Lovely job! So nice that you were able to keep your old sink, which is just amazing!

What a great job and it really is in keeping with the original style/kitchen and house! Enjoy it!

arlosmom, What a tranformation! You did a great job of preserving the old with the new! Just beautiful! Really love your soapstone. How are you liking it?

LOVE that sink! You've done a great job. I'd love to come sit on that porch:)

Very charming and cozy. I love it all, especially the sink and the sink cabinet details. You did a wonderful job!

Beautiful! You certainly did a beautiful period redo. Tell us about your hood.

Just perfect!!! One would never know that this wasn't original to the house,(except that it looks new...LOL!!!) What I'm trying to say is you did a terrific job of blending the old with the new. Love the soapstone and how some parts of the kitchen still feel "unfitted". Great job!

I am so glad to see you kept many elements of the old kitchen :) (The hutch and sink) and the feel of it as well, without the hug LOL It's so gorgeous!

Goodness, this should be required study for everyone with old houses. You have done a *fabulous* job of respecting and appreciating the old while integrating the new. To you and DH: BRAVI!

What a great "antique" kitchen! Love you sink and the fixtures and the window above the sink is fabulous! Are those antique eastlake drawer pulls or reproductions? They look so authentic! The kitchen really fits your house nicely. The porch looks comfy too. What did you end up doing with your butcher block?

I liked the before kitchen (old house nut here) but the new one looks like it will be MUCH more functional. Great job!

This is a kitchen after my own heart! I love the way you used salvage and old materials and I love the old look. It's just the kind of cabinets that draw me, down to the coke bottle opener on the one in the breakfast room! Actually, is that cabinet original to the house? What kind of countertop is on it, is it wood or soapstone? I think you made a good decision to reproduce the upper cabinets in the new kitchen to match these.

The pale blue of your old sink cabinet is similar to the color I have in mind for the run of cabinets that will contain my sink (a long shaw's fireclay) when I remodel.

A couple of questions. What time period would you say your kitchen represents? Maybe the 30s? And what kind of wood is on the floors?

Enjoy!

Absolutely beautiful. Great decisions on every detail. I love it - the cabinets, the soapstone. The black and white. It's perfect.

Absolutely charming! I love everything about it.

Love, love it, love it!!! I'm in a rush now but can tell at one glance that this is one I must come back and study in great detail. I'm already deeply inspired! Be back later with more specific gushing praise, I'm sure. In the meantime, big congratulations!

Wow, it's beautiful and I'm stealing ideas from you like crazy. I'd already picked the glass accent tile for my white splashback to match my old blue/green mason jars but I love seeing that color used as accent in your gorgeous new kitchen. I also have an old (really old) chopping block that is staying in my kitchen. Thanks for sharing.

Wow! Just Wow! You have done a beautiful job and I love how you used the old sink. The soapstone is gorgeous and perfect for your house. You have a great eye for detail! Thank you for sharing and enjoy the gorgeous space! I can see why you wanted to save the old, too!

Oh, I see the butcher block, next to the fridge with a microwave? on top.

Beautiful! And that sink!!! You did a great job!

I absolutely love it! You did a wonderful job! It is so charming and inviting. WOW!

Be still my heart, your kitchen is perfection! I love what you have done to maintain the intergrity of your old home, yet update it to modern times. It is just beautiful and I'm sure you are enjoying every square inch of it. Congratulations!

Gorgeous kitchen, great job!
I want that door, the one leading out to the porch!

I am blown away. This is fantastic. I would LOVE to stand there and knead bread or roll out pie crusts in front of that window. I'm so glad you kept the sink!

What you've done is beautiful, and more so for the gorgeous decorative elements from the old house that you purposefully integrated into the new design. It just speaks easy elegance and great comfort. Enjoy it to the full!

Absolutely gorgeous! I love everything that you have done. Those light fixtures are beautiful and that sink! I'm so glad that you used the sink! The kitchen just fits right in with an old house. You did a fantastic job.

Upon rereading your original post I saw that your house was built in 1904. That was such a great time for house building, when houses were so comfortable and homey.

I have another question for you: how tall is the ceiling in your new kitchen, and is it the same as in the breakfast room? Thanks!

This is the kitchen of my dreams--I absolutely adore it! I'd love to see pics of how the addition fits onto the house. I so wanted an older home but got stuck with a 50s odd-ball. Congrats!

