Herb garden on the wall

We have a large-ish wall in our kitchen that needed something. It's looking pretty bare in there!

(This is an older pic of the kitchen...)

I toyed with the idea of putting up shelves to hold our cookbooks but also wanted something flat that didn't stick out too much. I Googled "cookbook wall" and found this one...

(via)

And then I read some of the comments below the picture...

"Looks like clutter."

"Seems pretentious."

and "This form of display seems a bit "too bookstore" for me..."

I don't necessarily agree with these comments, but it is interesting to hear what other people might think about it.

At the same time, a couple of people said they would use their cookbooks a whole lot more if they were out where they could see them. I agree with that.

Ultimately what made me decide to not put the cookbooks in the kitchen is how dirty I think they would get. I can wipe down my cabinets but books might get kinda...sticky...after a while. This is also the reason why I would never do open shelving. I just cook on the stove-top too much.

So the problem of my blank wall still wasn't solved. Until I found a little something at Ikea. (Ugh! Ikea strikes again!!! If you have one within two hours of you I recommend making the trip. I know people come from far away cause you can see them eating picnic lunches out of the trunks of their cars. It's worth it.)

What I found is basically a wall storage system that can hold potted plants. So I also picked up some potted plants and herb seeds at Home Depot. The seeds were part of a $10 herb garden.

The only small potted plants they had were lavender and rosemary - which is great! I just wish they had more! The other available potted plants were things like cabbage and broccoli... which I love to eat, but I'm not tryin' to grow a cabbage on my wall.

And up they went!

(Not enough potted plants meant stuffing some new dish rags in one extra bucket. And I still have another empty bucket to fill!)

And then the second bar went up.

No more bare wall! And hopefully some fresh herbs soon!! I already clipped off some rosemary for our pot roast last night :)  I'm thinking of slapping a clock above the herbs to completely fill the wall. 

I also noticed last night that the seeds are sprouting!!! I'm SHOCKED. I usually can't grow anything from seed. It's only the thyme that's coming up right now but hopefully the others will come along soon.

There is also some white stuff growing...ew. Is that mold? At least something is growing haha.

Side note: Some of my cookbooks have found a home in the living room thanks to new bookends from my in-laws. Still on display, but away from the sauteing and searing.