Happy place.

If someone told me to go to my happy place — and meant that in the physical sense — I would head straight for my kitchen. Which is weird, I know, since I don't cook. But I do eat, and there is plenty of that to be done in there, too.

Food aside, it would be because my kitchen is the one room in my house that makes me perk up as soon as I walk in. It's hard not to feel happy when you see a yellow room with a red ceiling. A magnet board covered in pictures of people you love. A big, cheerful dahlia. Cute plates on the wall. A dishwasher that occasionally busts out a patriotic lights and music show after your toddler pushes a weird configuration of buttons. And dishtowels — a heaping, overflowing drawer of adorably kitschy dishtowels. My weakness.

It's the only room in my otherwise very neutral house that really feels like me. I wish I could figure out how to achieve that same level of cheerfulness throughout my home, but I am really lacking in the decorating vision department. So instead I've put it all into the one room that very easily accommodates bright colors and my oddball collection of vintage pitchers and beautiful cookbooks I don't use.

As of last week, there were only two things left to add to our kitchen. The first is a 1960s paper placemat we found at Nate's grandma's house that says "Welcome to the Breyers!" It's hilarious, and one of these days I'm going to get it framed. The other — curtains.

Our kitchen never had window treatments of any kind. All it had was a very clear, very close view of my neighbors' house. So clear and close that our neighbors would stand outside — in the yard or on their back porch — and talk to us through our kitchen window. The ease with which they could see us in our kitchen made feeding my dog every morning at 5am in my tank top and underwear feel kind of awkward. I don't even want to think about all they've seen me wear (or not wear).

So last week I decided to finally do something with the fabric I bought in Mexico back in 2006 when I still lived in an apartment and didn't need fabric: make curtains.

I am a novice sewer. I previously made curtains for my stairwell and my bathroom, but those took me forever and I have a new sewing machine I still don't really know how to use. But — lucky me — my mother-in-law is a sewing genius. She came over two nights in a row last week and more or less made my curtains for me. I pinned a couple things and refilled our water glasses, but she did all the real work. And they turned out beautifully.

So now, thanks to Mary, my happy little kitchen is even happier. And a far more appropriate setting for me and my underwear.

A few of my favorite things in my favorite room:

Adorable new curtains. This fabric was love at first sight.



The cutest measuring spoons ever, a gift from my friend Barbara.


Nate's grandma had an awesome collection of classic cookbooks, a few of which I am proud to now own.


My very cluttered magnet board. I'm of the "have stuff all over your fridge" school of thought. But you can't hang stuff on stainless steel, so I had to come up with an alternative. For me, kitchens need clutter. And lots of pictures.


My shiny new (untouched) cookbooks, and adorable pitcher.


Plates Nate bought me. I swap them seasonally, but these four are my favorite.


My red ceiling. Which I hated at first, but now love. Everyone notices it — kind of hard not to.


And, finally, my sweet baby's handprints. A cheesy little mother's day craft at daycare. Having this taped up in the kitchen makes our house feel like a home.