Farmhouse Kitchen Update: Freshly Done!

I'm sure by now you thought I'd never show you....and to be truthful there are several minor details that aren't done, but I didn't think it'd make any difference to you if my antique crank phone was back on the wall or the outlet cover in the corner by the dog dish was mounted before I snapped the pictures. I had been waiting for a bright, sunny day to avoid using flash, but alas, the weather in these here parts ain't been cooperatin'.
Shucks.

Warning: this post is the opposite of short.

So here goes! (Remember that you can click on any photo to enlarge.)

We began our 28th year anniversary day tearing apart the old kitchen (on July 18th). You can read more about that whole deal here in a series of posts under the category "kitchen remodel". (If you scroll down to here you can see the kitchen the day we tore it down.)

Finally, the first week of October we got most of the small details taken care of and I can show you the results of all that hard work. I'm very pleased with how it all came out and the thing I love the most is the colors and my dishwasher! I can't tell you how my heart sings when I turn on a load of dirty dishes and when I can put them all away again, all clean, dried, and spotless and I don't have a dish drainer living full time to the right of the sink!

The back splash is a special material (plastic that's durable and scrub-able) that's made to look like an old tin ceiling. I absolutely LOVE it and am so glad I avoided tile. This back splash gives me the "farmhouse" look I wanted and to look at it, you'd think it was the REAL DEAL! And for those who want to know, it's easy to install. You'll need a utility knife, a straight edge, some special double-sided-sticky tape and the trim pieces and corner moldings. It went pretty fast and I'm glad my husband did it, because I would have gotten it crooked, plus me and sticky tape just don't get along too well!

We had trouble finding outlet covers to match, and I happened to find a spray paint that was silver and said "hammered aluminum" and lo and behold, it solved our problems and the covers look like they were made to match. Don't you just love spray paint?

(Here's a close-up. Oh, say can you see that paintbrush mark there that the camera picked up and I'd never seen? I need to go clean that off right now!)

In the window sill are some little salt-glaze mini-crocks ...most everything I have on display in the kitchen is stuff that I already had collected over the years and had on display here before the remodel. It's back, just in different spots!

Here's another thing we found to use the rest of the can of hammered aluminum spray paint: an old one dollar metal stool from a garage sale this spring.

Here's the little microwave cabinet that wouldn't work for our microwave that we instead purposed for my cookbooks! Turns out it's one of my favorite things about the kitchen now that we're done. I never knew that having my (prettier) cookbooks out on display would make me so happy! It's fun to change the cookbooks and the display with the seasons...and to change out favorite sets of nesting bowls: right now it's my favorite soft yellow Hen bowls from Stonewall Kitchens.

Mr. Farmhouse put up synthetic bead board inside, there used to be ugly "faux wood" on the interior of this shelf, and it now looks so much brighter and makes the cookbooks stand out so much better.

Another view...see my little pastry blender I picked up at a garage sale this summer? The table, below, is under consideration right now. It's the one we had, but I'm wondering if for this space, if we should get a round table. I'm not going to worry about it before Christmas, but if we decide to keep this table, it's going to be painted. Too much wood in the kitchen now. Oh, and we decided not to paint any of the old woodwork in the kitchen, because none of it in the rest of the house has been touched by a paintbrush and we think it needs to remain the same as the other 111-year-old trim.

The pantry is another thing I never expected to love so much. You'll remember that I had to decide whether to use this or put my old pie safe back in this corner. Well, turns out that the pantry was the better idea. It holds SO MANY groceries, way more than the pie safe and my sister Anne had told me I'd be glad I used it, and that it was a pricey piece to have purchased and then leave out of the remodel. I'm so glad she talked me into using it. Here's a shot of the inside. Both of the shelves pull out to reveal more shelves behind. No more running to our entryway to retrieve ingredients from the closet there...YAY!

Overhead is a deep and wide cabinet that I keep all my kitchen appliances in; and they all fit! No more going into the basement stairway cabinet to bring up my electric fry pan!

