I’m very organised with a blog post for a Tuesday morning which is the one day of the week that I can somehow squeeze a post in between the madness at home and my day to day job (no, I’m not repeating myself! The madness at home and my actual WORK. Yes, I know the two can be easily confused).
Last night however, I ‘briefly’ popped online with the intention to buy a few plates and bowls to replace the ones I smashed and instead I walked away (ahem, entered my credit card details to purchase!) pretty much everything BUT.
Ok, slight exaggeration.
Kinda.
Our kitchen is being installed next weekend and I cannot wait! Seriously, no kitchen AT ALL and two young kids is a nightmare best left for more resilient people. Me, not so much. We have lived on crap food (I admit it!). I couldn’t use the oven top because steam and freshly painted walls don’t mix so it was whatever could be oven baked quickly and without mess. Spring rolls, sausage rolls, chicken nuggets … you get the gist. Not making a mess is important because doing dishes in a bucket in the bath IS NOT FUN! It’s like leaning over the bath to wash the kids x 10. Stand up and your back stays hunched over until you can endure the pain to straighten that bitch back up. Backs and age do not go well together!
Anyway, I’ve been umming and aahing for weeks now about what theme I wanted to centre my kitchen around. I’ve never had a theme before, generally speaking my rooms have always just been a mish mosh of random shit (I don’t use the word shit lightly! There are a few diamonds in the rough but a lot of the stuff I have is old and raggedy or not my style) so a theme was an exciting prospect. I’ve become a renewed Pinterest addict, browsing kitchens I could never afford of people who clearly don’t have children (or they’re grown up or they’re not allowed to step foot in the kitchen!). We’ve gone for a white and wood theme so I was tossing up between vintage or coastal stylings. In the end I think I ended up combining a bit of both! I was drawn to red but resisted the brightness charm and stuck with blues and white.
We have a small house (by small I mean miniscule! 2 bedrooms squeezed into 80sqm) and to be honest I’ve always been a little embarrassed of it compared to my friends large modern homes! But I don’t envy them the mortgage and I have decided to embrace my small home and style it the way it should be. We live close to the beach so coastal cottage would suit the house best. Hence that is the look I am working towards!
Here’s what I ended up buying:
1. Vintage Coffee Tins, 2. Nespresso Lattissima Touch Coffee Machine, 3. Typhoon Oil Drizzler, 4. The Great New Zealand Baking Book, 5. Typhoon Connect Mug Tree, 6. Sole & Mason Salt Keeper, 7. Jamie Oliver Vintage Biscuit Tin, 8. Maxwell & Williams Cappucino Cup, 9. Jamie Oliver Vintage Utensil Tin
(Unfortunately most of these are NZ only sites but can be sourced in other countries by googling the product name)
It doesn’t look like much but I scoured the Easter Sales for just the right pieces as I don’t want to end up with a load of stuff I don’t love! As my favourite shopping motto goes ‘Buy Less, Choose Well’.
A coffee machine was of course #1 on my list and I bored the sales guy at Harvey Norman and the poor Nespresso chic for an hour before I finally settled on this one! I wanted a manual espresso initially but the sales lady did a good job of talking me out of it and for good reason – time is not my friend and most mornings I’m in a huge hurry so not ideal to be mucking around with an espresso machine! The pods may be more expensive but I can hit a button and get a cappucino so that sounds bloody good to me! The mug was a biggie because you need the perfect cup for coffee or it ruins it. I LOVED the biscuit tin and utensil tin and got them really cheap (biscuit tin was $17 down from $60!). The salt keeper is just gorgeous (who would have thought salt and gorgeous would go together?!) and I love the mug tree simply because it’s different.
Now to find the mugs to hang on it and replace the stuff I smashed (and what I originally went online to buy! Always the way!).
What have you bought lately? Which of these would you buy for yourself?
Linking up with: #IBOT @ Essentially Jess
We bought a new kitchen tap. Does that count?
Very exciting Haidee. I love a new kitchen and every kitchen deserves new things inside it. I always buy a few little and new things for my kitchen, especially a great vase for my weekly flowers. Cant wait to see the pics.
Natalie @ Our Parallel Connection recently posted…6 ways to stay calm under pressure
We have that coffee machine, and it’s the best! You won’t know yourself with a brand new kitchen!
