Stow Bungalow - Kitchen Reveal

Oh kitchens with carpet, how I despise thee. The second house in a row with carpeted kitchen floors! What were people thinking 50 years ago? Is it just the germaphobe in me? The kitchen wasn't necessarily bad, but it definitely was outdated. It also hurts my design sensibility when cabinets block things - views, doors, etc. 

So. The carpet was hiding original hardwoods, which we had sanded and restained. The carboard-esque ceiling tiles were holding up a LOT of mouse poop and skeletons and also no insulation. And then there was faux wood paneling and vinyl-patterned pieces above that needed to come out, be insulated, and drywalled. But let's talk about the cabinets. This was a small kitchen, or at least the layout made it feel small. But the space in its entirety isn't tiny. It just needed rearranging and also a new pass-through to the dining room. 

Along the back wall (below) we added a second window to balance the sight lines out to the pond in the back yard. Already there was so much light coming in throughout the day but why not add a little bit more. When we discussed what to do about the ceiling after tearing out the cardboard tiles I suggested beadboard. We had done that in the sunroom of the 1850s Homestead and I'd been obsessed with how it turned out, so why not do that again. Also, since we were planning to do white cabinets I thought it would be nice to have something to balance white cabinets, white walls, etc. I love a white, clean room, but if everything is white it can feel very cold and sterile. Installing the beadboard ceiling took my father and I two days and hurt my neck for a couple days, but was well worth it for the end result.

Let's talk about the back wall. The original owner had a table and chairs there. Technically there's still space for that, but as a former dancer, I love a kitchen with enough room to do fouettes. I liked the idea of having cabinets different from the rest of the kitchen, something that stood alone but still fit into the overall look of the house. So painting them to match the fireplace, stairs, and hutch doors was a no-brainer. Admittedly, I have never liked waterfall countertops. To me it feels like a waste of granite/quartz/marble to put them on the sides. But what about waterfall butcher block? Now that I can get onboard with. And then, as one of my girlfriends put it, "a signature Stephanie Blackburn" - open shelves. I love a display wall, what can I say?

I suppose another Blackburn signature is the marble we repeatedly use for kitchen backsplashes. There are so many options for tile now, but we continually use this one because it goes classically with every countertop and unlike certain patterned tile, it won't look dated in a year or ten. 

I would also be remiss not to mention that during demo I uncovered a boarded up pass-through from the built-in hutch in the dining room to the kitchen counter. I don't know that the buyers will ever use it, but as it was original to the house I felt it should be restored (plus, it's cute). There wasn't trim on the kitchen side of it so my father cut new trim and stained it to match the original pieces on the interior of the hutch.

 I really hope buyers will appreciate the transition this kitchen has made and cook many a delicious meal here (at least on my behalf). 

~ Stephanie