• Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Collaborate
  • Blog
  • Parties
    • Children’s Parties Ideas
    • Holiday Parties
    • Adult Party Ideas
  • Holiday Ideas
    • Christmas
    • Easter
    • Fourth of July
    • Spring
    • Thanksgiving
    • Valentine’s Day
  • Seasons
    • Winter
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Autumn
  • Recipes
    • Appetizers
    • Beverages
    • Desserts
    • Main Dishes
    • Side Dishes
    • Soups
  • Project Gallery
    • Crafts
    • Decorating
    • DIY
    • Good Ideas
    • Tutorials
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Bloglovin
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

  • Book
  • Speaking
  • Meet Vanessa
    • Featured

January 8, 2015

New Kitchen Island Stools

Have you ever known that something you purchased for your home was just totally WRONG but then never did anything about it for…oh….say about 6 years?

And have you ever known that those somethings were not only totally WRONG they were also super uncomfortable and inconvenient for your family?

Yeah…me either. 😉

linen seat counter stools atthepicketfence.com

My poor husband and kids have had their legs squished under kitchen stools that are the wrong height since we moved into this house. And I’ve known it. I’ve seen how when our friends come over and pull up a stool to chat with me while I work in the kitchen they try and find just the right way to fit their body under the counter and wind up sitting at an awkward angle. My kids know that I won’t even bother sitting at the counter with them because it is so uncomfortable. Frankly, I’d rather just stand.

I saw it. I knew it. And yet, I didn’t do anything about it. I wanted to get new stools. Really I did! But, I didn’t feel like I could make that decision until I had made a bunch of other ones. And I was having a hard time making those other ones so you see my problem, right?

It was like the ‘If You Give a Mouse a Cookie’ story…but in reverse. I really wanted that ball to start rolling but I couldn’t even decide what cookie to give the mouse.

But, my friends, those decisions have been made.

kitchen island counter stools close up of nail head trim atthepicketfence.com

Which meant I FINALLY purchased some new stools.

And not only do I swoon over them every time I walk into the room, but my family is oh so grateful that they are the right height!

wood finish on kitchen stools atthepicketfence.com

Apparently all it takes to please them is having their legs actually fit under the counter. It’s the little things in life, right?

french country style counter stools atthepicketfence.com

So, are you wondering what those other decisions are? Well, our home is 20+ years old and it’s starting to really show it’s age. Especially in the most well-loved room.

It’s not going to happen all at once. It will be a multi-phase process.

But it’s GOING to happen. That mouse will be given a cookie!

These are the first two things that will happen.

kitchen makeover plans

The island transformation will be started ASAP with the floors being refinished when the weather is just a tad warmer.

counter height stools with nail head trim atthepicketfence.com

But, in the meantime, I’ll just be over here getting acquainted with this side of the island without my legs being squished!

Vanessa signature

 P.S. The stools were purchased here

P.P.S. Speaking of makeovers, our friend (and newest sponsor!) Shannon from AKA Design has some amazing ones on her site! Like this adorable girls bedroom makeover including DIY built-ins. See all of the details here!

GIRLS-ROOM-MAKEOVER-BUNK-BEDS

This post is partying here: Wow Us Wednesday

16 Comments Filed Under: Decorating, Kitchen Remodel Tagged With: kitchen, kitchens

Subscribe

Get the latest goodness straight to your inbox!

Previous Post: « It’s OK To Start Small
Next Post: God Won’t Gong You »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. laura@top this top that says

    January 8, 2015 at 4:22 AM

    those stools are so pretty vanessa. I use to have some heavy iron ones from pier one that looked pretty but my kids poor toes got smashed everytime they moved them so i bought cute metal ones’ from the BHG line at walmart a couple of months ago. love them and the price.

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      January 8, 2015 at 7:42 PM

      Thanks sweet friend!

      Reply
  2. Laurel Stephens says

    January 8, 2015 at 5:19 AM

    I just love that book and your new bar stools. 🙂

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      January 8, 2015 at 7:42 PM

      Thank you so much Laurel!

      Reply
  3. Ashley @ Cherished Bliss says

    January 8, 2015 at 6:00 AM

    I love your stools! : ) At one of our rentals we had the same problem… so happy everyone can fit now : ) I know from experience the one place you don’t mess with a family is when it has to do with kitchen and food, haha! Or maybe that’s just my family. Can’t wait to see what you do with your kitchen! Go ahead and grab a bottle of wine with whatever paint you choose ; )

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      January 8, 2015 at 7:42 PM

      LOL!! Thanks girl!

      Reply
  4. Richella Parham says

    January 8, 2015 at 8:57 AM

    I like your new stools! Isn’t it funny how easy it is to think “I need bar stools” when really what you need is counter-height stools? I did the very same thing years ago–and then I didn’t want to admit that I’d bought the wrong height, so we suffered with them for quite awhile!

