kitchen aid

Posted on Posted in designing, food and garden, projects

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the fall weather is really upon us now—brilliant blue skies during lovely days that begin crisp and cool, turn warm for just the right amount of hours, then slip back into evenings early and chilly enough for lighting a fire. nice.

great sleeping weather, terrific knitting weather—sweaters are on my mind BIG time; i’ve got several on the drawing board and two on the needles as we speak. i just wish i had more time to knit, sigh.

i’ve been working almost exclusively on secret projects for the last few days, so not much i can show you at the moment, but how about an update on our renovation project?

we are in the fourth month now and on the one hand, it feels like we are nearly done, having accomplished so much. but on the other hand, when we look around, there is a lot of this and that to be finished up and progress has slowed down a lot—the work men have only been coming in a couple of days a week. i barely notice because i’m so busy, but david is getting really impatient to be finished.

and i’m sure one day i’ll wake up and realize it is WAY too cold to be using the porch as kitchen, haha.

anyway, there is progress to show and i still feel incredibly lucky to be making these improvements on our home.

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the floors are in and waiting to be refinished; i imagine that will be one of the last steps.

we have hardwood everywhere to match the rest of the house and ceramic tile in the kitchen (a new style which i’m in love with).

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it’s not exactly a woodgrain—more like the grain of some sort of stone. it’s gray and beige with a hint of blue; i just love how it looks with the cabinets.

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which are completely IN now, handles and all, yay!!
i can’t get over how many we have (we had three before). i’m thrilled we could get so many in without having uppers—those always make me feel claustrophobic when i’m working.

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this is my cooking wall; the stove will slip right into that spot between the windows. speaking of which, i LOVE my new window (left); it really makes the original window (right) more of a feature, now that they are a pair. david’s plaster finish brings so much soft light into the room, too—it is just how i pictured it for the last eleven years, only better.

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the sink area is nice and sunny with a view of the back yard—perfect for prepping vegetables and doing dishes. and we’ll have a dish washer now (one that is not david) to the right of the sink.

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and an island—wow, never had one of those; i’m sure we’ll like it. we need lighting, counter tops, and back splash installed, so we can get the sink in and start using it. i’ll surprise you with those materials in the next update. suffice it to say that the look with then be complete with quite a bit more definition.

i am REALLY glad now that we went through the inconvenience of doing the porch windows back in july—it was a tough week with nowhere to sit and eat, but that outdoor room is so well sealed now that we can still use it  as the mornings get chillier and chillier.  though not for too long i hope . . . it is almost october; one day soon it will get cold for real.

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on the other end of the big room is the dining/gathering area. i know—it look HUGE. it has always been a very large room, but with all our stuff in there and a wall between it and the kitchen, the visual was very different.

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the trim carpenters are beetling their way through the rooms, but there is plenty more finish work to do. what they have done is just beautiful; i can’t help but be drawn to it whenever i go over there.

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i just love me a perfect miter . . . it calls to the tailor i am at heart.

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in the sitting room, i still can’t get over that this used to be the corner where my desk sat and the same windows i looked out from for years—it’s all so much prettier now. it will be an adorable spot to visit and knit with friends, if i can keep from being distracted by my new view.

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in the center hall, we now have this splendid bike closet, which has doors now, too.

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big and deep enough to hang all four of our bikes plus racks for panniers, baskets, and helmets (which guests will tell you i currently stack in the washroom).

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we even have a new coat closet—the first this floor has known probably since the original build. the stair hall has been reconfigured badly a couple of times in its history, eliminating the great features of the first design, like the little fireplace and the closets underneath the stairs.

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and the stairs have real treads now; they just need to be varnished.

you can see why we are chomping at the bit to start using this space; it’s going to be SO livable and usable now. i had hoped it would be done in time to bake david a birthday cake and christen the space with our annual celebration dinner. but since the david-and-beckie birthday is this tuesday, that’s not in the cards.

now i’ve got my heart set on being done enough to welcome our dear friend kim when she comes to visit just before rhinebeck, in mid-october. we’ll see!

tonight we’re celebrating beckie and david’s birthdays with helena and kris’s family at their place—jeff is cooking chili and we’re bringing guacamole and salad.

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i’m just at the point of starting the decreases for my scotty hat, so i’ll bring that alone and finish it up. sarah is waiting for me to be done so she can add it to the trunk show i’m bringing with me to texas next weekend, when i’m teaching at the tinsmith’s wife anniversary retreat. i am so looking forward to visiting this shop; owner wendy has been a great supporter of knitspot patterns she she opened five years ago and this will be our first meeting in person.

