Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Kitchen: Part Two


This is what the other side of our kitchen looked like when we bought the place. The cutout in the counter was for the dishwasher on wheels. To the right of that was a pea green stove. To the far left, below peach cabinets, was the yellow fridge.


This is after we gutted the room. After sketching out several designs, we realized that the best layout for the kitchen was to keep the sink (with the view), the stove, and the refrigerator in pretty much the same places as they were.

And here it is now...


...which is the same angle as the before picture.





It's amazing how much light comes into the kitchen from the living room.


When we designed our cabinets, we purposefully wanted to avoid an overbuilt look. We really wanted this to look like an old farmhouse kitchen - sparse and simple. So we opted to avoid upper cabinets and to not enclose the refrigerator. We also opted to have the counter terminate at the wall.


I ordered this wonderful print of a Matisse still life, which happened to fit perfectly in one of my antique frames. I thought it would be a good piece for the kitchen.


There's no gas line in our neck of the woods. If we opted for gas, we'd have to have a big tank in the yard. This didn't appeal to us at the time, and neither did the added expense, so we stayed with electric. When we started looking for a new stove I told Hubby, whatever we get, it won't be one of those shiny black top ones...and so here you are. But I'm used to it now.

We almost placed the stove on the other wall (where the open shelves are now) but we changed our minds at the last minute because I decided that I wanted one wall in the kitchen to be completely pretty. We also didn't want the stove hood obstructing the view.

P.S. Rachel over at Raenovate just posted on our farmhouse! Her beautiful blog is one of my favorites as it's, "dedicated to bringing you a glimpse of all things reinvigorated, refreshed and revived."

55 comments :

  1. Hi Trina
    Your kitchen gives me hope that there will be light at the end of the tunnel for us with our refurb! Your kitchen is absolutely amazing! Those shelves really are something else!
    Best wishes
    Dan

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  2. LOVE IT! I love the mirror in the kitchen. I love the bread boards behind the stove too! I think you've done a great job of making the kitchen look like it's been there for a long time. Beautiful!
    Rie

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  3. I adore your kitchen! You all have made such great decisions along the way, and it is truly lovely!

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  4. What a beautiful transformation! I love the idea of not having much upper cabinetry to give it that unfitted kitchen look. I also love that you wanted one wall in your kitchen to be just for pretty things! We built a hutch for our pretty things and I'm so glad we did. I also hope to one day own an antique reproduction fridge, but for now I have to live with my stainless one, yours is much prettier though!

    Wonderful job and I'm sure you walk into your kitchen every day and love everything about it!

    Kat :)

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  5. It looks wonderful. I want to do no upper cabinets in our next house, I love how clean and open it looks.

    Michelle

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  6. Your kitchen is so gosh darn gorgeous! I think the end result is amazing. I think that everything you chose looks like it belongs there. You have great taste...from the small picture, to the cabinets, counters...and small silver items! Your stove looks fine. I understand what you mean though about the black electric stove top. That is one thing I oppose having, but it really looks good. You must be so happy!

    ~jamilyn

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  7. Trina,

    I love your new kitchen it has such lovely clean lines and the wooden worktop is really elegant looking :) Keep up the good work :)

    All things nice...

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  8. GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS, I just love your house and love the kitchen redo.
    Great job!!!

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  9. Your kitchen is gorgeous. I think you achieved all of our objectives beautifully. I love the cabinets, ranch and hood and you are right, the fridge works great. Your accessories are wonderful too. I really like the mirror at the end of the cabinet. Great kitchen. Hugs, Marty

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  10. Your kitchen is just perfect! You are right, the refrigerator looks old fashioned and does not overwhelm the room. I love how everything turned out. It goes with your house, which is just beautiful! -Delores

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  11. It's so beautiful! It makes me want to rip out all of my upper cabinets. Some day, my hubby is going to make me wood counters and I can't wait for the day...

