kitchen — Page 8

As Is: Late Summer Edition

September 14, 2015 at 8:20 am by Claudia

Every once in a while, I give myself permission to take a quick photo of the house ‘As Is.’ No straightening up, no ‘vignettes’ – just real life. If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that Don and I like cozy, relaxed, eclectic and vintage. We read a lot, so there are always books lying around. There’s usually a guitar somewhere – right now, there’s one in the living room and one in the den. It’s early around here and the lights are on.

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Practical is the watchword lately. You’ll notice lots of throw rugs that really don’t have any design theme whatsoever. They’re for Scout. They help her navigate. There’s a quilt on the floor in front of the loveseat – also for Scout. And you can just see the edge of a towel that’s on top of the oval rug. You guessed it – for Scout. Don’s Kindle, books, and glasses are on the coffee table.

Nothing exciting. Nothing new. I can’t see spending money on something we really don’t need – just to ‘change things up.’

I don’t decorate for fall, as you know. We are fortunate to live in the Northeast, where Fall will be on constant display in a very short time. Frankly, nothing I could do would be better than the designs of Mother Nature. And honestly, I have so little available surface area that it isn’t practical.

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It’s a dark and cloudy morning, so these aren’t great photos. But sometimes, to be perfectly honest, I don’t care!

More throw rugs for Scout. A piece of paper towel on the island (see? no editing.) Dishes in the drainer. Paint brushes used on the dollhouse in a piece of McCoy on the window sill. Cough medicine on the counter. My Peet’s French Roast (single cup drip method) awaiting the boiling water from the tea kettle.

I’ll spare you the den, where there are piles of used kleenexes, cough drops, and a makeshift bed (I came downstairs around 4 am because I was coughing too much and I didn’t want to keep disturbing Don’s sleep.) I don’t know if it is allergies or sinuses and, frankly, I never know. I do remember now that I wasn’t feeling all that great on Thursday when I was in the city. Lots of sneezing – I mean lots – and congestion. So I think this has been coming on for a few days.

There you go. As Is for Monday, September 14th.

Happy Monday.

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Scenes From The Cottage: The Kitchen

January 21, 2015 at 9:33 am by Claudia

The kitchen was what clinched the deal for Don. Not that it has a lot of bells and whistles. Not that it is full of stainless steel appliances and cupboards galore and granite or butcher block countertops. Nope. It has too few cupboards and mismatched appliances. It has tile countertops that I’d love to replace.

But because it was added on to this little cottage many, many years ago, it has a slanted ceiling that is much higher than the ceiling in the living room. It slopes down from the wall it shares with the living room to the wall that faces the back forty. Since Don does a lot of the cooking and he’s over 6′4″ tall, he fell in love with the space. And we both fell for the windows that are on all three sides of the room.

I’ll try to note things you might want to know below each photo, because there are a lot of photos.

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The view from the living room. The island was made from an old sideboard. McCoy Pottery is scattered throughout the room. That’s Scout’s dog food under the island. The lampshade was recovered in some of the fabric from my stash. The Vernor’s crate is one of my very favorite things.

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As Is. A well organized message center? Decidedly not. Photos of family on the refrigerator.

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The table was originally finished in a very dark stain, so I painted it. I got it from my friend Heidi’s shop for $75. It has two leaves, as well, though I think we’ve only used them once. The chairs have been gathered here and there. The one with its back to the camera was found for $5. It’s vintage and was made by Thonet.

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Pretty cups. Bottle rack from World Market. The little tray was decoupaged by my friend Tina. She also gave us that beautiful aqua pitcher.

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Riley’s Dish Garden, in honor of our dearly missed boy.

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The pantry. I bought that canister (part of a set) when we were driving across the country on the way to our new home in the Northeast. The horseshoe is Don’s.

