…it’s not “me.” You can put me down as the biggest whiner on earth. I have a big kitchen with tons of storage, nice cabinets, new counters, quality floors, good lighting…and I still want to do a total makeover.
I have not shared a whole lot about my kitchen, because it’s not my taste. It’s all great, but I can’t wait to change it. I would almost prefer a really dated kitchen that is falling apart, so it would have to be a priority! (Okay, not really.)
Here are some of the things I want to change…
I want this modern kitchen to have the look of an old farmhouse kitchen that will blend better with the rest of our 1940’s home. I want it to be in blues and whites with French Country flair. I want to be able to display all of my ironstone, blue and white dishes, Bakelite flatware, and antique linens. (Do I sound like Veruca Salt? “Daddy, I want another pony.”)
I’d also like to remove some of the upper cabinets and replace them with open shelving. I’m not sure about the color of paint for the cabinets, yet. I’m thinking of using a color for the base cabinets and white for the uppers, but it’s going to depend on the flooring, counters, and wall color.
My “grand plan” for the counters (and my poor husband) is to find an old barn that is free to anyone who will take it down. I want (my husband) to use the old barn wood to make plank countertops for me. Sound crazy? I think it is, but it just might be crazy brilliant. Or, it could be crazy stupid. We’ll see. We do have a nice workshop with a planer and jointer, so we’ll be able to get the wood smooth and useable.
I am going to trade out the antique brass hardware for glass knobs and bin cup pulls.
I am also planning on removing the over-the-range microwave and (have my husband) build me a custom range hood. (I hope he’s doesn’t read this post and get stressed out at my honey-do list!)
The pot rack stays, though. My mom bought this for me as a housewarming gift and I love it. I do think a pretty chandelier would look nice here, but I use and love my pot rack, so it stays.
The framed chalkboard and stool are recent yard sale/antique store finds.
And in my recent stash of doors I found at a yard sale, there is one that will fit perfectly behind the table to cover the faux wood on the side of the pantry. The shutter was one I pulled from the basement just for these pictures. Usually, I’m staring at faux wood grain laminate over my grapefruit in the morning.
My grandmother’s hand painted alabaster fruit sits in the antique balance I found at a yard sale for $20.00. I would love to have fresh fruit sitting out all the time, but I like my fruit cold, so it’s always in the fridge.
Obviously, the table setting is just for the pictures, but this is the dinnerware we use daily. I purchased it from Ikea about five years ago. Sadly, I don’t think they carry the floral pattern anymore. My two toddlers were a riot as I was setting the table. They both sat down and my three year old asked if we were having dinner (at about 10 am.)
I couldn’t resist putting my tasty-as-they-look bing cherries in an ironstone bowl for the pictures. I love the fruit and vegetables that are available during the summer.
So, that’s my kitchen and that’s the plan. It’s going to be a good long while before I’m able to execute my design, but until then, I am so blessed to have a really nice kitchen.
As a side note, my husband just came back from a mission’s trip to the Dominican Republic where he saw true poverty. Most families there live in a small, one-room house with dirt floors and cardboard walls. He never throws that in my face when I talk about things I don’t like about our home, but it was such a great reminder to me of how blessed I am and that I need to be thankful.
In the end, it’s just stuff, just a room, just a house.
67 Responses
Love the scale….and the cherries.
You have a beautiful kitchen! And I understand the pot rack thing – I have one in my kitchen and, although a beautiful chandelier or some cool pendents would look great, I just love my pot rack! I think it definitely makes the kitchen feel more gourmet and adds interest.
Good for your husband! He must be a wonderful, caring man.
Good luck with everything!
Oh, and before you paint your cabinets, you may want to hang up some paper in the color you are thinking about painting them, just to get an idea…that's my 2 cents worth. I know whatever you choose will be gorgeous!!
Danielle
I understand how you feel. Even though your kitchen is very nice and maybe nicer than most, it isn't you. I feel the same way. I have big plans that take time and money so for now we just live with it. The planning and anticipation can be fun, though!!
