The Talent Scouting Party- all things KITCHEN


We live in a 1929 four square.. and our kitchen when we bought it was just that - square in shape and design.  
We gutted it to the studs and started over.  The only thing that stayed was the old wood floor. We then built our cottage kitchen that worked for and with our family.
I gleaned a lot of inspiration from my Canadian friend Heather at Inspire Me Heather.  She shared Ikea finds with us and also I loved her cabinet feet. 

We ordered the cabinets in white from Lowe's with a simple panel front.  The knobs on the doors and the pulls on the drawers are brushed nickle to have an older not so new sleek chrome look.We added the feet to the bottom.  First we put black thin plywood to make them look like empty floor underneath then added the feet.  
 The counter tops are from Ikea and we refinish them yearly to keep the nice look.
I purchased the old school lights from eBay.  They were in various finishes so I painted them black to unify them all. We ran a black crown to break up all the white and to coordinate with the other black touches.
The closed door below goes to the pantry/laundry room.  The opening on the other side is the butlers pantry which I have taken over as my office.
We wanted the island to house our four kids but we knew with them and their feet, white was not an option.  So that is where we put in the big dose of black. We have all the kids snacks and the microwave in the island.  Easy for smaller kids to use. 

  


The sink and faucet are from Ikea also.  Keeping a budget on this project was a must. 
The kitchen before had so many cabinets that it felt claustrophobic.  I wanted this to be more open and airy so we lost all the cabinets on the sink side of the room and put open shelving up.  The brackets are from Home Depot and since they were going to be load bearing we secured them into studs for safety. 

  
I love the effect the whole wall has.  I wanted all white and clear dishes to showcase with small hits of black or seasonal colors.  The walls are done in narrow tongue and groove bead board painted with Benjamin Moore Kitchen cabinet grade paint.  It is hard paint and cleans up well.



  
   
 In the previous kitchen the stove was on the same wall as the fridge and sink..I wanted to break that busy wall up some so we moved it.  I got the one I love- gas pro line from sears..LOVE it. 
You will also notice my pot rack.  I had this old mirror waiting for some project and saw in a magazine something similar so we did it.  I left it the natural oak color to tie in with the floors.  That wall is a back to a fireplace in the dining room so we had to use it somehow.

  
 H is for our name, I adore the silverware canvases and the Kirk's cornmeal bag is because hubby's name is Kirk.  I ordered old used coat hooks from eBay to use on this piece.

  
This is the view across the room from the laundry area.  Notice the corner cabinet/appliance garage?  
That was a requirement on my list.  I hate to see electronic gadgets- mainly toasters and coffee pots so they are hidden in there.  Wonderful to have them out of sight.

  
 It works wonderfully as hubby's coffee messes are hidden from me. 

  
 You will notice the breakfast room through the open doorway.  Please don't notice the unfinished trim around the doorway..oops.  

  
 Here is the breakfast room.

  
 One last look to mention the floor.  Yes the floor that I painted each square with black porch floor paint.  I did not seal it as I want the kids to scuff it up a bit before we seal it so it looks old. 

  
Here is the before so you can see what we had. 
Home made cabinets that didn't open or close all the way.  Counter tops that were made of bowling alley flooring, red and yellow walls.  Basically bad, not cottage looking and not us. 


So, is a kitchen remodel in your future?
tammy

9 comments:

  1. Yes, one is in the future, and your kitchen would look great in my house. So, one night when y'all are asleep, I am stealing your kitchen.
    No...my kitchen is relatively small and I need to think about utilizing space efficiently and keeping a cottage feel. (We are in a New England/European cottage hybrid.) I have told my husband that I want butcher block countertops...how are they to care for? LOVE the floor--I'm doing the same thing in my foyer, black and grey.
    I may be asking you a million more questions...

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  2. Oh I love the flooring, the counters and the sink. I've been saying for ages that I need to do a budget friendly update to our kitchen and while I did think of Ikea for the cabinetry it never dawned on me to price out their sinks. Is it the DOMSJÖ double bowl sink? I love it! Everything came out really nice, great work!

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  3. OMG!!!Love,love,love the kitchen. I would have to say your style is spot on for what I call Industrial Cottage, this is how I tell people about my style. I am not shabby chic, but I have a lot of white and black, they automatically think white is Shabby Chic and I say shabby Chic is fufu. You did such an AMAZING job with the flooring, I love the black molding so nice. I miss our vintage 1937 cottage so much, we now live in a 1986 track home (YUCK).

    Smiles,
    Sheila

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  4. Tammy,

    Your kitchen is amazing! I love every detail of it! You guys did an incredible job. I hope you had a good sale yesterday. It was a good 3 hrs. from where I live and couldn't get there, but I was thinking of you.

    At this point, I won't be a vendor at Cameron, but I'll be coming down to visit. My hubby's been putting brakes on my little biz...I'm lucky to be doing Luckett's :( Both of my girls have soccer games that day and my husband's also coaching. Since 90% of all my painting, etc is on the weekends because my hubby can help with the two-year old, I've been having a hard time getting things done with all the kids' activities!

    Let me know if you need any help packing, moving, setting up for Cameron that Friday. I'd be happy to help out!

    Kristen

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  5. Wow, I didn't know another kitchen like ours existed.
    Our home was built in 1916 and the cabinets are the original ones. I dream of redoing ours and IKEA is my choice for cabinets and countertops just like yours. Thanks for this post. I needed to see that it is possible. Everything you've done is what I've dreamed for ours. Keep your fingers crossed that time, money and health hold out for our redo.

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  6. What an awesome job you did. I love the floors and all the cool details, lighting and accessories. You did a great job!

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  7. I still love your kitchen Tammy, you've done a beautiful job. It looks like your floor is holding up (or would that be holding down?) well, I still want to do the same thing. One day I want to have coffee in that kitchen of yours, one day...

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  8. Your kitchen is amazing. So Cozy!! I have always wanted floors like yours. I would be too intimidated to paint the squares, so you are my new hero. Everything goes together so beautifully. You can see alot of love went into that kitchen.

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  9. I LOVE THE BLACK ACCENTS YOU USED, I WOULDN'T HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT, BUT I LOVE IT!! I LOVE BLACK MYSELF, I PAINTED MY CABINETS BLACK, BUT YOU REALLY KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK!!

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