An Aqua Kitchen for Marc

Enamel Colanders- Martha Stewart blue, originally sold at Macy's, now available from Amazon.
Dish Towels- fun and funky dots and stripes from Crate and Barrel.
Glasses- in bright colors from Libbey.
Cake Stand- in blueberry, from Dillards.
Salt and Pepper Grinders- adorable, looks like bunny ears to me, made by Chef'n, sold by Sur la table.
Serving Tray- fun swirly pattern from Target
Stoneware Mixing Bowls- in vintage teal from Target.
Clock- fun swirly pattern from Target.
Whisk- balloon whisk in Caribbean blue from Le Creuset, sold by Amazon.
Square Plates- ceramic, teal, mix and match, from Bed Bath and Beyond.
Enamel Prep Bowls- Paula Deen, sold by Wal Mart.
Art Poster- fun teal bubble flowers art print from Amazon.
Melamine Mixing Bowls- in turquoise, from Calypso, sold from Amazon
Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer- in ice blue.
Cocktail Shaker- stainless steel with aqua top, from Wrapables.
Fish Sculpture- metal wall art from Pier 1.
Floor Rug-
Wok Serving Dish- in Caribbean blue from Le Creuset.
Knife Block- from Kapoosh.
Square Plates- 16 piece set in blue and chocolate, from Target.
Glasses- bright colors from Libbey.
Square Glass Plates- 12 piece set, sold from Target.
Cutting Board- bamboo with fun swirly pattern glass insert, from Target.
Measuring Cups- Nigella Lawson's cute little teacup measuring cups, from Amazon.
Toaster- gorgeous, all metal, sea breeze blue, discontinued from Hamilton Beach's "eclectrics" collection.
Glass Accessories- oil jars and salt and pepper shakers from Target.
Enamel Pots and Pans- 12 piece porcelain enamel cookware in speckled blue, from Paula Deen, sold at Target.
Shot Glasses- bright colors from Libbey.
Wire Utensil Holder- it spins! in vintage teal, from Target.
Cupcake Carrier- holds 3 dozen cupcakes, from the Storage Store.

A Plum Kitchen for Marc

Just for fun I decided to see how far I could push Marc's adventurous design taste and I developed a whole kitchen design board around the boysenberry-color Kitchen Aid mixer.

Surprisingly, he didn't hate it. But I doubt he'll be going this direction in his kitchen. I was also surprised to see how many kitchen objects I could find in this shade of purple. Of course, I mixed in a good dose of olive green as an accent color. Did you know that the Kitchen Aid mixers come in many of the same colors as Fiesta Ware? We can probably thank the good folks at Pantone for that. After all, they are the color trendsetters. Speaking of Pantone, they led me to an absolutely adorable retailer called Typhoon, they have gorgeous kitchen items. Typhoon also sells through Amazon.

An Orange Kitchen for Marc

There were a number of great elements from the citrus kitchen that I really liked, but I just couldn't pull it all together with the mix of coppers, oranges and yellows. This time I focused just on that rich, vibrant orange. Persimmon. You know, the stuff that just popped!

Once again, the tin signs are from Classic Kitchens.

The art poster of the Supertramp album Breakfast in America.

The Kik Step in copper- every kitchen should have one.

The step can from Simple Human.

The bamboo Kapoosh knife block.

Impressions Colors drinking glasses from Libbey.

Persimmon Kitchen Aid stand mixer.

Flame trivet from Koziol.

Salt and Pepper grinders from Zak Designs.

The iconic Fiesta disk-shaped pitcher.

Copper canisters.

Nested mixing bowls in persimmon.

Collapsible measuring cups.

Silicone steamer basket.

Fun casseroles from the Rachel Ray collection.

Three in one slow cooker from Hamilton Beach.

Zyliss veggie peeler in orange.

Slice of orange recycled plastic clock.

Fun orange-handled utensils and kitchen tools.



(I'm not sure Marc even knows who Supertramp is, but I threw that in there anyway because it is just so darned cool. I've always secretly wanted to see that a lovely lemon or citrusy sunlit breakfast nook. I'd put one up myself, but I'm sure Lewis would hate it.)