My sister Mary called me one day and said she was at a Ben Franklin and they had the perfect fabric for my kitchen curtains...and she got me this apron fabric in bright blue (she got herself some in yellow!). I already had the red gingham and I made these curtains. I have another piece that I stuck back to make some accessories like place mats and potholders but haven't done those yet. I'm so glad my sister knows what I like and what I NEED! It is the perfect fabric for my kitchen and I love it--thank you, Mary!

"Mom! You're killin' me!"
Tap, tap, tap....you still awake? Just thought I'd check....!
Just in case you're wonderin', that's my crazy kid on the beach in Hawaii.
Not really. She's actually shown in Colorado.
(You're almost halfway through this neverending post, so good job. *Ü*
Is your fanny numb yet?)

The fridge cabinet wouldn't work with our old side-by-side, so we're saving that for when our oldest son moves out, and we got a new, plain-Jane fridge that was the right dimensions, and it's unique in that the front panels of the fridge are curved outward slightly, therefore making it look a little bit retro. I love it because it doesn't have handles to clean, there's just a little notch in each door!

And there's my dishwasher (with the stainless steel interior) that I love. The stainless steel is nice because we have well water, and we can avoid the interior looking orange over time because of the water.

I changed the display on the old clock shelf, and here again, I'm noticing some paint that was over brushed on the woodwork, and I need to clean that up, too!

We got a new five burner stove (again, we're saving the old one for Mark when he moves out) that I thought would be handy for canning purposes. I have canned a LOT of tomatoes and salsa since we got the kitchen finished. I like the counter top and am surprised that the dark color shows so little when I'm working in here. Splashes and crumbs just kind of disappear! Jamie got me the tomato red teapot for Christmas a couple years ago, knowing that I eventually wanted to use red in my new kitchen. (Red makes me extremely happy!)

And so do these amazing red-topped canisters, recommended by Ruthie of Sugar Pie Farmhouse...I got them through Amazon.com and couldn't be happier...they hold a ton of sugar, flour, etc. and I always know when I'm getting low and they're right on the counter and convenient for baking!

Also, upon Aunt Ruthie's recommendation, I found me a real old "play" stove (it plugs in and everything!!) to use for my dishcloths near the sink...and I even found a mini iron frying pan at a garage sale for $1 that fits on the top! It makes me happy every time I look at it!

Next to it is another item I've been waiting years for and I found it on sale and with a rebate and that's my bright red Kitchen-aid mixer! Now I know what I've been missin' all my life, girls! It's the most awesome thing!

(Oh, and did you hear the news? The same day I found out I was going to become a nana, Aunt Ruthie told us her daughter and son-in-law are going to have a baby, too!!?)

I found the perfect farmhouse kitchen faucet and it's a thing of great beauty, and sits up nice and high for when I'm washin' up all those cannin' kettles, suits me just fine and I love it! And, I found the absolute deepest stainless steel sink I could find; it's a foot deep! It's something I'm going to enjoy for years and I'm glad I found it.

Goodness, this has been a marathon post, but I'm going to go ahead and give you some photos of all the cute farm-fresh goodness going on over my cabinets...I thought you'd want a look! I can't get enough of farm-fresh colors and am happy to have a place to display the goodies I've picked up here and there, each item tied with memories...who I was with and where I bought it, or what friend or loved one gave it to me.

I am so happy to have my retro-style red clock sandwiched in between my old-style tin signs. The clock is from Wally-world for under $16.

(My old friend the rooster said he'd come back in and live in the new farmhouse kitchen, and I told him I was glad, he spent all summer on the porch waiting to come back inside. My kitchen wouldn't be the same without him! He has a prime spot over the fridge cabinet.)

Oh, and my old-timey covered cake carrier and my robin's egg blue mixing bowl...they all have their own spot to shine!

See that sweet little glass pie plate with the apple and the pear in the center? My friend Shelley brought that over one day, because she thought it would look so cute in my new kitchen...she was right and I love it so much! She found it for a quarter at a garage sale and it's priceless to me! Thanks, Shelley!

