grass may be greener

Here's a little Before and After--except that I'm not going to have refinished the cabinets, painted the walls, or installed stainless steel appliances by the "After."  This is an apartment, remember?  Okay, here we go:

To start this presto/change-o, please note that while the pots-and-pans shelf rests on the other side of the room (that whopping three steps I mentioned in the Shelf Shuffle post), the spice basket remains right next to the stove.  So far it's working well.  On to the first minor but happy update: flooring.  Or, more accurately, floor covering.  Oh, which shall it be?  The cushy, velvety mat I bought with birthday money?

The "grandma rug"of woven stripes?  Every time I see one of these I think of the many-times-painted, slightly sticky, garishly orange cupboards in Grandma's kitchen, and that one drawer on the bottom left where she always stashed candy or Nutter Bars or some other treat when she knew we were coming.  I spent a fair amount of time crouched on a rug much like this one while I rooted through that drawer on bygone summer days.

Or maybe I should choose Contestant Three, a brighter-colored and thicker version of the grandma rug? 

While we ponder the options, let me introduce you to the impetus for this little redo. His name is Grass-Green Dishcloth.  I found him at the hardware store.  What?  You don't shop for home decor amid turpentine and tillers?  Maybe you should....

I knew I wanted to buy new kitchen linens, but I also wanted to take my time because I had a pretty specific color palette in mind.  Grass green and royal or cobalt blue were my shades of choice, but sage and navy had been the closest I'd found...in my price range.  So when happily exploring after purchasing hubby's birthday present--which I cannot name for fear he reads this (though it's unlikely)--I suddenly saw just the thing.  So I bought it.  A three-pack of bright, happy, grassy green dishcloths.  Yay!

If my enthusiasm seems overplayed, check out the six-year-old, not-so-red-anymore version I've been using since I started college.  Now do you see why I got excited?

Here's the rag basket where the old-but-not-holey cloths landed.  We'll explore their new home next time, but for now let's head back to the kitchen.

Ready to see the rug that won the day?  Here you go: the bright woven one.  Although what stands out most in a photo is the pink, in person it's clear that the bulk of the color is blue and green.

It was a bit tough to call between the two woven rugs.  The grandma rug was quite a bit larger, but it didn't have any true blue in it.  It also contained a worrisome amount of white.  I'm not going to pretend that I keep a kitchen floor pristine enough to eat from, so let's just say white fabric underfoot was going to take some abuse.

The smaller, more vibrant rug was also a bit thicker.  I liked its bolder (darker!) color.  I decided to lay it over the foam mat (the first rug pictured at the top of this post) for extra cushion while standing at the sink--although now that I have a dishwasher I don't have to stand at the sink nearly as much as I used to.

We're almost finished here, but let me point out two other little details: we now have a clock on the wall and art over the sink.  The art you see is a placeholder; I'm having some photos printed to fill those spots but they're not in quite yet.  There's more to come in this room, all in good time.  Have you delighted in any detail changes lately?  What were they?