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  12. Very smart decisions. I like that the only part of the kitchen you can see from the living room is the open shelves. The vintage cutting boards as a backsplash behind the stove are also really smart and stylish...steve

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  13. Hi Trina,

    So glad you posted this. I was wondering about the rest of your kitchen. We pretty much did the same thing. Keeping everything in its original place. It is not the most efficient for us but it works best for the room. I just love all your choices. It looks fantastic and I love seeing your gorgeous living room from it. Thanks for sharing.

    ~janet

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  14. Your kitchen is so pretty! Thanks for the additional photos...your home gives me so many good ideas for when my hubby and I buy a home! *I hope it's an old one, too!* I linked your blog into mine with your last post about the kitchen. It's www.thenurturednest.blogspot.com

    -Gail

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  15. What is the brand and model of your fridge? We are looking for something similar that will not overwhelm our small kitchen.

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  16. Hi Briar Oak! Our refrigerator is made by "Fisher & Paykel." We liked their line because the sides of the refrigerator were silver, not black. Lookes like they still sell them, here's the link: http://www.fisherpaykel.com/product/refrigeration/refrigerators/ The model is, "Active Smart." ; ) Trina

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  17. Ok-I'm really not a stalker but I don't think there's one thing in your home that I don't love or want! You have exceptional taste and have been a huge inspiration as I try to refine the look in my own home. I've been trying to picture the other side of the kitchen - it's very elegant farmhouse and I love the shot where you can see the living room from the kitchen. I love the arranging on the shelves and now am dying to paint my whole kitchen a shade of white (it's now light yellow) since I just got done opening the cabinets and painting them white inside. Beautiful - as always! :)
    Sarah

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  18. You've created an absolutely beautiful kitchen. I adore it. I love seeing the change in the photos.

    -FringeGirl

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  19. I had never seen pictures of that side of your kitchen before - lovely, just lovely. I wish we could get rid of our upper cabinets but we really need the storage.

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  20. I'm wondering if you would mind telling us about having someone build your cabinetry-it's really lovely! Much prettier/cleaner than what you can buy in the store... but I am curious if it was pricey to go that route (if you don't mind sharing)? Just love what you've done with this space. I've got a photo of your shelves on file for when we begin our kitchen renovation in our 1908 farmhouse this fall! We're currently still stuck on the upstairs bathroom :)

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  21. You did a really lovely job with your kitchen. In fact, I think your taste is impeccable and everything is your house has been just so. Congrats. I simply did not have your sense of vision when I was your age.

    I love the simplicity of your kitchen cabinetry.

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  22. Trina:

    I love your kitchen- and every bit of your house! Thanks for your email yesterday!

    Love, Rachael

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  23. Hi Courtney, What I did was shop around for unpainted or white cabinets...this included places like Home Depot, local carpenters and a local kitchen cabinet business in town. This helped me understand the various price ranges of medium to high range cabinets. What I found was that our rather high-end cabinet maker was actually comparable to the low-end (non wood) cabinets at Home Depot! We knew we'd get wood cabinets all along but it was nice to know that we weren't spending more money to have them. And to keep costs down with our custom cabinets, we did all the painting and staining of cabinets and counters and installed all of the pulls and knobs ourselves. This helped a lot. And we had the cabinetmaker replicate the doors to the one thing we kept from the original kitchen...the built-in pie safe. It's called Shaker style and it just so happens to be one of the most economical designs. Hope that helps! xoTrina

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  24. Fantastic! gorgeous love the clean lines! ~ lulu

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  25. Trina, i love your style - this is so beautiful!!

    I totally adore white and silver, i say go forth and feed the addiction :)

    julesx

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  26. Hi - Just discovered your blog from across the country. Loving your restraint and inner eye. Your home could plop right down in our New England town and be very happy! http://www.tricia-luminosity.blogspot.com/

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  27. I adore your style and am constantly inspired by your blog. Thank You.

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  28. Is this the same kitchen? OMG you made a real transformation. I love the butcher block counters and the way the frames tie in. Simple and clean country. Well done!

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  29. Oh I'm so happy to see the rest of the kitchen! I've been wondering what the other side looked like! No surprise... it's wonderful too!
    j.

