Our kitchen refresh started with new burlap window panels and grew into cleaning, rearranging, and recovering the chairs. Most of the decor was thrifted, gifted, or handmade. With our son only a few years from college at the time, I was trying to save money and shop more carefully.
New burlap panels—and a new use for the old coffee bags
I bought the new panels through the Ballard catalog. Before that, we had used free burlap coffee bags as window valances for about a year.
The coffee bags became a table runner. I like finding another place for something rather than discarding it. I also recovered the kitchen chair seats in gingham.
A pallet shelf and a collection of roosters
My upcycled wood pallet became a display shelf. At the time of this tour, I counted about twenty-five roosters around the kitchen, including gifts collected over the years. Many have sentimental value.
Keep using the furniture you enjoy
Our vintage-inspired bar stools were still going strong, and I had no plans to paint them. The little Goodwill table beside them had already had its second makeover.
Small displays on the counters
A Dollar Tree rooster sits inside a glass candy jar. Other pieces move around as I rearrange the displays.
My mom gave us the platter and pitcher a few years before this refresh. I like bringing them out at this time of year.
My mom and friends have added to the rooster collection, too.
A sunny dining corner
I liked the rooster pitcher with faux lemons on the table. The chairs also show my no-sew painter’s tarp pillow.
Even the dishes in this corner have roosters on them.
Bring older projects back out
This corner holds my first stenciled artwork, which I had not displayed for about two years.
Vintage kitchen scales
The vintage scales add another layer to the displays. My mom found the red one.
Keep the hickory cabinets and the color
I enjoy color and the warm feeling of our hickory wood cabinets. An all-white kitchen was not what we wanted for this room.
I also added a little rustic step stool that I needed.
A kitchen with a history
Our kitchen appeared in Country Woman Magazine in July 2011. When the editor first called, I thought it might be a prank. The room has continued to change with the seasons and with the pieces we make, find, and reuse.
Ways I refresh the kitchen on a budget
- Make personal artwork, such as my painted picture frame.
- Make pillows from drop cloths.
- Paint small decor pieces for a new look.
- Shop thrift stores.
- Reuse discarded pieces, as in my salvaged farmhouse bench.
- Move things between displays, or decorate a terra-cotta pot with Mod Podge.
- Change the curtains or valances.
- Make valances from burlap bags.
- Reuse an old wreath for a different season.
- Make stenciled tea towels, napkins, or drop-cloth utensil holders.
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