Begun
Recently, I posted this image of the kitchen in the carriage house. It has looked like this since 2015. However, it has now been…activated. The famous green sink will…but of course, dahlink…be installed under the center window. There will be no cabinet under.
This may not seem exciting, but Ross is VERY excited. THE FIRST NEW WIRING!
The old brick chimney is falling down above the roof level. So, it will soon be taken down above the roof, in the attic, and to the ugly angled part in the kitchen. The rest will remain, and I plan to insert inside it a new flue for the hot water heater in the basement.
I have piles of the T&G trim stored away, from the interior of the rear extension I removed in 2014.
It has so much paint on it that it has alligatored. Today though, I thought: why not reuse the wood as a 4-foot-high wainscot in the kitchen? The wood will also work as a backsplash to the counters. After painting the wood (green!), I think it will look quite well, and the alligatoring will (I hope) offer a nice texture.
I am planning to (sigh) reuse the brown Home Depot never-used base cabinets installed in early 2104, just before I purchased the property. Atop these will be walnut butcher block counters. The handles and knobs will be, yes, green glass! There will only be two upper cabinets…
…which I made about two decades ago but have been stored ever since. The poor dears.
The goal is to create a stunning kitchen an a $1.98 budget. Another factor is just is, well, just basic decency. Throwing away the Home Depot cabinets is environmentally irresponsible. Ditto for the old-growth T&G. Can I make cheap cabinets look good? Can I make heavily overpainted wood look good?
I think…maybe.
And, rather than buy new appliances, I have begun looking at Facebook Marketplace for used appliances.
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I think the headboard will be fabulous! Well, I think everything will be. But ESPECIALLY that. Love the texture.
Can that alligatored wainscoting wood be salvaged? You bet. The entire exterior of my house looked like that when I moved in. It took the painters weeks but they managed to remove it all and the paint job turned out great.
A green wainscoting to match the sink would be beautiful. And how fortuitous those two cabinets you made are the same shade of green. Butcher block is a great choice. It is also thrifty. I’ve decided to put one on the top of the “island” I’m repurposing from a small sideboard.
With cream or off white walls matching your two small cabinets to offset all of the green it will pop. You might paint those repurposed Home Depot cabinets the same color. Paint and hardware can do wonders.
I love the detail on your cabinets, especially the glass doors.
You are so lucky to have so many windows in that small kitchen.
Just because something is cheap doesn’t mean it can’t look good. Paint and hardware make a huge difference.Can’t wait to see it finished.
For stripping paint, have you ever used one of these?
https://eco-strip.com/product/speedheater-cobra/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwqKuKBhCxARIsACf4XuGm7Gt-55rfYd9xe6ulT36HCECkwxsw8pw30ZR4Iv3WCjV_wAYaDIQaAruuEALw_wcB
The more layers of paint the better it seems to work. And no lead vapor created.
It changed my life. 🙂
Ginger, I purchased one a few months back! It is, indeed, wonderful!
Those base cabinets may look better painted. You might also think about replacing the doors to a design reflecting an earlier era.
Sell or give away or trade the Home Depot cabinets. Buy vintage/antique cabinets to make the kitchen you would be happy to use and/or show off. A little dinged up ? Paint them. The carriage house would have had basic utilitarian fixtures and finishes. Don’t disgrace that wonderful green sink with crud from HD fer cryin’out loud !
How resourceful and creative Ross is!
The cabinet you built is remarkable!
I ageee about HD cabinets being dissonant among creative and vintage elements! However time is money & the Carriage House needs to be renovated. It should be utilitarian but nice. All essential and crumbling aspects shored up and to be dandy.
All outside crumbling pieces asap as fall is upon us and …. and bad weather looms…..
Have you done a tour of the wallpaper in the carriage house? If not it would be so great to see, they look charming 🙂
Go here.
Thank you!
I second Gabby’s desire for a wallpaper tour.
I think the kitchen plan will look wonderful. I do have a slight concern about that visually attractive, but hard to clean, texture used as a kitchen back splash. I have a talent for getting tomato sauce in amazing places.
“Well begun is half done,” quoted Aristotle and Mary Poppins, two of the Internet’s favorite philosophers. I know you’re not half done, but I bet it feels great to be on your way. And I’m guessing Cody will enjoy seeing the progress on the kitchen as he preps for his move to Kansas. I know I will enjoy watching.
Can’t wait to see the revision
Nothing wrong with working with what you have. With your touch – it’ll be awesome! 🙂
Do you have a “Freecycle” in your area? Sometimes you can get appliances and cabinets for free when someone is remodeling. Last I checked you only had to offer one thing for free to join but that may have changed. There is also Craigslist and often times there are community newspapers or websites.
It would be nice to get period cabinets but in such a humble kitchen I doubt they were much different in design from a basic cabinet. What may be different are dimensions and quality of materials and workmanship. I know because my kitchen cabinets were stickbuilt in place from real, solid wood. Those POS base cabinets are likely particle board glued and pressed chips and sawdust. Even if they don’t get wet they won’t last. Since they are simple base cabinets any way you can build your own with good lumber?
Have you considered an opaque jadeite glass instead of the clear for the knobs and pulls?
The holes on the sink look to be farther apart than modern sinks. Are you going to put two faucets on it? If it fits, have you considered a wall mounted Dishmaster? That’s what I ended up using in my kitchen.
https://dishmasterfaucet.com/collections/dishmaster-faucet-m76-m76xl-imperial-four/products/dishmaster-faucet-m76-imperial-four-chrome
8 inch centers but can be adjusted from 6 to 10 inch centers.