COTE DE TEXAS: READERS KITCHENS SERIES: #2

READERS KITCHENS SERIES: #2

 

 

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Summer roses at Slim Paley’s beach house.

I was thrilled when one of my favorite bloggers, Slim Paley, sent in pictures of a kitchen redo for the Readers Kitchen series.   In case you don’t read her blog, HERE, I suggest you try it out – she leads a glamorous life with her husband and children and her blog is filled with the most gorgeous photographs she takes herself.   My favorite pictures are when she shows us a glimpse of her house and garden.   She lives near Santa Barbara, but is fortunate enough to also have a nearby beach house and a vacation house in Sun Valley!   Each has a completely different look and each is fabulous.  Here is how “Slim Paley” describes herself on her blog:

 

I’m a mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend and ‘work in progress’ striving to Live in the Moment (any minute now :) )

I’m also a self taught designer, collage enthusiast and arranger of flowers

blessed to live in Santa Barbara,CA.

I adore books, old book shops and libraries, gardens, food, fashion, photography, art,

architecture, music and virtually anything and everything design related.

Travel, especially far flung and a little adventurous is also a great passion of mine.

Did I mention shoes and handbags?

and martinis?

 

So, first let’s take a look at the kitchen redo Slim Paley, aka, Carolyn Espley-Miller sent in and then I’ll show some of my favorites of her photographs, taken from her blog.  Enjoy!!!

 

 

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BEFORE:   This kitchen is in a trendy section of Vancouver called Kit’s Beach.   Slim and her sister redid the apartment and then sold it and then did another one and sold that one too!

 

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As you can see, the apartment had awful golden parquet flooring while the kitchen had a white floor.   Instead of replacing the entire floor that was found throughout the one bedroom apartment – Slim matched the wood floor in the kitchen and then restained it all dark brown.   I really don’t like these cabinets, and I suppose Slim didn’t either – as she gutted the entire kitchen.

 

 

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Tearing it all out.  The wall between the living area and the kitchen was removed halfway to open up the entire space.

 

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Ah!   A nice clean slate to work from.  Here the new wood floor has been installed in the kitchen – just waiting for its new stain.

 

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After:    Here you can see how open it all is with the wall removed between the kitchen and living area.    Behind the newly added banquette is chalkboard paint and a mirror.   Such a huge difference!

 

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Instead of closed upper cabinets,  Slim added open shelving and a mirror, again to open up the space.   The black painted cabinets seem more dressy than an all white kitchen.  Plus all the black – the cabinets, the chalkboard and the mirror frames relate and become an important design element.   The extra hefty door molding makes it seem more important.    Everything is, of course, new. 

 

 

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One last view.   I happen to love small kitchens – as long as you have a huge pantry too!   I think it is so much easier to move around in a smaller space than one where all the appliances are spread out, far away from each other.  But, don’t listen to me, I’m a terrible cook and tend to stay far away from any kitchen!!!   

 

Now, here’s a look at some of my favorite photographs taken by Slim Paley for her blog.

 

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She wrote a beautiful story about porches – showing her own in Santa Barbara.

 

 

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Her gardens are incredible – the pictures she takes of her flowers are swoon worthy.

 

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A view of her porch at her Sun Valley house. 

 

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And the view from that porch.  Wow.  So gorgeous.

 

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I love this picture from her Santa Barbara house with her English linen curtains.   Slim loves the British Colonial look ala Out of Africa and it really shows in this vignette.  

 

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Her turn of the century Santa Barbara house came with this freezer.  Amazing.

 

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I love this picture she took out in her garden.

 

 

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Last September, House Beautiful showcased her beach house.  Many blogs showed the pictures – but few put it together that the house belonged to a fellow blogger. 

 

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I love her beach dining room with its laid back furniture.

 

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I actually just showed this picture in my coffee table story.  I love this room.  She designed her house around the antique Fortuny pillows she found. 

 

 

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But it was her slipcovered car that really made me soooo jealous!  I want to do this sooo badly!!!  Do you slip the back seats too or just the front seats???