I think your plans sound so yummy! I love the idea of the top and bottom being two different colors..makes them look more like old furniture. Your decorations are adorable not to mention how adorable the cherry/scale picture is.
Have a wonderful week!
You do have a great kitchen. I totally get where you're coming from though. The kitchen in the hosue we just bought is similar and too nice to justify changing…even though it's not my style.
You've done a great job decorating though. The cherries with the scale is cool, and I love the Ikea dishes. 🙂
I feel the same way about my kitchen, but since we are putting up our house for sale, I think we are finished with it. Would like to paint our cabinets, straighten the sink wall, extend the refrigerator side of cabinets and install an island! I guess that's what I get for being a kitchen designer! Will have to wait til we are in another house! I love your ideas, though and I think they are crazy brilliant!
The way you photograph things is really wonderful, btw!
I have a dated kitchen that is falling apart… but it's not even a GOOD one… its all pressed-wood and other similar horrors. I would love to have yours… even pre-makeover!
It's a lovely kitchen but I understand about it not being 'your style'. We moved into a 100-year-old house in the fall and the kitchen reno will be last due to budget, so I hate my current kitchen. But it's totally functional so I consider myself grateful!
XO
Lenore
Gotta love mission trips for helping keep things in perspective. You are totally allowed to want a kitchen that fits your style though, even though you have a nice one already! I will be hoping and praying that you find that ramshackle barn that you want and can knock it down for the wood! 🙂
You have the pot-rack I have always lusted after!!! My kitchen is just too small, it would either have to go over the stove and everything would get too hot or it would have to go over the kitchen sink and I've always worried that the steam from dishwater or drained pasta water would create waterspots. So I've never had my pot-rack. But I understand totally how important it is to have the perfect kitchen and I hope that you get yours. But I gotta be honest…I love your kitchen & wouldn't change a thing 🙂
Your plan sounds dreamy! Maybe first on your "honey-do" list should be painting the cabinets. As you and I know, paint makes a HUGE difference. You may find that you can live with the rest of the elements that aren't quite your style for a little longer if you make that dramatic change. I think a slate blue with an antiquing glaze on the bottom with a soft white on the top would be to die for! Good luck. The planning is always fun, even if it's just dreaming away.
Enjoy your kitchen, it's great and when the time is right you can change it…you have some wonderful ideas and I'll bet it will be magnificent…but there's only 24 hours in a day!!! Love all of your work and visit daily…well almost daily!!!
You're right it's a very nice kitchen, but yes it's not you. I can't wait to see what you transform it into! I think paint will work wonders & a plank countertop sounds amazing! It will be stunning & blend with the rest of your house perfectly when you get done!
I adore your kitchen…I think it is beautiful and charming…but I know exactly how you feel! I just posted my family room and while I LOVE it…there are so many things that I would do differently if I had it to do over! I feel terrible saying that…we are truly blessed to even have a roof over our heads…but we are girls;)…and we want what we want!
I totally see your vision and think all of your ideas are wonderful! I love everything you have done in there for now to give you some of the look you want!
Those mission trips have a way of bringing us back to reality don't they?…darnit;)!
Enjoy!
Cathy
Beautiful inspiration! Just left you an award on my blog. http://www.twoby2.wordpress.com
Love a gal with a plan! Sounds like a great one too. Especially the part about the barn wood. I've been tossing the idea of a color on the bottom also and creamy white on top. Just don't know. I just want it to be brighter, not the dark drab cabinets that are there now. Daddy, I want a squirrel, I want THAT squirrel! Ha, love that movie.
ok, you can stop your whining now!!! at least your kitchen is roomy, open, and has real wood cabinets. mine are pressboard and i don't even think any amount of paint could help them. our kitchen was "fixed up" just for sale, meaning it looks ok, but it is not what i would have done if i could have. i would love to redo it one day and open itup and add real wood cabinets. sigh. i am sure whatever you do to your kitchen it will look amazing! what color will you paint the cabinets??? so fun!
I like your kitchen and it looks as though you have incorporated many things that you love to create a vintage feel.
