A Second (or Third or Fourth) Look...

Ruthie Sommers' kitchen - if you were a Domino magazine devotee, then you'll recognize this image from the inaugural issue of the magazine. The room has been admired by many ever since (black paint! in a kitchen!), and stills feels fresh to me. While catching up on the blog Shelter this evening, I saw something in the photo I'd never noticed before - Blue Willow china on the shelf in the upper left hand corner! Now, of course, I love the room even more.

Image via Shelter. P.S. Congratulations, Julie!

You can get your own Blue Willow collection started at Sparker Shop:

Pegboard Inspiration

Yesterday while sitting in the Sparker Shop booth at the vintage fair, I found myself flooded with ideas. Fortunately, I had pen and paper with me and was able to jot them down between tending to customers. Many of the ideas were just little improvements for the booth, blog or shop. All simple, easy things - like the calendar on the blog sidebar that shows when I'll be manning the pop-up shop. But the one I am really excited about is improving my booth display.

You see, lately I have been collecting a lot of vintage kitchen utensils. They are unique, built to last and I can't seem to resist them. The downside is displaying them. I've been laying them out on one of my colorful table cloths, but somehow that doesn't seem to do them justice and it takes up quite a bit of valuable table space. So, yesterday I had the idea to build a kitchen peg board for my booth! Not revolutionary, but to me it was very exciting.

Ever since, I have been trolling the web for inspirational photos. The toughest decision will be deciding what color to paint the board! At the moment, I am leaning toward a French blue.

Below are some of the photos from which I'll be drawing inspiration, and here's a great story I ran across about Julia Child's pots being reunited with her kitchen at the Smithsonian.

Domino via Flickr.

Apartment Therapy.

Design*Sponge.

This one is my husband's dream! How to be Domestic.

Better Homes & Gardens circa 1983 via Flickr.

Martha Stewart.

Simple, Elegant Table

I will be recreating this look for a dinner party as soon as possible. Equally appropriate for an end of summer fête or a fall harvest dinner party.

Image via Shelter.