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The kitchen cabinet was found in a little shop on the other side of the river – we had a very, very, very small kitchen in our rental and we desperately needed the storage space. I changed out the stainless steel knobs to some pretty glass pulls. It’s full of McCoy, Fiesta, vintage china, Emma Bridgewater, transferware. I made the light hanging over the table from an old lamp shade base which I covered with old doilies. The red cloth-covered cord came as part of a kit. I also made the chalkboard and the hanger for Don’s Jumping Jack collection. You’re welcome to pull on one as you come in or out the door.

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Fiesta and McCoy.

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The sign is one of my favorite things – made by Paula of Castle and Cottage Signs. Isn’t it lovely? More McCoy, as well.

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I found this sign, which is not vintage, through my friend Heidi. I loved the colors and it was the perfect size to hang over the entrance to the living room.

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The funky paper towel holder made from an old chain display rack.

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The bench by the kitchen door. We bought it right after we moved in here. We store a lot of tools inside the bench. Dog towels; both on and under the bench. In the winter, hats and gloves.

And the view from the kitchen into the living room and den:

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There you have it. As Is. The way we live. There’s always clutter on the kitchen table, notes and lists on the island, pottery everywhere (I don’t know what I’d do without it.)

Cheerful clutter, I call it. A sleek kitchen is clearly not for us. I admire them. I marvel at the space and the counters free of clutter. I dream of matching appliances and butcher block countertops. And a dishwasher that works.

But cheerful, funky, and colorful is really our style. The pottery has been gathered and collected over the years. The table and chairs pieced together over the last almost ten years. The chalkboard was made from part of the trim that originally came on the sideboard (which I found at auction for $60). The lamp was a solution to a kitchen with recessed lighting, which I like, but let’s face it, there are times when some mood lighting is in order. We came up with the paper towel holder not long after we moved here and bid on the chain display at a local auction. We brought it home and soon I had a vision of dowels and paper towels. (Hey, that rhymes.) It’s one of our favorite things. The island was something I dreamed up to give us more storage and counter space. We can’t imagine life in the kitchen without it.

If you’re interested, there are more photos of the island and the chalkboard and the hanging light and information as to how I made them elsewhere on the blog.

Any questions? Ask away in the comments!

Happy Wednesday.

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Cleaning, Reorganizing & Gifts for the Dollhouse

March 17, 2014 at 8:36 am by Claudia

alstro

Alstromeria = best bang for your buck. They last a good two weeks or more; I’ve had them last as long as three weeks. That’s why I buy them. (And they are very pretty.)

In my continuing quest not to go insane this winter, I’m trying to motivate myself to do things around here. You’ve all heard more than enough about the crazy weather I’ve been coping with. Add in Don being gone and an extended period without coaching work, which is not helping things at all, and you get a Claudia who is a wee bit depressed and stir crazy. Not to mention a wee bit worried about my income and my seemingly waning career.

Anyway, those two cooking pots I bought at IKEA needed to be stored somewhere, which sparked a rather massive clean-out and reorganization of my lower kitchen cupboards, as well as the two cupboards in the kitchen island. You’ve been there, right? Tupperware containers without lids, lids without containers, pot lids that don’t fit any pot; it’s really mind boggling how those things pile up and magically reproduce in the dark corners of kitchen cabinets. I wiped down surfaces, vacuumed out crumbs, reorganized and dumped.

Much better.

I also cleaned out and wiped down the inside of the dishwasher, which we don’t use because it has never worked right, and now it is the new home for some pots and pans. I told Don yesterday that I’d like a dishwasher that works. I don’t think that’s asking too much, do you?

A week or so ago, I also cleaned out a junk drawer or two in the kitchen.

Don won’t know what hit him when he gets back home.

Now I’d like to tackle the guest bedroom/office/studio but a lot of the stuff in there is Don’s. Hmmm.

I have another rapper-like nickname for a medical condition to add to yesterday’s list: AFib. Because, apparently, atrial fibrillation isn’t hip enough for pharmaceutical commercials.

A dear reader, Sharon, sent me two sweet additions for my dollhouse and I’ve been meaning to share them with you.

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