Spring 2012 renovations have continued! We have been working at creating an island in the kitchen that will become the heart of our farmhouse. I envision many hours of cooking, eating, laughing, and loving around this island, so we need to get it right.
I started with the size: it’s going to be 60″ long by 46″ deep. This leaves space for two people on each …
Spring 2012 renovations have continued! We have been working at creating an island in the kitchen that will become the heart of our farmhouse. I envision many hours of cooking, eating, laughing, and loving around this island, so we need to get it right.
I started with the size: it’s going to be 60″ long by 46″ deep. This leaves space for two people on each overhanging side to pull up and talk to the cook. Here’s an updated floor plan that shows the whole scope of this year’s renovations.
We’re only doing the lower cabinets. Some are built in and some are freestanding. Basically, along the west (bottom on diagram) wall, these are all new, modern Omega cabinets. The island base, the cabinet to the right of the stove, and the cabinet in the pantry are freestanding, and genuine antiques. I’m trying to achieve a balance between the old-world look of mismatched, freestanding cabinets and modern stretches of counter tops. Here are the bits and pieces, and some pictures of how it’s coming together.
The island is going to be the heart of the home, so it’s where we splurged. The base is a partner desk that we then topped with a large slab of Silestone. A partner desk was designed for two men to work at simultaneously; both sat facing each other on either side of a single desk, that was usually wider than single-person desks. Partner desks have identical features on both sides; in our case, four doors to the left of the sitter, and one drawer/door combo on his right. For our purposes, where we needed to store firewood for the stove, cooking implements, and cutting boards in the island base, these compartments were perfect. I got the desk off of Craig’s List locally for $400.
We read that Silestone (a quartz product) is pretty near indestructible. We chose a look that imitates Carrara marble (which is porous and stains if you spill dark juices, like red wine or meat juices, on it). Marble might have been found in period farmhouses, though probably not ours, which is more humble in style. Here are pictures:
Then, we matched this look with Wilsonart laminate that also imitates Carrara marble in the kitchen stretch of countertop between the refrigerator and the wall. On the dining room side, we used the same family of cabinets, but chose a black, textured laminate. It’s sort of a reverse of Carrara…. black with white veins. These are not yet installed, so I don’t have pictures yet… except this one of the cabinets and counter tops that are awaiting installation in a nearby room:
Meanwhile, immediately below, here’s a picture of the Stickley piece. It’s a genuine antique that will go to the right of the stove:
We’ve also chosen our kitchen floor: a porcelain tile that is a smooth matte finish, but looks rough-hewn, like slate.
This has been installed; you can see it in the picture below. (Obviously, we’ve yet to paint the kitchen. The yellow reminds us of where we have come from. 
)
Also, below see the pantry with new wallboard installed on two walls.
The floor is covered in cardboard and debris, but it’s the same porcelain tile. That’s it for now; soon and very soon, the rest will come together!
It’s a funny thing about how times change. Back in the early 1900′s when our farmhouse was built, it was fashionable to cover your stone chimney with plaster in the kitchen. This was considered “fancy”! Thirty years ago or more, the family that previously owned our farmhouse thought they would go one better. They would paint (with lead paint, of course) the plaster yellow, to …
The east side of our farmhouse is, technically, the front of the home. It has a large, welcoming porch that’s great for most of the day since it’s shaded by big overhanging trees from direct sunlight, yet is bathed in early morning light at sunrise. Since we reconfigured one of the side porches into a mudroom (on the south side), this porch now functions more …
One of the delights of our property is our Sunset Knob. It’s right behind the farmhouse, outside the mudroom door. In the spring, you walk past the lilacs and cellar on your left and straight up the hill. Here are some pictures:
There is an old stump (I think of an American Chestnut tree) at the crest of Sunset Knob when you first get up there, …
Our mudroom has been a joy to create, decorate, and use! I knew that, living on a farm, we would need a mudroom, and boy was I right! While the bathroom tiles have been a little sensitive to the yellow-brown dirt that comes in from outside, the slate tiles that I chose for this room, and the sand-gray grout, have been perfect. So, decorators: take …
Since we’re out of money for renovations until next spring, I’m spending this winter (2011-2012) planning my updated kitchen (and floors… and upstairs bathroom… and paint schemes… you get the idea). But (grabbing herself firmly by the neck and shaking) this post is about the kitchen. Well, and the Dining Porch, ’cause they’re sort of one room. And the hearth room is right nearby. So… …
So, I’m looking ahead to 2012 renovations, and planning the upstairs bathroom. I’ve already bought several bits and pieces, and I’m on the hunt for a few more. This page will be a gallery of sorts: a place to pin up my current bits and pieces. When I get the bathroom done, I’ll do another post showing how they all came together.
This was actually the …
When you take a house as old as ours was into the 21st century, and you haven’t really grown up on farms, a question that is new to you arises: what color do you want your house to be? I found it a surprisingly hard question to answer. In the first place, I’ve never had to decide on the outdoor color scheme of a house. …
The north-facing side of our farmhouse got a major renovation in the summer of 2011. Here are some “before” shots of this side of our farmhouse in February, when we first bought it. (You can click on any of these thumbnail pictures and see them much larger.)
Below are our floor plans, before and after.
The north side of the farmhouse was given a 22′ x …
The south side of the farmhouse started in pretty bad shape. Below are pictures from our first two visits to the property.
Our Goals for 2011
This house had never had any modern plumbing. So, this meant, of course, it had no bathroom. Something I immediately saw was that the rotting back porch downstairs and the screened sleeping porch upstairs offered space to put in bathrooms on …
Our farmhouse had never known a bathroom; it only had the most rudimentary plumbing. As I said, we found when digging up the north side of the house and repairing the foundation that one pipe had been brought to the house to bring water to the kitchen sink, but that had been disconnected by the time we arrived. The story of the installation of our …
It’s a funny thing about how times change. Back in the early 1900′s when our farmhouse was built, it was fashionable to cover your stone chimney with plaster in the kitchen. This was considered “fancy”! Thirty years ago or more, the family that previously owned our farmhouse thought they would go one better. They would paint (with lead paint, of course) the plaster yellow, to …
One of the delights of our property is our Sunset Knob. It’s right behind the farmhouse, outside the mudroom door. In the spring, you walk past the lilacs and cellar on your left and straight up the hill. Here are some pictures:
There is an old stump (I think of an American Chestnut tree) at the crest of Sunset Knob when you first get up there, …
It was a summer when our car was smaller than our family——also, money was tight (as usual)–when Jim’s vacation rolled round that year. Our boys ranged in age from 15 to 5 years old, and their playground was the nearby Big Coal River. Daily in the summer, the boys would work for me for three hours and then go down to swim, chase fish, climb …
The Farmhoues: Choosing Exterior Colors
The Farmhouse: North Side Renovations
Why a Clanstead?
Exploring Hydroelectric Power
The Farmhouse: South Side Renovations
Kitchen Taking Shape
Chimney Revealed!
The Farmhouse: East Side Renovations
Sunset Knob: Our Evening Delight
The Farmhouse: Mudroom Decor
Marcia: Hi!
I can look at our records when I get back d...
Linda Chenery: We also are renovating an old farmhouse with a sil...
Deborah Fields: Your entry reminded me of an article I'd seen in m...
Corrine Greene: WOW!!! Thank you for sharing this sweet and intim...
Marcia: Welcome, Jean! Thanks for your comment. I think th...
