A New Kitchen For An Old House In Santa Barbara

This is an old house. She's 92 to be exact.

What's that saying about not teaching an old dog new tricks?

I agree.

An old house is not going to budge when it come to certain things, especially at 92.

I can't change the footprint because of set backs and the usual rules governing a historic house.

And I can't mess around much with windows or doors and why would I? 

They are all really beautiful, with old arches and screens and large french patio doors

So that leaves us with the interior walls, which I had initially thought could be moved 

and reworked to 

 enlarge the spaces visually.

Then a few weeks ago, I had a visit from a person who used to live in this house.

She was in her 70's and her daughter had recently passed away.

She wanted to see if she could find this house again 

because she and her daughter had enjoyed it here so much.  

Her parents had moved to Santa Barbara from the Midwest and had rented this house from the original owner who was then very elderly.

She remembered the house was pink with sage green trim.  

I've found traces of the old pink paint every where 

and you don't often see a pink house these days.

She recalled, rather tearfully, sleeping with her small daughter in the screened porch area off the master bedroom.

We had recently completely gutted that part of the house and

I honestly felt guilty telling her it was all different.

I made the decision then and there to leave as much intact as I could 

going forwarded to preserve what I think will enhance her old bones 

and put some spring back in her step.

Which now takes us to the kitchen:

The kitchen was remodeled at some point in the early 90's

I'm showing this photo of my Thanksgiving morning crazy woman cooking mess because I love a good "before" shot!

The tile is sort of faux Spanish and although it has held up pretty well it's really orange!

Sort of like orange sherbet ice cream...remember that stuff?!

On the opposite side is this massive old Thermadore

This was one of the first commercial grade stoves for the home chef and it's a beast.

I have repaired and cleaned every burner so it cooks evenly but there is no such thing

 as a simmer setting.

On is on and on is 18,000 British Thermal Units of hell.

Same goes for the oven,

Burnt everything.  

Tops, bottoms sides, you name it 

Me and my big girl oven, we have fried many a meal to a blackened crisp.

So she will now have a home at a local homeless shelter next week, because, well they needed a new oven and they wanted it.  

Hopefully they will have better luck with her and keep the burnt cookies to a minimum 

I've decide to use Bosch for some of the new appliances.

I like the minimalist clean look of them.

I'm also going smaller.  

I love to cook and yet I never really use more than 4 burners at once on a stove top.

So the new range will only be 30 inches wide 

which will give me more prep area on either side as well.

The stove area is inset so it will have some nice spots for open storage, spices and crocks 

and a little pot rack for a vintage copper collection

All of the new counter tops are Ceasarstone.  

I chose Raw Concrete, honed, with an 1.5 inch mitered edge detail

And yes it is counterfeit, but it looks like the real deal only better!!!

By the way....all three of these colors are beautiful.

 I'm still tossing around paint colors, like darker grays.

The kitchen walls will all be re-stuccoed and left raw 

as we have done throughout out the rest of the house

Tile will be kept to a minimum.  

All the tile is hand made and hand glazed and somewhat irregular.  

Fingers are crossed that we get it some time before the 4th of July.

Reclaimed wood, raw steel and whitewashed terracotta  are a few of the other details.

A small china cabinet will be outfitted with wire or wired safety glass

 for some additional texture.

I found these safety glass pendants at Restoration Hardware.  I love these.  

Even better was the price

Originally $890 each I scooped them up for under $300 dollars

A few trendy things like a black faucet and some brass 

hardware will probably sneak in too!

Gray and brass in kitchen design is definitely having a moment but  

in the back of my mind I want it to look at least something like it did in 1925  

and more importantly I want it to feel like an old-ish kitchen.

I'm especially fond of these classic English kitchens by Devol.

I think they look somewhat similar to what this kitchen may have looked like.

Small and compact but warm and inviting and a fun place to cook.

Demo starts next week...bring on the trash cans! 

Find me here daily on Instagram

and check out my boards on Pinterest too

xoxo

Chalkboard Art...finished for now

 Here we go...this is how my project ended up
but just to be sure....

I thought I would just sleep on it and see how I felt about it in the morning

It's only chalk right?

I wonder If Dana Tanamachi does that?

Hmmm

Just as a reminder this was my original graphic design

 about 1/2 way through...
I do like the banner
and Dana uses lots of banners in her work

 and this is the final project...the next morning, I removed the little knives I had added, re-worked the area where the banners was

 and enlarged the lettering on 

"petit cafe"

 I put my basket of bread boards underneath it 

but it just needed something a bit higher

 I have a nice little collection of old bottles 

that I use for vinegars and oil for cooking

 This is a great little bamboo shelf...a nice size for a smallish space...so I gave it a try here

just in case you are wondering about the old bottles...I actually sterilize them like you would a canning jar prior to using them and if there is even a question about cleanliness I don't put any thing in them except maybe a flower for the garden

 a few little dishes, some fresh lemons 

and an old baguette basket on the chalk shelf

Here is a little peek of the kitchen with the new chalkboard

this little sign reads:

the daily bread

petit cafe

olives

cheese

champagne

open daily

I hope you give this a try....
it is so much more fun 

than spelling and arithmetic 

Cheers

Kelley

PS

I didn't seal it 

because I have a feeling I will find some new things to draw 

as Spring approaches...
and I agree with Dana
that there is something interesting and simplistic
about just erasing it
and doodling a new idea

Movable Kitchen Islands

Martha's kitchens are usually pretty darn amazing

So I loosely and I mean really loosely tried a few things "Martha" 

in my new kitchen

One must have item for me, was/is a movable kitchen island

I love how these work as both a gathering place, a spot to work on your laptop or an extra area for food prep

Having this island on wheels was a big factor for me because my kitchen is pretty small and I need to be able to push it out of the way when not in use or when I need extra space for more cooks in the kitchen

I looked at a bunch of premade kitchen carts and islands 

but kept coming back to the islands by the John Boos Company

John Boos is a company that specializes superior quality butcher block and hard rock maple products

Most of the islands retail for around $1000 to $1500 depending on size and options....and almost all include the option for casters or wheels

I just kept going back to Martha's grey kitchen and looking at all of the details she Incorporated and figured I might be better off having my cabinet maker make it for me to my specifications....and I wanted it to be grey

the big island to the left in the photo above 

is the movable island she calls her servery

She used lots of drawers in hers and I was able to get 4 in mine

I wanted one for knives

one for spices

one for parchment paper 

and 

one for pot holders and towels

This is another cart in Martha's kitchen which is really great...a big metal utility cart for her cooking utensils 

that she can roll around the room to her various cooking stations  

and of course a few nice

shelves

I love how she painted the wood storage trays 

the same color as the servery

She has some really nice vintage items as well...including this tea station

a vintage porcelain scrubby holder....gotta look for one of those!

and a big huge stash of bar mops...love those too!

So here is my version...quite a bit smaller but I got most of what I wanted 

out of a cart that measures 30 by 60 inches

knife storage

spice storage

pot holders

and parchment paper

we put the island on nice grey rubber wheels

I topped it with Carrera marble

and added a slatted shelf on the bottom

I think I may add another shelf because I can use the extra storage...but I wanted to keep it really simple to begin with and it's much easier to add to a item 

than to start dismantling 

These are some fun vintage silverware drawer pulls I found on Etsy...and some fork hooks for towels

so there you have it...my Martha knock off

do you think she will mind?

; 0 )