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lavender_lass

If you have nothing better to do....

lavender_lass
10 years ago

Mom and I were trying to find something to keep ourselves occupied, while my husband was in for his (hopefully) last procedure. Between that and recovery, we ran out of magazines and ended up looking at my old remodeling plans, for the farmhouse. This will be on hold for a while, but just for fun, I thought I'd post it and see what you all thought.

I'll take some pictures of my current kitchen later this week and ask for help with my actual 'low budget' fix, then. But for now, let me know what you think. This is very similar to the kitchen Buehl helped me with some time ago...and I really like it. Mom and I decided to add the family room on the back (in case husband never negotiates basement stairs easily) and move the master suite off to the back left.

There will be a sunroom/screened porch off the kitchen. Somewhere to have a garden room and get a little sun, during our long winters. The left bottom corner of the kitchen faces south and the road. The back overlooks the pasture, creek, and hill with trees. Thanks for looking :) {{gwi:1937160}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures

I don't know how to make the kitchen area bigger (sorry) but here's my inspiration pictures...mainly for windows and range layout. {{gwi:1434537}}From Farmhouse plans

And french door to sunroom, with fridge and oven on other wall... {{gwi:1930442}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures

With big window(s) over main sink. Maybe not this big, but I really like all the light and plants! {{gwi:1885624}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures

Comments (35)

  • taggie
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I think that kitchen layout is pretty close to perfect. There are only two small things I'd do differently.

    First, I'd switch the fridge and oven stack so that I could have a straight shot between cooktop and ovens when making dinner, vs having to navigate around someone at the fridge as they're getting cream for coffee or a drink or something. And second, I'd scootch the island a little closer to the range wall to give more room for seating and also to subtly encourage the snacker traffic to flow around the outside of the island when going between fridge and dish storage. In the current layout most traffic will cut through your prep isle ... wihich would drive me batty, but you might be more patient cook than I am. :)

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Those are both very good ideas! Thanks for looking at the plan and although it's just me and my husband most days...I want a big enough space to handle friends and family helping in the kitchen :)

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Sorry, I said Buehl (which is probably true, too) but I meant Rhome helped me with this plan, when it was in another area of the house.

    So, switching the oven/microwave and fridge would make it look more like Laura Calder's kitchen (above). Here's another drawing...sorry, I don't have actual software :) {{gwi:1937161}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures

  • rosie
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I've always loved your keeping room ideas, Lavender, including this one. Your plans sound wonderful and for me the sun room and master on main (for future) particularly desirable.

    Since you really want more space for it, though, I wish you'd already lived with that large, gorgeous, perfect kitchen you've always imagined. Just in case it made a difference. In size and layout it is very similar to what I designed for myself. I'd wanted a larger kitchen for a long time. Now, having lived with it, though, well, been there, done that. It's very pleasant to be in and wonderfully functional (except that we somehow manage to mess up all 3 main prep areas way too frequently). Even though I like to cook, I just don't need it all and, as a result, I'd actually prefer less next time.

    In large part, though, I simply want it cozier. I have to walk a whole 4 steps OUTSIDE my cook area to join people at the table or loveseat. There's an enormous difference between having table and easy chairs maybe 4-12 feet away and having them start 12 feet away on the other side of an island.

    Would you put your favorite seat in a conversation group in the living room actually outside the group by 12 or 15 feet?

    That's why my favorite of your plans was one with a smaller keeping room (with a windowed bay) on the other side of the house. Not because of the location but because of its feeling of togetherness.

    So my new fantasy for our next house is a spacious luxurious living room lined with books and a "keeping room" kitchen that's genuinely just right for our everyday needs. Round table in the middle for 2-6 with juuust enough room to walk around it comfortably, maybe with a bay looking into the garden, bookcases, easy chairs a couple of steps from everything, sun room or porch adjacent, door directly to garden--very much in the spirit and functions of your designs but togetherness-scaled.

    We really do have a lot of likes in common. I don't recall if you do a lot of canning on your farm, though. I do maybe a dozen jars a year spread over whenever for fun and avoid large-scale baking whenever possible. :)

    Looking forward to your pictures.

  • ogrose_tx
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    LL, I especially like your idea of a sunroom - that would be so great in the winter and spring!

    Cabinet maker will demo our kitchen on Tuesday, we're going with medium oak cabinets and black counters, not what I had in mind to begin with, which was white counters and light counters, but DH had totally different thoughts in his mind, and, actually, I'm good with this. It's a simple remodel, not changing the footprint at all, which isn't the best as DH gets in my way when I'm trying to cook, but, hey, am used to it and am thrilled to get this done and over with! We've lived in this house for 43 years, it surely needs a facelift! It's hot hot hot here, I envy you your cooler weather.

