It is ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!

I am going to look at it again and again.

Oh, my goodness. This is just fabulous! Thanks so much for sharing.

-Susan

arlosmom -

question on your approach of painting your cabs yourself. how did they come out, would you do it again, any watch outs? am considering the same approach but concerned if finish will hold up and not look too hand done. any insight is appreciated.

babushka

I agree with Francois47, Your updated vintage kitchen is beautiful. The OC-13 "Soft Chamois" paint color is perfect also for your cabinets since it looks creamy without being too yellow. I must try out a sample if I decide to paint my cabinet doors. I also love your floors!

Question for Arlosmom:

As you probably guessed from my comment above, I also love very worn old Persian rugs, and have been looking for the perfect one for my kitchen for a year now.

So, where exactly on e-bay have you had success? I've been stalking local rug merchants, house sales, and a few online rugsellers, but to no avail. Any guidance would be appreciated! (I'm somewhat handicapped by the limited floor space available, and the presence of a centuries-old 6'x7' Belgian tapestry nearby that needs to play nice with any rug.)

Hope you have some suggestions!

angelina_101

Sigh. I love everything about your kitchen. If only I could replicate its flavor and not have it seem out of my place in my '90s home.

Oh My Golly!!! What a kitchen! It is fabulous, and I love the view from the kitchen out to the back porch. The rugs are also wonderful, and I like Angelina would love to know your sources. Everything about it is grand. I cannot believe you painted those cabinets yourself. They are a masterpiece. You have extreme talent.

By the way, when you see a strange family of four outside your backdoor this weekend peering in with suitcases, that would be me and my fam. We are moving in!

It really makes me smile to see comments from all you folks who have been around here as long as I have. I don't comment on posts as regularly as some of you, but I still feel like we're old friends. I doubt I'll ever meet any of you in person, but I feel a kind of community with my fellow long-timers. Isn't that one of the things that makes gardenweb such a great "place"?

plllog, you just love the Costco cupboard, don't you? I have to fess up that it wasn't really my invention. Crownpoint used to offer the blind cabinet sliders in combination with pie-shaped shelves that mounted on the door (similar to the ones some company offers now that swing on hinges but sit opposite of the door). They had a lot of problems with people putting too much weight on the shelves and over-straining the hinges so they discontinued that blind corner solution. I asked them for just the slider portion, and they were willing to do that part for me. I'm not a fan of lazy susans in old houses, but I didn't want to lose the valuable storage space.

rhome410, you remember my stressing over my mahogany window! With support from my GW friends, I painted it white and never looked back. I have NO regrets about that decision...not sure why it was so difficult to make on my own.

jenva2010, my green "toolbox" is actually a breadbox. I keep bread and chips in it. If the white one you're looking at has any little holes in it for ventilation, it was probably intended to be a breadbox too. And if it's a breadbox, you don't need justification, you just need the breadbox!!

babushka cat (great name), painting the cabinets was a big job, but very do-able. I pained the uppers before they were installed because I thought it would be much easier to reach all the awkward angles from the ground. All of the lower cabinets, doors, and drawers I painted after they were installed. I really prefer the look of hand brushed paint to sprayed paint...I love the subtle brush strokes. I would definitely do it again, although I hope I don't have to any time soon. I used oil based paint, which I have always loved working with. There are some tricks to painting with oil, but it has slow dry times and self-levels pretty well so it is somewhat forgiving once you get the hang of it. Long, even brush strokes in the right direction, with not too much or too little paint on the brush is key. Sand lightly between coats. I started with 3 coats, but got worn out and switched to 2 coats.

angelina101, when I look for rugs on ebay, I start with "rugs" in the category of "antiques". That'll give you about 50,000 hits. Then on the left side if you scroll down, you can select by age. I typically look first at the "pre 1900" rugs because that's where most of the beat up ones that I love get tend to get categorized...that'll narrow your search to about 1,000 or so. From there, you can sort by either "ending soonest" or price: low to high. If you are patient and look once a week or so over time, you'll see some gems.

louisanapurchase, you made me laugh out loud! I'll be sure to bake a coffee cake this weekend so that when you and your family show up with suitcases, I'll be ready!!!

