In case you’ve wondered how the Talavera Kitchen is progressing, here’s an update.

(For background on this story, see Talavera Kitchen Part 1. )
After painting my “Talavera Kitchen” and studying different color combinations on Pinterest, I decided to do the trim around the cabinets with blue.I decided to paint the hardware the same color as the trim, but as of now I’m leaving the hinges the way they are.  It was enough to take off and clean all the handles, and I’m not in the mood to mess with the hinges. I am keeping the knotty pine doors because I’ve always liked natural wood, and from what I’ve read, knotty pine is now considered “Mid Century” vintage decor. The house is about the same age as me…who would have ever thought I’d qualify as “Mid Century”? But I won’t say painting the cabinets didn’t occur to me. So I “photoshopped” them to see how it might look. I tried it with just the bottom doors blue, and then with the bottom blue and the tops to match the walls. As you can see above, my “photoshop” skills aren’t perfect, but it was enough to give me an idea. I decided if I painted them it would be too hard to go back to natural wood if I wanted to later. So I left well enough alone. For now.I mentioned to someone (I don’t remember who, no offense…) that I wished I had an arch instead of a corner by the plates on the wall, and they suggested a curly type decoration like you see above. So it was off to Hobby Lobby, where all metal decor was on sale for 50% off, plus I had a gift card (thanks again, Bobby & Shirley!) So I got two of them just in case. So far I’ve only put one up. In the pictures here, you are seeing the same thing from both sides.Cabinets, before and after. This “after” picture doesn’t actually show the finished product, with the rest of the handles painted blue. But it gives you an idea. Never mind about the painting supplies on the counter! You might notice the small Christmas cactus over the sink though…I tried to see how it would do on the baker’s shelf against the wall directly across from the Mid Century Vintage Talavera cabinets. To my knowledge, a certain cat had never tried to climb up there before. Suffice it to say, that didn’t last long! More on this later.