The room I started in, the day we closed on the house was the kitchen. It was the worst eyesore in my opinion, because it was drab and sad, and a kitchen shouldn't be thus!
Here are the kitchen pictures when I began. I will make them all small, so as decrease their impact.
The positives about the space as I saw them:
It has two windows and a door to a nice back yard.
It has a vintage stove, a working dishwasher and a double sink.
The floor is relatively new, is cushy, easy to clean, and is protecting the woodfloors that are most likely several layers beneath.
The negatives:
It is ew.
So, armed with a $500, plus the need for to replace the fridge, so tack on another $500, and two arms...
A new, cute kitchen! I decided to make it a fun, colorful space. With college age inhabitants, and a compact space, it didn't need to be too serious.
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| The "can pantry" is a concept my Dad suggested several houses ago for a narrow space in another compact kitchen. I have used it many times since then, finding it to be useful, attractive and works well in small spaces. The shutters on the windows, I wanted for privacy, but to also to let the light in from the upper half of the window. As I was thinking of trolling thrift stores for shutters, a search in the depths of the upstairs closet revealed them- probably original and taken down years ago. Fresh paint and a graphic colorful fabric, and voila! The table was a leftover at an auction, so they through it in with a lot I had purchased for $5.00. The top had been laminate but was broken and part was gone. It is a nice, heavy wooden pedestal table, so, I ripped off the rest of the laminate and painted it with a checkerboard pattern. I love the island. This was a Christmas present from my parents some years ago. It has a beautiful marble top and is not only workspace but storage. It had never found the right home at Cowfeathers, and is a natural fit for Salem House. |
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| These are all the same cabinets as in the "before pictures". They've just been modified a bit. The upper cabinets lost their doors and then were painted. Middlest did the first layer with a Kilz Primer. She hasn't come back to Salem to work since...I guess it wasn't her kind of job. I then framed out the area above the cabinets for further shelving and to bring height into the room. The upper shelving is visually supported by the little corbels I added underneath. The counter tops are in good condition, so were kept. The base cabinets just needed paint and personality. I wanted them to look more like freestanding furniture, so I made them "feet" and painted them different colors- well one got a color, the others got my favorite- white. Each base also has it's own unique hardware (found by digging around in dusty bins at Habitat for Humanity Restore) which gives them each an identity. |
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| The entry into the kitchen from the hall is still rather narrow, but it doesn't feel so closed in as the upper cabinets over the stove are gone. I also got rid of the tall pantry cabinet between the stove and the refrigerator. It was falling apart, and it took up a lot of visual space in the room. It was the largest thing in the kitchen. In it's place I built a freestanding shelf for the microwave, with storage underneath and a wood counter. |
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| The stove still needs to have a vent hood added over the cooktop, but I am accumulating electrician jobs so I can have them all done at one time. The wood counter next to the stove is "2 by" culled from the "free" pile at the Home Depot. I brought home long pieces of warped 2x8 and then chose unwarped sections for the counter. I stained it and waxed it with beeswax, added a cutting board, thereby creating a counter top that fit into my budget. The cute strawberry tea kettle was a gift from Nana for Eldest. It adds even more cheer to this colorful space! |
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| The ceiling fan stayed, but the blades were painted white to help it disappear into the ceiling (a surface which had 4 coats of white applied by Eldest!) The back door makes me smile every time I walk into the room. A bright daffodil yellow in a small burst of color is a treasure. This photograph was taken from where the refrigerator stands. After the old fridge was hauled away for recycling, and before I purchased the new one, the kitchen seemed pretty large! In this photo, I have not added the hardware to the cabinets yet. Oh, and I forgot to mention the back splash. In this quirky kitchen, I wanted something for the back splash that would be unique. These are floral or craft marbles, in sea glass colors and finish. They add polish, without being stuffy, and hold a secret. I know I've mentioned this before in other blogs, but I'm a little kid inside about these things. I love homes with secrets. Bookshelves that conceal a door, openings in a wall, passages, newel posts, I love all those things. I remember a little wooden house my parents had that was really a puzzle that if you turned every little bit just right revealed a little hidden chamber. As a child I loved to sit in my father's study and open it properly. Mystery and secrets can be fun. |
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| This is a closer up photo of the bottom cabinets. I chose handles for the upper drawers that can also double as towel holders, if you tuck a dish towel through. But I also hung a glass knob between the cabinets for easy towel placement. |
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| I took this photo because I was fascinated by the circles in this project. This is a 70 year old house. It has had several chapters in it's past, and some of the history is revealed as you get to know a place. Cleaning and painting every inch really gets you introduced! But as I worked on this main floor, room after room showed glimpses of it's history matched what I had planned for it's future. I painted the walls this blue with a dash of green and then found an area chipped away in the hall corner (where someone had bashed it) that revealed nearly the same exact shade as the base color. As I scrubbed the base boards on hands and knees, preparing to add a fresh coat of white, chipped areas show the same- really same! shade of yellow with which I had already adorned the door. And the bright turquoise was found in both living room and one bedroom. It suits. |
Over the windows and the door, I added shelving. Again, it gives height, adds space for items, and is informal and sweet. On the shelves above the windows, at the back, are three signs I made. They are the translation, and also my hope for Salem. The read "Salem", "Saalam" and "Peace".
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