Down the road, we’re going to redo our kitchen. My mother in law says I can blame Knut for the cupboards. When he was a little kid he climbed all over the doors and made them a bit askew. It’s a fairly nice looking kitchen, and I enjoy cooking in it. I remember my mother in law picked out the wallpaper when Knut and I were dating. I liked it back then, and I still like it. I love the ceiling. It’s just one of those details that you don’t find in new houses.
Knut’s parents salvaged the light fixtures from a one room schoolhouse that was closing at the time. When Knut’s little brother, Lars, was still little, he was being tossed in the air by some adult and broke the globes of one of these antiques with his famously hard head. Knut’s mom shopped for years in antique shops for a matching light fixture and eventually found one. When they moved into their new house, I think these light fixtures might have been one of the hardest things for her to leave behind.
The ceiling and the light fixtures, and perhaps the wainscoting might be the only thing we keep in the kitchen when we redo it. The floor is white, which isn’t the most practical choice for a farm house (or a house with a black, shedding dog for that matter…) but it looks nice next to the dark cabinets. It doesn’t matter, though because the floor is slanted, and will need to be completely ripped up and leveled out. The cupboards are also slanted, and several shelves are either weak, cracked, or actually broken. Storing goods in my kitchen is more determined on which shelves will hold the item, more than where I’d look for it first.
So as you can tell, I’m anxious for a new kitchen, but in all serious reality it is still years away. We’re not talking about just a fresh coat of paint. It will be gutted and rebuilt. While money is a big delaying factor, so is Knut and I agreeing on what should be done. He wants dark wood cabinets, a dark wood floor, and dark marble countertops. I love dark woods. Love. However, I’ve always dreamed of a kitchen with light creamy cabinets. However, with any of the men in Knut’s family (including Knut), the word “paint” never goes in the same sentence as the word “wood.” You might as well be swearing.
I’ve been paging through decorating magazines and pintrest looking for a kitchen that would inspire us both as we continue to dream. I really like this idea:
Janelle says
October 27, 2011 at 12:55 pmGretchen- I loved hearing about your plans for a new kitchen. David and I too dream of a new kitchen when we can pay cash for it. We don’t just want to gut our current space, but expand into our backyard. I love your idea pictures. I have been fearful to even gather them for fear it will never happen. As to your oven, we have a 3 year old oven and had a plan where Sears would check it for free. They found it was not keeping temperature either and their was a way to raise the thermostat. The service men said all stoves drop temperature over the years. Also I hope our 70’s fridge doesn’t break because they don’t make them that way anymore.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Mom says
October 27, 2011 at 1:16 pmI certainly don’t want to get in the middle between my wonderful and her wonderful husband, but that creamy kitchen looks dreamy!
Paula says
October 27, 2011 at 5:11 pmFrom one farm wife to another, don’t go with the white cabinets. That’s what I have and I am constantly trying to get them clean and have just about given up. I don’t know what it is about farm dirt, but it just doesn’t want to wash off. I’m going to have to repaint them something darker in the spring. Your example pictures are beautiful but probably not practical for a kitchen that actually gets cooked in 🙂
I couldn’t imagine a whole kitchen makeover, that would be so wonderful. I got new counter tops this summer and it made such a difference.
I love the schoolhouse lamps!
great-mom-lousy-farmer says
October 27, 2011 at 7:02 pmIt’s perfect timing that I found your blog. After six years in this house, we are finally getting a new one early next year. Our sink is leaking in 3 different places, the floor is coming up and slanted in two different directions, there is no mud room so right into the kitchen we go after farm chores, and there is a whole in our ceiling from our upstairs plumbing problems.
I like your choices, and would like a light, bright kitchen as well. After Paula’s comment, though, I may have to rethink some of it!
I also love those lights!
Lisa Joy says
October 27, 2011 at 9:30 pmI had to laugh when you talked about painting perfectly good wood being akin to swearing! That sounds just like my husband and father-in-law. Any time we have watched any kind of home improvement shows on tv, of just seeing pictures where they have painted the cabinets it makes him physically flinch. 🙂 I had also pictured a light, airy kitchen, but we have dark wood cabinets that really are rather pretty. To brighten things up a little bit, we painted the walls lime green! It really does make the cabinets pop. 🙂
Terri Sue says
October 28, 2011 at 9:11 pmabout your bread problem…..having made bread for the entire 31 years of being married to my wonderful husband, 5 years ago i learned the “secret” in knowing when bread was DONE. a thermometer. they have special needle thin probe ones, but they set you back at least $100. i use a meat thermometer, stick it into what i hope is ths done loaf in the middle going halfway down. the temperature of a done loaf of bread is 195-200 degrees F. the thermometer is going to leave a small hole in your loaf but the guess work of thumping and wondering if it sounds hollow are over. i also test each loaf as the temperature varies all over your oven. you probably have a meat thermometer. if not they are cheap. you just need a small one. around $5.
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