We always want what we want….and maybe someday.
hugs
Sissie
I think your kitchen looks great now but I do love your makeover ideas too. You have alot of great vintage goodies in there.
PS-I had to laugh because I do believe we have the same exact stove, fridge & flooring!
amen!
but can i have your kitchen if you don't want it anymore?
it's a great kitchen, so pretty! and lots of great pretty stuff! just give it to me. i'd find a new home for it! i'm sure it wouldn't cost that much to ship overseas 😉
Well, of course your husband is right. 🙂 My kitchen is considerably smaller than yours and I find myself thinking the same sorts of thoughts… (about how fortunate we are as a nation, regardless of the current downturn and about how we should be so grateful for what we have).
Having said that, you should definitely move forward with your plans as time and money allow. 🙂 I recently read a post about this very same issue on The Lettered Cottage. (I've been grappling with a similar dilemma myself.) You should make your home "yours" and to do that, you need to honor your tastes and give it your own brand of TLC. What you've described sounds beautiful!
I had another thought for a cheap/easy/temporary solution. If you take some of the doors off the upper cabinets and maybe add some paper to the back, it would give more of the open shelving look you want and give you more space to display your ironstone and delf and such.
That's so funny…I'm the same way. We just remodeled our kitchen the way your talking about…white cabinets, blue accents, bin cup pulls…come over and check it out. We did it for $700…no joke!
http://newlyandbecky.blogspot.com/2010/05/kitchen-remodel-reveal.html
I love the ideas you are dreaming about. But I also love the fact that you are thankful, that you put things into perspective. Linda
I like your kitchen and LOVE your ideas. I don't think that there's anything wrong with wanting it to suit you better. I've spent my whole adult life waiting until we get "the house" and realize just how much I was missing out on. And how I was not giving my children a home. It all counts. Be thankful, be blessed – but always dream. 🙂
Love your ideas for your dream kitchen. Stone floors would be so cool!!
And yes…we should be thankful for the plenty that we have. We have no idea how blessed we truly are.
Good reminder!
Hugs
SueAnn
You're right, the kitchen just isn't "you". I feel the same way about mine, I wouldn't have picked out anything in there. Good luck. God bless your husband. Yes we are very blessed–I guess whining is a part of our nature. Oh, it's darling what your kids did/ said, what a joy.
i loved this tour of your kitchen. my kitchen is just 10 yrs old (it was newly redone when we moved into our 1969 house), but it has never been me. i, too, have grand plans. my husband does not want to talk about it right now due to $…. but a girl can dream!
Your cabinets are going to look so great painted! All of your plans sound perfect!
When we bought our 1940s house our kitchen had your 1990s oak cabinets that were in great condition. When I would talk about painting them people thought I was crazy. Little did they know they would look great. I just don't love the shape of the upper doors.
YOur kitchen has a wonderful layout. I love all the storage and it really looks functional. I think your ideas are fabulous. It's amazing what just painting the cabinets will do to change it. I love the idea of the range hood. I had the micro in the island in my last house and I just loved it there. I did have wood counters in a house in Ore, and that is something I wouldn't do again, just a comment. I am much happier with my granite. You are right, it really is just stuff and we are all so blessed. Hugs, Marty
I can relate to your kitchen woes and that it is not you – that is how I feel about my entire home! You plans for remodeling your kitchen sound great. I love blue and white and for many years that had been my main color palette. That being said, considering the awkward kitchen I have I would gladly take yours! With all the baking I do it is very difficult (frustrating) because of the extremely limited counter space. There is no room to add an island or I would do so.
~ Tracy
you do have a great kitchen and have made it more "you" with the accessories. Definitely the easiest change which would have one of the biggest impacts would be to paint the cabinets, then you can get to all the other details over time.
i love all of your ideas! especially the barn board counters…you may be able to find some old slab of wood that is counter width too. that is what i was going to go with but it just didn't work out with the timing, so i have the ikea numerar countertop instead. i love the wood with my black e-granite sink. my kitchen is almost complete…just a few more details before the finale post. (i am learning not to post until it's done…so as not to keep my reader's hanging in suspense!)lol
at least you have time to think and re-think your plan before it is time to renovate.
judi 😉
You have some wonderful ideas and I am sure that you will manage to do all this and more on a budget. I like your kitchen as it is, but we all have dreams and inspirations, and for us girls, it is usually the kitchen. I hope your dream comes true!
xoxo
Janie
Looks like your kitchen has good bones. I think painting the cabinets would look great, and I know it will be gorgeous when you get done working you magic on it.