A Citrus Kitchen for Marc

I was going for a theme of rich, vibrant citrus colors, but I think I kind of missed the mark on this one. Still, some of these things were so great I decided to do an orange kitchen idea board, too. I'll post that tomorrow. Some favourites from this board are the salt and pepper grinders from Zak Designs, the step can by Simple Human, the tin art from Classic Kitchens, the Kik Step, the Kapoosh knife block, the collapsible measuring cups, and the silicone steamer basket.

Revere Ware

Revere Ware. Copper Clad Revere Ware. It is what I learned to cook on. My mom had a full set. Both grandmothers had several pieces. It is pretty much all I've ever used. When I try to use other types of cookware, I usually burn or somehow overcook the food. See, the copper helps distribute the heat more evenly than non-clad pans. And I'm afraid of non-stick coatings, so those are out.


So when I got my house, mom gave me the set from grandma Millie (circa 1990) and she bought me a starter set. New Revere Ware. And while it is still very good cookware, it felt lighter, flimsier than the stuff mom has. And grandma's set was somewhere between mom's old stuff and my new stuff. It appears that Revere is using a slightly thinner metal these days than back in the 70s when mom got hers. But they do still honor their 25 year guarantee.

A few years ago the handle, which had been wiggly for years, finally came off mom's 12" skillet. So she called Revere and they told her they would love to replace it, but they are no longer making that exact size. She could have a 10" skillet or a 12" chicken fryer. The chicken fryer has slightly taller, straight sides as opposed to the sloping sides of the skillet. I thought this would work out better for the way she uses that skillet, but she wasn't as happy with the replacement as she had been with her original skillet.


So one day, several years later, I stumbled upon this little kitchen shop outside of York, Classic Kitchens. This place is great. I think I found it when I was looking for boomerang laminate, not pots and pans. I don't think the full inventory was online back then, just that they had old Revere for sale. So I made a trip to York to check this place out. They had a ton of Revere, some newer, some vintage, some refurbished. And a 12" skillet in great condition. With a hefty, but fair, price tag. It was slightly less than the going rate for new 12" skillets from Revere's other lines. So I got it for her for Christmas. She was very happy.


Revere didn't require her to send the old one back, even though she offered. So she eventually took the skillet and the handle to my grandfather's metal shop and asked him if he could solder the pieces back together. Well, grandpa loves tinkering with hopeless things, so he accepted the challenge. Apparently, the pieces soldered back together pretty easily with stainless steel solder. It isn't super pretty, but it works! So now mom has two 12" skillets and one 12" chicken fryer.


Silly me, I assumed she would give me one of them when I got my kitchen into working condition. At least the chicken fryer that she doesn't really like. Wrong! So, I've been making do with the two 7" skillets that came in the sets and the electric skillet. Which I think is made of aluminum (eek!) and only fits in the dishwasher exactly one way.

This is beginning to get old, so a few weeks ago I went online and checked the inventory at Classic Kitchens. They had several 12" skillets in stock, with varying price tags based on their condition. Since this is a lifetime purchase, I want the best available. I was very excited and ready to start clicking on things to buy, but I told myself that was silly since they are within driving distance, although I don't go that direction very often. Plus, shipping would be way more than the cost of fuel to drive there. And I hoped Marc would be able to find some dishes (huge collection of Corelle) but sadly, none of the patterns spoke to him. He wants square plates with crisp corners, preferably in a color. More on Marc's kitchen later.

I dragged my bff Marc down there with me a couple of Saturdays ago, but I didn't come home with a 12" round skillet. I brought this baby back to my kitchen. A 12" square skillet. A thing of shining stainless steel beauty.

The shop owner is something of an expert and he said he rarely sees the square pans, but he had three or four of them in stock. The only downside is that this is also cumbersome to get in the dishwasher and the other lids are interchangeable. Not so with the square!

I was also a wee bit worried that the corners might not get as hot as the center, but the copper did its job and the whole pan heats evenly. I am very, very happy with it. I don't think I'll buy a 12" round skillet after all. Maybe a 10" some day, but this rounds out my set nicely.

