A Fresh Look in the Kitchen

At the start of a new year I’m always on the look out for something that will give our home a new and different look. I’m excited to share a fresh look in the kitchen. New rugs can transform a room.

This post is sponsored by The Welch Company. I received product and compensation but all thoughts are my own. 

As many of you know I’d love to completely change the layout of the kitchen, and also add more windows, as this is a south facing room so could be really bright and airy. I’d also love to remove all the upper cabinets. A pretty marble or quartz counter would be dreamy.

It seems like each year I itch to add or do something new in here. One year I decided to paint the mustard yellow walls Gray Owl. Another year we added stick on subway tiles and you can see how they’re standing up here. Finally, last spring we had the cabinets painted a bright white.

Here you can see what the kitchen was looking like after we painted the cabinets.

As you can see above, we’ve had two teeny tiny rugs in here since we moved in, an oriental and a sea grass one by the sink. As you can imagine, these dark wood floors show A LOT of things – Max’s dog hair, scratches and crumbs. I’m forever sweeping, vacuuming and swiffering. I suppose that’s what life is like with two dogs and two little boys. Ha! Ha!

Anyway, I was chatting with my friend Caroline who owns The Welch Company, a beautiful home and decor shop in Scituate Harbor. If you’re local, you must visit. The Welch Company has been fixture in Scituate since 1879, it was originally a general store, now it’s a beautiful boutique with lovely blankets, entertaining ware, artwork, coastal rugs, beautiful lighting and assorted gifts. You can see a range of products here. I told Caroline that I thought I wanted to switch out our rugs in the kitchen to freshen things up.

She told me they carry Pappelina rugs that were fun and coastal and came in a whole range of sizes. I went down to see their vast selection. Wow!

I actually had to have my little design assistant, Max, help me choose!

I brought home four different rugs to decide between.

Pappelina are crafted in Sweden. These rugs are durable and washable and are made of plastic. Can you believe it?!?!

The Welch Company allows customers to bring the rugs home to try them out which is wonderful. I looked online and I really thought I was gonna go with this polka dot one because I LOVE that shade of blue.

But in our kitchen that pretty pale blue and white rug just seemed to disappear. I actually posted a vote on Facebook when I narrowed it down to two and vote was unanimous.

We went with this one:

It’s called Koi and the color we chose was Ocean (of course)!

Here’s how it looks in our kitchen:

This rug incorporates all the colors I love!

The deep blue is very similar to the color inside our china cabinet. The lighter blue matches many of my bowls and my Le Creuset, the gray is so close to our walls and the white is the color of my cabinets.

See what I mean?

We added a smaller rug in front of the fridge and a longer one by the sink.

Here’s a view you don’t often see. This is our fridge from our basement stairs.

It’s really nice to have two large rugs in the kitchen as they protect the floors but also add a playful pop of color.

It’s recommend to use a rug pad under these and I found thin ones at Ikea.

I simply cut for the smaller rug and just had to trim the other one, it was nearly a perfect match.

The scalloped detail reminds me of waves or scales of a fish. I love that it adds a coastal element to our kitchen.

The pattern and rugs also make our space feel bigger.

I thought you might want to see a few more views of the kitchen:

I seem to like blue, huh?

I always keep aloe in the kitchen just like my grandmother. It’s great for burns.

We gave Luke the toaster for his birthday!

That’s Conor’s sunflowers that I had framed. They really brighten my day.

I hope the photos gave you a better idea of our kitchen space. It isn’t huge but these rugs make it feel so much bigger.

In fact, Conor said to me he felt like our kitchen was brand new. He loved how clean and happy the rugs made the space.

I have to agree. I’m in love with these woven rugs. They are actually weaved based on old traditions in a weaving mill in Dalecarlia, Sweden. I also love that I can vacuum and machine wash them which I’m sure will happen in our house.

Our dark wood floors look rich with these rugs.

What do you think of Pappelina? Would you try them in your home?

I hope you love them as much as I do!

I often get asked about sources so I’m including a full source list for our kitchen below.

Included in this are some affiliate links for your convenience, you can read my full disclosure policy here.

Kitchen Source List

• Wall Color – Owl Gray by Benjamin Moore in Matte
• Trim and Cabinet Color – White Dove by Benjamin Moore in Satin, Advantage
• Inside China Cabinet – Soapstone by Fusion Mineral Paint
• Rugs by Pappelina – The Welch Company
• Stick on Subway Tiles – Smart Tiles, similar here
• Ceiling Light – Vintage from ReStore
• Pendant Light – Ikea
• Bread Bin – Amazon
• Le Creuset Kettle – Amazon
• Le Creuset Dutch Oven – Amazon
• Kitchen Aid Mixer – Amazon
• Aloe – Home Depot
• Dishes – Ikea, Vintage
• Preserved Butterflies – Vintage
• Pitcher – Target
• Candle -Target
• Buoy Board – 163 Design Company
• Blue and White Plates – Wayfair
• Green Stool – Ikea and painted it, DIY here
• DIY Shibori Placemats – DIY here
• Wood Cake Stands – Target
• Bar Stools – Ballard Design
• Sunflower Art – My son, post here
• SMEG Toaster – Amazon