Junior League Tour of Kitchens 2015

This weekend was SUCH a rush! 

Saturday our house was on the Junior League Tour of Kitchens!

Our home was open from 10-4 and hundreds, yes HUNDREDS of people (300 +) came through to tour our space. In the midst of the tour there were two cooking demonstrations AND a Keurig representative giving out hot drinks.

Needless to say things got pretty crowded and it was surreal seeing all of the people lining up to get into our home. Everyone was so nice and patient and they were full of sweet compliments and great questions. 

Because of the way our house is situated the entire downstairs was open with the exception of our two guest bedrooms. People entered through the front door and exited from the deck, so they got to see a lot of the projects we've completed along the way, including the outdoor kitchen and our recently completed office solarium! It was cool because I was posted up in the inside kitchen to greet people and answer questions, while Brent was posted up on the deck with the outdoor kitchen waiting to do the same. Surprise, surprise, the outdoor kitchen and TV cabinet were a huge hit and gave the actual reason for the tour (the inside kitchen) a run for it's money!

As you all know our house nor our kitchen is big by any stretch of the imagination, but it is full of a lot of heart and consideration. I was excited for our house to be on the tour to represent Bell Kitchen & Bath Studios for a lot of reasons, but especially to show people that great storage and functionality is not synonymous with an abundance of space. When we began designing this kitchen I pulled every rabbit I knew of out of my hat to make each and every cabinet count. Custom cabinetry is great on a lot of levels, but for small spaces like ours it was especially useful as it allowed us to make our space the best it could be by capturing every storage possibility we could. 

While Brent and I have been very happy with the kitchen, you never know how people will react. There were definitely times in the months leading up to the tour that I worried people would be underwhelmed by our small space, but boy was I wrong. I was thrilled to find that a lot of the people that came through really connected with our smaller space and were excited to see the storage components we used and hear about our thought process. There were so many questions, comments and oohs and ahhs. It was awesome!   

It was a proud day for sure and Brent and I are SO happy we participated, but BOY do we feel a huge weight lifted off our shoulders now that it's over! The good news? This tour forced us to get our butts in gear and complete a bunch of projects in and around the house. So, get excited because I have all kinds of new projects and finished spaces to show you all in the coming weeks!

All photos by Lori Foster.