Our Kitchens

[caseydog]

Thanks! There's something about this old house that seems to like bright, happy colors.

As I was prepping the kitchen for painting, I took the time to peel away a few of the old layers of paint around the edges. At some point in time, this kitchen has been magenta, canary yellow, cerulean blue, and a color I can only describe as "dreamsicle orange." I'm the first to paint it green, as far as I can tell. But it seems to work.

I am cleaning space on my hard drive, and came upon this photo of my "man cave." Realistically, since I am single, the whole house is a man cave, but this room is more manly than the rest of the house.

The colors are a pumpkin pie brown up top, and a brown that I am not sure how to describe down low. There is a 1/8-inch black line separating the two colors -- that was the hard part.

Yes, that is a tire. It came from a Lamborghini Diablo, and was the perfect size for a coffee table base. It was also free.

CD

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[Addie]

When the kids were small I decided to do the living room over. The symbol of Welcome in New England is the pineapple. So I bought some wall paper that was all pineapples. It was miserable making sure ever sheet was straight and matched the next sheet. The pineapples were that velvety ones on the paper. And the paper was really heavy when you were holding up more than 10 feet of pasted paper at a time. My husband was one step below useless. But he did stand there in awe that I knew what I was doing. Up and down the ladder I went. But I got it done in one day.

Aha. Next was the kitchen. Fortunately there was wainscoting halfway up. So that only left the top half of the room to wallpaper. I found a pattern that had all different little small types of copper pots and pans. Painted the bottom, wallpapered the top. That one was easy. the pattern repeated every three rows. And the images were small. Oddly enough for both rooms I managed to find drapes for the living room that had the same pattern in gold and the kitchen were pale yellow pots and pans.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Finally! Photos.

After months of napping, I had to wake this thread up. Just as we were leaving on vacation, I took a lot of photos of our kitchen. Partly so you can see where I make my magic, partly so I can remind myself how nice it looks if I keep it tidy! I know as soon as we walk, in ALL horizontal surfaces will instantly become cluttered! This first two photos are overviews, one from the kitchen end of the back hall looking toward the dinette area, the second from the other end of the full (26ish foot) kitchen.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

This next batch is from the work side of the kitchen. In the first photo, the apple bowl on the upper-right cupboard has a smaller mate; they were my MIL's. The green bowl on top of the refrigerator was my great Aunt's; it holds old hand tools of my Mom's and Aunt's, some of which I still use. In the second shot, the dresser at the far left, just past the cupboard on the left of the range, is the old (about 90 years old?) dresser that Himself reinforced and reworked the drawer glider rails. The top two drawers hold lots and lots of my hand tools like spoons, whisks, etc, while the bottom drawer has metal baking pans, cooling racks, and bulky hand tools (think grill tongs and spiders). Lastly, the shelves were made by Himself when we lived in our second apartment. He used hand-held tools, did the cutting on our balcony, and swept the sawdust off into the woods that our side of the building overlooked. The bread box on the left side was my parents'. The yellow stand mixer on the bottom-right shelve is Mom's old Oster Kitchen Center; I use it to make her banana bread recipe. The wooden firkin to the mixer's left was something my Mom used to hold her clothespins.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

One last photo: our dining area. Unless the weather is right for sitting in the sun room, this is where we eat. Well, mostly me, since Himself seems to be glued to the TV when eating supper. No big deal - I join him if there's something good to watch.

 

[bakechef]

What a homey kitchen! Looks like a kitchen where someone really cooks! I love that vintage table in the kitchen that you use an an island.

 

[GotGarlic]

Sweet kitchen, CG. Lots of great memories there [emoji2]

 

[Rocklobster]

Here is the kitchen at the house...still a few things to do..not a great photo, and a bit messy, but I like to call that "lived in"....

 

[Andy M.]

Very nice kitchens CG and Roch.

 

[Cheryl J]

Really enjoyed seeing your pics, CG! I love large kitchen and dining areas that look like a family actually lives, cooks, and eats there. Thank you so much for sharing! I love the memories you shared as well.

My kitchen and dining area are rather small. My fave part of both rooms are that they both look out onto the backyard lawn and patio. Cooking and eating with a nice view is important to me.

Just saw yours too, Roch....VERY nice!

 

[caseydog]

Nice kitchen, casey, but it's so tidy. I tend to make too much use of my horizontal surfaces. Your cabinets look a lot like ours, but looks can be deceiving. Instead of real oak, they are genuine low-end builder garbage.

Bet you don't get much use out of that sled. Then again, friends of ours live in Plano and tell stories of snow and ice.

BTW, where is the TV? I'm one of those "TV on the counter" kind of people. I use it to distract me while cooking so I can cut and burn myself easier.