Thanks to all for your nice comments.

I remember that sink!!!!!!

The sink, the sink, the sink!!!

I have always adored your kitchen. Being the "restoration obsessed" type that I am, let me just say, I am SO proud of you! :-)

I'm in the process of painting my own cabinets with Impervo (waterborne). You will be my inspiration to finish!

:-)
francy

Love your kitchen! My grandmother had a sink just like that and oh I wish I had that sink! I have a question about your backsplash. I know you said it is antique by Ann Sacks but does it have a crackle finish. If you get a chance would you mind posting a closeup of your backsplash behind your stove? Thanks so much.

What a lovely kitchen. You must be very proud.

I especially like the cabinet for the sink and the sink. Both have immense charm.

I also really like the dark hood and how it gives "weight" to the room.

bayareafrancy, how are you? It's time to buckle down and finish painting your cabinets! I remember when you were trying to do it at some uncivilized time like 2 in the morning. Anyway, finish and post pictures!!!

e4849, thanks for your kind words. My talented husband made the curved front portions of the sink cabinet, so I'm especially proud of that.

sis2two, the subway tile does have a crackle finish, but it might just be from age. The tile is actual antique tile from an architectural salvage store. The egg and dart liner tile is Pratt & Larsen. Here's a close-up (crackle shows most in upper right tile):

LOL!! Yes, I love the Costco cupboard. I have a large blind cupboard by my laundry sink. The cabinetmaker made the rollouts part of the shelves, so they're height adjustable. The sorting baskets go on the accessible parts of the shelves. They're fabulous! And I owe the design to you. (Okay, I'll add Crownpoint to the credit, but it's really all you...)

I'm another who was around a couple years ago when doing my kitchen and remembers your postings. I check in from time to time, and more so lately because my DD is sprucing up a 60 yr. old Cape she & SIL just bought.

Add me to the chorus of people singing the praises of the job you did on your kitchen. I love every detail. Congrats!

WOW. Absolutely charming with tons of character. Three things I love the most - the long, antique washbasin style sink, the dark hood, and the wall paint colour. GORGEOUS.

Your kitchen is absolutely gorgeous. I honestly think I like it better than any other I have seen on here. Congratulations on a job well done! It is superbly period, and almost English. Thank you for sharing it and also along the way you were so helpful with ideas for my kitchen. I took a lot of inspiration from your range backsplash and your lighting. Your hood looks spectacular. The kitchen looks like it has been there forever, nothing fake about it. I never did see the original. Did you ever post "before" pics? One of these days I will post my finished kitchen... but I know what it is like... you never feel like you are quite done!

Love it. What is your soapstone?

OK, I'm missing something here. I can't find the first reference to the Costco cupboard. What are you all talking about?

hi buffalotina! Wow, what a nice compliment! One of the things I'm happiest about with the space is how well it feels like it fits with the rest of the old house. I've looked for your finished kitchen several times...post it please! It always looked like it was going to be a wonderful space.

jenswrens, my soapstone is Santa Rita. It's one of the soft ones. I've gotten a few little dings and scratches, but I absolutely love it.

paual2010, I call my blind corner cabinet with sliders my 'Costco cupboard' because it's where I store the bulk items that I only need occasionally. I made the reference a long, long, long time ago and the name stuck. So you didn't miss anything, some of the old timers around here just have a long memory. :)

This is it:

OK, I am going to have to take the pictures of my kitchen, actually it is really as finished as it ever will be. I am just finishing the top of my Boos Block island/table, when that is done and back in place I will take pictures, hopefully in the next week or two and I'll post. Yours is awesome, really beautiful.

I just looked at your photobucket site and saw the old kitchen - love that built in cabinet. I love how you posted pics of all the storage and those drawers in the powder room are wonderful. Also the powder room paint color is gorgeous: what are your colors in there and the kitchen? I love the little curtain under the kitchen sink: straight out of Bungalow Kitchens - perfect period touch.

