I like a lot of light in the kitchen and would like to include some plants and/or herbs. While I hope to get some great ideas for the kitchen, I'd also like to see what country kitchen suggests to all of you :)

The second kitchen is also nice. The bay window sounds very pretty and I like lots of windows and paintings with more old-fashioned storage. Also like the wood floors and natural counter tops.

I've been thinking it might be more practical to have a large pantry, storage and maybe canning/preserving area off the kitchen with a freezer, second sink and lots of counter space and storage...and a walk-in pantry. This would let me be more creative with the kitchen and do some of the things you've suggested, like more windows, etc. and still have plenty of storage near the kitchen.

I don't like stainless steel in country kitchens either :)

I worked in a lot of restaurants when I was young and stainless steel feels very industrial to me, not cozy. However, a stainless steel counter in a greenhouse would be entirely different and a very practical and good thing (LOL)

I've always wanted a kitchen with free standing furniture instead of cupboards. Very English and they do sell this in the US now. Or one could find their own for doing this. Not sure how much resell would pose a problem, but if done right I'd think it would be beyond the norm and a great kitchen.

I haven't seen the movie 'The Holiday', but saw the kitchen referred to in another thread. It definitely caught my fancy ....

Chris

I think that a family table also adds to the country feel. A 'formal dining room' and 'country kitchen' just don't seem to go together.

I also kind of think that having pieces of furniture instead of built-ins is more old fashioned because (I think) people bought cupboards and hutches as they could afford them (or build them). I would imagine that a custom 'built in' kitchen was way over what most folks could afford a hundred+ years ago.

Yes, green instead of blue. And I could see building a fake firplace to use for some other storage. Maybe I should gut my kitchen!

Do check your local code for what would need to be affixed, many locales require any cabinet with plumbing, electric or gas running to it to be secured to the floor.

If I do go with the furniture type kitchen I will leave the sink cabinet in place or get another that will attach. Good call Trixieinthegarden.

If this whole decision were up to me it would have already been taken care of. LOL I still need to convince the man of the house this is a good idea.

Thanks Chris

Trixie, you are right. Some of the "furniture" has to meet code. They do have matching pieces for this. All is from England, but great ideas and obviously a big seller in the UK.

I can see with what I did read how one could use so many pieces of furniture already available, new, used, etc. Finish off to match or combine in a unique way. Also, this would be so much less cost for remodeling a kitchen. Darn, wish mine would fall apart and go for this idea.

Considering moving the Hoosier into our kitchen after the redo. But I use the hoosier in my studio to cut glass on. Soooooooooooo And no it is not harming the hoosier to cut glass on I have a special cutting mat on it.

OMG Phone just rang. Friend is coming to visit from California. My kitchen cabinets are all unloaded and boxed in the sewing guest room. Guy starting on the kitchen remodel today. City Council meeting Monday night, I am the city clerk so lots of work, and I HAVE to work CRIPES I am out of here for awhile. I am in total shock. OH NOOOOOOOOOO he just told us he is 5 hours away!!!! HOLY CRIPES Zoooommmmming out of here. Have fun you guys. Send me energy!!!

Chris

I know how it is to have company when the house is torn apart! Lots of good energy is coming your way!

BTW, you guys have a lot of council meetings. Are they gettin' paid by the hour? lol

Then, I see white cabinets, of course. I see a garden window, which is same level as the sink with the countertop tile extending outward into the window. NO backsplash behind the sink, just this fine window with potted herbs and hanging baskets of sunloving plants.

I love the beadboard backs in the cabinets, especially the ones with glass doors. But maybe no beadboard for the walls, since they would be hard to clean in the main kitchen. A stainless steel counter top could look much like the old tin counter tops, so I have nothing against them there. A country kitchen should be highly utilitarian. But given that, a variety of counter surfaces based on what is appropriate for each space would be great. If someone bakes a lot, then the low height of a marble surfaced counter--but I don't do that much baking. I am a fan of Silestone counter tops, and some of the textures and colors could be quite nice in a country kitchen. I personally am fond of Italian porcelain tile floors, but if someone has stainless countertops, then white cabinets, a gray slate on the floor would look great, along with some brushed nickel drawer and door hardware.

If there is no room for a kitchen table, then a taller cabinet with beadboard on the outside and a nice bar top with some good sturdy stools using tractor seats might look pretty good. A porch post at either side of the widened doorway from the dining room would look good. (We do plan to widen and relocate a passageway and put a 2 stool bar off to one side which will be high enough to hide the cooking side of our galley style kitchen.

A single sink with an apron can be in stainless, but the real winner is probably the soapstone farm sink. If there is room for a pantry, make it like someone said, with room for the nitty gritty kitchen functions like canning, mass production of fresh foods, the freezer, a deep big sink, the recycle area, maybe even the laundry in there if that is where the mudroom entry connects. This would be more important in areas with severe winters, of course.

I know there is more than this, but I was not prepared for someone to ask what the ideal country kitchen should look like. Above all, a place to talk on the phone, have a cup of tea or coffee, fix a quick school lunch, call the volunteers for the PTA or church social. Maybe a laptop tucked into a corner with a small TV above it. In my grandma's day, she had her radio tuned to Stella Dallas every day.

Idie2live- Love the kitty...is that cross stitch?

I'm very lucky in that my husband doesn't really care what I do, as long as it's not all lace and pink (LOL) Less money is always a plus, but don't want to sacrifice quality, so antiques are a great idea. I love painted beadboard and might put some on an island. I have a large space if I take the wall down between the kitchen and dining room. I'm also thinking of taking a wall down between the kitchen and old porch and having a sitting area with the wood stove. All the action, except watching TV, seems to happen in the kitchen, so why not have a lot of space to enjoy it? I may add on behind the kitchen for the pantry/laundry area/mudroom. If the money hold out, I'd love to have a screened porch off the back :)

Previous residents had pit bulls which they kept chained in the back yard. The entire back stoop had to be torn out due to the damage they did to it. We subsequently replaced the hollow core back door and the damaged storm door, replaced the upper screened in area with white vinyl lattice and Lexan to keep out critters such as raccoons, squirrels, mice, rats, stray cats, and BIRDS. While taking out a broom hanging rack on the porch, I found a nest with three tiny bird eggs in it, long dried out, but they explained why we continue to have some tiny birds coming through the double glazed french door when I forget and leave it open. Old habits are hard to break.

We have a wrought iron table on the deck now. An umbrella lets us have lunch around it even in summer. But after the sun crosses the yardarm is when this deck really shines. It is on the eastern exposure of the house. The back gable of the house casts a good shade for us. We now have a gas grill down on the brick patio area.

The back porch is slowly being transformed into an extension of the kitchen. The lattice is gone, and the Lexan windows are bullet proof and let in a LOT of light.
Building with Lexan requires a lot of study and practice to make sure you use the proper caulking and allow for the extra expansion this material has, unlike glass windows.
BUT, it probably will never get busted out by hurricanes.