Mirror, mirror on the wall

Mirror, mirror on the wall – who is the fairest one of all? My kitchen bench! I got an idea for an awesome, high back, leather tufted kitchen bench awhile ago, which visiting friends in New York last fall. We had stopped into Cafe Ost in Manhattan and that’s when I saw my future kitchen bench:

  

I couldn’t quite get the image or the idea out of my head for quite sometime, and decided to recreate in the VIB kitchen.… Read the rest

Much Ado About the Frenchies

While we keep finalizing our kitchen plans – lots of back and forth still on the details of the layout, we have started the research on french doors. the first time you hear the figure of $3,500 its certainly a shock. but as that turns out, it is actually quite a reasonable figure for an 8 foot tall door, and estimates can get much much higher.

Research was tough at first, as most show rooms carry just a few manufacturer names, and i haven’t really come across any sales people that were keen to share their knowledge on french door essentials.… Read the rest

The Real Deal

After two years of thinking and planning for the new kitchen, it finally feels for reals. you know how? well it happens when you go from this:

to this:

and many many of these:

Pretty cool eh’

We have been working with our architect friends who were kind enough to help us way back when we were just preparing to prepare (i.e. putting together our kitchen registry for the wedding).

We have spent probably a total of 40 hours in the last month just on our own (and over several sessions) with IKEA kitchen book getting the cabinet layout just right.… Read the rest

Éminence Grise

The other day, I was sitting around, looking at this:

and it just really looked awful. and I thought, to hell with waiting to demolish the kitchen, even though that is exactly what i would like to do right now. unfortunately (or fortunately) we have to wait a few more months before we can begin in order to line up all of our financial sources to begin. we are thinking mid march, but that’s a subject for another post.… Read the rest

Addition to the Family

A bit unexpected, but hey so is life. Otto, the orange kitty, came to live with us this weekend. For reals. He is a year old kitten that came to us via Syracuse University, hence the name.

in other happenings this weekend, we participated in the DC tweed ride. Great fun, particularly if you normally refuse to get on a bike in the city, because city bike riding scares you (ahem).… Read the rest

wedding colors

as with any decor projects – creating a wedding is really very much a decor project – color is key. We went with red, given our theme of Russian wedding – how the Russian theme came about you can see here.

One of my favorite bits about the planning process was creating a mood board. It was actually the first time that I created one, a skill which afterwards I applied to make my kitchen mood board.… Read the rest

Exciting News: Ruff and Ready Open for Business

I have blogged about my favorite store in the district multiple times, here, here and then unfortunately here. not sure how we could have ever replaced them, they even have deliver service! well exciting news, Ruff and Read is opening shop again:

 

Not as convenient as being in logan circle/ u st area, though the shop is still on the busy 14th st corridor, up in Brightwood. The address is: 4722 14th Street NW.… Read the rest

Sourcing for the Kitchen

Ok, so our walls and floors aren’t that great, but do we really need to redo the kitchen? Especially if to do it right we need to do a gut. After all, right when we moved in, we made our kitchen work with some paint, fabric and craigslist purchases. It may not be the most comfortable or pretty, but really it works. for now.

And yet, the odds actually aren’t looking all too good.… Read the rest