The Writing is on the Wall...

So... the wheels are turning, the process is in motion - I've been in the beach shack for almost 4 months, and finally am in sync with it.

Sometimes it takes a while to get to know your house.

Now that we seem to be on the same page with one another -- me and my little house, the makeover seems much more realistic and doable, and more importantly, it's moved from stressful and frustrating back to fun.

Welcome back ye ole' creative flow -- how I have missed you lately.

While perusing magazines, blogs, the internet, friend's houses, looking for inspiration for my kitchen, specifically open shelving examples (before I came to terms with my tiny kitchen), I came across photos of chef Tyler Florence's kitchen -- Yum, right?

and the other side of the room is really fun -- his blackboard wall - the drawings and lettering were inspired by Parisian outdoor blackboard menus.

Love it.

The whole Blackboard thing was something I loved and did before, and hadn't thought about it for this house -- until now, so I started revisiting the idea, and begain adding more pictures and notes to yet another inspiration file on my poor overloaded computer. I swear that I can hear it groan loudly each time I let out a happy little sigh as I find yet another gorgeous inspiration to save.

*

Speaking of which, check out the band of blackboard paint in this dining room in San Francisco --

I'm sort of loving this idea -- poetry or some favorite passage from a book, or quotes - it seems like great fun to me, and lends itself to an atmosphere conducive to thought provoking, enjoyable dinner parties, and interesting everyday meals.

Nothing like starting your day out with a little inspiration, or maybe knowing what's on the menu

My dining room is too small and there isn't enough solid wall flow to pull this off as elegant, it would look too kitchy and themey in my house.

... That doesn't mean, however, that I can't have something like that -- Enter project 543,654,654 1/2.

My goal this week is to find a huge ornate frame -- something in the lines of this --

...if frame shopping isn't successful -I'll buy a 6 foot sheet of plywood some good old Moulding and trim -- something like this - nice and big -- and ornate -

And of course ... I'll need blackboard paint...

To be (happily) continued.