Lipstick on a pig
The other day, Honey and I walked through the kitchen department in a big box home improvement store.
I looked at the shiny catalyzed lacquer finishes .....
I glanced at granite countertops ......
I walked on the 24" square ceramic tile floor ....
I saw the stainless steel appliances. Only stainless steel appliances.
And then I came home to my 1892 farmhouse.
If I put that in my kitchen ..... it would be like putting lipstick on a pig!!!
I have to embrace the fact that my old farmhouse has to look like an old farmhouse. Not some slick designer's idea of what a farmhouse looks like.
I've Pinterest'ed and Houzz'ed pictures galore of "Farmhouse Kitchens". And I love them!! But they are all alike. White cabinets, wood floors, granite countertops, maybe a hint of color. And they don't scream anything personal about the owners.
So -- I will be doing milk paint finishes on the cabinets. With glazes and wax and color.
I will replace the current light switches with push buttons and un-lacquered brass plates so it might mellow and age.
I'll hang the same light fixture that came out of my parents house in 1961. It hung in the dining room and had been there since the house was built in 1913. When they took it down .... in 1961 .... I cried.
My dad took mercy on me and put it in the basement. Every time they cleaned the basement and would pick up that light fixture for the trash container ... I would cry. I would put it in my home someday.
It is not "hip."
It is not "in".
But it hangs in my kitchen .... a small story of who I am and where I came.
I will use wood and laminate countertops .... granite/marble would never have been in a lowly farmhouse like mine. If the house had been out east .... you might have seen soapstone, but not in the mid-west.
There will be dirty feet, baby chicks, garden fresh produce and sick kittens in my kitchen. And that's exactly how I want it. A reflection of who we are and how we live. Simply. Honestly. Struggling.
It will never be a show place .....
It will be without lipstick.
I looked at the shiny catalyzed lacquer finishes .....
I glanced at granite countertops ......
I walked on the 24" square ceramic tile floor ....
I saw the stainless steel appliances. Only stainless steel appliances.
And then I came home to my 1892 farmhouse.
If I put that in my kitchen ..... it would be like putting lipstick on a pig!!!
I have to embrace the fact that my old farmhouse has to look like an old farmhouse. Not some slick designer's idea of what a farmhouse looks like.
I've Pinterest'ed and Houzz'ed pictures galore of "Farmhouse Kitchens". And I love them!! But they are all alike. White cabinets, wood floors, granite countertops, maybe a hint of color. And they don't scream anything personal about the owners.
So -- I will be doing milk paint finishes on the cabinets. With glazes and wax and color.
I will replace the current light switches with push buttons and un-lacquered brass plates so it might mellow and age.
I'll hang the same light fixture that came out of my parents house in 1961. It hung in the dining room and had been there since the house was built in 1913. When they took it down .... in 1961 .... I cried.
My dad took mercy on me and put it in the basement. Every time they cleaned the basement and would pick up that light fixture for the trash container ... I would cry. I would put it in my home someday.
It is not "hip."
It is not "in".
But it hangs in my kitchen .... a small story of who I am and where I came.
I will use wood and laminate countertops .... granite/marble would never have been in a lowly farmhouse like mine. If the house had been out east .... you might have seen soapstone, but not in the mid-west.
There will be dirty feet, baby chicks, garden fresh produce and sick kittens in my kitchen. And that's exactly how I want it. A reflection of who we are and how we live. Simply. Honestly. Struggling.
It will never be a show place .....
It will be without lipstick.
Comments
I have a galvanized tub on my porch with wood shavings ready and waiting if I happen to have a sick chicken. If a neighbor stops by they always look at that with raised eyebrows. Oh Well....this is my life and I wouldn't change it. And you, being a Kindred Spirit in Kind, probably feel the same.