Room by Room~ A Fresh White Kitchen

Welcome back to our 2nd week in our Summer Showcase series, Room by Room.  If you missed last week, you can catch up on my foyer and travel wall gallery here.  I'm so glad you stopped by again today because we are talking kitchen spaces!

If you are new around here, I'm Amy and I blog about home design, decor, crafts, and lifestyle fun.  I am a mom to 3 children and enjoy spending time puttering around my home.  Our home was built-in the 80's so it has been a journey getting it to where we have wanted it (and believe me, it's still a work in progress!) You can see a lot of what we've done by starting on this blog page, here for a full look at our home.  The kitchen has undergone a lot of changes and even some within the last two years.  We started with a very builder grade cabinet and countertop space.  It is small for the size of the home despite the back half has a two-story window of walls.  That feature is my favorite and adds light and views to the back yard which I crave.  Counter space and pantry space has increased with improvements over time and thinking outside the box.  You read all about how I created a pantry out of our hall closet in last week's foyer post!

Two years ago, I decided to tackle painting my kitchen cabinets myself.  I was frankly scared to death to tackle this on my own, so I really did a lot of research before starting.  I can tell you almost 3 years later, I do not regret it one bit!  It is a tedious project but can be done by even the most novice DIY'er.  If you are interested in tackling this yourself, I highly recommend you read this post which I outlined the entire process.  

One of the things that I've found most helpful in organizing my kitchen is to create areas or zones for each function.  I have a coffee station, an entertaining station, a cooking area, and an eating area.  Store needed items in these zones to help keep things handy when needed.

Tips to Creating a Fresh Inspiring Kitchen Space

{This post contains affiliate links, see full disclosure here.}

Maybe our favorite spot in our kitchen is our coffee station.  I love that everything is out accessible and ready to use each morning.  I collect white mugs and enjoy seeing them on my mug rack displayed.  

This glass kitchen sign was a DIY project.  You can see how simple it was to turn an old frame into the perfect farmhouse glass sign here.  In this area of the kitchen, we have our entertaining area with a built-in wine glass rack and a wine cooler.  I store glassware and entertaining trays all in one spot in these cabinets and use this counter to set up a beverage station when we entertain friends. 

This little nook was an area we added to the kitchen when we moved in.  The built-in bench adds much-needed storage for large paper products and disposable entertaining products.  The small round table is just perfect for our family of five.  I enjoy sitting here with my morning coffee catching up on blogs on my iPad. 

I love green and have added several pops of green to my summer kitchen.  That's the great part about having a white kitchen, adding color or taking it away is easy to do throughout the year.  

Tips for Creating a Fresh Kitchen Space

1.Decorate with functional and pretty items you use every day.  I love open shelves to display my mix and match white dishes collection.  

2. Have a bowl or tiered tray handy and fill it with grab and go seasonal fruit or snacks.

3. Take 5 minutes at the end of each day to wipe counters and sink down before going to bed.

4. Adopt a smell for each season and use that by burning a candle or buying some counter spray.

5. Have a function for each area of your kitchen and organize your go-to items and storage around that.

Now let's check out our other talented blogger's kitchens for lots of inspiration and ideas!