This bowl, displayed in front of a garage-sale gingham tin tray, is also from Shelley, she got it at a garage sale. It looks so Mary E., and the colors are so perfect for my kitchen. She is a thoughtful friend who loves garage sales as much as I do. Every time I glance up at these pretty things, I will be reminded of my friend for life.

Here's a little tribute to coffee...with my husband's dad's old coffee grinder and some old coffee cans. I have to go diggin' in the attic to find my father-in-law's old white porcelain coffee pot and matching metal cup. They're trimmed in red, so they'll look perfect here.

Love my little old windmill...

This pair of chickens are really old and were given to me by my mother-in-law...I love them and they'll always have a spot in my kitchen!

This cute chicken came from an antique store for a few dollars, and I can tell he's old, just loved the colors. Behind him is an old dishpan.

I gained a bit of counter space in my new kitchen, and I found this really old, heavy jar in the basement that I'd picked up years ago at a garage sale. I painted the lid robin's egg blue, and it sits on the counter and today it holds snickerdoodles! I'm enjoying all these old things in a brand new way!

Since the microwave didn't have its own little shelf, we went back to using my husband's granny's old "Frezone" ice box. It's perfect anyway, what did I think I needed a special cabinet for? I keep my ugly recipe books in the little shelves behind those adorable doors ... tiny shelves that once held Momo's groceries away down south in Dixieland.

I will get another post together soon and show you some of the new things INSIDE my cabinets that I've enjoyed gathering and putting to use in this space. This post has gotten long enough and if you've made it this far, I'd say you're a good friend!

Hope you've enjoyed this long journey to a new kitchen! I'm so proud of my husband for doing all but the counter top himself, and each day, I try to tell him thank you in a new way, and let him now how much I truly enjoy this wonderful new workspace! The best thing is that we've done it together!

(AND....you've just witnessed the world record for the number of times the words "garage sale" appeared in a blog post. Congratulations!)

Ktichen Remodel: Preview

Holy Smokes, we're almost done! We started this job on the eighteenth of July. The main construction was over one week later. Then we waited a couple of weeks for the counter top. Once that was done, we thought we were home free....but we soon found out that it's the little details take the most time.

Today I wanted to show you my favorite corner of the kitchen...it's not completely done (curtains, window trim still to do) but I can show you this little section that is finished.

This was one of the issues with our kitchen remodel: little unexpected problems arose, like this microwave shelf for example. It was to go over the stove above the vent hood to hold the microwave. The opening was way, way too small for the microwave, and I don't like small ones, so I knew I'd never have a microwave to fit into the cubby....but, I thought, what a wonderful recipe book shelf it would be!

So we installed it over a base unit that stands beside the pantry so that section of the wall would not be wasted. I can see changing the display on here with the seasons and enjoying seeing all my "pretty" cookbooks (you know, the ones that can be shown! Some cannot!) lined up on display.

One of the other favorite parts about this corner is that it's where I keep my laptop. And that cute little old metal stool? It was a garage sale find for $1, and it's now covered with a spray paint with the "hammered" metal look. I love it!

On top, I put my favorite big bowl, and a "church suppers' cookbook. On top of the pantry, I put one of my favorite fruit crates, a garage sale find! In it I am storing my tablecloths. I think the cookbooks are inspirational when they're out where they can be seen...

I hope to have more pictures of the completed job to show you in a week or so, (I have to get the sewing machine out!). And if you're planning a remodel, especially in an old house, it's best to be adaptable (and always expect it to take LONGER!) because there's always surprises in store...and creative ways of making it all work sometimes have to be worked out. Sometimes your "mistakes" are your favorite parts of the whole project when it's all said and done!