Yes, I get that feeling a lot that all I have is enough an if I had less it would be more than many others have. I too want open shelves and a new style to my kitchen in my second home, yes we have two. The first one is so old it is literally falling apart. Many times I pray for contententment. ~olive~
I shared your kitchen woes. Our cabinets were basic, and we had tons of counter space. It just felt very 80's.
You'd be amazed what new paint and hardware can do to a kitchen. Ours looks worlds different now.
I say go for it! (BTW – I love the pictures of little details and accessories!)
I love your kitchen – great personal touches. One day you will have the kitchen of your dreams!
I understand completely! I have a great kitchen but it is not my dream kitchen. All your ideas sound wonderful. I know when you put your own touch on it, the kitchen will be wonderful!
xo, Sherry
I have faith, no matter what you choose to do, it will be an absolute stunner. Your taste is exceptional. I can't wait for you to get started! 🙂
Donna
Yes, we are all blessed with what we currently have. And even more blessed to be able to redo things! I can't wait to see your new kitchen when you get started. 🙂
Your kitchen is beautiful, but I understand the need for your home to feel like "you". I also love the Dominican. The people there are so wonderful. We went to Punta Cana for our honeymoon and were able to meet so many nice people. One of our favorite memories was visiting a farm there and the owner was so proud to show us her little house with concrete floors. It was amazing how they save up enough money to build their homes little by little, but they live in them (unfinished) during the whole process. Makes you thankful for the little things, that is for sure!
Oh, Dear One, if I don't watch myself, I could start coveting your kitchen! It really is beautiful. We are all so blessed and I don't know if we're ever satisfied! I know how it feels to want to change things up. My kitchen is so little and so old and I just do the best I can with it! I hope your dream comes true! 🙂
Be a sweetie,
Shelia 😉
As women, we are never satisfied, are we? I love your kitchen, but I can see how you feel. I hope you will be able to fix it like you want to someday. Until then, I hope you will enjoy it like it is. At least it is spacious! Thanks for reminding us all how very blessed we are!!! My daughter served twice on mission trips in the Dominican Republic. Love & blessings from NC!
And I thought the cherries were a comment on being in the pits.
I like the dreams for your kitchen. Never feel guilty for having dreams, otherwise know as ambitions. You work hard and you deserve the dream and the reality.
Traci
I have antique pine on our island and love it. There is also a black hutch we call the coffee station that has a new pine top. Both have sinks. The pine is finished with Good Stuff for Wood. Everyone runs their hands over it!
I'm sure whatever you decide to do in your kitchen it will be fabulous.
Here is a link to my kitchen (and search the website for more photos – open shelving, etc)
http://www.atticmag.com/2008/11/french-gray-island-kitchen/
Where do I even start on this wonderful post?
First, I want barn wood counter tops, too! I snagged some free barn wood on craigslist a few weeks ago for that purpose. I really hope you do them before me with a tutorial *wink*.
Secondly, I think your kitchen is gorgeous as is, but I understand where you're coming from with wanting a redo. My kitchen (about a 1/5 the size of yours) is only 4 years old but we ordered the cabinets in a too-yellowy cream (I want off-white)& put in ceramic tile (which I now think is awful & horrible to clean). I plan to repaint the cabs (opening one up) & walls but the floor needs to stay for now. I won't be tackling that for at least another month.
Thirdly, I love your vintage accessories, of course. I cannot believe I haven't been able to find a vintage scale yet. (Well, I did find one but I refused to pay $40 for it.) Your dishes are beautiful…love the blue & white. The pot rack is great, works now and will work with your vision kitchen, too.
