I know, I know, I'll quit my whining and get on to the good stuff. Karen actually presented this to us awhile ago- it's just taken me this long to get off my lazy butt and get it all "worded up" in a post. I assure you it's not due to lack of enthusiasm because I am really, really happy about this design. So, to refresh your memory, the kitchen will be part of the new build on the back of the house:
Here is a more detailed layout of the kitchen. To give you perspective, the sink would be along the back wall of the house.
You'll notice in that drawing that she's given me two stoves, one along the right wall and one on the kitchen island. That's because we had planned to use my Grandmother's 1930's antique stove. The stove hadn't been in use for about 5 years now, so for safety reasons the hubby and I wanted to have it checked over by a professional restorer. Well, it turns out that it could be YEARS before a restorer could look at it (apparently their services are in high demand these days), and in the meantime I would still need something to cook on. Karen solved the problem by adding a range top on the center island to use for the day to day, and then I could use Nan's stove for special occasions. Well, to make a very long and sad and whiny story short, we will not be able to use the family heirloom stove, so there will be no need to have a range on the island. That's okay though, this way I get more countertop work space.
Here is a more detailed drawing of the stove wall:
Isn't that a neat little picture? Karen did that all herself- such a talented gal! The look we're going for with our kitchen is sort of a homey, furniture look, so she's added lots of little "character" touches like feet at the bottom of cabinets and fluted columns and such. On the left of the drawing is what appears to be a very tall cabinet, but it's actually our refrigerator!
Here's a more detailed picture of the frige:
If your frige has a flat surface on the front, you can get cabinet panels made to camouflage it- which I think is particularly important when you're trying to go for that "historic" look. The cabinets on either side of the fridge will have a painted beadboard backsplash and the upper cabinets will have glass fronts.
To the left and to the right of the stove are some tall, thin stained glass windows. We wanted to go with stained glass here because the view from those windows would be the battleship gray walls of my neighbor's house- not attractive. So, we figured that the stained glass windows would be much more cheerful to look at, and they would still allow light in.
Above the stove is a ventilation hood that will be partially made from this rusted tin ceiling panel I got years ago at a salvage place (I have no photos of it, I'm sorry). It will add a personal touch and would have looked lovely over the antique stove...
You will note that Karen has meticulously drawn in tiles as a backsplash all along the wall. They are the most gorgeous creamy white tiles you have ever seen- they look so rustic and handmade, I have fallen completely in love with them! However, we have since found out that they are very, very expensive so we may have to adjust the number of tiles that we use.
The cabinets along this wall will be a medium honey toned stain, and the counter tops will be a stunning marble. The marble has lovely chocolate streaks going through it with little touches of green. It just fits perfectly into the whole warm, autumnal feeling we're going for in the whole house.
Here is a pic of the backsplash tile and counter top marble, but I can tell you it just doesn't do them justice:
Let's move on to our sink wall:
In the center we have a standalone farmhouse sink, and above it a small bay window. Karen has drawn it with shelves for potted plants (herbs maybe?) and it should have a nice view of our backyard and old oak tree. On either side of the sink on the top she has open shelf cabinets with beadboard backing to make a nice display area for my collection of antique yellowware bowls, texasware bowls, and some of my nicer Bennington Pottery display pieces. She has even included an extra long bar for my pretty embroidered dishcloths! In the bottom cabinets she has cleverly disguised (using door panels) my dishwasher and trash receptacle. These cabinets would be the same honey tone as the ones along the stove wall, but I'm not sure what color the beadboard backing would be painted? I do know that the center island cabinets will be painted a light celadon green, and it's counter top will be butcher block, which I think will be a neat contrast to the stain/marble countertop look of the rest of the kitchen. Completing the design would be muted orange walls and dark hardwood floors.
Well, I hope you've enjoyed reading about our first plans for our new kitchen. I'm totally in love with the design- Karen really hit it out of the park! Still I'm sure there will be changes over time, and I will try to keep everyone updated.