    Take care!
    ogrose

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Rosie- Hi! Thanks for your input...I always appreciate your ideas and we seem to like so many of the same things :)

    I go back and forth with the island/table debate. So many times, I think the table would be great in the middle of the kitchen...and other times I want to eat just outside the kitchen. Right now, we don't have a table in the kitchen and I really wish we did. But, we don't have an island, either...and I never have enough room to really spread out and bake.

    In this version (#3006 LOL) I like that the living room is not the 'main' living room, but more of a library/seating area. That room is actually really cozy 'as is' but not quite big enough for a TV room. The fireplace is huge and there's not really room for a large sofa and a TV. Instead, I'm thinking a smaller sofa and a few comfy chairs and ottoman...with lots of books.

    The family room would be right off the kitchen (behind the keeping room) and it would have great views out the back. That's probably where we would sit most often, especially in the evening. The keeping room is great, when people want to chat while I'm cooking, but don't want to perch on a stool :)

    I really love gardening and our long winters are starting to seem even longer. It's so nice in the summer...but in the winter, the house feels small and dark, no matter what we do. There's also a lot less 'living space' when you can't entertain outside. So, the garden room would be my attempt to have a few roses, even in the winter. I don't know if it will work, but that's my dream! Maybe some star jasmine, too. Those are two of my favorite flowers and I really wish we had a place to have some in the winter...or just winter over pots that would go back outside, in the summer.

    Do you like canning? I want to try it this year. My mom has a nice kitchen (lots of prep space) and we might try canning a few things this fall. Do you have a favorite recipe you want to share? I think it would be great to make jelly...which I guess is kind of like canning. My mom says her grandmother used to make apple jelly and put one geranium blossom (the herb type) in the jar to flavor the jelly. Rose geranium, mint, etc.

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ogrose- How exciting! I'm so glad you're starting your remodel...so looking forward to seeing pictures!

    I found this photo the other day and thought how pretty the countertops look with the wood. I think your kitchen will be beautiful and very warm and cozy. Perfect for fall and the holidays :) {{gwi:1937162}}From 1920s kitchen project

  • joaniepoanie
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I prefer the MB to be as far away as possible from the "living" areas--kitchen, family/living room...unless you and DH are always on the same schedule-- waking up and going to bed at the same time. Otherwise, you have one person banging around the kitchen/watching tv, while the other person is trying to sleep/nap just a few feet away.

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Joanie- Thanks for the input! We are on the same schedule, especially now. I need to be able to hear him, if he needs anything during his recovery. He should get completely better, but if not, I would still need to be close by. Even when he does (hopefully) fully recover, I like being close to the kitchen...not so far to walk for my caffeine in the morning! :)

    I found this picture (love the Aga) but I think these windows are more the size I would do...with just a valance, no curtains. Since those windows would look out to the sunroom, we don't really need curtains. Just something decorative. The beadboard is very nice, but not behind the stove...tile would be better. {{gwi:1493646}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures

  • dilly_ny
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Really nice plans Lavendar. I hope your DH is comfortable during his recovery and that you soon get to make your plans a reality. 2014 is just around the corner.

    Just wondering - do the bolded lines for your house footptint indicate your current home footprint?

    Also, I think you'll just love that sunroom. Would you consider putting an access door from master bedroom as well?

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Dilly- The bold lines are more or less the house now...there's a bathroom where the family room is on the plan. It would be nice to have access from the master into the sunroom :)

    Rosie- I like this dining room picture! Is this what you were thinking of...having the table in the living room and putting the kitchen where the bedroom is? Also a nice plan...just not sure what to do with the current dining room. Maybe make that the study/bedroom? {{gwi:1493647}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures

  • rosie
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I've missed your posts. You always post pictures of rooms I love. I really like the simplicity and function of the tiers, though. We part there. :)

    For the last, no. That table's shouting distance away and, for me, neither here nor there. By that I mean that in your picture the people at the table are neither in the kitchen nor in either the living room or a gracious room of their own. It's very popular with others, just never appealed to me.

    I've also never wanted a separate, unifunction dining room that would gather dust most of the time, no matter how pretty, but we do need to inoccasionally sit 10, 15, more. Right now our central library hall has room in the middle for the demure drop-leaf table against one wall to expand and fulfill its destiny. I designed it for that.

