Monday 21 November 2016

Modernising my farmhouse kitchen

The kitchen/dining room in this house was a huge selling factor. In fact it's huge - 26ft long no less. It had been extended into the original pantry by the previous owners. The kitchen is solid wood, hand built to fit the space and incorporating much of the slate from the original pantry. It even has many of the meat hooks in the beams (not popular with my vegan daughters!). There is an old, but fully functional Stanley range cooker which heats the house and water and a separate electric oven and induction hob; the sink is a double Belfast sink. All sounds fab doesn't it?

Before photos....




The dresser is ours from the previous house 

Well, it is actually, BUT me being me, I wanted to tart it up a bit. The walls and ceiling definitely needed a freshen up; the wooden units were two-tone and neither tone matched the oak worktops, the skirting boards were stained dark brown, the large central beam had been stained mahogany.....

So Mr D was tasked with dealing with the ceiling, beam included, whilst I painted the walls and then the units. The base units and central island were painted a soft grey ("Mole's Breath" by Farrow and ball) and the wall units were painted a lighter grey. It's given it a whole new look and I feel it's brought it into the 21st century. I still plan on replacing the pink tiles behind the cookers with white ones.
It took longest  to decide on which lights to choose! Why is it so hard to find light fittings that aren't way too fussy, or ridiculously expensive?! Eventually we chose clear glass shades with a vintage look.


Jet has his home made bed in here so he has somewhere cosy to lie when I'm cooking 

I like this photo in particular as it shows how much lighter the room seems now. 

One unexpected expense was needing to replace the electric oven, but it was a good move as even if we had had the other one repaired, I suspect something else would have gone wrong with it - it had been well used! We obviously paid an electrician to fit the oven, but Mr D and I put in the new ceiling lights. We put some fairy lights on the beam - I know it's not necessarily in keeping but I love fairy lights in the kitchen and they're not too obtrusive.


25 comments:

  1. Hi there, just found you and think I will really enjoy reading along with you. Great before and after pics - I am trying to remember to do that for everything we're doing. Great style :)

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    1. Glad you're enjoying the posts. I often forget to do the before photos and then get very annoyed with myself!

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  2. Looks absolutely beautiful, I'd kill for a kitchen like that! (not seriously, of course!). Our kitchen is small and with cheap modern glossy units - I hate it, but since the house is rented, have to live with it.

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    1. Thank you - it really is a super duper kitchen and great for entertaining :)

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  3. It looks fantastic, very clean and bright ... and much more 'you'. :-)

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  4. We all three commented at exactly the same time!! :-)

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  5. Did you prepare your cupboards before painting them? I keep trying to pluck up the courage to do our kitchen cupboards but am still not sure even though I have done many other wooden items of furniture. I worry that with constant use, the paint would flake off? Love the colour.

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    1. See today's post for what I did. This is the fourth time I have painted kitchen cabinets and iven never regretted it, but it is important to get the colour right!!

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  6. Love the cupboards and yes what a fabulously bright space. Fab fairy lights, too!

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  7. Now that is one impressive room. I love the way you have given the room so much light, beautiful.

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    1. We are very lucky to have that space to play with in the first place :)

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  8. Just beautiful.....I have to go back and have another drool over it-x-

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  9. What a wonderful kitchen - ours is a mere 16ft by 9ft, but in the 1980s when our house was built, the sitting/dining room was the 29ft room, and the kitchen more an afterthought, whereas today kitchens are often larger than sitting rooms. I love the colour you have painted the cupboards! Must have a look at my F&B colour chart and have a look-see at Mole's Breath. It is a beautiful room!
    Margaret P

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    1. Thank you. I do love the Farrow and Ball colour charts :)

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  10. Oh wow, looks lovely! I am trying to decide whether to paint our units, it all a bit nerve wracking in case I mess it up. You have done a fab job!!

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    1. Go for it! Choose your colour carefully and I would suggest water based eggshell. I've done it four times now and always liked it x

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  11. Farrow and Ball do some beautiful on trend colours. The units look lovely.

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  12. Just absolutely stunning difference. I would love to have as much space in my kitchen.

    God Bless.

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  13. Love it. it is stunning you have worked miracles in your new home. P.s fairy lights are my favourite!

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  14. Oh wow, looks lovely! I am trying to decide whether to paint our units


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