Kitchen before and after

A couple of years ago I helped a friend of mine with her kitchen remodel. I helped her with the  beginning stages of the design (the layout and general ideas) and then encouraged her to call a kitchen designer to help her with the bulk of the job. When they were finished with the cabinet design, appliance selection and installation, I came back and helped her with materials selection (granite, lighting, cabinet hardware). 

Before photo courtesy of www.thisoldhouse.com

The finished kitchen is gorgeous and a dramatic change from where it started. You can read more about the kitchen makeover here.

Photos by Joe Schmeizer for This Old House {via}

One of my favorite details are leaf knobs we found for the built-in hutch in the dining room. They are more beautiful in person and really exemplify who the client is. 

Oak Leaf from Notting Hill Decorative Hardware

Last week I dropped by to style the kitchen for a wedding shower she was hosting. The best part was that we used primarily things she already had around the house and in her garden. She wanted it to be simple and fresh. 

We used fresh fruit, potted flowers, cuttings from her garden (pink and white hydrangeas, sweet peas and lavender) and bunches of white peonies she had picked up the day before (see my post about how much I love white peonies here). Because my schedule has been so busy and I was hurrying off to another job I forgot to take photos which was disappointing because the house looked beautiful. I received these photos (and a lovely thank you) in an email from her after the shower.

The shower took place on her patio and she set up the outdoor area herself. Didn't she do a great job?