...we had a MAJOR water issue in our kitchen, which has translated into the tearing out of our hardwood floors and bookcase in the dining room, and who knows what to come in the next few days in our poor little kitchen. So this week amidst the chaos of industrial-strength fans, books on every spare surface, and the awful smell of mildew, I am dreaming of peaceful and uncluttered kitchens.
Sigh. This picture is so beautiful to me.
(I sadly have no idea where it is from, I just found it in a google kitchen photo gallery. I wish I could credit it appropriately.)
(these two pictures from Sunset magazine)
What elements do you think are most important in kitchens? I like open shelves where you can display your favorite dishes and pretty bottles, and farmhouse sinks. Floors are tricky, I think. I love wood, but especially after seeing what water in the wrong place can do, I wonder if that is still my kitchen dream. What do you think is beautiful and timeless (and not over the top expensive, like reclaimed brick?)
20 comments:
I am sorry to hear about your water woes!
Whatever you do with your kitchen, make it full of light.
We painted our kitchen a terra cotta color and it's a little cave-like in there.
I've been enjoying your blog for a while now (and also the two clothing patterns!), but have never commented. Anyway, yes, a deep farmhouse sink—I really miss the double-drainboard one at our old house. And I'd look into simple wood countertops. The cheap pine countertops we also had in the old house were warm and lovely to look at but also extremely hard wearing and surprisingly easy to keep clean (and I really put them through their paces writing a book on canning!). Oh, and a shallow pantry. Good luck with your retrofit!
oof. water issues are no fun!
but kitchen dreams are...
when we redid ours this past spring, i really wanted some open shelves but didn't do it because i know i am not that neat! we took the cabinets up to the ceiling, built in a pantry, farmhouse sink and, my favorite, put a huge butcher block on our island. and yes, i cut on it! the floors are wood - most of the house is and the kitchen is a cut-through so it didn't make much sense to change it. that said, i love cork floors - easy on your feet.
ohhh i am sorry for you. we had the same problems in our cellar - i really wish you the best.
i like white kitchens with style. like those you showed. the first 2 pics are amazing!!!
nice evening... dani
Oh no! What a mess it all must be.
We've run the gamit of kitchen flooring, and from vinyl to laminate to Marmoleum laminate, i have to say i like our Marmoleum best. That said, i would trust it more if it was the lino was glued to the floor, rather than glued to laminate and floating on subflooring.
My dream kitchen would have Marmoleum floors in a classic pattern, or if we could afford it, Mexican terracotta tile.
You must be getting really good at dealing with water/flooding issues now. At least you don't have to deal with a psycho landlord! My mom has had similar problems with wood floors and a dishwasher that has leaked a couple of times. I think I might be interested in cork floors. Don't know how pricey they are, but I've heard that they can deal with the water that inevitably happens in the kitchen, and that they're also pretty easy on your feet, which is a big plus I think! Right now, I would give just about anything for a sink - any sink - that was deeper than the one in my kitchen!
Ha, Maren, no kidding! Do you remember the song we made up about Shawn? Where's Vanese and her guitar when I really need it?!
I love cork. That's a great thought.
Thanks for all the other great ideas!!
So sorry for your kitchen!! we had a flood last week, too! i don't know how you feel about tile, but that's what I have. my opinions are- get tile with rough texture, so they're not so slick when wet, and they also don't show dirt and spots as much. also, get dark/darker grout to begin with :).
YIKES! Hope the water / kitchen issue gets sorted soon. Hate when your life gets interrupted by something major...
Oh and finally got a copy of War & Peace... probably spent half an hour last night reading the same half a page as some stupid surfing doco was on which kept getting my attention as all these drugged up hippy surfers where hilarious. *ahem* So I'm up to page 13. End of Chapter 3. Yeah, impressive. Not. Hopefully more reading tonight!
xo MODELmumma
I hate when you got back and re-read and spot your own bad grammar. How embarrassing cause I'm a teacher! ;)
*drugged up hippies WERE hilarious.*
I just had to correct it for my own piece of mind, so that I can sleep well tonight. hehehe.
Aw, I hope your kitchen gets back to its old self quickly.
I, too, adore open shelves and will opt for tiles of darker colors. My mother has a navy blue kitchen and I like how it looks clean ALL THE TIME.
I can't wait to see what you come up with Lynne. I'm sure it will be amazing!
I vowed not to do hardwood in the kitchen after my father had a dishwasher leak out and had to replace it AND I dropped a knife on my own floor and made a gash in it. I was always afraid of spilling water which happened daily. Tile's drawback is that you drop something, it usually breaks and if you spill something, then the grout can stain. I watched my sister spill red juice all over her light grout... which was no longer light! I was so curious what everyone would recommend because we need to redo the kitchen too!
That sounds awful. I'm and interior designer and for my clients (those who don't have a housekeeper or can afford to refinish hardwoood every few years - yes, these lucky people exist!)I have often used linoleum. It's a natural product, soft on the feet, and easy to care for. Lots of design possibilities using two or three colours but I really love just the sheet type as there are few seams.
Sorry about the kitchen flood, hope it gets cleaned up quickly! I have VCT tiles in my kitchen and love them, they are easy to clean and they are very inexpensive, I think I paid around .73 cents/sq. foot. There are several pictures of my kithen in an album on my blog's sidebar. I love open shelving also, it adds so much character to my kitchen and is fantastic for display. Mine are from Ikea.
I like stained concrete...it could have the feel of re-claimed stones if done correctly!
Love that first kitchen sooo much! That table is the perfect multi-use surface and such a beautiful counterpoint to the white cabinetry and tile.
We just did our kitchen this year and put in slate tile. The color we chose is more subtle as far as slate goes, but still ranges from greenish to gold to brown and adds a lot of character and warmth to the space.
A deeeeeeep sink is a must, but as far as flooring goes, my dream is still wood. I have Mexican pavers that are 30 years old. Not one crack in the tile or the grout. It's a dark grout so no dirt shows. I re-seal them every 5-7 years and it's not too bad of a job. I do it in sections since I have almost 1200 square feet of it. I've had some minor-ish leaking on them from rainwater through a slider and they stain dark for a few weeks, then clear up. I think because they are laid on a plywood subfloor on a house with a crawl space the air can circulate to dry them. Having said all that about these virtually indestructable cheap tiles...I hate this flooring with a passion. The wide uneven grout lines make mopping or sweeping a real pain in the ass.
Ill take kitchen number 2 please and all the things tht are in it as well. :) Try to see it as a opprtunity because now you can make radical change in your kitchen that you otherwise may never have got around to doing.
In my view every person ought to look at it.
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