The final 'big' project of our (not so) new house was the kitchen and, apart from putting up a couple of shelves, we are finally there! The pictures below show how it looked when we started but these don't do justice to the way it first looked when we moved in. It is a room that doesn't get much natural light, being in the middle of the house, and the previous owners had painted it a dark, dark red. With white gloss cupboards, bright silver handles, black tiles, almost black beams and a very grubby, uncared for wood work top, it really wasn't a nice place to be.
So as soon as we moved in we painted the walls in Laura Ashley Twine and that made it liveable for a while...
It was also very badly designed with a counter sticking out into the middle of the room and a half height wall between the kitchen and the dining area. This meant you had to walk halfway round the house, through the hallway just to get to the dining table!
The sink was also set into the half wall and was a nasty black thing which was never clean :(
So out came the sledgehammer and our super carpenter got to work reconfiguring just about everything... And here's the finished article...
We've tried to give it a really warm, rustic look in keeping with the fact that it's an old dairy and cattle barn and already has exposed brickwork and original beams....
I repainted all the cupboards in a colour called Aged White by Crown and used vintage brass cup handles throughout...
You might remember from an earlier post that we brought in the lovely Penny and Ian to change the colour of all the beams in the house and we've now put this limed oak flooring all through the house too. In the far end of this photo you can see the dining table we made from an old door and the refinished bench.
The following photos show a few of the finishing touches...
Got to have a comfy seat for my coffee!
I made this spice box years ago and still find it really useful. Also the cutlery is now always close to hand in this zinc container...
This shot also shows the worktop which is Chapel Oak and the lovely tumbled travertine tiles we chose (one of my favourite things in the whole project)...
This old dresser base has been with me for many years and occasionally gets repainted. We have large mirrors all over the house as I love the spacious effects they give...and in the reflection you can see some old French bottle crates we use for storing wine...
I love this vintage window turned into a mirror which sits over the range cooker and bounces light from the skylight back into the room...
I couldn't resist a few rustic touches!
This pan is a big as a witch's cauldren!
And I do love the odd vintage bird cage or three!
Ooops, there's another one!
This is such a lovely place to be now, so warm and welcoming...
Do let me know what you think of the final effect, I'd love to hear your comments x
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