Family Room Continued (won't this ever end?)

I can't believe I have so much to say about just one room. My family (friends, and anyone who has ever met me) thinks I talk too much, but since this is MY blog, NO ONE CAN STOP ME!!! bwa ha ha, (cue creepy music) (that last bit was in honor of Halloween, which got canceled in my town due to the nor'easter that creamed New England.) (I seem to like parentheses, too). Anywho, to continue about my kitchen and family room, today I want to talk about the refrigerator area and anything else that catches my attention.

I chose the look of a built in frig, that is only 24"deep, to save on room to allow space for the kitchen island. I wanted the whole wall to have the look of a built in hutch, so the sides of the wall cabinets were extended down to the counter tops,

 and the toe kicks were hidden with shaped legs.

The problem with a built in refrigerator is that if you have any problems in the future, you are married to this particular brand and model. Oh the stories I could tell you..... This has nothing to do with GE, they have been great, but problems with my electrician.

To the right of the frig is the area that I use for mail, messages, and other crap that accumulates around me. I cleaned it up for this picture, but there are usually towering piles here.

I use the small yellow dog planter, which is a vintage piece of 1930's pottery, for a pencil cup.

I like to have small lamps in kitchens as a type of under cabinet lighting that is softer than the typical recessed mounted under cabinet lights. They add visual interest and you don't need to worry about a recessed bottom in the wall cabinet, or extra wiring for the under cabinet lights.

I admit it....I collect dog stuff. OK, now you know.

To continue on my dog theme, I will now show you some more of my dog accessories!!!!! You are soo lucky.

I used dogs as accent details when setting up the bookshelves on either side of my family room fireplace. The reason I chose dogs for the added visual interest is because I ALREADY OWNED THIS STUFF AND HAD NO OTHER PLACE TO PUT IT!!!!!

I grouped lots of different breeds together in this book self, although sometimes I do collections of only one breed. If you keep reading my blog (please get your friends to follow me, I'm not too proud to beg), I will post pictures of all my different collections. I have bulldogs, and terriers in particular.

I like to make small groupings on shelves. There is absolutely no purpose for this, it just makes me happy.

Since book selves are for books, I use them as platforms for more of my stuff. I am old, and have been collecting dogs for a very long time.

I love this guy, he's a bottle opener!!

Although this might seem rude, here's his bottom.

I used all terriers on my fireplace mantle. I love this old clock, but I don't wind it up 'cuz it's too noisy. I need to convert it to a battery operated one. Does anyone know how to do that? Even though it isn't running, I still have it on my mantle. It's just as useless as all my other accessories.

And to finish off today's installment of Betsy's home, one more item, which has absolutely no purpose, sitting on her kitchen counter top. (Actually, it's a door stop, but I don't need no stinkin' door stop.)