A Glamour Don't
If my kitchen was featured in Glamour magazine ...... it would have a big black band over its face.
Yep ... it would be titled "How not to wear pots and pans successfully".
Currently .... my kitchen has entered the adolescent stage. It is like being 13. The awkward motions ... the braces ... the out of control hair .... the acne .....the tears .... it is all there. But you know in just a short time ... it will be beautiful. But it is soooooo hard to get through!!! So consider this my kitchen's 7th grade school photo ..... as taken by a photographer that just wants to get out of the gym!
Yep ..... this is my functioning kitchen.
What??? You don't see a sink??? We call it multi-tasking. The bathtub functions (on its time off from regular duties) as a kitchen sink.
Now ..... it is time to imagine ......
Let me walk you through the layout......
(I do this several times a day ..... dream, dream, dream, cry!!! Dream, dream, dream, cry!! I do have lists where EVERYTHING is going! Lots of lists!)
Just to the right of the door will be a 12" cookie sheet base cabinet and an 18" dishwasher. IF I had gone with a 24" dishwasher, I would have had lots of fillers and some wasted space. With an 18" dishwasher, I gain a cabinet. There are only two of us and the dishwasher will hole 11 place settings of dishes.
And I am going to white.
Yep. I know. I am breaking all the rules. Kitchens in 2016 must have stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops. But not here. Not me. I like white appliances. Simple. Plain. Old-fashioned. Cheaper. I would have liked to put a cabinet door over the dishwasher but it not available.
The majority of the cabinets are maple with an ivory finish. They will have cast bronze bin pulls on the drawers and matching knobs on the doors. The hardware matches the window lifts and locks and is a reproduction of 1885 Branford Lock Works hardware.
To the right of the dishwasher is my beautiful farmhouse sink. Sigh. <3 p="">
It will be mounted in a willow green cabinet with mocha glaze. Instead of the brass hardware ... it will have glass knobs and pulls.
Then .... to the corner. Where there will be NOTHING! Yep. There isn't enough room for a lazy susan. So I would be stuck with a blind cabinet where a person only stores the stuff they never use. IF I would make this a truly usable space, I would need a LARGE blind corner cabinet. Which would totally eliminate the recycling cabinet and part of the pots and pan storage.
So I had what I considered to be a better idea.
Get rid of the stuff I never use and just leave the corner empty.
Dead.
Nothing there.
Can't get to it.
OK ... there is a filler so everything will open properly and supports for the countertops etc. But no functioning cabinet.
No ... it is not a sin.
My sink was under this window. Looking into the neighbors fence. By moving the plumbing to the other window, I was able to fit a dishwasher and really gain some great counter space. And I get to look at my backyard. Which I really like.
But now ..... there will be the recycling center (two garbage cans), 36" drawer base and an 18" cabinet base. The wall cabinets up to the stove will be my open shelf cabinet and the plate rack that Honey built me.
I will go through the rest of the cabinets at another time.
This weekend's plans are to paint.
That means the 13 year old's acne will be covered and everything will look soooooooo much better.
So ..... to make Honey and I feel better, this is what Honey has done since December.
Repaired ceiling and primed and painted.
Repaired walls with lots of plaster washers and drywall filler.
Insulated a wall, replaced broken lath and plaster with drywall.
Made new trim for windows.
Moved two light fixtures.
Added 2 new electrical boxes.
Rebuilt/ replaced 4 electrical boxes.
Replaced toggle switches with push button switches ... including a push button dimmer.
Removed all cabinets and set up a temporary work space.
Blocked holes and filled every little crevice with foam to keep things as tight as possible ..... in an 1892 farmhouse!
Now ... all the demo work is done. We get to put everything together again.
So why am I going on and on about my kitchen update?
Well, News Flash!! I will be teaching cooking/canning lessons in my kitchen in the near future. Yes .. I will still be teaching at Scott Community College. But by teaching cooking at my home, I can do smaller one-to-one classes ...............on Saturday. Not every Saturday but watch for up-coming classes.