    Most of the time, though, we eat at a smalll multifunctioning table in the living room (also drop-leaf and expandable) or at one in the kitchen. And that's what I like and want to copy in our next, smaller home --kitchen casual and living room refined, with room to seat more as needed. Two or three expandable tables tucked here and there in the LRM and/or adjacent nice spaces would work fine for bigger gatherings. They need to be in voice and glance range, though, so that a party stays together.

    A happy offshoot of this is that I can get all I want by adding a relatively small amount of extra space to a living room that will live large all the time, without taking more space for the sort of large dedicated dining area in your picture--whether open to kitchen or not.

    You know what Julia's kitchen looks like. She and her husband ate most of their meals right in the middle. She could give something a stir, receive a comfortable pat on the bottom, then settle back down in her chair, chatting the while. I've lived that way and like it best. She also had a handsome dining room for elegant, or just warm, cultured dining and conversation, though, which in my house would be tables tucked among the living room groups to allow a full range of dining moods.

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Rosie- You said you wanted a smaller kitchen, in your next home. Any ideas how you would lay it out? Do you plan to have a wall oven? That's what always gets me...trying to find room for the fridge, stove, sink...and the wall oven, without walking back and forth, across the space. With a table in the middle (although I would like it) there's just more walking around. Any ideas?

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Here's my other idea...moving the dining room/kitchen to the other side of the house and then using that other space maybe for a living room/library? I really like the views from the kitchen...it let's me check on the horses, first thing in the morning :)
    {{gwi:1937163}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures

  • rosie
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Lavender, I'm kind of open on layouts. I'm partial to older homes and their quirks and fond enough of eccentricities in layout that I can be happy with a lot of possibilities if I can get a great place I enjoy working and living in out of them.

    The main part should not be too big but have a table in the middle, windows, sunshine, bookcases for cookbooks, a door to the garden or porch, water, stove, and a great work counter (preferably between water and stove) with enough storage for tools and ingredients used every day. Everything else is negotiable.

    Thus if a square room weren't large enough for wall ovens AND table in the middle, maybe punch through a wall, under a staircase, tack on a shed, or whatever and create an extension that could hold wall ovens, refrigerator. Again, whatever.

    My days of throwing meals together in moments between shoving work into and taking it out of my briefcase are well behind me, and I've been staring at too many "perfect" and perfectly predictable layouts for too long to get excited about walking an extra 5 steps if that's what it would take to break out of them. Not that I'd turn down a perfectly proportioned room, of course, but my very favorite kitchens are always those fitted to their individual conditions, rather than vice versa. And I've had enough of that sort to know I can be quite happy with functional imperfection IF the look and feel of the space itself make it a favorite place to be.

    Amorphous answer, I know, but just think of the fun of decorating a tacked on shed with lower exposed-rafter ceiling and old salvaged door and window. I'd wallpaper it and plant lavender and honeysuckle outside the window. :)

  • kai615
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I just have to say Rosie, that is the best answer I have read in the kitchen forum in quite a long time. Thank you.

    I know we all come to get the perfect advice, but I find the best kitchens are also the ones with the quirks. But I live in a old house so maybe I just tell myself that to keep myself going ;-)

    With that being said, Lavender, I love every inspiration pic you post in these forums. I think your taste and mine are very similar, right down to the hoping to grow things all winter to drive away the dark months. I have had plans for a similar sun room off my kitchen, although it will not be built until our full remodel is done on the rest of the house so we will see if it ever happens.

    I know a while ago one of your inspiration photos was a stove with seating in the kitchen which is in the drawing. Do you have similar in your kitchen or anywhere in your home now? I know this will do well to lift spirits in the dark of winter. We have a stove although not in the kitchen it is close to the kitchen. I actually find myself looking forward to the coldest days of fall when we fire it up. It burns all winter and it makes the house warm and inviting in the middle of those dark months.

  • Circus Peanut
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Lavender -- they just posted an upcoming blue kitchen on Green Demolitions that might be just your thing -- incredible deal if you can swing it, save a zillion over buying new:

    Here is a link that might be useful: Van Gogh Blue Farmhouse Kitchen

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Circuspeanut- Thanks for thinking of me...great link :)

    Rosie- I would love to see that kitchen! I can imagine it and it would be such a great place to have tea and look out the window at your flowers. I have a fairly decent sized kitchen right now (not in farmhouse) but there's really no room for baking. I guess that's my biggest concern with a new space...but I would like it to look like it belonged in an older home. Lots of quirks and personality would be a must!