 

 

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Barn doors become the headboard in this bedroom.

 

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And this bedroom is all about stripes.

 

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Slim Paley took this picture of her beach house’s entry. 

 

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And this picture of her dining table at the beach this summer is so soothing.

 

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Finally, a huge thank you to Slim Paley for sending in this kitchen redo for the Readers Kitchens series.  Be sure to visit her blog HERE to see all her gorgeous photographs.

 

 

There’s still plenty of time to send in your own pictures of your kitchen and/or house!

 

73 comments :

  1. that's IT ... everything in my house is for sale!!!


    sheer beauty

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  2. I agree with City farmer! Everything-for sale!

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  3. Joni thanks so much for profiling Slim, as I adore her blog and all of her homes! Weo she rellly knows how to do it!

    Hey I too am having major bad hair days here in KC!! 1st day that the weather broke just a bit!

    xoxo
    Karena
    Art by Karena

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  4. Yowza!
    Sheer perfection.

    And on a purely technical note... those photographs are so clear I feel I could just reach my hand in and pluck a flower!

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  5. How shocking to see that Mrs. Miller submitted her kitchen for publication on another popular blog. It shows that money may buy a few nice houses but money don't buy you class. I was a big fan of Slim's blog until she took upon herself to pick on a young lady by taking pictures of her unfortunate wardrobe malfunction at Louis Vuitton and putting them on her blog. She can't be satisfied with her own fortunate life; She has to put others down. How disappointing to see you helping her flaunt her wealth.

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  6. Ok Denise aside from above, personally I love all of Slim's homes or what we can see of them. You can tell she's a hard worker and has a great eye. Like you Joni I love small kitchens and I do cook, you only need a triangle. I'm off to have a browse through Slim's blog thanks foor the heads up Joni!

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  7. I love that even though they have 3 houses, and possibly more money than God, these homes are filled with charm and seem so comfortable and real and homey... and good grief, just beautiful! I love the little casual beachy table and chairs, and the straw hats, and oh my goodness those slipcovered car seats... and her flowers are crazy wonderful. I love the white flowers on the beachy dining table.

    Cindy

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  8. I am a huge Slim Paley fan. She's smart, funny, generous, and stylish, and she doesn't take herself seriously.

    Oh, and I have freezer envy...

    xo
    Brooke

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  9. I would carry that freezer on my back, BAREFOOT, all the way back to the east coast if she wanted to get rid of the old thing...hee-hee

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  10. WOW! That is a wonderful transformation!

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  11. What?! Those car seats are insane. I literally can't wait to go click through her blog...bye!!

    *Thanks!!* :-)

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  12. Gorgeous photography! That view of the river is so beautiful. I love, love, love those car seat covers...awesome! She could create a line of those and they would sell like crazy!

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  13. I love slim paley, first off the name a combination of babe paley and slim Keith and second her beautiful photos and interior decorating. Very talented.

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  14. I love slim paley, first off the name a combination of babe paley and slim Keith and second her beautiful photos and interior decorating. Very talented.

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  15. So unworthy...of both you and Slim. Great recommendation, thanks Joni.
    ps. looove her smileys!

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  16. I could sit on that Santa Barbara front porch all day long! I also love that vignette with those English linen curtains. Wonderful! Now who'd think to slipcover their car seats?! I absolutely love the idea and have to figure out a way to copy this. Last, her photography! So crisp and clear. Another great post, Joni.

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  17. I will be slip covering my car seats this weekend :)

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  18. I too am a huge Slim Paley fan. I also live in a small space and find this kitchen remodel really inspirational. I love the chalkboard wall and the open feel. One of the best Before/After transformations I've seen!

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  19. wow loved it. What a makeover in that kitchen.

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  20. Wow! Crazy good. Love it all.

    Thanks for sharing it,
    Judy

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  21. I love modern design, but oddly I didn't care for this kitchen. I think it was the layout. It was too dark. While I was waiting for my pics to download I was skimming down and saw the after pic before I saw the before. At a glance, I thought it was a bathroom. I love small kitchens and are more efficient. But this one is too dark and depressing for me and even for a guy. Just me.

