My custom banquette arrived last week and it’s a thing of joy and beauty to behold!
I’m not showing you the Moroccan shaped top because the sconces on either side are currently sporting naked bulbs. The ones I bought arrived with cheap, parchment creamy yellow paper shades which looked totally wrong with all the white in my kitchen so the frames are currently getting re-wrapped in white.
Then my next dilemma was the french bistro style table that I wanted to go in front of it. The closest one I could find to what I was looking for was this one from Crate & Barrel:
But it had a Carrara marble top on it which as you know has a cold, blue undertone which certainly wouldn’t look good with the Nougat Countertops in my kitchen. Plus with the addition of the white banquette, well let’s just say there’s enough white in my kitchen so it had to be a black top.
I also wasn’t crazy about the almost $1200 price tag and because we don’t have that store in Vancouver, who knows what it would have been with shipping.
When chatting with my best friend Tami about my dilemma, she told me exactly where to go. She had purchased a 30″ bistro table exactly like the one I wanted at Chocolate Mousse Kitchenware in Vancouver for $339.00. I’ve been in there many times and never noticed tables because they have so much fabulous kitchen paraphernalia.
And here it is, with a lovely black and white marble top. Since I don’t have a lot of pattern happening in my kitchen, it’s perfect. Oops, you can see the edge of my head in the shiny top as I took the photo today.
It weighs more than me! And it’s perfect for my kitchen.
My green pillows are a placeholder while I look for a more interesting pattern. Have not had time to get to that yet.
What do you think of this adorable vase from West Elm? I couldn’t find it on their site to link to, but I love it.
I cut a little sprig of a fake floral from a bunch I had sitting in my storage room.
And here’s a sneak peek of my green roman shades that have finally arrived.
Here’s what I love about a white-on-white kitchen:
When the time comes for a change in colour, all I have to do is switch out accessories, window coverings and pillows. Easy, peasy.
The February Home + Garden Show is coming up! Don’t miss it!
Related posts:
Spectrum Stone & Maria’s New Countertops
The Best White for Carrara Marble, NOT Cloud White
Stuff Happens During Renovations
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I love that kelly green!
The table is so beautiful! Can’t wait to see a full picture!
Wow, love your choices. The table is amazing – really a piece of art. Can’t wait to see when it’s all done. Doing a custom banquette/table in my home too. Yours is a great inspiration.
It’s perfect, Maria! Love that little vase too.
Pretty table! Thought of you this weekend as I painted my small sitting room and finally got rid of the last of the pink brown paint in my house (BM – Dellwood Sand). Used to have Shabby chic all over the place too. Was thrilled to paint over it and see it disappear. Went very bold and painted it Iron Mountain – a warm charcoal — also taking a cue from your motto “paint a small room a dark color.” Great blog! Bring your color workshop to PA. Or create a virtual class maybe delivered over webex or Skype or something? I would love to attend but they are always far away.
Looks beautiful Maria! Love that table!
Thanks for sharing, especially your thought processes as you make your decisions! I’m so inspired for when I start remodeling my own kitchen.
Is your book available in hardcopy?
I love your blog and find myself looking at color so differently.
It’s not but you can get a local printer to print and bind it for you. Some people even go so far as collecting chips from BM to stick on the hard copy as i recommend that you follow along with a fan deck so you can see exactly what I’m referring to! Maria
Maria, one word describes you as a designer-Fresh!!! that is what I think of when I see your fabulous kitchen reno-love the black marble table with all of your white! The shades are gorgeous! You inspire me everyday-I am not a designer, but am helping a 83 yr old uncle with his new condo he bought that is 24 years old and needs updating- he is on a pension and strict budget-because I
read your blog everyday, we painted his old oak cabinets,bm decoraters white, put in the new fx formica calcatta marble countertop,white subway tile backsplash and painted the kitchen bm lemon sorbet! it looks sunny and somewhere that you really enjoy being in! so thanx for all of the tips! I know people say they don’t like fake marble look alike counters,only the real thing, and I say phooey to them, wish I would have saved the $7000 on granite that I spent and did a high def formica,I forgot how easy they are to clean and take care of-my granite is always streaked and I really miss my old white formica countertop!
Maria, very, very lovely! I too am eager to see the entire kitchen. In fact, I’ve referred to your previous kitchen pix as well as flooring pix throughout the house several times this weekend. Won’t be doing anything major for a loooong time yet, but I love to plot and project and plan ahead and, as Kathi says, you inspire me every day. I’m delighted she helped her uncle paint his oak kitchen cabinets white and update his kitchen. That was my plan for in my new old house; however, my cabinets are not even wood but rather composite with an oak veneer overlay that shows its 27 years and is peeling off in places – not worth spending the time or money. So better to let them be and accessorize with the perfect apple green until I can do an entire kitchen makeover with new cabinets and countertop and new appliances and replace my fairly new Santorini Gris very-nicely-laid-but-pink-toned tile which won’t work, etc. What I know for sure is a white country kitchen is what I’m loving and my idea files are growing every day. So much to do with reading your blogs, Maria, and filtering other advice and pix against your “fresh” ideas and practical advice. It is so helpful and empowering to those of us who aren’t designers/decorators and/or who can’t take your color couse.
And, please, Maria, having just deleted “50,000” posts from HOUZZ readers to the poor gal who just wanted help choosing a wall color for her kitchen and now has suggestions for redesigning the entire space, I hope you don’t every grow SO big and successful that your readers don’t recognize one another anymore and we can’t possibly read your blog in one sitting!
Hope y’all all have a great week!
Oooo, love that table! And the vase is super cute! Can’t wait to see the whole set up….
Maria, I see you are doing lovely things.. as usual. Love the new table and all the pretty things. Just thought I’d drop by and tell you how much I’ve missed you. 🙂
xo
Donna
I love your new table! It’s beautiful. That black will be so striking with the all white kitchen. What a find!
Looking forward to seeing the entire setting…sconces and all. That’s a great deal on the bistro table. Congratulations.
That’s a great table and a beautiful solution. I love the way you are using black to ground your rooms. Your black and white living room rug is wonderful too!
Loooooooove!!!!! And I am crazy for that shade of green!!!! Now I can’t wait to see the whole thing!
xoxo,
Traci
How fun!! The banquette is stunning, same for the table. I look forward to seeing the seating in full, and hearing later on how it cleans up. Looks wonderful as usual!
Where did you get those lovely green pillows with the white piping?
Love it ALL; can’t wait to see the big picture. When? When?!!!
Swoon…that bench. Delicious as home made key lime pie.
Maria,
How perfect! Truly a satisfying hunt and gather adventure that paid off in spades. Everything looks perfect together…good for you!
Bette
love this!!!!!!!!!! want to see it all – take a picture of the whole area to get the real effect!!!
Maria, Crate & Barrel is about to open their new store at Oakridge Mall. I agree with you, though, if they are selling that table for $1,200, I won’t be buying one there either!