Here is a quick glimpse of the Makeover of my 125 Year Old Kitchen in the old farmhouse. The house had decades of ugly added to it during its almost 125 years. A kaleidoscope would find it tough to compete. The kitchen walls were tomato soup red; the dining room which is open to the kitchen had walls in a lavender grey. Nothing coordinated. It was a lot for a neutral-palette lover like me to take in. Her bones were solid though so one had to look past the horrible things done to her, & as anyone who has ever renovated a house will tell you, paint does wonders. I painted the whole house before moving into it a warm ‘greige’ called “campfire ash”. Apt as I do love a good campfire. The kitchen had to wait a year before it was somewhat transformed. It was dark & dated. The old electric oven sat over the only heating/cooling vent in the room. The dark cabinetry looming to the ceiling that had been lowered (throughout the whole house many decades ago to keep heating costs down), the black appliances, the dark countertops & the brown counter to ceiling tiles all contributed to the darkness. It was move cave-like than chef’s kitchen.
Ramsey, my sweet Xolo (Mexican hairless dog) has a bed in the center of the kitchen which is where he spends a lot of time with his mamma. Especially in winter when the oven is on.
Floors were torn up – all nine layers; cabinets taken down and replaced with open shelving; appliances replaced; a gas oven installed in a different part of the kitchen; a pantry and baking section added; a stainless farmhouse sink installed along with stainless countertops. As someone who cooks for a living, most of that at home, I needed something durable I didn’t have to baby – stainless is perfect: easy to care for and sanitize. The cabinets are dated but reusing them saved some money so they were painted a soft, warm grey – or “greige’ as I refer to the color. The original hardwood floor was painted semi-gloss bright white. I think it’s time for a repaint. All my cast iron bakeware and pans are kept behind a linen curtain along with a microwave. A bit of an island it going to be created around the cooktop to join to the wooden-topped counter that extends into the dining room. More about that later. The results might not be everyone’s cup of tea but the kitchen functions well for me and she’s seen a lot of cooking & has stood up to seven years of kitchen mayhem. And, she’s certainly lighter & brighter.