Have a wonderful Monday!
XOXO
Joni

Movin' Back Into the Kitchen! Kitchen Update

Our kitchen project was started on July 20. We are almost there. Once the counter tops were installed on Thursday, I've been lining drawers and cupboards and slowly unpacking, since we could finally start to move a few things back into the kitchen. The pantry had all sorts of shelves and racks to install, and I assigned Luke to that job. He did a great job at it, so I asked him to move all our food from the former place it was kept, into the new pantry. It took a couple hours to get it all done and in place, and I couldn't be happier! It was fun visiting with him while he did it, I was lining drawers across the room.

Before the remodel, cooking a meal might require several trips out through the family room, down a few steps and back to get to the entryway closet where most of our canned and dry goods were stored, due to the lack of cupboard space in our old farmhouse kitchen. Now, this new pantry holds ALL of that food and my husband can have the entryway closets back for his hunting gear.

I'm impressed with the storage space in this pantry, and to think I almost had him leave it out and not install it! (It was a choice between this pantry and my old pie safe, seen below, the pie safe stands in the same corner as the pantry does now, above.) i REALLY liked my old pie safe, but will try to work it into another room and make it useful somewhere else. (One project always leads to several others, right?!)

This pantry holds a huge quantity of canned goods and boxed items like oatmeal and pasta, and there are racks on both doors, swing out racks on both of the sides inside, and regular shallow shelves line the back of it on both sides. On top is a large deep cupboard, and inside that are my electric appliances like frying pan and griddle, crock pot and other items you'd want hidden that were once stored in my basement stairway inside a cabinet because I had nowhere to keep them in the old kitchen...

The same corner on July 20th.

We have lots of little details to finish like the toe kick, drawer pulls, curtains, window trim, and when it's done, I'll show it all to you. Hopefully alot of it will get finished tomorrow on a day off for him. I hope to show you a finished kitchen in a week!
XOXO
Joni

Kitchen Remodel: LIMBO-LAND

This is the back splash material that's made to look like tin ceiling; expressly made for back splashes and is a washable vinyl, in exactly the right dimensions for minimal trimming and cutting, easy to install and easy to clean. I REALLY like it! The cabinet knobs are bigger than they look here, and they're one of my favorite colors and are from HOUSE OF ANTIQUE HARDWARE online. Of course, my brushed nickel cup drawer pulls have been dreamed about for my kitchen for a long-time!

Everything is ready, the painting is done.

But. We are in a temporary holding pattern with the kitchen: LIMBO LAND. The counter tops were scheduled to be installed on Thursday. Then Tuesday we were informed it would be another week. So in all, we will have waited three weeks altogether for the counter tops: less time than the remodel took. I can't say that I'm happy about it, but what can I do? (See my cabinets here, they are the Quaker design in American Maple).

In the years of doing the work on this house, we've hired very little out. There are rare exceptions, but I've decided after all this time that all contractors say they're not busy or booked up when you initially call them. But once you call them and get on the "books", they suddenly become very busy! It can't be helped, you just have to roll with it. But. You cannot write anything in stone and make plans for the date they tell you the job will be done when they come to give your estimate. Let's just say that I'm really glad I didn't make reservations for our little summer vacation we'd planned. We would have had to cancel.

And, since this has happened with the counter tops, I'm super happy and blessed that my husband did everything else himself, because we may have been kitchen-less for months, literally.

So...while we're "on hold" I've done some buying and I thought I'd show you my cabinet knobs, drawer pulls, and back splash material. It's so hard to know when you're buying things individually if they'll all look great together when they're in the actual kitchen. I'm hoping this all works out and if it doesn't, I'll be doing some shipping and returning!

I've also bought new everyday dishes (clearance at Kmart more than half off!), a new Kitchen-aid (a birthday gift from the kids!) and some of the other things I've needed for years including some of these jars that Ruthie from Sugar Pie Farmhouse recommended. (Thanks, Ruthie!) They're what I've always wanted!

I have a lot of things I already had that I will be using and re-working and that's what's going to be so much fun, and it could be why I was so majorly disappointed when the counter top job got moved back another week.

The kids wanted me to go get the color I wanted and when the mixer was bought at Bed, Bath and Beyond with my 20% off coupon, I got to the register, and the cashier kindly told me there was a cash rebate on that model and I get $40 more back! YAHOO!!!

