making do with mustard

Poor Carrie. Starting out a new adventure: a fantastic new job in a new city, should be exciting. It should be something to get you inspired, make new goals, and rethink all of the great aspects of your life. Unfortunately, Carrie's new apartment in Nashville has a bad, bad bath and an unsightly kitchen and she's got to figure out how to deal with it.

Not updated since the 70's Carrie's new pad features a mustard yellow bathroom and kitchen. Here is her description of it:

"Our new apartment is fine, and it meets our needs, and it has a dishwasher (which I've not had since moving out of my parent's house and am sooo excited for) BUT the kitchen and bathroom are both a 1970's dirty mustard yellow color (cabinets, sink, toilet, the works). Any tips for how to handle this without throwing up on a daily basis? " (Nice visual Carrie!)


Well Carrie, your only option is to embrace it. My suggestion would be to pair it with neutrals. In the bathroom: use greys and white. For the kitchen, black and white. Try to keep the decor simple and fresh, possibly with a retro modern approach. Here are some items I found online that might get you moving in the right direction.



Bathroom:
Try a graphic but neutral shower curtain such as this really simple classic from West Elm:




Or something more funky and fun like this white one with grey dots from Ikea:



As far as linens are concerned, stick with bright white. These Hydrocotton towels from Pottery Barn look amazingly soft:



Keep your accessories understated and clean looking. I found these on West Elm's site as well:



In the kitchen, go for bold.

I am loving Ikea's Seveje rug. This would look great in front of the sink.

This lacquer tray from CB2, kept on the kitchen counter, would provide a sassy looking gathering spot for bar essentials.


Also from CB2 these black and white plates would look amazing hung on the wall:

A set of black canisters from Linens and Things would look smart on the counter top as well.

Good luck Carrie! And please, please send us before and after pictures. Do any of you have suggestions for Carrie's decorating dilemma? We would love your ideas.