Arlos mom,

I've been LOOKING for these photos ever since I joined and read a message saying that your kitchen was a favorite. I combed FKB but couldn't find it anywhere. So glad to finally see the magic!

Really excellent. Can you tell me the source for your roman shades in the posted photo? Thanks!

It's just the perfect marriage of timeless, timely and warm...I love how it seems so naturally in tune with your home. Thanks for also sharing the Costco cupboard--used it for my office!!!

Positively perfect in every way! Sooo jealous of that sink! I love the furniture feet on the cabinets - is it hard to clean in there??

I am still drooling.

This has to be one of my all time favorites on GW. It is timeless. So charming-- and I could just step right in there and feel at home. In fact, I'm heading over now. LOL.

This will be one I keep going back to over and over again.

*sigh*

ArlosMom,

Thanks for posting this. I, too, am renovating my early 20th century kitchen...and its nice to see that I could get sufficient (and pretty) lighting without resorting to recessed. :-)

buffalotina -- the powder room paint is Duron 8904M (Lilac memento) and the kitchen color is Dusty Trail by American Pride paints from our green building products store.

mercurygirl, I made the roman shades myself. I couldn't find ready-mades that would fit, and I couldn't quite stomach the cost of custom shades. I found instructions online. They were a little time consuming to make, but not hard. They're natural colored linen lined with white cotton.

joyjoyjoy, the furniture legs are easy to clean, but it's an endless task -- the long skinny hardwood floor brush of the vacuum fits back there, so it's just a matter of dragging out the vacuum.

navi jen, I was adament about no can lights in my kitchen. To me, if my work spaces are well lit, I'm happy. I use the under counter flueorescent lights all the time, and my range hood has 3 halogen bulbs which I love love love. I use the pendant lights over the sink and the back counter quite a bit, but I almost never turn on the center light fixture. I feel like I have plenty of light. Have fun renovating your early 20th century kitchen!! I love houses of our vintage.

marytw, firsthouse mp, and shelayne, thanks for your warm words. I enjoy my kitchen every day, and i hope you enjoy yours just as much!!

How did I miss these great pictures of your finished kitchen, arlosmom?! It is a beautiful as I remember and so perfectly done. Congratulations on the new camera and the nice pictures that it takes!

Sandy

I have a foursquare built around the same time.. funny no one can figure out when our house was built! I posted on my layout thread about an original kitchen cabinet that is being used in the basement. It is nearly identical to the bottom of your hutch in the breakfast room. I cant work it into my kitchen but may try for another spot in the house someday..

We had a sink like that in the basement too - just a bit smaller but we took it the dump when we first moved in. It was a terrible mess. Makes me wish I had looked at it just a little closer.. Maybe I can convince my husband to add on first, and then i can copy your kitchen from top to bottom.. its seriously perfect!

Beyond amazing, so thoughtfully and intentionally brought to life. Love that sink and all of the wonderful period details. I agree with the poster who said this looks like an especially lovely working kitchen, not merely a shrine to a bygone era.

Well done! When may we expect to see the magazine spread? ;-)

Your kitchen is perfect. The antique lighting is perfect - the sink is fabulous and I would have bought the house just for the sink! Also would love to have a wide window and wide sill like that.

I am getting a black VentAHood with black ducting to the ceiling, but they describe it as "painted". How were you able to accomplish the powder coating?

LOVE your kitchen. Love everything about it. Can't believe I missed it when you first posted. What else-envy, jealous-you have a German bread box that is-no words to describe-love the pale green color. Your kitchen feels so homy and comfortable!!

Arlosmom - perfect in every way!! I remember the agonizing over the window, and how wonderfully that came out. I am so glad you are posting for the FKB - yours will be a kicthen that will inspire many, exp that infamous Costco corner :-)

Congrats and ENJOY.

