The Renovation Reveal…

February 23, 2015

I am happy to report that the kitchen renovation is complete…at least 99.9% of it is complete.  Charming finished with the renovation last week and I have been a busy bee trying to get the place cleaned (except for window washing) and decorated.  Below are pictures of the kitchen.  This post is short because there are quite a few pictures to show you. The weather here has been so frigid recently that I have not been able to complete my wash tub prep table, which will go in front of the counter near the sink when finished. I need the outside temperature to be at least fifty degrees for the enamel paint on the legs and top to dry, so that will happen when the weather warms up.  I promise to share pictures whenever it's finished.

My posts may be sporadic from here on out as I need to get the kitchen curtains made and put two more rows on my braided rug.  (I decided that an extra four inches from two additional rows of black would make it look better.)  I’m also going to try to pump up interest in my classes and start a shop on etsy.com to sell some of my hand made items, as it does stack up in my studio after a while.  Somewhere in between these things I have to find time to do our income tax returns and straighten up the mess that our house has been in since the kitchen renovation started a year and a half ago.

I looked everywhere on our computer’s server to try to locate pictures of the main part of the kitchen prior to the renovation, but all I could find was a picture of what used to be the back porch. This porch, with new windows, is now the area where the kitchen table sits.  Believe me, the old kitchen was very small and not much fun to work in.  Charming's renovation (with my input on choices of materials and design) is a definite improvement.  I hope you enjoy our pictures!

Our estimate is that this porch was probably added to the house
sometime during the 1970's.  It measured about 8'x 16', which we
decided would add quite a bit of space to our cramped kitchen.

Voila!  A year-and-a-half later, Charming turned our small kitchen into
a much nicer place to be.  (You may notice the small space between
the stove and the "baking center" where the enamel top counter is...
This is where the original kitchen stopped and the outside wall of the
original kitchen used to be.)

Our kitchen table with my braided rug, chairs that I re-seated using fabric
webbing, and the quilted table runner that I finished a few days ago.  We
have a nice view of the Blue Ridge Mountains from the window.  This
past week, we slid the shade completely to the side and
ate our meals while watching the falling snow.

This is the area that used to be the old porch (see the first picture above).
The buffet/sideboard shown by the window has a top part with a mirror
that we haven't attached yet.  It will provide extra space for desserts
during family get-togethers.  Note that my dear Charming, who loves his
electronic gadgets put in a TV so we could watch the morning news at the
table.  He also got a music playing thing-a-ma-jig so I can listen to my
favorite radio station or use an accessory thingy where he loads my
favorite CDs.

My "baking center" has an enamel top that I had convinced
Charming to pull off of an old cabinet that was in the basement
of our house when we purchased it years ago.  I held on to it,
knowing that some day it would come in handy...and it did!
The cabinets over the baking center hold all of my baking supplies.
The cabinet below holds my mixer, mixing bowls, rolling pins,
glass pie pans, and a couple of baking dishes.  On the right of
the counter top is a silicone sheet from "The Pampered Chef"
that has measurements for pie crusts.  It also helps to protect
the counter top from scratches.

The cabinet for the baking center includes all of the ingredients
for the things that I bake regularly including gluten-free flour,
sugar, oatmeal, cocoa, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips,
liquid flavorings like vanilla and peppermint oil, baking spray,
yeast, salt, milk powder, baking soda, etc.  I have two lazy
Susans on the top shelf and a Spicey Shelf on the bottom left.
I used to dread having to gather up all the ingredients for
baking, now almost everything is within arm's reach.  The
drawers below the enamel counter top hold measuring spoons,
measuring cups, biscuit cutters and other baking-related items.

This is the original part of the kitchen.  We kept our original
stove and refrigerator because they work fine and it saved us
a lot of money.  We will replace these with black appliances as
they stop working.  I didn't want a dishwasher because I
actually like washing dishes (I'm nutty that way) and I would
rather have usable cabinet space rather than a dishwasher.