There is no way to explain how happy I am that we are almost there and that I will soon be able to set everything up and use the dishwasher! I cannot wait to show you the finished room!

Thankful for: handy husband, almost finished kitchen, cool cabinet hardware, vinyl tin replicated into back splash, green beans, crook-neck squash, vine-ripened tomatoes and the season's first BLT's with them and the bacon from the half-hog we recently put into the freezer!

Kitchen Update: ALMOST there...

My goofy son, Luke!

We're TWO WEEKS INTO IT!

The remodeling and all the stuff related to it sittin' around here is really gettin' to us....my son said to me one night, "Mom, look: new bling!" I turned around to look and cracked up. He had the counter top sample chain around his neck. You can see in the picture all the sticky notes I had stuck to the different possibilities!

I had to take his picture since the kitchen looks pretty much the same as in the knockdown post and there's not much new to show you...

I hope to have another update in a couple days and a final shot before the end of the week before we move back into it and begin using it as a kitchen once again.

The positives about this job:
The weather has been AWESOME throughout the whole project
The stove and fridge were able to be in the kitchen throughout the whole project
So far, no big surprises dished out to us as old houses & kitchens can do
Safety for all concerned during the job, nothing more than a cut or a bump on the head
We had ordered more than enough cupboards, as opposed to ordering too few (we have had these cabinets for TWELVE YEARS! I know... it's a long story and I'm not sure you'd want to hear it!)
There's a lot more room in the pole barn, now! YEE HAW!


Still to do:
Prime and paint ceiling and walls (hubby has tomorrow off and started the paint job after church today)
Install refrigerator cabinet and walls
Install new appliances (they're on order)
Install toe kick board trim
Install the big pantry and the small cabinet units beside it
Install new light fixtures
Install counter top (hired that out.)
Install new sink and faucet
and last but not least....

ORDER MY NEW KITCHEN AID MIXER...I've been waiting years for it and now that we re-did the kitchen I finally can get one! I'm thinkin' RED!

The counter top decision was made. We wanted to pay cash for everything and we went with Formica. I did not go with my original instinct: which was a plain cobalt blue. After much thought, I decided to go with a Formica version of granite. My reason for that was that everyone told me I would hate the solid color counter top. Every other counter top sample in the blue family was too gray, or too fake looking (ie: marble!), and they were a color of blue that I knew I would quickly get tired of and perhaps even irritated by.

So...in the end, I hopped on blogs and flew around browsing at kitchens and saw this kitchen and knew that with this type of counter top I could paint walls any color I chose and that chances are it wouldn't become tiresome.

I am still planning to have cobalt blue and bright red in my kitchen and at some point I would like to paint the cabinets cream color. But right now, I think it would be over the top to ask my husband to do a long tiresome job like that on the brand new cabinets. So in eight or ten years when it's time for a face lift, the cabinets will be painted (and then it will probably be out of style to have painted cabinets!

We're nearing the finish line and may still have some time in August to get away for a short vacation, because we haven't done that yet this summer!

MEANWHILE, have you registered for the drawing for a jar of my seedless raspberry jam yet? Time's up tomorrow evening!

(all you need to do is click on the jar of jam in the upper left hand corner of the blog then leave a comment on that post!)

HAPPY MONDAY TO YOU ALL!

What I Know about Knockdown

Click on photo for a better view of the texture of this "knockdown".

Since some of you have asked, I'd like to tell you about knockdown (what I know) and why we chose it.

Our whole house except this kitchen has been re-drywalled. It was a huge job, we just went room by room. I think high ceilings are especially difficult for the do-it-yourselfer. We actually drywalled OVER all the old plaster in our lower level rooms with the high ceilings, then we drywalled one 12" piece (shown below in this picture) down onto the wall and trimmed out the raw lower edge with the wooden trim shown here in the dark red...