    I’m amazed at how much my island transformation has increased my satisfaction with my kitchen. Yes, sometimes I still wish I had white cupboards, but for the most part now I’m happy with my maple ones–and mostly what my eye focuses on is the green island with the beverage fridge! It makes me happy. Hope your new island will be a happiness-producer for you, too! 🙂

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      January 8, 2015 at 7:41 PM

      Thanks Richella!! I honestly wouldn’t mind the color of my cabinets so much if they were in better condition. There’s a reason there will never be close-up photos of them. LOL! They are definitely showing their age and truly not nearly as gorgeous as yours!

      Reply
  5. Marty@A Stroll Thru Life says

    January 8, 2015 at 9:54 AM

    Love the stools, they are gorgeous.

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      January 8, 2015 at 7:40 PM

      Thanks Marty!!

      Reply
  6. Shirley@Housepitality Designs says

    January 8, 2015 at 7:22 PM

    Oh Vanessa I love your new stools!!!…so beautiful and now so very functional!!!….I am so looking forward to our island makeover…I have been on the fence about painting mine (which is the same dark cherry as yours)….
    Have a great weekend!!!

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      January 8, 2015 at 7:40 PM

      Thank you so much Shirley!! I’m sure I’ll be having a panic attack when the island is being painted. LOL!! I need you to come over and hold my hand. 😉

      Reply
  7. Yvonne @ StoneGable says

    January 8, 2015 at 8:07 PM

    Vanessa, I love those stools! I hear you about houses getting worm from love and use. StoneGable is 19 years old and we have been taking a room at a time and updating them.Are you really ever finished with a home? Not me!!! Your home is just so gorgeous now, can’t wait to see what you do with it. As usual, I’m so thrilled to visit here!
    hugs to you and Heather!

    Reply
  8. Paige.Rose says

    January 9, 2015 at 12:34 AM

    I love that the stools have character & charm not just plain black ones ,or ones that look like you can pick up anywhere! Can’t wait to see the other stuff going on :)) !

    Paige.Rose

    Reply
  9. becca says

    January 9, 2015 at 4:26 AM

    We “can’t” have squished legs, now can we?! Love your new barstools (I’d swoon, too), and the plans you have for your already beautiful kitchen!

    Reply
  10. june says

    January 9, 2015 at 4:24 PM

    Vanessa…have you ever tried Guardsman or Old English polish on your csbinets. I wipe down my csbinets with Murphys soap about every two months. When I put a Guardsman treatment on them Love how they pop. … my cabinets are 27 years old and have gotten through our raising two boys. I was thinking Old English because your cabinets are darker in finish. Just s thought.

    Love the stools..

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search This Blog

Take the Quiz

Stay updated!

Get all the latest goodness straight to your inbox!

Get the book!

Invite Vanessa to speak at your event!

Must Reads

Recent Posts

  • Open Now December 17, 2020
  • Tradition and a Christmas Home Tour December 9, 2020
  • Tabletop Hot Cocoa Station November 29, 2020
  • A New Front Door November 10, 2020
  • Gaining Perspective October 26, 2020

Get all the latest straight to your inbox

Footer

Instagram

I've been watching our cherry trees bloom for 12 y I've been watching our cherry trees bloom for 12 years now and every year I ohhhh and ahhhh over the blossoms like it's the first time I've ever seen them. I gush and I take photos (that look exactly like the ones I took the year before and the year before that) and I make my family come outside and look at them with me which you know they just LOVE to do. 😉 I think that is one of the main reasons why I love spring so much. On the one hand, it's predictable and yet, on the other hand, it still feels like such a surprise after the long months of barren branches.

And yesterday, as I was staring at the gorgeous blossoms for the umpteenth time, I couldn't help but think that I hope this is how I feel when our lives return to some semblance of normalcy.

I hope that the predictable feels special and that the typical feels anything but. I hope that I ohhh and ahhh over the simple things I've realized I've taken for granted. And, most of all, I hope that feeling doesn't go away for a very, very long time! 💗
Are you living with great expectation friends? Bec Are you living with great expectation friends? Because He is risen!

Happy Easter from my home to yours!
Lemon bars all ready for tomorrow! It’s going to Lemon bars all ready for tomorrow! It’s going to be a different kind of Easter for sure but some things don’t change. Have you been baking and getting ready for tomorrow? What’s one thing on your menu that you have to have every year?
If this is Good Friday, why doesn’t it feel so “good”? It all seems backward doesn’t it?

What could be good about the unspeakable pain he suffered? What could be good about the shame and betrayal?

Easter Sunday is so joyful, bright and cheery. Shouldn’t that be the day we call “good”? It just feels so much better!

But, I don’t know how to rejoice over His resurrection, unless I have felt the pain of His death. I have realized that in life the sweetest victories are the ones which were realized after a pain-filled journey.

And, so it is with Good Friday. I know there will be victory over death, but I can’t skip ahead in the story.

Jesus knew what was coming. He knew what he would experience. And he knew why he would go through it. He did it for me. He did it for you.

Do you know that? Have you felt it down in the very core of your soul? 
Sometimes it makes me squirm a bit. Why would anyone do that for me?

Well, because, I can’t do it for myself!

There is nothing I can do to earn that kind of love and mercy.

That is why it is called GRACE.

His grace is freely given. We don’t have to pay for it. He paid the price for us already.