It is something people have been asking for and I think I can fill a small niche class.
I hope. ;)
Yep ... it would be titled "How not to wear pots and pans successfully".
Currently .... my kitchen has entered the adolescent stage. It is like being 13. The awkward motions ... the braces ... the out of control hair .... the acne .....the tears .... it is all there. But you know in just a short time ... it will be beautiful. But it is soooooo hard to get through!!! So consider this my kitchen's 7th grade school photo ..... as taken by a photographer that just wants to get out of the gym!
Yep ..... this is my functioning kitchen.
What??? You don't see a sink??? We call it multi-tasking. The bathtub functions (on its time off from regular duties) as a kitchen sink.
Now ..... it is time to imagine ......
Let me walk you through the layout......
(I do this several times a day ..... dream, dream, dream, cry!!! Dream, dream, dream, cry!! I do have lists where EVERYTHING is going! Lots of lists!)
Just to the right of the door will be a 12" cookie sheet base cabinet and an 18" dishwasher. IF I had gone with a 24" dishwasher, I would have had lots of fillers and some wasted space. With an 18" dishwasher, I gain a cabinet. There are only two of us and the dishwasher will hole 11 place settings of dishes.
And I am going to white.
Yep. I know. I am breaking all the rules. Kitchens in 2016 must have stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops. But not here. Not me. I like white appliances. Simple. Plain. Old-fashioned. Cheaper. I would have liked to put a cabinet door over the dishwasher but it not available.
The majority of the cabinets are maple with an ivory finish. They will have cast bronze bin pulls on the drawers and matching knobs on the doors. The hardware matches the window lifts and locks and is a reproduction of 1885 Branford Lock Works hardware.
To the right of the dishwasher is my beautiful farmhouse sink. Sigh. <3 p="">
It will be mounted in a willow green cabinet with mocha glaze. Instead of the brass hardware ... it will have glass knobs and pulls.
Then .... to the corner. Where there will be NOTHING! Yep. There isn't enough room for a lazy susan. So I would be stuck with a blind cabinet where a person only stores the stuff they never use. IF I would make this a truly usable space, I would need a LARGE blind corner cabinet. Which would totally eliminate the recycling cabinet and part of the pots and pan storage.
So I had what I considered to be a better idea.
Get rid of the stuff I never use and just leave the corner empty.
Dead.
Nothing there.
Can't get to it.
OK ... there is a filler so everything will open properly and supports for the countertops etc. But no functioning cabinet.
No ... it is not a sin.
My sink was under this window. Looking into the neighbors fence. By moving the plumbing to the other window, I was able to fit a dishwasher and really gain some great counter space. And I get to look at my backyard. Which I really like.
But now ..... there will be the recycling center (two garbage cans), 36" drawer base and an 18" cabinet base. The wall cabinets up to the stove will be my open shelf cabinet and the plate rack that Honey built me.
I will go through the rest of the cabinets at another time.
This weekend's plans are to paint.
That means the 13 year old's acne will be covered and everything will look soooooooo much better.
So ..... to make Honey and I feel better, this is what Honey has done since December.
Repaired ceiling and primed and painted.
Repaired walls with lots of plaster washers and drywall filler.
Insulated a wall, replaced broken lath and plaster with drywall.
Made new trim for windows.
Moved two light fixtures.
Added 2 new electrical boxes.
Rebuilt/ replaced 4 electrical boxes.
Replaced toggle switches with push button switches ... including a push button dimmer.
Removed all cabinets and set up a temporary work space.
Blocked holes and filled every little crevice with foam to keep things as tight as possible ..... in an 1892 farmhouse!
Now ... all the demo work is done. We get to put everything together again.
So why am I going on and on about my kitchen update?
Well, News Flash!! I will be teaching cooking/canning lessons in my kitchen in the near future. Yes .. I will still be teaching at Scott Community College. But by teaching cooking at my home, I can do smaller one-to-one classes ...............on Saturday. Not every Saturday but watch for up-coming classes.
It is something people have been asking for and I think I can fill a small niche class.
I hope. ;)
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