Kitchen: A Brief Before and After

Everything that we have restored and renovated in our old house has been planned to follow the original 1848 design as much as possible (with allowances made for modern life) and to use every scrap of original material that we can ... the exception to this is our kitchen renovation.  The kitchen is in the Manor's 1967 addition, and it was 1967 to the extreme (and in desperate need of repair).  I knew from first glance, during our initial real estate showing, that we would replace and modernize it.

In 2005, the plan came together, the old kitchen was removed, and the new kitchen was born.

First job was to remove most of the wall between the kitchen and dining room.  I would NEVER have done this if the wall was 1848 construction.  I owe the most respect possible to the original part of this house, and I renovate the 1967 part of the house to complement 1848 as much as I can.  ('After' photos are unstaged and were taken this morning, 3/12/17.  'Before' photos show the kitchen shortly before we dismantled it in 2005.)

The footprint of the kitchen itself remained the same.  Layout, for the most part, was good.  (Here is a floor plan to help you get your bearings.)

Only the range and microwave are out in plain sight.  Everything else is mostly hidden.

Trash and recycling are in a pull-out on the right of the range.

The old kitchen was cramped and dark.  Not anymore!

Do you see the dishwasher?

The only appliance that we moved was the refrigerator.  This gave us the opportunity to wrap the awkward outside-corner wall with cabinetry and to open up what had been a really cramped area ... with the sink, dishwasher, back door, and refrigerator all competing for space in a tiny triangle.

The white donut-looking thing on the floor is an a/c vent.

With the refrigerator out of the way, we now have this L-shaped run of cabinets and counters.

The whole kitchen was designed around this refrigerator ... 48" Subzero with custom faux-icebox panels and hardware.  Sometimes, newcomers ask, "Where's your refrigerator?"  It blends in THAT well!

This kitchen wasn't cheap, but it has turned out to be worth every $$$, because I love it even more now than I did when we built it 12 years ago.  I like to think that the house loves it, too.

A Master Bedroom Before and After

Two or three years ago, I painted the pine dresser in our master bedroom and got rid of the huge, dated mirror that came with it.  Since then, the wall above the dresser has been empty.  I have kept my eye open for something to put there, but I haven't found anything that felt right to fill the space.  (I would rather leave a spot blank till the right element comes along, instead of filling it for the sake of filling it.)  I mentioned my dilemma in THIS blog post about how I found the lamps that are on the dresser.

Anyway ... I was cleaning the bedroom yesterday (specifically, taking all of the stuff off of our dresser and dusting) and I had a brainstorm.  We have a painting stored in the living room that might look good in this spot!  It's huge and I bought it last year at Covesville Store, intending to use it above the mantel in the living room.  I quickly scurried downstairs to get the painting, brought it upstairs and leaned it against the wall to try it out in the spot, and ....

... it looks WAY better here than it ever would have in the living room.  The light is different on this side of the house, and it beautifully sets off the colors of the trees and mountains in the painting.  I think it's perfect.

Now I just have to get out my tools and hang it properly ... maybe tomorrow.

Dresser Project, Inspired by Wedgwood

It's been a while since I showed you the results of any of my furniture projects.  I've been working on them ... I just haven't been showing them. 

Since it's Friday, and I usually get the urge to show furniture on Fridays, here is one of my latest completed items.  Please allow me to introduce .....  The Wedgwood Dresser.

You may or may not remember this dresser's humble beginning.

It's a very solid, heavy, well-made dresser from a good maker.  It just has dated styling ... which makes it perfect for a beauty makeover with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.

I took my inspiration for this piece from the applied carvings on the drawer fronts.  They remind me of applied decorations on Wedgwood dishes and cameos, so it seemed natural to do this piece in ASCP Old White and Duck Egg ... perfect Wedgwood colors.

When I painted the first coat of Duck Egg on the carvings, the details didn't stand out quite like I wanted them to ... so I dry-brushed a bit of Old White onto them.  Now they're perfect!

The dresser had ALMOST all of its original hardware ... the only missing piece was ONE eye-bolt for one drawer handle.  (The handle that appears to be missing in the 'Before' photo was in one of the drawers.) 

I knew that I wanted to keep the original handles if I possibly could.  A quick trip to Lowes yielded some handles with eye-bolts that worked perfectly with the original handles.  I'll save the parts of the new handles that I didn't use for another project later.

I used a texture technique on the top of this dresser ... two coats of slightly-thickened Duck Egg ASCP ... then I waxed and sanded and and polished and waxed again ... and the effect has depth and a silky smooth, satiny shine!

(The paintbrush is in this photo to trick my camera's auto-focus function ... it couldn't focus on the shiny dresser top at the angle I wanted to shoot without it.  Oh, the things we have to do with these new-fangled cameras.)

On the body of the dresser, I lightly distressed corners and edges and feet to simulate a lifetime of use and care.  No fakey, patchy, random distressing for this girl ... every mark and wear spot can tell a story. 

Now that this dresser is finished, it's in the pile of things that are staged to go with me to the Luckett's Spring Market, May 19 and 20.  I have one more project to finish, then I'll have everything ready for the show ... all I will have to do is decide how to arrange everything into my 10 x 10 foot space.

The Big Blue Buffet

When evaluating furniture to refinish, there's a fine line between 'Classic' and 'Dated'.  This latest project of mine started out just over the line in "Dated' territory.  After a dose of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, I think it now sits squarely in the "Classic" category.  Let's see if you agree.

When I saw this piece at Salvation Army, I knew that it would be a beauty when I finished with it.  The body is solid maple, and the innerds are solid plywood ... this piece is HEAVY.  It's from a great maker, and is well worth the effort needed to bring it back to life.

