A Touch of Black at 3 a.m.

have you ever stayed up 'til three o'clock in the morning rearranging your kitchen accessories?  no?  come on, you can tell me. 

well, while some women like a good ten hours of solid sleep beneath a warm down comforter, i like playing house.  'til all hours of the night.  i mean morning.  

first off, let me start by saying i'm getting a little addicted to black.  i know i am because all of my latest purchases have been black.  i see a pattern forming.  but i found i was keeping all my new finds in the garage because i didn't have enough of them to balance out a room.  well, when you stay up 'til three a.m., you can sometimes find balance.  and by the way, when you shop your house at 3 a.m., it costs you nothing!   i actually ordered black/taupe check lampshades from ballard at 2:15, (they're actually there to take your order!) but then woke up this morning and realized i could spray paint my lamps black and run a black velvet ribbon through my homemade cream lampshade slipcovers (don't look too closely at those, by the way) and they would work just fine.

so come take a peek...

yes, that is a pin keeping them closed.

i'll work on that later.

you know me and chalk boards.

i use these baskets to hold my 

can't do cancer without God necklace

supplies.  

and i love anything wire.

another addiction, i believe.

this is one of my new favorite areas.  

our appliance garage broke.

you know that thingy that rolls up and back.

so my dad removed it for me.  

now it houses our toaster oven, toaster and a 

few black accessories.

that tole metal tray was $2!  it's actually

the top of an old tv tray.

the top of our stove was filled with too much stuff.

too many bottles of olive oil and vinegars.

now it's simplified.

this wicker cake stand was $2 at a ventura thrift store and the 

tall, thin wicker-wrapped bottle was also $2.  what a day!

i also de-cluttered my desk.  again.

isn't this a great box?  my girlfriend gave it to me as a gift.

love everything about it.

now it holds our phone book, pens and stapler.

she bought it at a beautiful mess in agoura.

to-die-for store!

and i'm not a coffee drinker, but i do love tea.

found this little coffee maker at the thrift store for $4.

of course, it's black.

and it's so much faster than boiling water.

notice Jesus is in here now?  

nothing like starting your morning off with 

Jesus and a cup of tea.

i replaced my floral plates with black framed art.

i placed a piece of burlap under the glass and inserted an old calling card. 

 i could stare at this all day.

and i added this sweet little chalkboard above two 

things i can't do without: almonds and napkins.

and i love these hand towels from pottery barn.

though they're not really towels.  they're more like fabric with a ruffle attached.  but they don't dry dishes.  they just look cute.

and when i stand at my sink, i am reminded

daily of my favorite verse:  

and i just had to include this photo.  this old ladder did rest

against my kitchen wall a few months ago.  it's now in our family room.  but i love how our cat newmis had to immediately check it out, and then got busy bird watching.

someone needs to eat a little less cat food.

so that's what 3 a.m. looked like at my house.

i now need to get under that warm down comforter for a few hours

before the kids get home from school.

but one more peek at my kitchen!