A Red Kitchen for Marc

My friend Marc is about ready to take that leap and get his first apartment. We've had much discussion of how to decorate. I'm lucky- I get to design for someone and spend his money!

This is just the first of many ideas for a kitchen. I figure the red and other bold colors would perk up an all-white rental kitchen.

Most of the items are from everyone's fav, Target. The glass plates and drinkware from Libbey, casseroles from pyrex, the repro vintage tin sign from Classic Kitchens.

Reorganized: Cups Cupboard Edition

So, in a fit of energy the other night, I decided to finally get around to lining some of my cabinet shelves. This is a prime example of my ocd tendencies. You see, I've had these four rolls of cork shelf liner for nearly three years, and all of the sudden I just had to fix this cabinet. Now. It couldn't wait. Never mind that it was 10:45 on a work night.

See, way back when mom and I first finished the cabinets, and they were finally ready to load, I wanted to line them with cork. Only I couldn't find the stuff anywhere and had to order it. Then it took weeks to arrive, and I gave up. I layed out paper towels- supposedly a temporary measure- and put all my glasses and mugs where I thought they made sense.

Lewis gets confused sometimes because there are some glasses that I like to reserve for guests. About a year ago he requested that I put them on the top shelf, out of the way, so that's just what I did. Never mind that this task has been in the back of my mind for ages, suddenly it was a top priority.

I got to work emptying the top shelf, wiped everything down with a damp cloth. It had a bit of fine wood-colored dust, although for the life of me, I can't figure out where that may have come from. I gave it time to dry as I trimmed about an inch off the entire length of the roll of cork liner. Then I loaded all the guest glasses and infrequently used tins on the top shelf.

Rinse, lather, and repeat for the second and bottom shelves. Somehow, there is more room now. I guess I should have had a before picture to compare.

Snazzy, right?I have one roll of cork liner left, so if I want to do any other shelves, I'll likely need to get more. Does anyone know where I can get cork to use as liner that does not have the adhesive backing? Because I didn't peel the paper off. I remember what a pain it was to peel off that old red and black contact paper when mom and I refinished the cabinets, and we went through way too much work to risk damaging the pained surfaces again.

Plus, what would that be like to peel away? Would it peel away? What happens to cork as it dries? I envisioned chiseling it off the shelves with a putty knife, coming off in little kernels. What a hassle. No thanks. I'll just pick up the whole sheet when this wears out. Much easier. Not that that should happen anytime soon. I figure this cork will hold up for about 5 years.

Faucets that Fit

I'm a bit germ-phobic. I'll admit it. I wash my hands a couple dozen times a day. I realize that is more than most people, but I'm okay with that.

My point is this: when I chose faucets for the sinks in my house, I was looking for a few key things:

First, that I had plenty of room under the spigot to scrub my hands without scraping my knuckles against the sink.Second, that I could turn the knobs easily, and possibly with the back or heels of my hands, so I have minimal contact with them. For me, that meant lever-style handles.Third, that they could be easily cleaned, with few nooks and crannies for gunk to build up.

Highly Recommended: Extra Deep Kitchen Sink

I've been in kitchens where the sink is so shallow that you can hardly submerge a soup pot in the dishwater. Or the faucet spout is so low, you have to move it aside to maneuver dishes around as you wash. What a pain!

Mom was all for a deeper sink, too. She ought to know. When she built her house back in 1989, she didn't make any special decisions about the kitchen sink, and so they just put in your standard contractor-grade sink. I know at the time mom was thinking, hey, I'm going to have a dishwasher, I won't need a big sink to do dishes. But she soon learned that sometimes you don't want to fill a quarter of your dishwasher with just one big stock pot, a giant colander or mixing bowl. I'm sure she wishes she could put in a nice deep sink like the one we picked out for me, but since there is nothing really wrong with hers, she can't justify changing it. Maybe someday.

We were determined to get the deepest sink we could find, but we ran into a bit of a snag. We found out that our choices would be rather limited because we had a width restriction. I think there were about three models for us to choose from. We picked one we like, and I am very happy with it. The sinks with three bowls are awfully nice, though, if only one would have fit.

