In My Vintage Kitchen

Yesterday was the first day since we moved in 3 weeks ago that I haven’t had to run any errands or go anywhere. I had all day to just live in my house. It was a cozy day with just a hint of September in the air. I had just enough sunshine to dry a load of laundry in the morning, then it rained in the afternoon while I simmered a pot of applesauce. Talk about cozy!

I got a lot done, including getting the kitchen tidy enough to take pictures for the blog! This is Claire eating her breakfast in my $12 thrift store highchair find. We get lovely morning sun in here, making it such a wonderful place to start the day. That door is what leads out to the ‘mudroom/pantry’ and then out to the screen porch.

Most of the cupboards are older, but they have good bones. A coat of paint and a roll of contact paper for the shelves was all they needed. There are some cute little nooks and cranies, and so much cupboard space that I still havn’t utilized it all.
Turning to our left, we have the stove and a portable dishwasher on one wall, and the sink and main length of counter top on other wall. So far I really like the flow of this kitchen. The only thing it lacks – and something we are keeping our eye out for – is a nice butcher blog island. (actually, it doesn’t even have to be nice, ’cause Jeremy can fix it! I’d love to find one like my mom did at an auction for $10 years ago. Just sand it down, gave the base a coat of paint, and we’d be set!)

Turn on your heel to the left once more, and you see the biggest change we made before moving in. In the wall between the dinning room and the kitchen there was originally a lovely old built in cupboard. Some years back the previous owners had cut out most of the cupboard to make room for a table to be scooched half in the kitchen and half in the dinning room. (this was how it was set up when we first looked at the house. We guess they wanted an eat in kitchen or something.

Anyway, it was really funny looking, and not at all practical. Also, I wanted better flow between the kitchen and dinning room. I was sad to cut out even more of the lovely old cupboard, but the solution Jeremy came up with is so perfect and does everything we wanted it to. He chopped the cupboard higher to match the doorway opening, got rid of the post (which you can see in the before pictures), and then installed a cupboard section below to create a peninsula. My favorite feature in a kitchen is a peninsula – it would have been hard to leave the one in my trailer if we hadn’t got such a good replacement for it here. I absolutely love my kitchen.

Here’s Jesse eating his breakfast on the bar stools. I chose a robin’s egg blue for the kitchen walls ’cause I wanted to continue with the vintage feel the kitchen had. Then I chose a darker shade for the ceiling – without the color up there, I think the room would be a bit too white and sterile.
Eventually we will tile the top of the peninsula and the back splash, add door and drawer handles, and, of course, an island. 🙂 I’m taking suggestions for curtains and any other decorative touches that would complete the vintage look in here.
Finally, here’s the view out my kitchen window – the side yard with a rose bush in the foreground, and a giant magnolia tree behind it. The driveway is right below this window and when friends arrive I can greet them with a hello right out the window. Come by sometime and see for yourself!