Going back to this post from awhile back, you are right about a few observations of my kitchen.

You do have more stuff on your countertops, which would make me crazy, not that it looks bad, I just would get sensory overload, and shut down.

Our cabinet doors are very similar, with yours having that extra curved moulding at the top.

The sled originally belonged to my grandfather's youngest brother. I have moved it out of that spot in the corner to my entry foyer.

No TV in the kitchen. I can barely walk and chew gum at the same time. Watching TV in the kitchen would be a disaster. It is related to my problem with a lot of stuff on horizontal surfaces. My only TV is in my man cave.

CD

 

[caseydog]

Since CG revived this thread, I remembered that somebody asked to see the antique table, and I said I would post a photo. Of course, I forgot.

Here it is. My grandparents on my mother's side bought this for their first house when they got married. It is solid oak with two leaves that pull out from the ends. I keep them extended all the time.

I did not get the original chairs, so I made some benches from oak, distressed a little to look old, and stained to match the patina of the antique table.

I don't know the exact age, but my grandparents probably bought it around 1932.

CD

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[Cooking Goddess]

Thanks, everyone! It seems like the more we move, the larger our kitchen gets. I think our next house will be one huge kitchen with sleeping and bathroom "pods" off of the kitchen! And Roch, is that the almost-end result of your major remodel? It looks pretty nice! And mine is usually much more "lived in" than yours. I just took advantage of a rare neat kitchen before we left our house in the care of our neighbor (and mail pick-up, to be dropped on that red table) in almost-market-ready appearance!

bakechef, I'm glad you mentioned the red table. I forgot to say that we got that from yet another aunt and uncle. When they gave it to us, it had been covered with contact paper in a green marble pattern. A few years back, when I brought the table up from the basement to use as an island, I peeled the paper off and cleaned the table. The Formica on it looks practically new!

GG, I think that your kitchen is pretty cozy, too.

Cheryl, no matter how we orient the dining table, I always make sure I get the chair with the best view of the backyard through the sun room windows!

Casey, my clutter might give you sensory overload, but your bare counters seem too bare! When I'm working, if the TV isn't going it's because I have sports talk or a baseball game playing merrily on my tablet. I guess you have to keep cooking in your kitchen, and I'll stick to mine. Nice set of table and benches, too, in spite of them being from different generations.

 

[rodentraiser]

Wow, CG! Nice kitchen! And I'm in love with that little table. If you ever decide you don't want it anymore, I'm offering to adopt it.

Rock, those are exactly the kind of cabinets I'd like to have someday. I had white cabinets when I had my house and the first thing I thought of was how hard it would be to keep them clean. Instead, I just ran a damp cloth over them about once a week and they stayed sparkling clean. And they sure brightened up the kitchen.

 

[Rocklobster]

Wow, CG! Nice kitchen! And I'm in love with that little table. If you ever decide you don't want it anymore, I'm offering to adopt it.

Rock, those are exactly the kind of cabinets I'd like to have someday. I had white cabinets when I had my house and the first thing I thought of was how hard it would be to keep them clean. Instead, I just ran a damp cloth over them about once a week and they stayed sparkling clean. And they sure brightened up the kitchen.

So far, so good...I bought my mother's house and she had a white kitchen...we wanted to keep the same style/feel so went with white...it also helps brighten up the whole room...

 

[Just Cooking]

I miss having a real kitchen... My tiny apartment kitchen is... well... functional...
Stand in front of stove... turn half left for sink... turn half right for fridge...

Ross

 

[dragnlaw]

...I think our next house will be one huge kitchen with sleeping and bathroom "pods" off of the kitchen!...

EXCELLENT IDEA! that would be my dream too!

If ever I end up back in an apartment with a tiny walk thru kitchen, I would fill the dining area/room with work tables cupboards and counters. The living room would become the "eat-in living room".

Thank you CG for that wonderful idea!

Rock, those cupboard's are terrific. I'm not a fan of "white" but on closer inspection saw they are board's - can't think of the style name... new England? Really like them.

Nice table caseyd - I'm a fan of benches too.

 

[roadfix]

I'm looking to buy a used cargo van and to set it up as an off-grid camper, with solar panels, battery bank, fridge, and a kitchen. A lot of emphasis will be put in the cooking area. I've looked at tons of You Tube videos the past couple of years on DIY cargo van conversion campers and boondockers so I've got pretty good ideas on set up and designs I want.

 

[CharlieD]

I know we had thread like that and there I know I posted my picks of the kitchen.

 

[GotGarlic]

I know we had thread like that and there I know I posted my picks of the kitchen.

This thread was started about a year ago. Maybe your pictures are on a previous page.