Anyhow, I LOVE your charming kitchen now but you deserve your dream kitchen. Can't wait to see what you do with it if you decide to move forward.
Jami
You're so right. It is a nice enough kitchen, but it is not you. I'm sure when you get around to it, it will be brilliant when you are through. I think the cabinets would be awesome painted. I have never really liked the look of wood cabinets, so I understand you wanting to change them. I've discovered that even though I hate to wait, it always works out better, so hopefully that will be the case here….you will find the barn at the exact right moment!
You're so right. It is a nice enough kitchen, but it is not you. I'm sure when you get around to it, it will be brilliant when you are through. I think the cabinets would be awesome painted. I have never really liked the look of wood cabinets, so I understand you wanting to change them. I've discovered that even though I hate to wait, it always works out better, so hopefully that will be the case here….you will find the barn at the exact right moment!
Pretty kitchen but it doesn't look like MMS's kitchen…you know what you could do? You could just start the demo when your husband isn't home and then apologize the whole time you're remodeling it. It's a bold, risky move but it's worked for me before. This should be considered on a husband by husband basis. JenT
I know what you mean…I feel a certain guilt when dreaming. But when you have a passion about your home dreaming is expected and even acceptable! I'm sure you'll get the kitchen of your dreams one day and meanwhile, what fun to dream.
Marian, do you know about replacements.com? You may be able to find your dishes there if they were discontinued.
Good luck when you decide to start on your kitchen!
Those cherries look delish! I know how you feel, we just redid our kitchen and there is still a list of things I'd like to be different. It's so easy to dream up ways to change it!
Your dream kitchen and mine sounds very similar. I love the barn wood into counter idea. I am dying for a wood counter and farm sink.
you've done a great job of putting personality into your kitchen. I'm sure you'll have it exactly how you want it in no time! -D
You're right about your kitchen being alright as it is (technically speaking)…it has lots going for it already but I understand it not being YOU yet. Good luck on that. My husband purchased a used planer/joiner a few years back on eBay if I recall and we've certainly gotten our money's worth out of it. But we don't have a professional paint sprayer yet 🙁
I'm wondering what the inside of barnwood will look like planed…like new wood? My mother redid her previous kitchen and had the exterior of the cupboards done in barnwood from her own barn. they were DARLING. Have fun and keep us posted!
Nancy
Your right – it is a nice kitchen, but it will be glorious after you give it your magic touch. Have a joyous 4th. Sally
Your style comes through with the accessories. We are finishing up our kitchen. I had to make some design sacrifices, but overall I am happy. The kitchen is such an important place in the home…it helps when you love it. Love what you did with the door.
Hi Miss MS, your kitchen looks lovely – lots of light – but I can understand your wish to make it more "you". I'm looking forward to seeing your work in progress once you get started. Your husband sounds like a jolly decent chap and very best wishes to you all, Bee.
Love the plans, I have them too – but it is just a house 😉 Thanks for the reminder.
At least this kitchen has great "bones". You will make it yours with the details!
Please possible exchange of text between your blog and my blog is
http://aflamtoreksh.blogspot.com
With thanks
Goodness gracious me! ;-0 I LOVE ALL YOUR PICS but am mostly marveling (AGAIN) at how beautifully you manage to "stage" your pics with young 'uns around! The table/dinner question cracked me up! I'd love to take more staged pics but fear my family might send me to a padded room… Wait a minute, that sounds very nice right about now! When I had to redo my pics for Holiday last minute, I thought; "wow, what a fun opportunity to stage my kitchen using all my vintage junk!" Then I realized I was outta time. 🙁 You have so much talent, I can't wait to see the finished to your tastes kitchen!
xo
Leslie
I just found your blog this evening. I've been going through your posts for several hours!
Your kitchen ideas, well could have been written by me. They are wonderful sounding!
I put your button on my blog and subscribed to your updates.
I'll be back here often.
I’m feeling disappointment with your lack of gratitude…it’s all just stuff which can be taken from us at any time. For me, true beauty comes from living in the present moment and cherishing people…friends, family and health over more stuff