The first thing I did when I got it home was to pull out my heat gun and strip the dated lacquer finish off the top.  Two coats of Rustoleum 'Kona' stain, and two coats of polyurethane, and the top was beautiful.  I waited until this point to choose the color for the body ... because I wasn't exactly sure what color the maple top would end up.  As I hoped, it was a perfect compliment for a coat of my favorite ASCP color ... Aubusson Blue!

Even though I stripped and sanded and refinished the top to make it practically pristine, I wanted to acknowledge and honor the age on rest of the buffet.  In places, it had the most wonderful wear in the finish ... which I left in place and accentuated with some careful distressing.

Speaking of distressing, the rest of the buffet got quite a workout with my sandpaper and sanding block.  As I was doing it, I was imagining all the hands that have touched the hardware, opening the drawers and doors, and all the feet and brooms and vacuums that have run into the skirt and feet.

Bottom drawer, before distressing and clear wax.  Top drawer, after.  (The color in this photo is off, way too yellow, and I couldn't fix it to my satisfaction.)

Up until now, I have always replaced these 'bat wing' colonial-style drawer pulls.  In this case, the style is a little different and I loved the wear on them ... so I gave them a spritz of oil-rubbed bronze spray paint to update the color a bit.  I think they're perfect.

This buffet is now ready for its new home.  I wish that could be here, because I have the PERFECT spot for it in our dining room.

Unlike other pieces, this one is not heading for my shop.  It's the first piece that I have finished specifically for the Lucketts Spring Market.  I'm so excited to be a vendor there this year!!!  It's unfortunate that this is happening during my busiest nursery season ... but I'm balancing things pretty well so far. 

Can't rest on my laurels, though ... I have work to do.

As the magician said, "... and now for my next trick ..."

Wait till you see what I'm going to do with this one!

Making Room in the Workshop

For the past few weeks, I haven't had a whole lot of free space in my basement workshop.  This latest project of mine is so big ... it was in the way of everything.  Now that I'm finished, and I had The Husband's help to load it up and move it to my shop, the workshop seems so much bigger now!

What was once a dated, but hefty, solid wood dining hutch ... is now a stylish, colorful flat-screen TV cabinet.  (The TV in our family room sits in a converted hutch.  You can see it HERE.)

I knew from the moment I saw this hutch sitting on the sidewalk at Goodwill that it would be perfect for a TV cabinet ... but it's classic, 1970s style wasn't part of the picture.

The doors were the first thing to go.  I installed trim to cover where the hinges had been.  New wood panels fill the sides where glass was originally.

With these modifications made, now what color should it be?  I knew that I wanted to use two colors of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, so I stared at my handy color chart for inspiration.  (seen in THIS post)  Initially, I was drawn to Chateau Grey and Duck Egg ... but my new can of Olive was the winner.  I am continually amazed at how much I love the way ASCP colors combine with each other.  (I don't think I've found a bad combination yet.)

The original door pulls look like door knockers from a medieval castle ... they're gone now, too.  In their place, I found knobs at Hobby Lobby that are perfect!  Look how well they coordinate with the Duck Egg.

Inside those doors are two drawers and LOTS of storage space.  Everything in this hutch shows quality materials and construction ... dovetailed drawers!

At the shop, The Husband and I rearranged a few things to make this baby fit.  As tall as it is (7 feet!) the footprint is surprisingly small ... four feet wide.  That's a lot of function in a relatively small space.  The TV space is wide enough to easily fit a 42" television.

Why settle for ordinary television furniture?

 

One of My Favorite Colors

Ever since I discovered Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in 'Primer Red', I have had to fight the urge to paint almost everything this color.  I love red ... but it has to be the RIGHT red ... and 'Primer Red' with dark wax is perfect!

My most recent 'victim' of my love affair with 'Primer Red' is this once-dated, tired gilded gesso frame.  Its size and style instantly suggested that it would make a fantastic chalkboard.  I applied two coats of ASCP, carefully wiping the paint off the inner detail of the frame to expose some of the original gold.  After the paint was dry, I lightly distressed the edges and applied clear and dark waxes.

This frame is really big!  The chalkboard surface is 24" x 48", and I installed the hardware so it can be hung either horizontally or vertically. It's sitting in my shop now ... waiting for its next owner. Is that you?

Got Game?

I love it when a tired piece of furniture comes back to life with a new purpose!  My latest piece is a good example of this.

Originally, it was a tired old coffee table that looked like this.

I bought this table at the same time as the coffee table that I turned into the upholstered bench.  The original top of that table was in good condition, and I used it to replace this latest table's cracked top.  The new top is a perfect blank canvas for some handpainting.

Top, before.

Top, after.

This table is solid oak, well built, and it is perfect for some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint magic.  There's no need to strip the old finish or prime when using ASCP ... a quick going-over with a sanding block, and it was ready for the base coat of 'Old Ochre'.  The finish on the table was heavily distressed when I bought it ...so, after I painted, it got a good going over with two grits of sandpaper to replicate that original wear.

The frame of the table was hand waxed with Annie Sloan's clear wax, so it's silky smooth.

It took forever for me to hand paint the top, using 'Graphite' and 'Primer Red'.  Since this was destined to be a game table, painting a checkerboard was a given.  To balance the composition on this long rectangle, I added backgammon to the ends.  After hand distressing and a wipe of antiquing glaze, I sealed the top with oil-based polyurethane for durability.

As soon as I finished taking these photos, I loaded the table into my Jeep.  Ruby and I will take it and a few other things to my booth in the morning.

No time to rest on my laurels.  My workshop is clogged with a really large piece that I HAVE to finish so I can get it out of there and have room to work on other things.  I'll show it to you when it's ready ... over the weekend, I hope.