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  22. This was truly incredible!!! I loved everything about it and I certainly remember her beach house!! I carried that issue around for weeks!! Will definitely have to check out her blog!
    Carolyn Bradford

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  23. I follow Slim Paley's blog as well as yours. I didn't realize she has three homes! Whew! But, I love the big things she did with the tiny kitchen. Transformational is the only way to describe the usability she achieved in tight quarters! I recently did a post on my daughter's kitchen redo on a shoestring budget using only paint, stain, and new pulls. Stop by and see if you'd like to use it: http://graciousinteriors.blogspot.com/2011/07/space-age-kitchen-makes-soft-landing.html.

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  24. A talented blogger who also knows how to decorate. We don't see many of these unfortunately. I could sit on her Sun Valley porch all day listening to the rush of the river, I could also lose myself in her rose garden and as to the view from her beach house, that wouldn't wear out my eyes either. Beautiful photos.

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  25. it's all so beautiful, but am i a shallow jealous woman to keeping wondering just how much freakin' money she has? it stings just a tiny bit.

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  26. Thanks for sharing Slim's blog. I'll be delaying chores this morning because of it.
    Here's another blog you may enjoy. The Polished Pebble ppebble.blogspot.com/

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  27. Slim is just amazing! She's incredibly talented, smart, funny as hell! LOL Sorry, but there's not one time I don't smile when I read her blog. She's also a very profound person. I see her love fro love through photography and when she talks about her kids.

    I'm a huge fan! She knows that! :-)

    Have a very blessed weekend.

    xo

    Luciane at HomeBunch.com

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  28. Oh my goodness Joni! I rush to her blog!!! This is wonderful! What a talented person!! Her kitchen is to die for!
    Thank you for sharing!
    xx
    Greet

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  29. I rarely feel THIS envious of someone else's life, but this post left me swooning and pining! And I just discovered Slim's blog the other day. The first post I read was about the fabulous Sun Valley river rafting trip she had just taken! Unless I want to feel like killing myself every day, I think I just might have to pass on reading her blog on a regular basis! Haha... only partially kidding!
    I know you feel the same way, Joanie! Sigh...

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  30. THIS made my morning. I used to live in Santa Barbara (now Carmel-by-the-Sea) and just adore SB's special charms fabulously articulated here by a true artist.

    Thanks!

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  31. Joni, I get your blog in my email so as it was loading I went to get a cup of coffee so I could sit with your blog and enjoy it. When I sat down the image of the apricot roses was up. I gasped, Omgosh!! Amaaaaazing. I so enjoyed this post full of wonderful images. I have to go and visit her blog now. Thank you so much for this wonderful feature,Kathysue

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  32. Ohmigosh. Perfection. I think I will just start every morning by opening this post. Thank you, Joni.
    Lauren

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  33. I have that same "awful golden parquet flooring" in my family room. It's really not awful in my opinion. It looks fine with a sisal area rug. Love your kitchen series though. It's so fun to read.

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  34. Beautiful! So relaxing and soothing. Oh and that slipcover car chair is just fantastic! :)
    Happy Friday!!

    xo
    Edyta

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  35. I remember this article in HB so well--because of those car seat slipcovers! Thank you for such a beautiful post.

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  36. That kitchen transformation is fantastic and her beach home looks so tranquil. That freezer is out of this world.
    Deborah

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  37. Twenty years ago I bought my first new car, a Jeep wrangler. My husband would be so mad when I would come home from the outdoor fleamarket fields and there would be the unavoidable mud on the floor and sometimes the cloth seats.
    I bought four panels of vintage barkcloth and slipcovered the front seats. It was a dark hunter green background with pink & white roses. It was a easy to sew and a cinch to remove and throw in the wash. Plus it kept my hubby from always borrowing my car! HA!

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  38. *** Well Joni, all "I" can say is, EVERYTHING I just saw was SOOOO BEAUTIFUL~~~ MY kind of BREATHTAKING!!! ... oh... my... gosh, what a life, huh?