Anyway, mom and I highly recommend splurging for this extra if you are in the market for a new kitchen sink.

Clean Counters I Strive For

Just look at all that work surface, would ya? This is what I aim for:

But it rarely stays like this for long.

Usually, it looks more like this:

Re-organized: Fridge Style

My Nan surprised me yesterday by cleaning my fridge while I was at work.

Isn't it great? All shiny and clean.

Oliver certainly approves.
Nanny does this sometimes, comes over when she knows I am away and cleans something. It is a wonderful surprise to come home to. Yesterday, the downstairs bathroom and the oven also benefited from Nan's visit.

This is all in preparation for the Pampered Chef party that I am hostessing on Sunday.

My Perfect Spice Rack

Really, I'd given up on ever finding a spice rack that I like. Over the past few years, I've checked out every kitchen shop, and flipped through endless pages on eBay. I was after something with a vintage feel, but kept coming up with dingy, rusty, or country.

That is, until Lewis and I popped into this little kitchen boutique in Portland, Maine. It was Sunday, the day we were supposed to fly home, we had already checked out of our hotel, and we were looking for something dry to do in the pouring rain. That is where I spotted this great little spice rack. It is terrific. The shiny chrome wires give it a retro-diner feel. Just the right balance of clean and vintage-y. I didn't buy it; I'm completely broke right now, plus we would have had to transport it home. So I snapped a picture of it with my cell phone. I'm sure stores just love it when people do that, but hey, what's a girl to do? As it turns out, I can get this spice rack from Amazon. It isn't cheap, so it'll have to wait a while.

Look What We Did: Kitchen Cabinets

I think the one house project I am most proud of would be these cabinets in the kitchen. Mom and I labored over these for months, but I think it was well worth it. I should also tell you that I absolutely couldn't have done this with out her. Thanks, mom!

My kitchen in September of 2003.

My kitchen now, in 2008.
What a difference fresh paint and new hardware can make!

Look here for the full kitchen story.



This post was written for Houseblogs.net as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by True Value.

Rainbow plates

These beauties arrived on my front porch earlier this week. They are salad plates in the Iridescent Moonglow pattern by Federal Glass. I've never seen the salad plates before, I didn't even think they existed because I have never seen a guide that referred to them. So, boy was I excited when I spotted these on eBay. The seller stated that they were 7 1/2" plates. I almost doubted her, but I bid on them anyway, figuring even if she was wrong, I still need a couple more dinner plates. When I saw the box, I knew it wasn't big enough to hold dinner plates.

I have a special love of these; there is a story. When I was little, my grandparents had a cabin in the woods. It was about a half hour's drive from where they lived (and now about a half hour for me, too, the other direction). This was not meant to be a residence, but a little getaway for them, and friends and family. My grandfather was the ultimate scavenger, and built this cabin with mostly found objects, and with the skills he and friends had. Unfortunately, it wasn't really built to stand the test of time, and is now in a serious state of disrepair. It makes my mom sad. She loved it there when she was growing up.

The property belongs to my mom now, since my grandmother died, and it is just more than we know how to deal with. Many people over the years have suggested selling it, but we have no intentions of doing that. At one point when I was house shopping, I even considered building there.

But back to the plates. The kitchen had a hodgepodge of plates, cups, utensils, etc. that had been left by different people over the years, and there were a small handfull of pieces of this pattern; two or three dinner plates, six vegetable bowls, three or four cereal bowls, and several saucers, but no teacups. Well, I just loved these when I was little (and still do). I named them rainbow plates because of the way the iridescent colors shifted when you tilt the plates. I always insisted on eating from a my rainbow plates.I've since added to the cabin's odd pieces, and now have quite a collection. I'd ultimately like to have service for twelve. Minus the teacups and saucers. I don't need those. I only have the ones I do because they came with a set I got at the local antiques barn. Now I just need to make room in the cupboard.

Kitchen Cabinets Bare

I found some more pictures that we took in February of 2006, just after mom and I finished sanding the cupboards, right about the time we started painting. This gives you a good idea of what the backs looked like before.

If you haven't seen what they look like now, check out this post.

