Very nice! I really like the art tiles behind the stove.

Aren't they great? The day I picked them up at the tile store, my husband idly looked at the receipt and blanched. "You paid this much for ..." and traced a little rectangle in the air.

"Yes" I said. "Yes, after I paid a 50% deposit."

He just stared at me.

"They're hand made!" I said defensively.

"I don't care if they pooped them out their a$$, that's a lot of money for tile! In fact, in terms of wall covered per dollar, the refrigerator was cheaper!"

And off he went grumbling.

And that's how he learned that it is dangerous to just say "If you like it, I like it" when asked for his opinion.

Great job! I love your cabinets (quarter sawn oak?) and soapstone! Isn't it a challenge to work around the bones of an old house! You had what... at least 3 doors and the column to work with. I had 4 doors! Is the column a pantry? Do you have any pictures of the new breakfast nook? Wish I had considered Marmoleum more seriously, but I was worried about the upkeep. Do you have to wax it? I also like stained wood. We did our best to match the heart pine floor color in the rest of our house with our new kitchen cabinets (even though they are not pine). You see so many white inset cabinets both in old houses and new houses these days. They are pretty and appropriate, but I'm glad to see someone else chose stained wood for their old house. It looks both lovely and an efficient layout. Enjoy!

Beautiful job!
Diane

Oh how nice! I was going to ask about the floor ... marmoleum, kimkitchy says? If we don't have anything salvageable under the vinyl that is what I'm hoping to go with. Of course, that is 5 years away ;)

Yes, it is Marmoleum. I love it! It takes no upkeep at all; I mop it every other Friday, and sweep a couple of times in between. It feels very good underfoot. I don't regret it!

The stained cabinets were a no-brainer for me. I like the painted cabinets fine, but I love the glow of real wood, and the oak suits my house to a 't'.

You wanna talk about doors? Count 'em and weep:

Six doors or doorways! When my contractor/designer came over for the initial discussion I said "I think we'll keep the current footprint." "Now, just wait, let's see" he said. The column was briefly discussed, and I said that I wasn't willing to a) give up my laundry chute, b) give up my pantry cupboard, and c) change the original face of the house that much. He agreed after looking around. I did move the door to the laundry chute from the front of the column to the side, but I insisted that they use the original wood framing and door. It works just fine!

It's a great kitchen.

Okay, you win with the doorways, I thought our kitchen had the most with a total of 5 (one being a closet/pantry door.)

Your kitchen is beautiful! You did a wonderful job and I'm glad you kept the integrity of the house.

kimkitchy, I have uploaded pictures of the breakfast nook. Start here and keep hitting the > arrow.

Here is a link that might be useful: The finished kitchen

Oh, and Lauren, if we're counting pantry doors, then I have 7.

Golly. I never counted them all before.

:-)

Turned out so pretty ! Great job. I know what you mean about keeping the foot print. Old houses are such a great challenge. You met and exceeded ! c

Thanks for posting the pictures of the breakfast nook. It looks beautiful. What color paint is it? Did you do a faux finish? If so, what technique? Was it difficult? (Or, maybe you did not DIY it...)

I'd like to do a color similar to that in our home office. I've never tackled a faux finish, but it is a small room and I might try it, if I thought I could do it.
Cheers,
-Kim

Hi Kim. I did use three colors of Lowes Laura Ashley Deep Cowslip. (By the way, that web page looks way pink on my monitor. Check out some paint chips at the store because, at least on my monitor, the color reproduction on that page is pretty bad.) I don't remember if it was 1, 2 and 3 or 2, 3 and 4, but I think the lighter ones. I started with a base coat of the middle shade. Then I mixed the lighter one 50/50 with a clear glaze, and used a a heavy stiff brush to paint Xs over the base coat, just working it and working it until it wouldn't spread anymore. Then I did the same thing with the darker tone; 50/50 glaze and work it work it work it. I think it came out all right; with practice I think it would have been more subtle, but I'll live with this.

I essentially followed the instructions at FauxLikeaPro.

Thanks for sharing the faux painting info! You did a great job. I might just try it.

Oh, I love faux finishing. The worst thing that can happen is that it looks stupid, and then all you have to do is paint over it. It took me so long because I had serious surgery on my right (dominant) shoulder in August of 2007 and I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to swing a paint brush long enough to work the paint until this summer. I tested my limits by pulling up an old vinyl floor and cleaning the mastic off. I figured I could stop that anytime I needed to. Once I finished that, I thought I could probably get through the painting. And I did!

Here is a link that might be useful: Tearing up the vestibule

Wow, what a lot of work! I'd say your shoulder has definitely recovered! It is so cool that you have uncovered and cleaned the old tile in your vestibule. I love it. I have to ask... are you living with the crack as part of the "patina" of an old house, or did you find a way to rehab that? Just curious. Thanks for sharing more of your home with us! -Kim

Beautiful work, and kudos to you for keeping your footprint and not drastically changing your historic home.

I'm sure that someday those small, tidy kitchens will come back into vogue and be appreciated again, and many of these historic homes with cavernous modernized kitchens will be considered outdated and remuddled.

(Sorry, cavernous kitchen fans, but it's true. All trends come full circle eventually.)

Repairing the vestibule tile would be impossible, for a number of reasons I won't go into here, but I asked someone who knows these things. So, I'm living with the crack. I can put a Welcome mat over it if it really makes me crazy, but I'll tell you, I'd rather have the old original tile, cracked, than the brick-printed vinyl peel-'n-stick that was on there when we bought the place. What a travesty.

And yes, all the original kitchens in this 1920 neighborhood are kind of small. Many had a porch on the back that has been incorporated; I like my breakfast room, giant column and service porch way too much to make it all into one space. I like it just as it is.