Another shot of the counter/cabinets that house the baking
center on the right and the coffee prep area on the left.  This
part of the kitchen was the old porch.  Note the old enamel
container that sits under the window.  I believe these came
with refrigerators, years ago, to be used as a "vegetable
crisper" of sorts.  I nabbed this one at a yard sale about five
years ago for a dollar.  (I do love my cheap junk!)

Another shot of the kitchen counters. Tried to get the entire
counter top/cabinets into the shot, but couldn't quite get them
all in the picture.

Here's an up-close shot of the cabinet over the coffee pot.
It also holds all my spices.  Since the kitchen is so long now,
I just use a tray to go around the kitchen and gather what I need
to cook a meal.  I shuttle the tray from the spice cabinet to the
refrigerator and any other necessary cabinets to get everything
I need at once.  (An interesting note is that I purchased a
"Spicey Shelf" set for this cabinet and for the cabinet over
the baking center.  There were two shelves in the set so it
worked out perfectly.  The set costs $20 at our local Dollar
General.  It's made out of plastic so I don't know how long it
will last, but it does let you get a lot of spice jars into a
small space.)

This shows the greatest feature of my new kitchen...pull-out
drawers!  It's why I think my new kitchen is the greatest!  Since
my knees are over fifty years old and I have a big butt, I no
longer find it easy to get down on the floor to search in the
cabinets for pots, pans, and appliances.  Now I just lean over
and pull the drawers out to get whatever I need.  I'm telling you...
if anyone EVER asks you what you'd like for your birthday,
Christmas, or anniversary, tell them you'd like one (or more)
of these pull out drawers.  Mine are made by Rev-A-Shelf.
They're not cheap, but I'm telling you...they are PRICELESS!
Mine house all of my small appliances, except my grain mill.
On the extreme left:  4-slice toaster and pressure cooker on the
bottom tray with plates, bowls, and cups on the top tray.
Next cabinet pull-out was custom made by My Dear Charming
for the Ronco rotisserie that I got at a yard sale down the street
for $25.00 (I love that thing and use a lot...the rotisserie, I mean.)
The third cabinet holds my blender, tea maker, and slow cooker
on the bottom tray and my George Foreman grill, stick blender,
and electric knife on the top tray.  I've already listed the items
that are stored in the pull out drawers under the baking center (above).
The cabinet to the right of the stove holds all of my cooking pots
on the bottom pull out while the tops for those pots are stored
on the top pull out drawer (plus a few lids for my baking dishes).

My bread machine fits snugly under the cabinets
at the end of the counter (next to the refrigerator).
My dried beans are contained in canning jars that
are neatly labeled and easily reached by turning the
lazy Susan.  The bottom cabinet also has a lazy Susan.
I store all of my Christmas dishes and other party
plates here.  (My sister gave me the old-timey art
work on the right side of the picture.  Thanks, Sis!)

When we moved into this house, the counter tops were black
and had matching laminate on the wall behind the stove.  At
first, I thought it was a very strange idea, but it worked out so
well that we decided to carry it over into our renovation.  Grease
spots simply wipe off with no smears and no special cleaners.

This floor is actually vinyl.  The big box building material
stores (like Lowe's and Home Depot) call it LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tile).
I love it!  After reading all the reviews on all the different types of
floors, we decided to go with this.  It was inexpensive (we have
puppy paws with sharp claws) so we didn't want to put a ton of
money into the floors.  Charming followed the manufacturer's
instructions to the letter and took his time installing the "planks"
(about 3-foot long strips of vinyl).  It came out perfectly.  I use
a dry Swiffer mop to push the dust/dirt into a pile in the center of
the room and then pick the pile up with a hand-held vacuum cleaner.
To wipe up the floor, I use a large spray bottle with a half-cup of
vinegar and fill the rest of the way with water.  I spray a section of
the floor with the vinegar solution and quickly wipe it up with a
dry Swiffer.  It takes me about ten minutes to clean the floor.