    I love staying at the Four Seasons when we're visiting family & Santa Barbara itself, but um, well, yeah, I GUESS I could "manage" NOT to, and just stay at "SLIM'S PLACE(S)" instead!!! (Ha, think she'd MIND???).

    Annnnd, if I were to visit their SUN VALLEY place, I think my Jim and I would never "get going for the day", because our morning coffee, on THAT porch, with THOSE views, would most likely extend our A.M. coffee probably til cocktail hour!!!!

    Such a treat to see n' read!!!

    Many thanks for this morning's FUN!!!!!!!

    Linda in AZ *
    bellesmom1234@comcast.net

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  39. *** P.S. I TOTALLY agree with the FIRST TWO COMMENTS above!!! *** Happy weekend!!! ***

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  40. Wow, what a pretty post. I loved what she did with that small kitchen and I really love what she's done with her own places. Slim is obviously a very talented designer as well as a fab photographer! heading over to check out her blog right now

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  41. Slim certainly knows what she's doing..... The freezer is incredible!!!!!!!!She's a very talented photographer too... Of Course living in Santa Barbara doesn't hurt either!!!!!!Great eye candy!Maryanne xo

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  42. You make me so homesick for Texas. My parents moved us away when I was twelve. Watching your blog just reminds me of the houses I knew and landscaping that I loved. Louisiana can't compare-even though we're so close. Texas is just better...

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  43. I adore that kitchen! They created a French cafe-like setting. How wonderful!

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  44. Oh My Goodness Joni!
    What an amazing, wonderful surprise!
    A most heartfelt thank you from both me and my little sister!
    A family that designs together binds together...OK, maybe not the best rhyme, but it fits :)

    I'd also love to thank all your gracious readers for their kind comments, visits & new subscriptions to my blog.
    After two years of writing Slim Paley, the amount of lovely, generous people I've connected with never ceases to amaze me. You, Joni, are certainly one of those people.

    Lastly, to answer your question about the seat covers; I slip-covered only the front seats and front & back headrests. The back seats get far too much "boy action"!

    With much love & gratitude,
    xx
    Slim

    .

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  45. Each and everyone of her blog posts blows me away -seriously. Both in their photography (amazing) and in their styling. She seriously should be working for a magazine!

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  46. Hi Joni,
    I'm a huge fan of Slim's! I love the HB article on her beach house and follow her blog with every new post...like I do with your wonderful site!
    Thanks,
    Karen

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  47. Love it all and I love Slim. Have a great weekend. Mona

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  48. Dear Joni,
    Thanks for posting so many of Slim's gorgeous photos. I had not seen the Vancouver kitchen before and am impressed by the transformation. I love everything Slim does - she's talented, intelligent and warm-hearted.
    Best regards,
    Ruth

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  49. And one more thought...
    Dear Blog Buddies,
    As we have the opportunity to see Slim’s beautiful homes, please keep in mind that comparison is not helpful. Appreciate your own life and appreciate the lives of others. Learn from others and use that knowledge to develop in your own life. This will allow for contentment as you grow where you are planted.
    Love to all,
    Ruth

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  50. Well said Ruth. I do think everyone appreciates their own life, their own home, their own family. But we do love seeing how others live - better than us and also, the young marrieds just starting how and seeing how they stretch their budget and make their houses beautiful.

    thanks everyone for your great comments!!!!

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  51. Joni, You and Slim are my two favorite bloggers and to have you combined? You made my day. Thanks for a great post. (I love these "reader photo" columns. Such fun and so inspiring!)

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  52. Joni, I've written about my own kitchen remodel on my blog last year: http://getgrounded.wordpress.com/2009/03/28/dreamy-kitchen-remodel/

    Thanks for letting me submit it!
    Robin

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  53. If these gets any mean anon comments I am going to scream! Love her style and I am a bit jealous of more than the carseat... 5 stars on everything.

