A Kitchen Emerging At Last

Posted by Resident on October 13, 2010 · 5 Comments 

You might have noticed an absence of updates and pictures of the kitchen these past few months. The reason being, that it has been, perhaps, the most challenging room in our house to plan. With four points of entry (a front door, a back door, and entries from the back stairs and dining room), a pantry closet and two large windows, the kitchen is design-challenged to say the least.

Moreover, the kitchen is particularly heritage. We looked at modern cupboards trying to be old, but something just didn’t seem to fit. Eventually, one rainy day, the Man and I ventured over to the Spencerville Fall Fair and were pleasantly surprised to find Garnet and Maureen Carmichael running a very damp outdoor booth. We took one look at a reproduction hutch that Garnet had made and knew instantly what we wanted to do in the kitchen.

Our plan, instead of having fitted built-in cupboards, is to have free standing pieces that look more authentic to the age of the home. Garnet managed to complete the first piece just before the Open House, which we very much appreciated. Not only does he do custom pieces, but Garnet will use the same accent colours you are using already in your design, and does amazing finishes to make the piece look older. Furthermore, the furniture is solid wood! None of the this press-board veneer so common to pre-fabricated kitchen cupboards.

The hutch Garnet built has already transformed the kitchen, and we look forward to what the rest of our plans will bring once he has finished. As usual, the before shots are to below-left and the after pictures to the right:

We found the above cupboard in what I like to call the shack – a hastily put together and unfinished addition that might have had some condemned tape around it, put there by the bank to avoid liability after repossessing the house. In a fit of desperation to clean out the shack and gain some much needed storage space before the Open House, Carlotta and I ventured to clean it. Let’s not go into any great detail about what we found, but suffice it to say that Hanta virus is something I never gave much thought to previously.

The Man spent a considerable amount of time repairing my beloved corner hutch, pictured below. There were many a man, in particular, who suggested we divest of this antiquity in favour of making space for modern appliances. Fortunately, the Man has now laboured so much on this built-in, that I am safe to venture that it will remain indefinitely – and for that, I am very happy! The hutch had been in pretty rough shape. In fixing it, the Man (with some guidance from my father, mother and the kind folks at the Kemptville Building Centre) stripped the back walls and added fresh beaded board, built and laid new shelves and painted it all in that fabulous Behr Grasshopper Wing accent colour. I contributed, as usual, in stripping paint from the doors (and then from the windows, where someone had accidentally added it) and organising my great-great grandmother’s old china – it’s a tough life.

While working in Toronto, my friend Lola2 helped me get started on what would prove to be a curtain-making-marathon – not quite completed, but happily continuing on my new Singer Curvy! One of our first projects were these Button-Up Window Shades, as directed on the Martha Stewart website. Made with a linen and beautiful cotton print, these blinds look fine, but block out a lot of light. When time permits, I might need to add a second set of ribbon loops in order to roll them up farther so as to enjoy the bright morning light of our country kitchen. For now, the ones rolled up higher in the picture above are simply held by sewing pins.

And what home would be complete without a resident domovoi? Our Shisha travelled back with us from Suzdal, Russia and we wouldn’t dream of moving without him. A domovoi, for those not already in the know, is a house spirit. These little guys were thought by more superstitious Slavs to inhabit every home, protecting it and mostly residing under the threshold of the front door or under the stove. We love Sisha far too much to condemn him to such a fate, so he lives happily wherever we can see him.

Our kitchen is far from finished – so please stay tuned for those exciting changes as they are unveiled.

Advertisement

Filed under Floors, Kitchen, Painting, Renovations/Repairs, Space & Storage · Tagged with carmichael's horse and carriage furniture, do it yourself, home renovations, kitchen, reproduction hutch, upper canada furniture