A close-up of the cabinets.  I chose an off-white cabinet color
that reminds me of evaporated milk.  (When I was little, my Granny
used to give me coffee that was half coffee mixed with
half evaporated milk and plenty of sugar...Lordy, that
was some great stuff!)  I also chose this style of cabinet hardware
because my Daddy was a carpenter and almost every cabinet
he ever made had this exact hardware on it.  It was what he liked
and I (having many of the same personality traits as he did)
like it as well.  Great memories, all woven into my daily life!

I had this little table in my living room with some plants on it.
The top used to be bare pine wood and got stained by an over-
watered plant.  So I painted the top with white enamel paint
and used black enamel paint around the edge of it to mimic
the enamel top of my baking center.  If you look closely,
you can see the enamel shine in the center of the black edge
of the table top.  (The crocks are not old family heirlooms.
I bought them at yard sales for a few dollars each.  I'm
constantly amazed at the history that people throw away.)

Here's my finished quilted table runner.  I didn't really think the
apples looked like apples until I added the leaves and stems,
but it looks pretty nice on the table.

My niece, Tammy, gave me this picture a long time ago.  It hung on the
wall in my old kitchen and I like it so much that I'm going to re-hang it
in the renovated kitchen on the wall between the big window and
the cabinet where my spices are kept.

The Devil Is In The Details…

February 16, 2015

Charming is, as I write this post, putting some finishing touches on the kitchen…caulking various seams and touching up paint on the walls that got marred by falling broom handles and such.  He’s dealing with his final details and I’m dealing with mine.

This past week, I spent some time working on making a quilted table runner for our table and creating a design for some embroidered tea towels that I wanted to make.  The quilted table runner is a basic design of squares with borders and a few apple appliqués thrown in for good measure.  In coming up with a design for the towels, I was looking for something that would express my love of gardening and “putting up” the harvest.  Since I have a peculiar affection for canning jars, I came up with a sketch of a jar and added a slogan of sorts.  After putting the design on paper, I took a plain thin tea towel that I purchased from Walmart (3 in a pack for $2.97) and laid the towel on top of the design.  I then used an “invisible” marking pen to trace the design onto the towel.  (The “invisible” pens can be purchased from Joann Fabrics for about $3.00.  When you use the pen the ink comes out purple, so you must do your embroidery shortly after you trace your design onto the fabric as the purple ink will fade and become invisible overnight.)

Because I love the kitchen style of the 1930’s and 40’s, I wanted to incorporate as much of that “retro look” as possible.  The embroidered towels and quilted table runner will add a bit of that “old timey” look to the kitchen.  Most of the items in my kitchen will be hand made or hand done, including the braided rug, curtains, chair bottoms, table runner, tea towels, and (of course) my beloved wash tub prep table.  Although the finished product will not be the standard “dream kitchen” of today with stainless steel appliances and marble counter tops, it is definitely turning out to be the kitchen of my dreams.

An example of the embroidered tea towels that I'm working
on.  I used variegated embroidery floss because that's all I had
on hand.  I will use solid colors on the remaining towels as I think
that will look better.

A close-up of the tea towel design.  (I didn't use the "Ball" logo
because of the legalities of infringing on patented logos and trademarks,
so I just made up my own "Home Made" logo.)

The "top" for my quilted table runner.  Those three red things in the
center are supposed to be apples.  They will look more like apples
once I add stems and leaves to them.  The table runner will be shorter
than average and will not hang off the sides of the table, as we have
pets who like to pull on things that hang off the edges of tables.

I have to congratulate myself on purchasing the swirled
brown/black/grey fabric that I used in the table runner (on the right
side of the picture).  I happened to be shopping in Joann Fabric
about a year ago and this caught my eye.  This fabric was
actually purchased before we picked out the counter tops.  It is
a super close match to the counter top on the left side of the picture,
don't you think?

The Apple of My Eye...