Wow, I'm overwhelmed with all your nice comments. My husband and I are old house nuts, but I thought a lot of our details were things we'd only notice ourselves.

pluckymama -- we LOVE our soapstone. It scratches more easily than I expected, but that's ok...we like things that look like they've had a life.

eandhl -- we had our hood made by a local metal fabricator. I'd seen a photo on the Kitchens We Love site and we basically had it copied. The innards are a standard hood insert.

mom2lilenj (fellow old house nut) -- Our bin pulls are antique. An elderly neighbor let my husband clean out her husband's basement workshop (we filled the subaru wagon four times!) and that's where the first 4 came from. The rest we were able to match from ebay. Hopefully the microwave on the butcher block is a very short-term thing. The butcher block will stay next to the fridge, but it will have two shelves above for the microwave and cookbooks. Here's a better view:
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egganddart -- yes, the breakfast room cabinet is original to the house. It was built in place, and the beadboard in the back of the cabinet is also the wall of the kitchen stairwell (does that make sense? you can see what I mean in the picture of the kitchen stairs below). The cabinet has a wood counter that I assume is heart pine...that is what the rest of the cabinet is made from too. Our floors throughout the house are heart pine, and that's what we used in the addition except in the bathrooms which are tile. In the kitchen, we went with wide planks, random width from 8" to 12". Ceiling height in both the original house and the new kitchen is 9'3".

avajen -- the door to the screened porch was our very best salvage score! My husband found it on ebay and we drove almost 5 hours to pick it up...we're a little nuts. But it closely matches the window style in our stairwell, so we had to have it. Here's looking up the stairs from the kitchen:
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and here's the rest of the stairwell seen from the living room (kitchen stairs and living room stairs meet at a landing below these windows):
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Amazing staircase and window! Your house is so full of character and has such a homey feel. Your new kitchen looks like it just belongs there.

I love everything you did in your wonderful home. I too used all salvage for my remodel...it feels so good to know that you are saving these things from being buried in a landfill. You and your DH did an awesome job. c

Well, I said I'd be back with gushing praise. But the words really do don't justice to what I'm feeling about your kitchen. Your kitchen truly is my idea of a dream kitchen -- one that is artful and pretty, functional and clever, green and respectful of architecture and history. You've got it all. But most important -- this is a REAL kitchen!!!! I can't say it enough.

Without a doubt, there are tons of kitchens on these pages with which I've had a virtual love affair. I've seen kitchens -- from contemporary to traditional, high-end designed to DIY that I've oohed and aahed over nonstop. Among those, I've seen kitchens that are so fabulous that they just make me want to pack up and move in and forget all about my own reno. I've also seen kitchens that are beyond reach -- the kind that make me feel like, "gee, I'll never have anything like that."

And, then, there are those kitchens that make the very top of my list because they are fabulously REAL kitchens! That means they are warm. And friendly. And loving. And inviting. And comforting. And reassuring. And supremely liveable. And totally workable and, OMG, just wonderful kitchens made for REAL people! They rarely shout $$$$ (even if a substantial budget went into creating them). Instead what they shout is love and friends and family, home and hearth and health. (Oh, gee. I am getting a bit carried away, am I not?) Let me just wrap this up by saying, that whenever I see those kitchens, I am reminded of what I set out to do in the first place with my own reno. And, although these reminders have a way of resetting the bar even higher, I am also and simultaneously reminded of what a kitchen is for and for whom. Thank you! You and this marvelous old/new kitchen of yours have made my day!

WOW I can't believe you found that many matching antique pulls (18-19?)! That's great!! I thought my find of 9 matching solid bronze antique latches was good, LOL.

I understand the driving 5 hours for that door. It matches perfectly. I've diven great distances too to pick up "just the right thing" for my house too. I'm still looking for my perfect front door.

I'm also amazed that you found all your matching antique pulls! I love old houses, and would definitely drive a long way to find anything that was "perfect". We looked for a nice old house in our town, but there was very little to choose from. So we did a lot to give our incredibly dull house character and make it look old with salvaged and reclaimed materials. It may be weird, but it's a passion! It's nice to know there are others out there!

flyleft: nice use of the word "bravi"!! It takes an italian geek like me to appreciate it!