Eliz

txgardenlady, I DID buy the house for the sink, LOL. I loved the sink and the paisley wallpaper in the old kitchen. We had our range hood made by a local metal fabricator. He gave us samples of about half a dozen powder coat options and I took them home and played with them -- greasing them up, scrubbing them off. I picked the finish we got because it showed the grease less and didn't catch paper towel lint when I cleaned it. So far I've been really happy with it.

joyjoyjoy, we outfitted the bottom of that cabinet with wine storage. It holds a few cases. It's now my favorite cabinet. :)

chris45ny, I love my breadbox. I pack a lunch for DH every morning standing right in front of it. Bread and chips are in the box, lunchmeat, mustard and mayo in the fridge right behind. Plastic storage containers in the drawer by my feet. It works perfectly, and I get to commune with my breadbox first thing in the morning. Life is good.

yesdear and elizpiz, yours are two of my favorite kitchens. Thanks for taking the time to look at mine.

Happy cooking all!!

I like your kitchen and especially the sink. Did you have it re-glazed or re-porcelained or was it in excellent shape?

Your kitchen looks incredible, I LOVE it!

You've really captured the essence of a vintage kitchen! I don't think i've ever seen one done so well, and im not even seeing it IRL. Awesome!! ;o)

So glad someone brought this thread back up!

I love all your choices and would love to have your kitchen transplanted here!

Count me as another one with sink envy. We are putting the same sink in our new kitchen, but, alas, it only has the one sideboard. Ours is stamped 1940 on the bottom and is a Kohler. You may be able to find the date of yours with a flashlight if you climb under it, lol. Our is waiting in the garage for 3 years now... sigh.... I would seriously have loved the double kind, but we got ours free from freecycle, so I am not complaining, lol.

I see so many elements in your house that will be in ours soon enough. The hex tiles, lavender color, sink, chrome Chicago faucet (diff style) and we are even going to try to approximate similar to your funky wallpaper with 2 tone paint and stencils in our bedroom on an accent wall. I am not certain exactly which 2 colors I will use, but love the basic idea of it. Our house will be younger vintage as I am shooting for a late 30's and 40s look, lol.

BTW - another way to find out the age of a house is if any of the toilets are original to the house. The older ones had the date of manufacture stamped under the tank lid.

quiltgirl, I looked into having the sink re-glazed or re-porcelained, but I wasn't convinced that I'd end up with something better or more durable than I started with. My sink is in good to pretty darn good condition for an 80 year old sink, but it isn't perfect or even excellent. In making the decision to keep it rather than getting a new shaws farm sink, I had to come to terms with living with the imperfections. The apron and backsplash are great -- shiny, only a tiny chip here and there -- and the drainboards are in very good shape overall. The bowl of the sink has its issues. My biggest complaint is that it stains easily, but I've learned to give it a quick rinse after I pour anything in it like coffee or wine. Barkeepers Friend is the best thing I've found to bleach it back quickly and easily. We also found a grid for the bottom of the sink that fits like it was made for it. I think that helps keep it cleaner too.

Mostly, I just decided to love it "warts and all" (as bayareafrancy would say).

dianalo, I can't wait to see your sink installed. It sounds like you're having fun pulling together all of your vintage details. I didn't really plan mine with any strict adherence to a specific date. I made decisions the felt right and am happy with how it all pulled together. We're pretty certain about the age of our house. We have ownership records back to the beginning, and we know our house was designed by a local architect that did several other houses in the neighborhood. We do have an original toilet on the basement...out of curiosity I'll check to see what's under the tank lid.

Arlosmom - I hope it is not tacky to ask, but do you remember how much your liner tile cost? I have been thinking about it ever since I saw your pics. I also wonder how a black version would look. I hope it would be gray at the lighter parts and concentrated black in the crevices. I will be meeting with a tile person at a fancy schmancy tile store next week because they are the only ones who carry Mission Tile West near here, and they may carry Pratt & Larsen as well. Luckily, we had decided to splurge on the custom 2" figure 8 liner from them as our big extravagance and then later that day found out our builder is the neighbor of the manager and has done work for her. He called her and she told him he'd get a discount on the tiles, which he is passing on to me.
{{gwi:1833780}}
This is a crude attempt to mock up our backsplash. The plan is to put a 1/2" plain black liner on each side of our custom ones (as seen in the mockup), but after seeing your tile, I wonder if yours as the 1/2" ones would be much better. The egg and dart may soften up our geometric edges a little.
Or, we could do the style that has the top 2" cap with the egg and dart built in, therefore combining the 2 inch top planned with your liner. That would mean only doing 1 pricier upscale "line" instead of 2 (2 x a lower price may still be a higher total). In any case, the pattern is really cool and I am hoping to work it into my design somehow.