February 9, 2015

Bummer…no “big reveal” this week either.  Although I’ve been busy this past week, about the only tangible thing I have to show you is the final art work on my beloved wash tub.  (Yes, to me, it will forever be known as “my beloved wash tub”.  Come to think of it, because it belonged to my grandfather, I really must spend some time thinking about which of my family members would be a worthy heir for this item when I’m gone.  I can envision the family now….instead of saying, “I want that beautiful wash tub!” they’re more likely to be saying “No, YOU take that dumb ole wash tub!”)  Oh well, like Scarlet O’Hara (in Gone With The Wind) said, “I’ll think about that tomorrow.”  

I have tons of things that I need to fit into today, so I must get to it.  I apologize for such a short post, but I promise that next week’s will be much better.

This is the "rough draft" that I showed to you in a previous post.

This past week, the apples on my wash tub matured and the tree
grew leaves.  (I know that a real apple tree wouldn't have mature
apples and apple blossoms at the same time, but I couldn't keep
myself from adding a them.  I do not aspire to be a great
artist; I just wanted a little pop of color in my kitchen.)

Another teaser to keep you interested in the kitchen re-do.
This picture is from last week when Charming was putting
down the floor.  The finished floor looks really good.  I
don't think  most people would guess that it's actually
vinyl (plank) flooring.  Charming is a perfectionist when it
comes to the renovation so it's been a slow go.  However,
he has done an absolutely wonderful job on everything!

Well, Smack My Face and Call Me a Liar…

February 2, 2015

You’ve probably already guessed by the title of this post, but I can’t post pictures of the finished kitchen because it is not actually “finished” yet.  I could give you all kinds of reasons like the weather, medical appointments, unexpected trips to Lowe’s and Home Depot, but bottom line is that the renovation completion date has been moved again. 

To offset that huge disappointment (because I just know you anxiously await my blog posts like I anticipate episodes of Downton Abbey), I am posting pictures of my finished braided rug which will go in the kitchen.  It’s a bit smaller than it should be, but it now measures 5 foot 10 inches by 4 foot 10 inches.  At that size, I have exhausted all possibilities of big flat surfaces in my house that will allow me to keep the rug flat as I work on it.  (Well I could work on the floor I guess, but then Charming would have to call a tow truck to help get me up.)  I started working on the rug on the counter top in my craft room then I had to move to the kitchen table.  After it outgrew the kitchen table, I had to move to our queen-sized bed.  When it began to hang over the edge of the bed, I was forced to wrestle the 25-pound rug (plus the 17-pound cat that follows the rug wherever I put it) as I turned the rug to add the rows of braids.  So I decided the rug was big enough to lend a touch of that “homespun” feel to the kitchen.  Below are more pictures than you probably want to see, but I’m a huge fan of braided rugs.

Oh…I also need to mention that I’m adding yet another “page” to this blog.  It lists classes that I will be teaching under my business name of Blue Ridge School of Mountain Arts.  Most of the classes that I will be teaching utilize the same or similar skills employed by my ancestors who lived in the area of the Blue Ridge Mountains that is now known as the Shenandoah National Park.  There will also be a few crafty classes such as making buttons and other items from polymer clay.  Class atmosphere will be extremely laid back and informal, as if you were learning something from a family member.  I will update the class list as new classes become available.  The page is located at the top of the blog, under the tab entitled, “Upcoming Classes”.  Please be sure to read the first paragraph on that page, before you read the class list, as it explains the different ways to register for the classes.

If you recall, this was my first picture of the braided
rug when it was started.

Here is the finished rug, laid out in front of our sofa.

A little closer up so you can see the definition in the
"rounds" of color.

An even closer up picture that shows the colors that make up
the color scheme in my kitchen.  I will have mostly tan,
gray, black and reds.  (Sounds pretty dreary and awful, I know,
but I tend to lean towards muted colors when decorating.)

As it'll look under the table.  Note that in selecting
my color scheme, I was going for that "traditional"
look and I think it turned out pretty well.

A slightly different angle.  (The table is centered on the rug.)