For all the horsehair plaster walls we tore down all the plaster and re drywalled all of them. Upstairs, we did walls AND ceilings because the ceilings were lower and therefore easier (but still not a piece of cake!) plus we needed to install ceiling lights (there were none!) and light switches and outlets (there were no light switches and one outlet per room!!).

Had we known this method, we could have gotten all the ceilings done this way and saved ourselves some major time and trouble. If your plaster is sound, you can do this. This will not work for falling down plaster that's pulling away from the lathe.

It saves you KNOCKDOWN....maybe that's why they named it that? Anyway, from what I could tell (the man had plastic over both doors, and I couldn't see through very well, but from what I know this is what happens.)

1. Wallpaper comes off. (We didn't have that.)

2. Loose paint, chips and cracks need to be scraped off/fixed.

3. He scrapes, patches, removes hooks in the ceilings, anything that gets in the way.

4. He can go around existing light fixtures, but you'd want to remove the globe or tape over anything that you didn't want splattered.

5. After patching, the patching material dries for a bit and then he gets out his machine and sprays on a very thick coating of DRYWALL MUD.

6. He lets that dry a bit and does the first layer of texturizing.

7. Then he lets it dry a little longer and comes in and does his final texturizing. (Knockdown will have to have primer and paint and for this surface he recommended flat paint.)

8. He picks up all the tarps and plastic and he's done. It needs to cure for 24 hours before you prime and paint.

I paid $175 and he got started around eight and was done by noon. I have heard that an advantage is that in these old houses, if you need to have insulation sprayed in, you can cut holes in the wall to do that, get them patched, and then this can be done and your holes will not be visible.

It all looks wonderful when it's done and will look even better painted. I learned about it after a neighboring farmhouse had a furnace fire and soot was all throughout their home. The restoration company did this in the whole upper level of their farmhouse, walls and ceilings and I was so impressed by it, I filed away the information on it in case we needed it. I'm so glad I learned about it because this particular ceiling would have been a nightmare for us. Like I said, this is just what I know about it, I could have missed a step or two and be wrong, but it was fast and easy and like I said, saved us DAYS of work and looks nice and crisp, too.

For a bonus, you get to see photos of "daddy's little helper" who could not stop the curiosity no matter WHAT and Duke seemed to be totally enthralled with the drain pipes and supply lines under the sink, especially when they were sticking up out of the floors all by themselves. Then, when the cabinet was set and the door shut, he kept staring at the door! So we opened the door to show him the pipes were still there. Tonight, when Lem started to plumb under there for a temporary sink until the counter top man gets done, Duke had to "help" by watching the whole procedure. (He actually got on daddy's nerves by being underfoot and in the way but I had to take a picture before we took him outside for awhile until the job was done).

DOGS! The little dog has shown his disdain for kitchen remodeling jobs by choosing to tinkle on things like daddy's ladder, his tools or his basketful of items from the hardware store. He is NOT daddy's little helper!!!!

Tomorrow, my poor husband will get a vacation when he GOES BACK TO WORK!!!!!

I know this man has given his best in time, talent and SWEAT to get the most he could possibly get done in one week, and I am SO GRATEFUL!

Ceiling Before and After Knockdown

Our nasty old plaster ceiling was not a good candidate for a re-do. Due to the way the house was built (in sections, over time) the kitchen has an unusual ceiling sloped at one end. With plaster, making that curve was possible. With drywall? Not so much.

There were two options: tear it all down and take days to re-drywall it, or hire a man for under $200 to come in and do what's called a "knockdown". We chose the knockdown route with the look of old plaster. Here's some before photos where you can see the old cupboards had been taken all the way to the ceiling....

paint peeled away from the plaster from an old roof leak...

And now...this. MUCH better and saved DAYS of work. This is the base, it has not been primed or painted and it's still a huge improvement!

I wish we'd known about this method for all the rest of the rooms in this old house. Drywalling ceilings was HORRIBLE. At some point, I wouldn't mind having this look for ALL the ceilings in the house, but right now we're just working on this one project.

And in twenty four hours, we can prime and paint it and it should look even better. YAHOO!