Love your FLOORS, SOAPSTONE, CABINETS, SINK & FAUCET, STAINED GLASS WINDOW, love your Kitchen - Congratulations! How do you like all of the special features and finishes: Soapstone, Floors etc.? Where did you find your lovely cabinets? Is there anything that you wish you had chosen or that you miss, besides the old Kitchen! Did you use a Kitchen designer or general contractor? We are about to move into an 80 year old house and renovate the Kitchen by ourselves. This is not our 1st remodel but we are a bit overwhelmed because this new OLD Kitchen has Vintage Steel Cabinets by YOUNGSTOWN, that need to be painted! We have been searching for ideas and just found the Farrow & Ball Paint website! Really like some of the blue colors like Teresa's Green #236 and Green Blue #84 and Dix Blue #82. Also, there is a Vintage, JUST, Stainless Steel 13 foot long Counter-top and Double Bowl Sinks, built in! And we need a Range Hood, really like yours, where might we find one like it? We must have a new Faucet and there is only one hole in the Stainless Steel for the Faucet! Any suggestions for an affordable, functional Faucet with the pull down or built in sprayer head that may compliment the look? Maybe you will be able to see our pictures, here in the Photo Gallery. Thank you for any ideas and help that you may be able to share, Roseofblue

Roseofblue, regarding the hood, there is a thread where Arlosmom graciously responded to my question about her fabulous hood. If you search her name you will find it.

this is one of best looking kitchens ive seen on here yet. BEAUTIFUL JOB!

hi dianalo, I saw your post about visiting the fancy tile store. Hopefully you found tiles you loved there. I don't remember specifically what our egg and dart tiles cost, but it was something crazy -- $13 each? $17 each? Luckily I only needed 12 of them, so it was manageable. Personally though, I think your lavender and black pattern has enough complexity already. I think that adding a textured tile as a border might be too competing. Just a thought...

roseofblue, I added the link to the earlier post about my range hood below. I hope that gives you the info you're looking for. In answer to your other questions, we adore our soapstone and our pine floors. The rest of our house has heart pine floors as well. The cabinets are from Crownpoint. We didn't have a KD, but I worked one-on-one (via phone and internet) with a Crownpoint designer to get the cabinets exactly as we wanted them. Our contractor did the install. There is almost nothing I would change about our kitchen. I might make the back windows casement rather than double hung so they'd be easier to open, but that's about it. I know that a reno can feel so overwhelming, but just take it slow and think through your options for everything. It'll fall into place. You stainless counters and sink sound wonderful!

zenstella, thank you!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: earlier post with hood info

Thank you all so much for your help, have a Happy Day, Roseofblue

I really love this kitchen. Very very very nice.

Wow! That is a stunner. To have that double drainboard sink still there is amazing My grandmother had one of those and I wish we had ripped it out and kept it when we sold her house. I was too young to realize when it was sold though.

The costco cabinet is ingenious! I have been agonizing over the corners in my U-shaped kitchen for the past couple of days. Is it just sliding drawers retrofitted into the space? Did you do put this into the cabinet before the install or after? I apologize if you answered this already. I did go through the posts quickly but did not see a detailed explanation other than to mention it's name.

I don't know how I missed this but holy COW! What a beautiful, beautiful kitchen! So gorgeous... love it.
You must be enjoying cooking in there!

Heart pine is my very favorite flooring. Our first house had all heart pine floor. They are so warm and beautiful and so durable.

I know you said what color you painted the walls. But what about the cabinets/woodwork? What color is that?