As the name of my blog indicates, I spend a lot of time thinking about home. Of course, my Heavenly Home is the one that is eternal, so that’s where I need to lay up my treasures, and that’s the one I’m striving for. But in the meantime, I have been given this tiny piece of the here-and-now—this home on the edge of town, this family, this neighborhood—in which to serve Him. And, though this is in the earthly realm, I want the things that happen here to be investments in the Heavenly realm.




Friday, October 28, 2016

Plans for the Kitchen


Pineapple House has been our home for six months now! Oh, how time flies...

We feel like we have come a long way. The living room and dining room are painted and styled. The girls' bedrooms are done. (You can see Kati's room ~here~ and I'll share Bekah's room soon!) We have planted an herb garden and done some outside painting and sprucing up. And now we are turning our attentions to the kitchen. 




You know that we are DIY-ers when it comes to house projects, and the kitchen is no exception.

We plan to do our updates in stages...a little bit at a time. 

Have I told you that Thanksgiving is my favorite day of the year? My friend Joanne told me of her friend who designed and built her entire house for Thanksgiving Day! I have never met Joanne's friend, but I know that I like her! Fortunately, Pineapple House is already well-suited for Thanksgiving Day. (We had a trial run a few Sundays ago when we had 25 people for dinner!) 

But back to the kitchen...

In preparation for Thanksgiving, Ron began Kitchen Updates: Phase I earlier this month with the installation of our double-oven range. I haven't cooked a turkey yet, but I have certainly been enjoying the (almost) new range!




This week, we began Phase II: removing wallpaper. 

About that wallpaper. Years ago (early 1980's), Ron and I were in a local paint store. While he was shopping for something-that-I-don't-remember, I sat and browsed through wallpaper books. I came across a pattern that I loved, kind of a sampler look with houses and baskets and pineapples and hearts and a coordinating border, but it was definitely not in the budget. Our farmhouse kitchen was large and would have required a lot of wallpaper. 

When we came to see Pineapple House for the first time, I was amazed to see that wallpaper in the kitchen!



However, since it is 2016 and not 1985, the wallpaper is coming down. In fact, a good deal of it came down a couple of evenings this week. (Of course, we are hosting a ladies' game night this weekend. Nothing like a bit of remodeling chaos to make your guests feel at home, huh?) 

After the wallpaper is down, we are going to paint that space and also the space on the other end of the kitchen past the cabinets. The walls will be the same antique white that we have used in all of the other rooms. The trim will be...ahem. I'll get back to you on that. (But we're narrowing down our choices.)   

We are going to replace the shutters with paneled shutters which Ron will make. The valances are new; they will stay. 



Where the previous owners had a kitchen table, we have chosen to put our kitchen island. We considered a small table for an eat-in kitchen, but we are sentimental about the island and there was really nowhere else to put it. We purchased a couple of bar stools so that someone could eat breakfast or lunch, or just hang out with the cook.

Or hang out with a cousin. :)





Other phases, yet to come: 

1) Move the washing machine down to the basement. (Part of me will miss having it so handy. The other part of me will be happy to reclaim some kitchen space.) 



2) Replace the stained glass chandelier with one that fits our style.

3) Move the refrigerator over a bit, to where the washing machine is now. This will allow us to have a longer counter surface, instead of two short lengths on either side of the fridge. 


4) Build a new bottom cabinet to fill in the space when the fridge is moved. (This will make me happy, because I lost the cabinet that was under the cook top. Now my pots and pans are all over the place, including some down in the basement. How's that for convenience?) 

5) Install a new sink. Although we loved our large undermount farmhouse sink at The Farmhouse, we're not sure that would be right for this kitchen. We're considering a smaller farmhouse sink from Ikea, but I prefer a single bowl sink. Fortunately, that decision is a bit down the road. 

6) Replacing the countertop. We will probably go with butcher block again, as we loved our counters in The Farmhouse. Wood is so warm and pretty. 

7) Painting the cabinets. We'll probably keep the hardware. It's not "modern," but it fits with our style. 



Again, this will all be done over a period of time. Don't expect a big reveal in the next couple of weeks! But I do promise to keep you posted as we complete each phase. 

We are excited about making the changes that will make it our kitchen! 


10 comments:

  1. How exciting! I look forward to seeing all the phases of this project.

    Love & hugs ~ FlowerLady

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  2. Don't hit me, but I do/did love that wallpaper. I am very happy that wallpaper never really goes completely out of fashion. Course paint doesn't either and looks fresh and cheery. Don't hit me, but I hope that you start with changing out the light. LOL! Your island was made for that happy corner...looks fabulous there, especially with grands seatd there enjoying the space. Have fun, folks! I know that you enjoy the challenge. (I love that you love Thanksgiving. I am sure that The Pineapple House will make a great Thanksgiving House and all year through. Ask Joanne what exactly makes a Thanksgiving House?)

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    1. forgive all misspellings and grammatical errors...

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  3. Cheryl, I'm excited to see what you do in your kitchen. I love the ideas you have shared. You have really experienced serendipity in the Pineapple House--it was meant to be for you and your family. We have taken down wallpaper and I don't envy that process. I personally have vowed to never put it up again! With your skills and graciousness I'm sure your kitchen will one that will welcome Thanksgivings in the years that come. ♥

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  4. I like the way you've broken it down in to manageable (and affordable "bites". That's how we do it, too. How great to have a double oven - and additional counter space in the future! Your plans sound great!

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  5. You have lots of great ideas for the kitchen space. I do like that hardware. Glad it will work with your new design. It's great to be able to do things yourselves. That's so interesting that someone built a house around Thanksgiving. I can see in my mind where that would yield a comfortable space. Hope your weekend is good!

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  6. I love seeing your kitchen and glad to see the little island. I wondered if you had kept it. If you remember it was the inspiration for ours. Looks like the perfect spot for it. I feel for you removing the wall paper but it's good that you can. (I was thinking you were going to say that you had the friends on game night remove paper for you!) Ours would not come off (no sizing) so I did some painting over it years ago and then had to have someone come and repair the walls for new paint (and they removed all traces of wall paper). That is just amazing that you loved that wall paper at one time. Lastly, I have the same three shelves to the right of my kitchen sink window, we had them built there when we moved in. My grandma had similar shelves as did my mom and I wanted them too! Have a great weekend!

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  7. What a great project! This house was really made for you! It's going to be wonderful!

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  8. It already looks so warm and cozy! That makes it nice for you as you incorporate the changes a little at a time. That island is perfect!

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  9. Lots of changes coming your way and I'm sure it was all be lovely, just like the rest of your home. I do like the older style cabinet hardware... glad you are going to keep them :)

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