Paula Deen is my homegirl

How on earth am I supposed to do anything with this kitchen?:

*FYI, this is not our kitchen. I jacked this picture from our apartment complex's website. Ours is exactly like this except backwards, if that makes sense*

Don't let all of those cabinets fool you into thinking that I have tons of storage space & such because looks can and are in this case, decieving. The cabinets under the sink and that little top one beside the refrigerator are just decorative planks. Grrrr. The width of those that are truly cabinets is ridiculous. I can't fit anything in there. If I had my way, my kitchen would look something like this:

Ain't it purty?!?! :) I can dream, right? Since we'll be living this lovely Navy lifestyle for another 12 years, we've decided to stick with rental properties and just save leftover BAH (our housing allowance) to purchase our home when he retires. I'm going to spruce things up a bit. :) Starting with the color pallet of this closet of a kitchen. I'm going with burgundy and beiges/browns/tans. I LOVE warm earthy tones for the kitchen, living room, and den areas. Since our living room and dining area is right there by each other, I plan to carry that same rich earthy tone type thing throughout that half of the apartment. Here are the rugs I got for the kitchen area:

I got two of these at Target for around $15. They're supposed to be red, according to the label, but they're burgundy. Suits me just fine since that's what I was wanting.

I got these wonderful kitchen towels for a steal of a price at Ross! $3.99 to be exact! I was on fire that day :) I had been looking for burgundy/beige or brown kitchen towels since we got married in May and none of the usual stores that you'd think would have them,  had these particular colors. SCORE!

I love the idea of modern kitchens, industrial lighting, and open shelving but I'm also in love with the homey country kitchen feel as well. I've found that a staple in those kinds of kitchens is a little something called a baker's rack. & we're most definitely going to need the extra storage.

Our "dining area" is connected to the living room. That whole space is HUGE! The contractors who built the place should've put that extra square footage into making me a big kitchen and master bed/bath. I really like square, classic, dark wood kitchen tables like this:

This one is sold by Target (yes, TARGET!! YAY!!!) for $349.99. Not too shabby for a set that I really love. *cough cough hint hint Mr. B! ;)* I've already got the place mats which I got from Dollar General for $1 a piece.

BUT my favorite thing about my kitchen is my Paula Deen cookware, recipe box & cards, mixing bowls, and casserole dishes. I love me some Paula! She's my homegirl :)

Have a good day ya'll!