 

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26 thoughts on “kitchen aid

  1. Oh Anne, your kitchen is looking fabulous. I can already picture all the delicious meals that you are going to be making there. I bet you are so excited to get started!! Now it looks to me like you have enough space to host a knitspot retreat!!! So when can we all descend on you?!! 😉

  2. Wow, fabulous. Love that you’re not having upper cabinets. For the one and only kitchen I ever planned, I used an open shelf instead of uppers & loved it.

  3. The space looks so open and bright- I am sure you will love it! And the Scotty hat looks great in the natural color- a whole different look.

  4. I hear coveting is not good for the soul, but I look at those windows and, well, I’m probably on my way somewhere in a handbasket. ;^) Thanks for sharing, slow and steady wins the race. I’m sure you guys will be thrilled when it’s done since you’ve taken such thought and care to make it YOUR space.

  5. I forgot to point out that I live in a town obsessed with biking, and I have never seen a bicycle closet. Clearly a cutting edge idea.

  6. Absolutely fabulous Anne!! Love Love Love the kitchen space. One of these days, I will be able to do my kitchen as well. Always wanted to be looking out the back windows into the yard to see my pups playing 🙂 ENJOY!!!

  7. Just beautiful. I like the idea of no upper cabinets. My kitchen is very small too, but I have 6 cabinets. I feel your pain!

  8. Oh my gosh, Anne, the kitchen and new area is absolutely gorgeous!! I love it and can’t wait to be there!

  9. It looks wonderful! Kitchen renovations are hard but so worth it. Your mention of Rhinebeck is getting me so excited to go!

  10. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MR. DAVID!!!!! Your renovation is looking wonderful. I bet you can hardly wait to see the finished product. How nice it’s going to be for you both when you can settle in again. Hope your first meal comes with candles and beautiful dishes and and lots’ of deep breaths as you look around your “new” home.

  11. It’s looking great Anne! Can’t wait to see it – done or not! And you know, will you think me just awful if I tell you that my first thought at seeing the kitchen was – ‘Oh no! How’s she going to make her chocolate cake for me in that kitchen???” I know I know. . . . selfish selfish selfish. . . . But it’s really looking great Anne. I bet David is so pleased!

  12. Thos brings back so many memories. I have never seen a kitchen without uppers–what an interesting concept! The commodious drawers are the best! It’s one of my favorite features of my new kitchen–you will love them! I totally agree that this is the best time of year for knitting! There’s even enough sun in part of the dayy to sit on the deck and knit!

  13. Thanks, Anne, for sharing the update on the remodel. I’m excited for y’all to be finished and enjoying your wonderfully fresh, beautifully re-designed space. And of course, happiest of birthdays, Mr. Knitspot!

  14. Lovely – can’t wait to see when it’s completed! I hope you are stuck out in the cold. All of us NE Ohio-ians know it’s coming soon! And happy birthday to David!! (sjn821 on Rav)

  15. Everything is looking GREAT, Anne. I know it’s hard to live through a renovation, but you two are champs. It will be well worth it when it’s finished – and I hope that happens for you SOON.

    Happy Birthday to David and Beckie! Enjoy the celebration.

  16. Love the renovation. Hate the spider (Sorry, can’t help it, I don’t like spiders.).

  17. Happy birthday to David! Lovely kitchen too. Is that an orbweaver spider? We have those all over outside. They are pretty with the contrasting brown/yellow stripes on their legs. And they really make a dent in the mosquitos that we still have here in east Tennessee.

  18. Love the spider pictures, Anne! She looks as though she is busy making repairs to her “home”, just as you and David are! I love watching the progression of your renovations… it is going to be such an inviting place – truly a HOME!

    Happy Birthday, Mr. Knitspot!

  19. I know some people like spiders, but for those of us who have arachnophobia this was a heart attack inducing blog. Sorry, don’t like those eight legged creatures.

  20. oh i can’t wait to see your kitchen when it is all built up
    it looks so great
    all my best wishes to david too
    lg birgit

  21. It’s Fall when the orb spiders start making their HUGE webs! I have one that loves the carport and attaches to the outside mirror of the car! It is also the time of year when you see the spider webs in early morning dew. People don’t realize how many spiders there are until you see all those webs in the early morning!

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