Mel @ House of Powell recently posted…And there is the other one…
Oh how exciting. A kitchen reno is on my bucket list! I love everything you’ve picked and I’m very intrigued by the NZ Baking Book! I’d love to have a sneak peek in that, and in your new kitchen too! There will be a room reveal, won’t there?!
Sammie @ The Annoyed Thyroid recently posted…Taking Stock March
Oh we have just done our kitchen and went with a white and wood theme too. I love all the things that you have picked and like Sammie I’m intrigued by that NZ baking book too.
Vicki @ Boiled Eggs & Soldiers recently posted…Healthy Breakfast Bars – refined sugar free for breakfasts on the go
I’m so jealous. As a renter, the idea of being able to choose how your kitchen looks and works is so appealing! Love your vintage canisters 🙂
Amy @ Handbagmafia recently posted…A Mother, Like Mine
Oh I would love to trash all my kitchen stuff and start again! We have a hodge podge of hand me downs, ‘fancy’ stuff (engagement/wedding presents) and pilsmes of mismatched, chipped stuff that my husband is attached to for some reason.
Mumma McD recently posted…How to rock a girls’ weekend away
Caanot wait to see it all come together. Our nespresso gets alot of use and so darn easy to clean. Go you surviving with the kiddies x
Ashlea recently posted…Three Birds Reno – renovating for profit
How exciting to have a new kitchen! WIll be a big relief to get it installed and up and running. So much fun to have a real excuse to buy all new things!
Cute stuff. We are furnishing a brand new house over the next couple of months. So I have loads of choosing to do. It’s exciting 🙂
Kelly recently posted…10 STUPID THINGS TO SAY TO A STAY AT HOME MUM
I think you did really well!
I have a bit of a thing for mugs. If I had a display cabinet I would collect them but not the dainty tea cups most people collect. I like quirky mugs. They are my favourite. 🙂
EssentiallyJess recently posted…What’s In a Name? #IBOT
So much fun! I love that mug tree. I love the white and wood mug tree. So exciting to have a new kitchen. Bring it on!
Renee Wilson recently posted…How to help your child learn to read + giveaway
How exciting getting a new kitchen especially after making do for a while. We have a big (but not modern) house that we are slowly renovating. The kitchen is passable as we replaced cupboard door fronts (they were bright yellow) and handles and put in new appliances a while back. But I soooo want a new kitchen. Dreaming on.
Oh Haidee it is both exciting and tedious waiting for a kitchen redo or reno. I know. I have done it three times. My hub is the kitchen man and he knows what he is doing but as he ages it takes more time! We are renting now until we can afford to buy again and I know there will be a kitchen reno in my future! The one hub did most recently was in late 2014 and our house sold on the day it went on the market. The kitchen was a star! Good luck. Denyse
Denyse Whelan Blogs recently posted…School Starting Ages. 366/89.
Nice choices. I’m loving the blue and white at the moment too. We’re renovating soon and I’m going for the minimal/industrial look. I can’t wait to see it all come together, it’s exciting isn’t it?
I want one of those salt keepers!!
You deserve to treat yourself to some new kitchen items…just don’t WineDee them okay!
Happy Shopping Haidee 🙂
Charlene recently posted…Sunday Share: Taking Stock – March 2016
I love your choices! I always lust over those Hampton style kitchens but ours is perfectly serviceable so it won’t be renovated for a while.
Nice work with the coffee machine! My recent purchases were four huge charcoal pots and decent sized citrus trees for outside. My boys will be eating mandarins by the handful in no time 🙂
Emma @ Life, kids and a glass of red recently posted…How parenting prepares you for a job at the UN
Sounds like such a cute theme! I love those coffee tins – they’re really pretty & a great colour. #WAYWOW
Silly Mummy recently posted…The Egg Hunt
Haidee, I really love all the pieces that you have chosen. I like a bright white kitchen with pops of color and blue is one of my favorite colors ever. The oil drizzler is so cool it’s glass and sleekly shaped I absolutely love it, I love the coffee mug rack with the bits of wood, and that coffee/ cappuccino cup is just the right size. I cannot wait to see how the kitchen turns out it’s going to be gorgeous. So gorgeous that I bet it will make its own cake!
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Great buys, Haidee! I love the Sole & Mason Salt Keeper! It’s a stylish piece with a good price.
Your little cottage sounds divine, and I like the sound of no mortgage too. I think the coastal cottage theme might suit it perfectly, and love the items you’ve chosen, very in keeping with my post on living a more simple life 😉 (thank you x) #iBot