she likes to tinker

whitney is my most curious.

 almost to a fault.

like a cat.

you know what they say about curious cats...

she wants to see how things work,

inspect their innards,

tear them apart and put them back together.

i loved doing that when i was little.

if it's broken or needs new batteries i don't hear about it.

she takes care of it on her own.

her private treasure stash includes an array of screwdrivers and screws and nuts and bolts.

she has the perfect head of crazy inventor hair.

or maybe that's lazy mom hair?

yes, that's the doggie doo game.

and no, i did NOT purchase that for my children.

that was a christmas gift from their oh-so-thoughtful aunt and uncle.

it's SO disgusting.

but, i won't pretend that i don't enjoy it almost as much as my kids do,

so it's a good thing whit was around to fix it when it stopped working.

here she sits

this used to be gwen's favorite place to color...

until i wizened up and pulled out our art easel.

i know, genius. 

not sure why it took me five months of this to remember we had one.

"oh, WOW!  i am amazing!  really!!"

the drawer is also a favorite place to sit/stand.

now that the easel is a permanent fixture in the family room it's her favorite place to be.  she sings songs to herself all about coloring.  in fact the lyrics are quite original.

they go, "color, color, color, color."

super catchy.

these are her "extreme concentration" faces.

hopefully she adopts a new one before she hits the testing center phase of her life.

she's very particular with her color selection...

and so critical of her work.

she gets her snack and sippy set up all by herself ready to go.

p.s. the gyro bowl is awesome!

this keeps her occupied for a good long time.

thank goodness for that!

let's talk kitchens : hoods

let's have a talk.

i have a dilemma.

well, actually it' not a dilemma since there really is no urgency or need to make up my mind on this matter...

except that i'm always mapping out my dream kitchen in my mind and there's this big empty spot above my range that i can't seem to fill.

which hood? which hood?

let's discuss the merits of each, shall we?

bhg

first of all, i'm a huge fan of mixing classic, clean white with the natural tones of wood.

that's a pretty traditional combination. think farm house table in an old fashioned white kitchen...

but i've never seen a hood done in unfinished pine like this.

awesome. so awesome.

i bet it's a bear to de-grease, though?

james michael howard

architectural digest

gatfield

here are a few hoods (above) that seem to be built right into the walls of these kitchens.  plaster? obviously very custom and seamless.

these are so nice.

atlanta home

     

pinterest

there's nothing like a big ol' huge statement piece of a hood like a totally conspicuous metal one.

i like statement pieces and these are suh-weet. 

atlanta homes

heidi friedler

atlanta homes

the three above are pretty traditional.  pretty, but nothing too exciting.  the one above is an example of the wrong way to do a stove top and hood.  aside from the molding being way too fussy (that's obviously just preference) the function of the space is so thoughtless.  i absolutely need lots and lots of counter space on each side of the stove for prepping and chopping and setting stuff down while i'm cooking.  granted, i'm probably a lot messier when i cook that a lot of people, but come on.  not even 6 inches?

source?

bhg

stacey bass 

there's that natural wood mixed with those glossy glossy cabinets.

and were you aware that brass is back?  in a BIG way.

i mean, how amazing are all those brass fixtures?

they increase my heart rate significantly.

pinterest

the above four are somewhat of a hidden hood.

these are so streamlined and simple.

you could go super contemporary or just classic and understated with these.

toet

i LOVE this one above.  what is that?  arched casework, raw metal, and are those windows in the recesses on either side of the stove?

oh my goodness!  brilliant!

keeps the stove area from feeling closed in.

traditional home

so pretty.  so classic.

tracery interiors

haynes-roberst

boris baranovich architects

strange

peter block caseworks

when i saw this one it stopped me in my tracks.  i had never considered a carved stone surround.  WOW!  stunning!

the possibilities are endless.  you could do any kind of stone (assuming the budget was endless, which in my dream kitchen it is.  i'll have to come to terms with that when we ever build a house again.)

you could even do a cast stone surround like on a fireplace probably. hmmmm.

you understand my dilemma now?

what's your favorite?

i know, i know...

i've gotten lazy about documenting our winter in pictures.

fortunately we haven't done much more than ski every single weekend (and many weekdays)

so i can lean on wade's movie-making ventures as a way of remembering what we did all through the snowy months.

you can count on more before the season is through.

sorry if they bore you but i find them supremely entertaining.