Do you remember that movie from years ago called “Ransom”? A couple’s young son was kidnapped and the parents went to hell and back trying to find him and pay the “ransom” demanded by the kidnappers.

Well, Jesus is our “ransom”. (1 Timothy 2:6) His life was the payment.

Why is it called “Good Friday”? Because that wasn’t the end of the story….
.
…It was just the beginning!
Raise your hand if there’s a table in your house Raise your hand if there’s a table in your house that’s become the landing zone for ALL THE THINGS! 🙋🏻‍♀️🤪 I’ve never been more thankful for our rarely used dining room table as it’s become command central for school books and laptops and games.

Where are things collecting in your house right now?
“Sighing, tears, frustration, anger.” Every si “Sighing, tears, frustration, anger.” Every single one of these emotions has made their way through our home in recent days and, my guess is, they have in your home too.

I SO needed this reminder today from the new book ‘Adore’ by @sarahagertywrites.

Adoration isn’t just sitting at His feet gazing longingly with stars in my eyes. It’s bringing my fears and my sorrows and gray roots in my hair that desperately needs to be colored and my messy house and all of the things that threaten to send me over the edge right now and laying them down before Him, soaking up His word and His presence so that when I stand back up, I am changed for having spent the time adoring the ONE who is... Healer, comforter, peace-giver, deliverer, redeemer.

What do you need to bring to Him today? I’ll share mine in the comments and I’d love to hear from you too!
I’ve always loved evenings, but since this whole I’ve always loved evenings, but since this whole lockdown thing began, I’ve come to appreciate this time of day even more.

It feels the most...normal. Daytime is strange and foreign right now. My husband has taken over our home office, I’m suddenly taking over the responsibility of managing my kids’ distance learning and let me just say that teaching 7th grade algebra to my daughter is hugely ironic since I struggled with math all the way through school. I’m trying to do my own work but it feels utterly futile with the constant interruptions which take precedence right now. In the daytime, I’m constantly reminded of how upside down life feels.

But, in the evening, I cook dinner like I’ve always done and we gather around the table like we’ve always done and we laugh and tell stories and then clean up and play games or go on a walk or watch a show. And that feels SO gloriously normal.

So now I love evenings even more than I ever did before and I’m so grateful for this little chunk of time where the rhythms we established years ago are helping to sustain us now when so much of life feels outside of our control.

What feels ‘normal’ to you right now? Whatever it is, keep doing it. 🌿
When I was in college I would frequently call home When I was in college I would frequently call home and pour my heart out to my mom, sharing with her all that was happening in my life in that completely unfiltered way that you can talk with the person who potty trained you. These phone calls usually took place at night and my mom would patiently listen as I vented frustrations about professors, roommates, boyfriends and the food in the cafeteria. And, inevitably, they would end with my mom saying, “Everything seems worse when you’re tired. Try not to overthink things or make any major decisions tonight, especially when you are feeling emotional.” Dear friends, may I pass along this advice to you today?

If you don’t absolutely HAVE to make a decision right now, I want to encourage you to wait until life gets back to normal. If you are finding yourself over-analyzing relationships and family dynamics, I want to encourage you to remember that everything seems more dramatic when looked at under a microscope. And, let’s face it, being homebound with our loved ones non-stop makes us all feel like lab rats in an experiment.

If you are tempted to quit a job, start a business, start homeschooling permanently, stop homeschooling permanently, move to a new city, buy a farm, quit pursuing your dream, join a commune or make any other major life decision just…wait. Because, if it is in fact the right decision, it will be made even clearer once our lives return to their ‘regularly scheduled programming’. Instead, in this strange season, let’s all just take a deep, collective breath and let it out slowly, releasing the anxiety that threatens to overtake us. Let’s help each other maintain some perspective and not slip into a posture of over-thinking every little thing in our lives. Let’s remember that the enemy of our souls would love nothing more than to use this time when things feel dark to manipulate us into thinking that aspects of our lives are worse than they actually are.

My prayer for you in these days is that you will have the clarity to know what is true and that you will be filled with peace even while we live in this season of so many unknowns.
Raise your hand if you’re doing more baking thes Raise your hand if you’re doing more baking these days! 🙋🏻‍♀️ I’m trying to avoid gaining the #corona15 but my daughter and I LOVE baking together and it does help to pass the time plus it counts as a science lesson right?

If you’re able to find flour in the stores (for the love people please stop overbuying!) and you’re doing more baking at your house too you need to add this apricot bread to your list of new recipes to try!

Normally I’d point you to my blog for the directions but I’m going to do you a solid and leave the full recipe in the comments.

What have you baked so far during this time of social distancing? I’d love some new ideas!
There are a LOT of people out walking in our neigh There are a LOT of people out walking in our neighborhood right now (but still social distancing!) and she decided that she wanted to bring them some joy and put a smile on their face when they pass by our house. Also, the square with ‘say no to coronavirus’ is priceless. 😂 I just love her so much!
Follow
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: API requests are being delayed for this account. New posts will not be retrieved.

Log in as an administrator and view the Instagram Feed settings page for more details.

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 · Divine theme by Restored 316

Copyright © 2021 At The Picket Fence