3rd Week November, Kitchen

Sink wall, before

I thought I was going to get better about posting when we got back, but I haven't gotten back into the habit yet.



Since vacation and the fence, we built the kitchen. We bought some inexpensive MDF-front cabinets and I primed and painted them. I ordered and installed some Staffordshire ceramic knobs for the doors and drawers. Stephen cut some plywood for the counters and I covered them with brown paper and polyurethane. I read about the technique on the web, but I guess the process is a little different on plywood rather than old laminate because the surface is so uneven - it took some doing to get the paper to stick on certain parts, especially the 3/4" ends. The laminate-covering method is probably easier because laminate ends are usually much thicker than 3/4". Then Stephen put in backspashes made out of 1 X 3's and I filled, caulked, primed and painted.

Stove wall, before. Yep, that's an ironing board used as a counter underneath that blue cloth.

I painted my washtub-on-stand and the industrial cart we found in an old outbuilding at our last house with metal paint from Sherwin Williams. I made tops for both and a shelf for the cart out of some ipe wood we had in the garage - ipe isn't affected by moisture, so it should be a good kitchen surface. I also primed and painted my old pine stool and made a gingham cushion for it.

Sink wall, after

Stove wall, after

Stephen cut shelves for the built-ins in the wall, but I haven't painted them yet. I cut pieces of vinyl oilcloth for the insides of all the cabinets and drawers. Stephen installed the cabinets and the sink. The sink is a 5-foot 1953 Kohler with a Hudee ring. The Hudee ring was a challenge all by itself - it was a little uneven, and requires very specific clips to hold it in. But he managed it after some cursing, and it looks amazing. I made a blue gingham curtain to cover the mini-fridge. I would like to put a shelf on the wall that has the stove, but otherwise, the kitchen will be done after the stove is brought up from the garage.

When we lived in the travel trailer last year, we washed dishes in the washtub in the yard, took showers under a tree, ate meals from a microwave, and went to the bathroom in a bucket. Then we got a utility sink in the garage and put in the bathroom. This fall, when we moved into the house, I started washing the dishes in the bathtub, and I can use the crock pot, the toaster, and the hotplate. By the end of this week, I'll be not only washing dishes in my new sink but also cooking on my stove. So rad.