Kitchen details- the cabinets

When I ordered cabinets for the bathroom, the generous salesman at Just Cabinets gave me several boxes of knobs. They were the basic brushed silver knobs that come with all KraftMaid cabinets, and they send them to the store even if the customer ordered something else. So they were just extras to them, but I estimated they saved me at least $50. The best part is that I would have been my top choice anyway.

I decided I really wanted handles on the drawers, even though they were a steep $8 each. I saw them in the store and I just knew they would be perfect. I looked everywhere for a cheaper substitute, but eventually sucked it up and ordered them= $68. The drawers are heavy, constructed of plywood with a front of some other wood. They also have no glides of any kind, so pulling them open with just a knob would have been cumbersome.

Oh, and did I mention that mom and I repainted the cabinets? Yup. And it only took us about six months.

We took all the cabinet doors off, sanded them, and set them aside. Then we attacked the cabinet frames. These cabinets were such a hodge podge. More than I had ever realized. The backs were that 70s paneling, which, by the way, paints beautifully. The doors were made at two different times. Some had rounded corners, and appeared to be made of maple. Possibly. Other doors had square cut doors, and who knows what they were made of. The shelves were quite diverse. Some cheap, warped, rough pine. Some scrap chestnut. Some particle board. The particle board was the best- very thirsty. Oh, and all of it had been covered by a hideous black and red print contact paper. It covered every surface on the interior. Every corner was crisp. We joked that it had been professionally installed, it was that thorough.

Mom and I stood and sat in every concieveable contorted position to sand, clean, then prime and paint these cabinets. I even stood on the counter. And got stuck. I'm not so good with heights, but I was fine while working. It was just when I would try to get back down that I would freeze. Then someone would have to come help me down. All three feet off the ground. How sad is that?

Our "professional" painter (the only person we ever fired) told us that we would need to sand the 70s paneling that formed the back of the cabinets. Well, we tested it: sanded and unsanded, and it didn't seem to matter. We opted for not going for the extra sanding, and it has been fine.

We used Kilz2 as our primer, followed by 2 to 3 coats of oil paint from Sherwin Williams. Yeah, yeah, I know. Oil paint bad. But I seriously don't think latex would hold up on such heavily used surfaces like a kitchen. We used foam rollers to apply the oil paint. It is possibly the nicest paint job in the whole house.

In all, I'm pleased with how they turned out, but I would have gladly torn them all out and replaced them, had our budget allowed. I'm also quite confident with the hand sanders now, too.

Kitchen details

Well, we replaced the trailer window with a nice boxy garden window. I love it. In the winter it is full of houseplants. They really thrive there. And now I get tons of natural light in the kitchen, and great ventilation.

I have six spots of recessed lighting in the ceiling, one pretty fixture over the sink, and small halogen spots under the cabinets. I kind of wish I had known more about LED lighting when we were choosing lighting. I have halogen or incandescent everywhere, absolutely no fluorescent. I realize that fluorescent is far more energy efficient, and I am all for that, but fluorescent lighting is a migraine trigger for me. So it was strictly forbidden.
When we tore the laminate off the walls we found several layers of wall covering. I'm not sure I even remember all of them, I think I've blocked it from my memory. My favourite was the genuine linoleum wall covering. I wish I had taken a picture, but later I recognized it in Jane Powell's book Linoleum. It was pink, made to look like square tiles, and it had neat shiny gold flecks. Not that I'd want a whole kitchen like that.

When we got down to the plaster, we realized it was pretty beat. It wasn't falling away from the lath, but it was just in bad shape. So, we decided to cover it with new beadboard. I don't know if this kitchen ever had beadboard walls, but I don't care. I like it, and I think it looks appropriate for a 1930 bungalow.

