The kitchen, office and laundry rooms are at the back of the house all in a line. All have strips of '70s brick-printed vinyl on the floor.
The kitchen is our first major project in the house. It has outdated cabinets, counters, appliances, lighting and flooring - what does that leave? Pretty much nothin'. But the layout is OK. We want to renovate the kitchen so it will blend more with the rest of the house. Right now it sticks out like a sore, '70s thumb. I daydream about getting a refurbished antique gas stove, but Darwin - and our lack of funds and space - have pretty much killed that idea. A pink 1960 stand mixer will have to do for now in the vintage appliance department.
Our plan:
- Add flat, simple trim to the cabinet faces.
- Paint the cabinets off white with green insets.
- Replace '70s hardware with new oiled bronze hardware from Rejuvenation Lighting. (kinda looks like cast iron)
- Replace the countertop and backsplash.
- Add a dishwasher, microwave and garbage disposal (read more and see pictures of our appliance installation here).
- Replace the stainless steel sink and faucet with a cast iron sink and oiled bronze faucet.
- Wallpaper with green and cream toile (the background of this page).
- Repaint peeling ceiling and woodwork.
- Add new lighting from Schoolhouse Electric.
- Remove the vinyl floor and the particleboard underneath.
- Sand the original pine floor and paint in a checkerboard pattern.
(click for larger photos)
Before:
 
In progress:
  
  
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| In the process of renovating the kitchen, we discovered that the woodwork in the kitchen was formerly bright pastel blue ... seriously. The mantel in the dining room was the same color! Yikes ... wonder what color the walls were? |
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Office
 
Adjacent to the kitchen is the office/doll room. It has solid pine paneling, which might look dark and depressing if not for the three windows letting in so much natural light. At night, lighting is a problem, because the ceiling fan/light doesn't provide much. This part of the house was added on, but we're not sure when. I'm inclined to believe it was before 1941 because the PPOs (previous previous owners) were a little old lady and her bachelor son, who died in 1941. Why would an old gal living alone add on two rooms to her already-large house? |
Laundry Room
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| Keep going past the office, and you'll find the laundry room (also added on). It's small but adequate and has a convenient sink and cabinets. It used to have a door leading to the outside, but the opening was blocked when aluminum siding was put on the back of the house by previous owners. |
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