Well, for now*.

Bright Bazaar calls it “make-you-smile style.”

Jonathan Adler calls it “Happy Chic.”

OhJoy! keeps it simple and calls it “whimsy.”

These designers/bloggers and I have one thing in common: they design around the idea that your home and the things in it should make you happy. To them, there’s no need for fussy formalities; your home should be, look, and feel FUN. I never called it anything, but I’ve loved bright colors and silly accents for as long as I can remember.

It’s been a while since I posted about home project plans, so I thought I’d give a quick update on some progress I’ve made. The only projects I did in here were turning those ugly bamboo blinds into roman shades and matting, framing, spending a lot of time measuring, and hanging these prints:

I always buy frames second hand, they never match. So I was super excited when a friend gave me these frames that belonged to her grandfather. I bought this seasonal produce artwork as a printable on HomespunATL’s Etsy for only $4.50. I keep my printer full of ink and a silly amount of glossy paper, so this only cost me under $5 + the cost of command strips, which I also had on hand. YASSS.

They’re hung right above my bar cart pantry.

“Huh?”  you say?

It seems like bar carts disappeared for a few decades, and now they’re back and bigger than ever. I kept seeing them everywhere, but knew I didn’t drink hard liquor at home (hardly ever when I’m not, in fact) nor did I want it on display. I did need extra food storage space, so enter the bar cart pantry:

It’s where I keep my fresh produce &  staples, and it’s a good reminder to 1.) eat fresh before it spoils and 2.) there’s always something to eat if I take it down to basics.

Front and center in the room is of course the pom roman shades from my last DIY post.

I mentioned before about the passing of my Granny. A loving, warm-hearted woman, Barbara McCain Carlin was almost always in her kitchen, whether she was baking from the same recipes she used when she owned her own pie shop, doing the morning crossword with my Pappy, Elvis McCain, who she survived by sixteen years, or sitting, laughing and telling stories around the kitchen table with some of the many people who were dropping in daily on a no-need-to-knock basis.

My aunt gave me this photo of her after her funeral, and I knew right away that I wanted her to be in my kitchen from here on out, as I follow her example.

I keep my dish soap in a decanter that I received from a friend that was going to toss it out. This elegant way of keeping utilities at hand was something I learned a while back from Mrs. Lilien.

I also can’t ever be without a Scrub Daddy, and a back up Scrub Daddy. I originally bought it because it was cute, then quickly learned it’s the best, toughest, never-stinky dish washing tool. I’ve given them randomly to other women in my life. They’re that good.

I’ve got a weird obsession with silly looking kitchen utensils. Luckily, I’m more recently at a point in my life where I’m cooking often, so I didn’t have to throw out old ones in favor of silly ones.

That’s a Nessy Ladle. Also, a dino pasta strainer, mickey hands tongs, Russian doll measuring cups, giraffe whisk.

It doesn’t end there. Mr. Tea for loose-leaf brewing, a tiny grater for mincing, moose antlers for salad tossing.

These are all things that make me smile, all of the time. Why take life too seriously, anyway?

*We still need a backsplash, which is a pretty huge decision and endeavor. I’ve got a few styles that I really love, but I’m going to wait it out a little and focus on some other rooms.