I've always loved beadboard. White bead board walls. But that wouldn't look right with the white cabinets. And I didn't want to commit the cabinets to a color I would grow tired of. I wanted a green kitchen. Depression green. Grandma's kitchen green. But I knew I didn't want green cabinets. So, I thought maybe we’d paint or do a green stain on the beadboard walls, something that will show the grain. Nobody else liked the idea. Well, I let the guys talk me out of it. I'm glad they did, I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out, and I'm not married to any one color.
I've got a nice piece of crown to top the beadboard, and a plate rail runs the length of the kitchen. I decided I wanted to have the crown at the same level as the crown piece on the doorways would be. Nearly all the wood trim in the kitchen had to be replicated, the original, if it was ever there in the first place, was long gone. We used all pine for the kitchen, and it was stained much more red than the rest of the house. I like the more red tone to the wood.
The grey counter was chosen and ordered when I thought I was painting the beadboard walls green. I think it would look better now if I had chosen a green. Maybe someday. It is only laminate. I really wanted soapstone, but it just wasn't in the budget.

My stepmother, Kathy, kindly thought of me when her own daughter was moving out of an apartment where she had her own practically new (one year) appliances to an apartment that already had them. And while almond wasn't my first color choice, I'm so grateful to have them: they are far more energy efficient than the stuff left behind by the previous owners, plus they were free.

House Tour: Kitchen After

I took these pictures early one Saturday morning, before I got the kitchen really messy again with cooking for a crowd.

We did so much to this kitchen, I hardly know where to start.

I'll just do a quick run down, details to follow.

New:

plaster
garden window
beadboard walls
crown molding and plate rail
structural support beam
lighting, general and task
door and window trim
knobs, pulls, hinges
counter
sink and faucet
dishwasher
range hood

Nearly New:

fridge (one year)
stove (three years)

Revitalized:

cabinets
wood floor

House Tour: Kitchen Under Construction

Kitchen in progress...
The new garden window; a view from outside.
Evidence of a window to the back porch. Vinyl floor torn out, ceiling tiles gone.
The plethora of wall surfaces we encountered. Notice the pink peeking out before the last couple of runs of beadboard were installed? That was sparkly linoleum.
Newly covered with beadboard.
The loss of lower cabinets for the sake of a dishwasher- well worth it. And the loss of upper cabinets because of a necessary new structural support beam- not really missed.

New blueboard with plaster skim-coat. New structural support beam. New recessed lighting. New crown molding and plate rail.
Another upper cabinet gone. Not a loss, really. It was impossible to reach without a ladder, an awkward size, and it made an already tight spot even more claustrophobic. (The cabinet was above the doorway to the entry- the one on the left. The doorway on the right is to the dining room.
The never ending tower of drawers waiting to be sanded, primed, and painted.
More to come...

House Tour: Kitchen Before

The kitchen in September 2003...
While the kitchen had a lot of cosmetic issues, it had one good thing going for it: all those cabinets.


Now, I don't think they are original to the house, but I suspect they date to the 1950s. The hardware that was there was that black stuff often seen between the 50s to the 70s, which wouldn't have been so bad, but at some point someone decided it would all look better if spray painted gold. But then the gold started to rub off and you could see the black again. Nice.


Then there is the "trailer window". It was placed too high for me to see out of, didn't open for ventilation, and didn't let much light in. I would hate to think this was original, I sort of doubt it, but I have no way of knowing for sure.


Speaking of the lightning, there were only two light sources in this kitchen: the fancy swag light, not placed near any work surface, and the scary flourescent tube above the sink, with its brittle cord you had to plug in to turn on. The previous owners left all of the kitchen appliances. The fridge, which is on its last legs, the electric stove, which was in full working order, the gas stove, which had never been used (did I mention they had a fear of losing electricity?), and the roll away dishwasher. I did appreciate the dishwasher, but it really made for a crowded workspace with all these extra appliances.

Also, please note the lovely laminate counter and walls. They had streaks of "gold". That must have inspired the repainting of the knobs and hinges. While we are talking about the surface coverings, don't you just love the 1970s paneling on the walls? And the ceiling tiles? How about the vinyl flooring, with the rectangular cut right in the middle? Really special.

I took great pleasure in tearing the flooring out myself. The ceiling tiles came down after we realized the intake water supply to the upstairs toilet was leaking. Right onto the kitchen counter, right about where the green fan is sitting.

Have I mentioned how much the previous owners liked shelves?

And there is a good shot of that swag fixture, casting more light than it did in real life.
The door way above leads to the back porch room, now known as Oliver's room.