Kitchen-Aid.... literally

The original kitchen went bye-bye.  Completely.  In some places, down to the studs.  While quaint, in a how-adorable-thank-god-it's-not-mine quaint kinda way, it was not workable at all. 

So - clear it out, reboot.... a wallpaper scratcher, hot water mixed with fabric softener.... and four layers of vintage wallpaper later we have unearthed plaster... surgical pink paint and an innercity roadmap of cracks.

What we're working with here is like a galley kitchen, although wider, with the lake end of the kitchen having a 3 sided, protruding, window seat.  There is a narrow bar stretching across it almost to the living room door, and between the bar and the window seat was a small, extendable table with four chairs.... cramping up the kitchen up way to much.

Deciding to make the sunroom the main dining area gives us space to create and reimagine the kitchen.

The cupboards went out, the linoleum followed it, the scary ceiling wallpaper, the appliances either given away for sold off cheaply.  Lots of scraping, plumbing, electrical, the CrackWhore did his plastering and mudding/remudding behaviours, then the Paint Bitch follows. 

At first we're afraid, very afraid of what the papered ceiling was hiding - my theory was the stuff was holding off hell from dropping in.  I wanted to beadboard and paint it - very period appropriate for a craftsman cottage kitchen, with the pluses of cost and labour effecient... but Kee thought plaster would look better.... so he plastered, sanded and repeated until the ceiling, in the clear morning light reflecting off the lake, shows nothing but a smooth expanse of cream.  The repro station lights look great against the plaster.

Eventually we arranged the cupboards - lots and lots of cupboards.  After it was all done, we even had a lazy susan for the mudroom and there's two left over upper doubles for either the mudroom or the shed.  They were brought in from the shed, stacked, positioned and repositioned around the measured outlines of the stove and fridge.  We scored big here, the Hanover cupboards were in excellent shape, needing only new hinges and handles after resurfacing.

For some insane reason, I thought the large side-by-side fridge should go alongside the sink on the east wall, with the stove on the opposite wall.  D and Kee, giving me the need more or less medication? look, explained, slowly, with small words, that that massive unit would block off a lot of light in that position, besides making a lakeview impossible from the sink.  But, if She-Who-Thinks-She-Knows-Best, will allow the countertop-level range to go there - flow, view and light will display beautifully.  Of course.  Much better, how clueless of me not to see it.  I am nothing if not a reasonable decorating despot.

I use melamine paint on cupboards, the colours of the colour strip that started off with the ceiling cream/grey/taupe shade: the lower cupboards the darker, solid tone, the upper cupboards repeatedly rag-rollered - light and slightly darker - an operation that ends as a subtle, bleached wood effect.  Over the fridge and stove, another colour, halfway down the colour strip, is used on the high, shorter cabinet doors, with the dark lower colour on the frames.  Look great... the different tones, the faux and non-faux, the brushed steel hardware work well together, results in a layered, non-flat look... gives depth and dimension to a small, galley-shaped kitchen.

One of the cabinets has the lovely, pricey, dragonfly handle - which one of my GGs thought was a crucifix when I emailed out an image of it.... wondered why I'd be putting a crucifix on my cupboard door... a niced lapsed Protestant like me...

Between the upper and lower cupboards went up beadboard - very era-appropriate - and behind the fridge, from the baseboard trim up about four feet.  Painted in melamine the ceiling colour, it's very washable, light-reflecting, clean looking.  Beadboard hides a multiple of scars.

Using the smaller floor tiles, Kee tiled the backsplash behind the sink, one tile high, from the countertop to window frame.

Kee set in the final choice of tile, a 12x12 and 4x4 combo of cream, matte, grey-veined, stone-looking ceramic, with a grey grout, on a room-widening angle pattern.  Matches the ceiling and cupboard colours perfectly. 

The countertops were granite-tiled, a fleck similar to the kitchen tones, with a tight grout line.  Advice:  don't seal finish the tops, it peels off, just finish the grout. 

Kee carved out the window seat to create more storage - actually it already was hollow - but making two perfectly accurate doors in the front was a stroke of genius.... storage is our new religion. 

Under the hanging cupboard to the right of the oven, one asketh, and Kee delivereth - four rows of wine stem hangers - created from whole cloth - left over trim he found dumped in the shed. 

Using the left over eight to ten inches from the end of the lower cupboard to the fridge, Kee extends the granite countertop and underneath it builds in two open shelves - perfect for foil and cling cartons up top, baking sheets and cutting boards underneath.  Sheer - Ergonomic - Genius.

The lights are repro station lights, in an oiled brass steel finish. 

I love pointing them different directions.... to highlight the Havana photo over the small kitchen table, or the stain glass windows from Kee's brother and our sister-in-laws old Victorian house, or the three pottery gourd candle holders I brought back from Teopotzlan.

It's an old kitchen, with lots of new stuff, highlighting facets of our life, triggers and bytes of memories. 

.... less storage... I'll pare down, likely a couple of times... and we'll continue to practice our religion of storageholystorage... but, I'm thinking I like it better than my other one, already.  We created it from whole cloth, old and new.

Pieces of the past....

As I've said before, I'd like to have a mix of vintage and modern..... things that would be totally appropriate for the cottage when first built, bits from the 40s and 50s... not so much, I think, from the 60s to the present - no nostalgia for me in these decades- except for the modcons I'd like that are either modern reproductions, like the shower units and station lighting or are outright modern as they should be - appliances, for example. 

The lovely matching stained glass windows came from Kee's brother's house - that they sold to another niece.  When she sold the house, she removed the window tops, never used them and after we bought the cottage, asked if we'd like them... she had no use or place for them.  Of course!  And that's how they ended up over the kitchen sink window and over the middle kitchen seat window, cleaned and spruced up with painted frames.  The sun comes glowing through them every sunny morning and at night, the over-the-sink light radiates their colour out like a welcome home.  Muchas gracias, Jammie.

Not only does the old fan that was left here work, it oscillates quietly!  But I've put it up high - safety concerns for little fingers were obviously an adult responsibility, not the manufacturer's when this old thing was made.  The am radio works great after Kee rewired it.

We found the old "genie" lamp in the miscellaney room (aka the 2BBath).... sanded, then sprayed the rusting framework, cleaned out the ceramic body and found the glass shade at the Lighting Boutique in Windsor.  After rewiring, it was hung in the small hall, to function as a hall light.  I love the soft illumination.

The jam cupboard was bought for $30 at an auction.  In bad shape, but all the panes were there - albeit on the two shelves.  I asked Kee to add in three more shelves, painted them the ceiling cream and the rest of the piece an aubergine.  New clear glass knobs - and voila!  This holds all the kitchen linens, pot holders, oven gloves, baking and cooking small utensils, measuring tools, containers of what I call "white woman herbs & spices" (summer savoury, oregano, lavender, sage, etc) and "exotic herbs & spices" (cumin, coriander, chiles, saffron, Chinese 5 spice, achiote, etc).  Coffee beans and filtres, teas and strainers.  The bottom shelf has extra wine stems, silverware, corn on the cob sets and other miscellaneous.  With space and storage at an ultra-premium, this 30/$40 dollar investment is a total satisfaction - adding space and atmosphere to a cottage kitchen.