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  54. Slamming Slim is just so unfair. I've followed her blog for a year or so and find her absolutely delightful. She's down-to-earth, heartful and generous. It's true, she leads a blessed life but it never seems to define her. If a Slim post appeared to be cruel, it would have been at worst, thoughtless. Perhaps we're all allowed to make a mistake now and then. She's a good woman.
    Also Joni, like Susan B. - your blog and Slim's are my favourites as well. It's a real treat to find you together in one place. Debra

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  55. The kitchen remodel is impressive but not very practical. Two walls of upper cabinets were lost; no real cook could work with so little storage space. Joni, even you (who says you do not cook) realized that that kitchen would work only if one had a large pantry. Loved all the pictures as always.
    Sue

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  56. You have great points there, that's why I always love your site, it seems that you are an expert in this field. keep up the good work, My friend recommends your blog.

    My blog:
    rachat de credits www.rachatdecredit.net

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  57. I adore Slim's blog. She is a real talent and also is very, very funny. She is married to the very funny Dennis Miller. Her photos are amazing. I love that she talks so lovingly about her kids, too.

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  58. Sorry to all the negative commenters, but this kitchen make-over is really clever and super stylish .It's super smart.I agree with a small kitchen being handy, I have had big and small kitchens , but my small kitchen which I had as an art school student was the best- so super practical!
    Why can't we all celebrate that this lady is in a very lucky place , and leave it at that !She is talented, and smart, and well off - good luck to her!
    Have a fabulous Sunday , everyone.
    Bea

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  59. Oh Joni, THANK YOU for introducing us to "Slim"!!! How gorgeous is every single photo and HOME!!!! That porch and the railings just make me want to go there and NEVER, EVER leave!!!! The slip covered car seats are fABULOUS!!!!!!!!!!! Every woman in America would want them!!!! I just can't say enough about her talent and taste. I will go now to her blog. Thanks again!!!! Happy Sunday to you!! XO, Pinky

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  60. i'm a huge slim paley fan. i've been reading her blog from the start. she is incredibly beautiful, funny, smart, talented and none of these attributes have anything to do with money or fame. she is incredibly generous and kind too. why can't she celebrate her home and talents like everyone else in the blogworld? i personally love her and her blog!

    xo
    janet

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  61. I'm a Slim lover too! She's a fabulous designer, takes wicked photographs and is a hoot and a half to boot! I think this kitchen is brilliant for a small space.

    joan

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  62. What a great kitchen re-do! I love it. I used to live near Vancouver and I saw so many ugly kitchens there just like the original. This is a great way to make it both up to date and gorgeous! And this could not have been a really expensive re-do.
    I will check out this blog, her photos are just beautiful and her home is equally beautiful!
    Hugs, Cindy

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  63. What a fabulous life! Her mountain house is absolutely my dream...to wake up in the morning to such an extraordinary view. She does have exceptional taste and her kitchen redo is just fabulous. As always, thank you for such a brilliant post.

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  64. I agree with janet of the gardener's cottage.

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  65. Stunning! Thank you for introducing us to Slim!

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  66. Wow, incredible... the whole post is, really. Thanks for sharing!

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  67. Well, shoot, Joni! I pop in to visit and read your comment about some nasty posting. So being the nosey one I am, I've come over to check what you were talking about. Well I would only say - jealousy! :) The kitchen redo is awesome. I have a tiny little kitchen and cook and mine's not grand but I love it. Thanks for posting these kitchens. Now I'm off to check out her blog!
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  68. I love your blog & thank you for introducing me to Slim Paley. She's amazing seriously she must be an image research wonder woman. My favorites so far are her post about Jelly & her bee inspired post. I'm in awe. Totally love her style.

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  69. Happy New Year Joni!
    A quiet evening catching up with you is always a treat I look forward to.
    I subscribe to Carolyn's blog too which I usually read in the mornings.
    You know what I like best about Slim Paley...She writes about the kinds of things that I love most in my own life. Mainly though she makes me smile. I should tell her that.
    You make me smile too Joni!
    I wish you all the best in this new year.
    xo Lisa

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  70. The freezer is probably my favorite part of this

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  71. Gorgeous summer roses, the garden pictures, the porches, and of course that divine family room with the blue and white striped rugs and blue throws!

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