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  30. i love your kitchen so clean and inviting! what i really want to know is about your countertops.. did you do them yourself.. if so can you share how? i really want to do wood countertops but my hubby is skeptical..can you help a girl out? looking forward to hearing from you thanks!

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  31. Hi Whispering Creek House, The cabinet maker who did our kitchen cabinets installed the counter tops. We ordered three slabs of butcher counter tops from IKEA at $80 each - a huge bargain! The cabinet maker told us to get them through IKEA because it was the same product he could get, but THREE times cheaper! Once installed, we used a food grade safe stain called Safecoat. The color we used was 'cedar.' We sealed it with the same Safecoat product using a satin finish. xoTrina

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  32. Oh, fun to see the finished other side of the kitchen! Beautiful work, of course! Loving these visits to your house!

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  33. Hi Trina,

    Your kitchen transformation is truly stunning - what a sense of accomplishment you both must have! Thank you for taking us with you on your journey. Can't wait to see what's next! ~Jenny

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  34. Your taste is outstanding in everything you do. Who would not love this house!

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  35. Stunning. Simple. Sophisticated.
    pve

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  36. Did you guys rip out the linoleum yourself or did you hires someone? I have old linoleum and I would like to do it myself, I just don't know how hard it might be.

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  37. Hi AB, We did tear up all the linoleum ourselves but we did have all of it tested (there were several layers) for asbestos before doing so. Our samples were asbestos free so no precautions were needed. Trina

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  38. Where did you get the linoleum tested? And how much did it cost?

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  39. Hi AB, We got our floors tested at 'Certified Environmental Consulting, Inc.' in Portland, OR. Number is (360) 254-9385. But you can also call your local health department and they should be able to give you some listings of firms in your area. It's so worth it - we actually had them come out and they took samples of everything they knew we'd be demolishing. This included samples of things I would have never thought to have lead or asbestos in them! So it offered great peace of mind. Trina

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  40. wow. your kitchen is simple, chic and timeless!

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  41. Actually Trina I liked the old kitchen better. Only joking OF COURSE, you know you 2 are my heroes, & are deserve all the wonderful accolades that come your way. I'm so glad you changed your mind about the stove placement, I love seeing the open shelves from your Living Room. We don't have mains gas either, & we are umming & aahing about getting the big bottles installed. Still undecided.
    Millie ^_^

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  42. Just discovered your blog...what beautiful posts and what a lovely home. I love your transferware collections...that is what I collect and sell. I will be visiting here often. Thank you for sharing your creativity! ~Nancy~

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  43. Love it. I love how simple and clean you decorate. When I see homes like that I just know the air is cleaner and fresher smelling there;-)
    Thanks!

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  44. Hi Trina,
    Just went through every post and love your home so much, I forwarded it to my husband in hopes he'll read and get inspired! Of all things, I'm wondering where you purchased your oval rug and the two bottles for oil?
    Thanks! Kimberly

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  45. Hi Kimberly,
    The oval braided jute rug came from Lowe's Home store. I bought it a couple of years ago or so and don't think they carry them anymore. But I did recently do an internet search and some came up there. And the oil bottles came from World Market! They were so cheap but so charming. I haven't been to World Market in awhile so not sure if they're still carrying them. Thanks for stopping by!!! Trina

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  46. LOVE the kitchen! Well done. In the midst of completing our new kitchen and covet your shelves. Can you tell me your source PLEASE? Many thanks,

    Leslie

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  47. I'm completely in love with your kitchen! I've been toying with the idea of putting butcher block down for all the counters, so it was so nice to see yours done. I'm using it as inspiration!

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  48. I have some similar picture frames but couldn't decide what to put in them: a painting or a photograph. But I love the sketch inside the ornate frame, works really well. Thank you for the inspiration. Pan x

    http://smallstuff-blogspot.blogspot.com/

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  49. please tell me the material/ treatment of your counters? so beautiful.

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  50. Where do you keep your food?

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  51. MML,
    Food is in California Cooler, lazy Susan to right of sink and in fridge of course. We also have a large freezer in basement for extra storage. But it's getting crowded with the four of us for sure!
    Trina

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Thank you for leaving your thoughts. Kind regards, Catherine

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