    I really like this baking area and would like to do something similar by the ovens. {{gwi:1937164}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures

    Kali- I agree, Rosie describes a wonderful kitchen. It would be so nice to have a sunroom, I hope you get yours finished, soon! I don't have a stove right now, but we did when I was a kid (for about a year and a half). It was a huge old wood stove that really heated the house...but it was very utilitarian. I'm hoping to get something smaller (and more charming) that fits in the corner. Here are a few of the stove pictures I've posted in the past. Which one did you like? {{gwi:1496748}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures
    {{gwi:1937165}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures

    This is actually the fireplace that is in the Aga kitchen, above... {{gwi:1937166}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures
    {{gwi:1937167}}From Snow White album

    And just a really cute fireplace... {{gwi:1937168}}From Snow White album

    And you really need a kitty, at least I do :) {{gwi:1937169}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures
    {{gwi:1937170}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures

  • kai615
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    It is the first image I remember and loved! Although any stove where you can sit and stare at the fire is nice, there are so many great stoves out there, just get something with character to go with your quirky kitchen.

  • angela12345
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    With taggie's suggestion, it's pretty much a perfect layout IMO, until you get to the point of getting all the inches exactly right. Love the keeping room nook in the corner. One of my favorite things we did was have an 8" overhang of counter at the end. We often pull a stool around to the end so DH & I can sit at the bar at right angles to each other and talk instead of sitting "in a line" beside each other. It probably won't be this way when it's all drawn to scale, but it seems like there is a lot of empty space in the triangle between the keeping nook, the table, and the island.

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Kali- That is a cute stove. Especially all decorated for the holidays :)

    Angela- Good point about the stools! And there is a lot of space on that end of the table, but I'm not sure there would be enough room on either side. The room is only 12' wide.

    Here's another idea, with the dining room on the right, with the existing fireplace. It would look a lot like the picture above, which I really like! We don't have any kids, but there are two bedrooms upstairs, if we ever needed to expand. {{gwi:1937171}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures

  • deedles
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I missed if you are still planning to work a wood stove into the kitchen, or is it now planned for somewhere else? Same as you, I don't have a place to spread out for baking so I'm looking for a kitchen table on wheels that I can roll up to my prep area and push back when I don't need it. Maybe you need a table on wheels!

  • rosie
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Where does your wheeled table sit normally, Deedles? It sounds like a nice idea.

    "Rosie- I would love to see that kitchen! I can imagine it and it would be such a great place to have tea and look out the window at your flowers." You've got the picture, Lavender, but I knew you would. Even though I forget to mention the bird bath.

    Those other pictures you keep coming up with, though! Like Kali, you're channeling my tastes in layouts and general mood. And, yes, before I got sick and sort of gave up gardening, I also used to start lots of plants in winter and intend to start doing that again this winter. I once had a couple hundred seedlings growing in a small, rather chilly coat closet that we'd outfitted with wire shelves and growing lights, though, and loved opening that door, although toward last frost it was beginning to resemble a jungle. So even there my long-ago dream of an attached greenhouse has gone on its way, also sped by a dislike of washing all the windows in my sunroom.

    You remind me my list of "musts" should have included a cat, but really that's just assumed, and they have a way of adding themselves anyway. A fireplace is now pushing hard at the list,but even in imagination I feel a need for some discipline.

    I always want a sun room, and, yup, imagine my next one ideally off the kitchen. This time around, though, not too big. Since I like sunrooms so much, I built a pretty large room that holds standard seating groups and discovered that, for me, a little old enclosed porch makes a better one. All seating no more than a couple feet at most from a window, none turning its back on the garden. A twin bed across one end refitted for reading with piles of pillows...

    So you can see why I really do still like that plan you just posted. Not too large, beautifully proportioned rooms that can be both gracious (my word of the day I guess) and casual. Living room for introverted living and the sunroom... That IS a fantastic baking area and very achievable with about, what, 6 feet of wall area. Like in that lower kitchen corner? Of course, I've forgotten your orientation to the views and sun. Pasture and hillsides out back, right?

    Back to work, with pretty pictures dancing in my head. Hope your husband's progressing well.

  • rosie
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Duplicate gone.

    This post was edited by rosie on Sun, Sep 8, 13 at 16:10

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Deedles- I'd like a wood stove in the kitchen, but many on GW have warned me that it's probably not a good idea. And, the house (as is) doesn't really have room for one. The fireplace shown in the dining room is beautiful...and already there :)

    Rosie- Of course there's a bird bath! LOL We do have the same tastes, in many things. I wish I had even a closet like yours, for now. I really want a green house, but I think it might be unattached, but close to the house. Maybe off the garage, if we build one down the road. That would be close enough to the house and garden to be practical.