Awww! Your kitchen makes me weak in the knees. I'll just pull up your photos anytime I'm second-guessing the giant antique sink I'm waiting to build a kitchen around. Great job!

The details in your house are so unique and amazing! I can see why it spoke to you. I love what you did with the kitchen addition. It's as though those rooms were always there it fits in so well with the flavor of your home. Beautiful!

Beautiful kitchen!! You have done a WONDERFUL job preserving the past in an updated fashion. If I didn't have my new kitchen... I'd want yours!!! It's gorgeous!

what a house! what a sink!!

when i first saw the old kitchen with the sink, I said, PLEASE tell me she reuses the sink... so glad you did! it is a beautiful kitchen and just perfect in your space.

I love the door and the stairwell too and your soapstone. what a charming house. you've done a great job.

I am with all the other posters, particularly marthavila...it is so fabulously real and warm. Wow, wow and wow. Yours has officially entered my very small pantheon of inspiration kitchens, along with pirula's and mamadadapaige's. I will be looking at those pix again and again--whether we remodel here and/or in another house (but that's another story...).

and that sink...sigh...

congrats congrats!

I love your kitchen. What can I say that hasn't been already said? Every picture exudes warmth and love. You can feel it through the pictures. The house is loving it! What a great place to cook. So warm and inviting and cozy (not close together but warm cozy like a wonderful soft bathrobe that you love, just after it comes out of the dryer on a cold day). Great job. I just love your kitchen. It is classic.

Wow, how pretty!

Sue

We joke that the sink has cost us many many thousands of dollars. If I'd been willing to part with the sink, we could have figured out how to fit a dishwasher into the old kitchen and tucked a powder room into one end of the old pantry (old pantry was 5' by 12') and been done with it. But NOOO, the sink absolutely had to stay. So instead, we designed a whole addition around it, LOL. But it was love at first sight with me and that sink. It was one of the things that made me want to buy the house. For my husband, it was the stairwell windows and the big trees.

Here's before the addition:
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Here's an in-progress picture of what the addition looks like from the back. Now that there are leaves on the trees, this view is obscured. On the second floor, we made the smallest bedroom into a bathroom and added a new bedroom beyond. No more taking showers standing in the old claw-foot tub! Our new bathroom has a cool salvage score too...sink from ebay!
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Thanks for all your warm comments. Marthavila, you absolutely made my day. Thanks.

I'm sitting here alone, looking at your post and said aloud, "please tell me that you kept that sink" and then "ahhh, you did." I think you may have been banished forever from the forum if you hadn't!

What a lovely house with tasteful and thoughtful updates; congratulations.

Linda

I just love your house. What a great job you have done. Sink reminds me of one I used to have in a classic California Bungalow built in 1904. I loved that house. I love yours too! It is beautiful!

Came back to take another look and I'm glad I did. Your house is beautiful on the inside and out. Love the color choices for the exterior and that arched window is to die for!

I sure hope you submit your work to This Old House or Fine Homebuilding...I would love to have it in paper form to keep and study. I imagine your contractor is using the project for his portfolio.

LOVE your exterior house colors, btw. love everything about your house. Love that you all are so passionate you would drive 5 hours to get that perfect door. This is what g'web is all about, IMO.

Wow, that looks fantastic!

Of course, love that you kept the original sink.

Great fume hood as well.

Congratulations! It really does match the house.

Looks beautiful! What is the paint color you used in the kitchen? I love it.

arlos, can you tell us what color you painted your kitchen cabinets?

The wall color is Dutsy Trail from American Pride, a paint brand that's carried in our green building products store. I'd never heard of the paint company before, but it was nice to work with, covered well, and didn't smell at all.

The cabinet paint is Soft Chamois (I think it's OC13) from Ben Moore. So far I've painted the uppers and the fridge cabinet. I was looking for a warm white that didn't look yellow or pink. I'm using oil on the cabinets (Impervo) and the same color in latex on the rest of the trim.

I plan to paint inside the toe kicks a slightly darker color, but I haven't picked one yet...maybe something kind of toast-colored?

arlosmom, I didn't notice that the uppers were painted and the lowers weren't yet, until I read your posting. Now I'm looking back at the pics and I can see the difference between the uppers and the fridge cabinet vs. the lowers that are more white. That is a nice warm white. When you are done painting, you will have to post another pic for us to see of your wonderful kitchen :)