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so i was recently introduced to the appliance company AGA when i started working on a kitchen project that was using one of the ranges. the appliances arrived to the job site yesterday and the range it is super cool. it is made out of cast iron so it looks like a 1930's style stove but w/ all of the modern day entities.

i love the farmhouse sink...probably b/c it has that vintage feel that i am constantly going back to. i can't help it, it totally gets me. there are so many choices out there when it comes to this deep utilitarian sink basin. believe me, i just spent my afternoon yesterday and then again last night, trying to decide on the right one for a job i am working on. there are so many sizes out there. we have found that it is really important to know exactly which farmhouse sink you are going to use when you start the "kitchen designing process"....this is especially true if you are going to use a vintage one. and the quality of the product varies a lot according to the vendor (we weren't very pleased w/ one we just put into a kitchen this week). plus, you have to keep in mind that many of them taper at the bottom- generally this is found in the ones made from porous fireclay. just a little info i thought i would pass along in case any of you are in the market for a fab farmhouse sink!

we spent new years in atlanta (football game...not my number one choice of ways to bring in the year but it was fun none the less). in our hotel there was a magazine of atlanta homes which somehow happened to make its way home w/ me (i justified it by thinking of it as if it were the toiletries they offer in the bathroom...just another friendly jester to welcome you). it's a very good magazine. i especially loved this one house which was featured in an article titled "the un-white house". the architecture was amazing. it was a contemporary house built in a traditional bungalow neighborhood. the architect used angular walls and windows that really make the house stand out. it has loads of light pouring into the house and the kitchen is beautiful. i love the limestone ann stacks tile they used in the backsplash, very modern- sleek and sophisticated. i was also pleased to find that the magazine had a great website. (i can now access the mag even if i am not staying in an atl hotel!)

one of my favorite things about having this blog is that i feel like it keeps me in the "know"; i am challenging myself to want to keep up with the latest and greatest, as well as educating myself on things that i may not have known previous to this....which leads me to today's post on pickling... i think we are going to be seeing a lot more of the "pickled" look in wood finishes. it seems like the weathered, distressed, almost drift wood look is where designers are heading- and i love this. maybe it's because i live in a beach town but i love the soft, gray hues that are given off by the wood and the rawness that it produces. i guess i am kind of over the really dark stained cabinets and this is my way of opening myself up to a new evolution of wood cabinetry. i adore this kitchen done in the pickled white oak. it is so clean and crisp...something that i find myself gravitating to much more in design. pickling is definitely not limited to cabinetry; it looks amazing on furniture, applied on floors or ceilings (oh, love it on the ceilings).

i was intrigued on how they actually do the pickling stain to the wood so i researched it a little. it was created to make new wood look old or "dusty". stainers took the wood, generally oak, and created a formula...take a handful of rusty nails and soak them in vinegar for 3 days; this would produce a gray solution that was then applied to the raw wood. today, they have come up with a much more calculated approach to pickling...it involves primer and paint thinner. either way, the look is gorgeous and i think something we will be seeing a lot more of....

suzanne from simply magic totally makes me envious of her kitchen backsplash tile, custom designed by her super fab design team woodson & rummerfield...i noticed this little beauty in a display of her christmas card. i emailed her and told her it was amazing and that's when she informed me that ron and jamie had this ann sacks tile custom colored green, gray, and white for her space! the top pic is a view of her entire kitchen/ dr/ lr space. lucky lady! i read in one of her previous posts that her husband had mastered the art of tile installation...wonder if he installed this? btw, great talent to master. tile installation can get pricey, especially the decorative, art inspired tiles that are now available. finding someone who has this talent is a true gem! (you can check out other pictures of her house at w & r, it is to die for...love the powder room wallpaper!!)

if you don't go to antique stores or flea markets than you are truly missing out. i fell in love with big daddy's antiques ; there is only one problem....its in LA. but if you are looking for inspiration or just something different, check out his site (i assume its a "he" since the store is big daddy). and if you fall in love with something like i just did, you can always email "big daddy" and see if they ship. the only problem is that you might pay a whopping fee to get it here from cali....but none-the-less, it shows you that great things do exists and gives you instinctive to find something locally.



but for now since i am stuck home (baby is napping) while my hubbie is at the beach w/ the dog, i will envision this industrial zinc work table as a kitchen island (and boy does it make a great one). the kitchen would have white painted cabinets, my beautiful carrera marble counter tops (honed of course), simplistic, white subway tile as the backsplash that would extend all the way up the wall, a farmhouse sink, and my lovely zinc island with pendant lights hanging above......



and you know what else if fantastic about using this found piece as an island, the bottom shelf is great for storage and an eye-catcher for displaying cool things....find some woven baskets and keep kitchen supplies in there, or put your "all-clad pots" down there, or vintage mixing bowls, or your red wine collection....


this zinc island also saves a heck of a lot of money that you would spend having an island built and nobody else will have the same one as you.....priceless :)