    The sunroom and study would be where we could do our business, if needed, so picture lots of plants in the window and a desk and some low built-in bookcases. Maybe a small bistro table and chairs in front of the longer windows.

    My mom pointed out that while the porch off the kitchen is nice, the roof lines might be a bit difficult...and my view would be from the porch, not the kitchen. So, here's a small change I thought of this morning.

    A cooktop on the island means I wouldn't be able to move it, but I could make it look like a free-standing piece of furniture (painted beadboard on the dining room side and maybe some 'legs' around the stools...and a raised counter (wood?) for the stools. Also gives me a place for outlets on the backsplash.

    I picture a couple of wicker chairs or small upholstered chairs in the big window. What do you think? :) {{gwi:1937172}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Found this photo...it would be so perfect in a sunroom :)
    {{gwi:1937173}}From Courtyard Garden album

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Does anyone know, can you grow a rose in a sunroom? That would be so pretty!

  • chompskyd
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Be still my heart! Lav, love the pictures. I live in an old farmhouse too, and this thread is capturing the mood I want to create (but often struggle with). The adage is, "form vs. function." But for me, form (and the associated mood it creates) *is* a function. Glad to see others feel the same!

  • mudhouse_gw
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Lavender_lass, I think it's pretty difficult to grow roses indoors. If it helps, here's a thread from the Roses Forum, where the topic was discussed, a few years ago:
    Growing Roses Indoors?

    However, I'm sure you'd be able to find many other plants that would thrive in a sunroom. I think there are many beautiful foliage plants that would love it, and perhaps even some with lovely blooms. I'll bet you could start with a little detective work on the internet, and then just go by trial and error, to find the ones that pleased you.

    I have a little greenhouse now, but I used to winter plants indoors on shelves lit with basic fluorescent bulbs, because I didn't have a sunny room. They did fine. So, there is more than one way to accomplish your goal, even if the light isn't perfect. Maybe not a rose garden, but something just as lovely and satisfying to tend!

    So many of your lovely photos have greenery in them. I think this direction is a natural for you, and I hope you can pursue it!

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Chompskyd- I do feel the same way. I like the details found in older homes, so I want to include interior french doors to the sunroom, plate racks and glass uppers in the kitchen, etc. I'm glad you like the pictures :)

    Mudhouse- Thanks for the link! I do love flowers and really miss them, in the winter. Even if roses aren't very likely, there are a lot of flowers we could grow. It would also give me an area, where the kitties wouldn't be eating my flowers, at night! LOL

  • enduring
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I posted some pictures for you over on Deedles' (not) finished kitchen thread.

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks, Enduring! I love the bunnies!!! :)

  • enduring
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I am glad you liked them. When I saw them I instantly thought of you!

  • rosie
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I love Deedles' Weaver tile. He does custom too!

    Lavender, never done it, but I understand keeping roses healthy enough to enjoy looking at them in the same conditions we need can be difficult. Greenhouse conditions would be a lot better.

    FWIW, though, in my California garden some roses bloomed year-round. Each New Year's Day with the Goodyear blimp up the valley in the background, I used to wince as I cut dozens and dozens of flowers and buds off in my annual pruning (gentle, not back to a few sticks, so they were blooming again in 6 weeks). Different from northern Georgia, and more than a little different from central Washington, right? In any case, you might choose a rose for willingness to bloom in winter and give it a try. If you kept it on a trolly, perhaps you could move it somewhere (?) it liked better between bloom flushes.

    Your revision with the chairs in the sunny bay really seems to offer just about everything. That'd be a lovely place to sit, read, chat, wait for the dough to relax. :) Would you copy a version of that baking center in where the ovens are?

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I would like to do something similar for the baking area. I want it to look like an old house and have some of those great details, but still function for how we live, today.

    Being able to include the glass doors, beadboard back, the open shelves and little drawers in the middle...and all that great storage below would be great! Probably only enough space for one glass door on each side, but it would be wonderful to have those lined drawers for flour, etc. Also want to have some glass jars on the bookcase across from it, for more baking storage. The cookbooks would be down by the chairs...and that bay would be beautiful :)

    I've seen roses in greehouses on movies, but they may have been fake. The idea is sure nice, but anything (especially wintering over my star jasmine) would be so much fun, during the winter! I buy star jasmine every summer and plant in with white petunias all around, in big pots by the front stairs. So pretty, and reflects any light that's available at night. I call them my 'natural' night lights. (LOL)