Before Photos - The Kitchen

As promised, here are a few photos of the kitchen as it is now. We haven't done any work on the room itself, we've simply installed some appliances and made it feel like ours.

One of my most favourite features of the kitchen, a room in which a large part of my day is spent, is the exposed stone wall. The kitchen was the first addition to the house, and was added to the south side of the original home not too long after if was built. This stone wall was at one point the outside of the house. And while you would think that a wall of stone would be quite cold aesthetically, it adds so much warmth to the space. 

It's also the perfect backdrop for open cabinets - which I have a few of. It compliments my dishware and ironstone perfectly.

The kitchen is three separate work areas - the one above, which holds all of my baking things, the cooking area by the stove (to the left of the space above) which is also where our everyday dishes are kept, and the sink area (opposite side).

To the left of this workspace is a doorway leading up into to the dining room, and to the right is a doorway leading up into the living room. I love that the doorways are two steps deep as the stone walls are so thick.

This is the East side of the kitchen. It contains my cleaning closet (left), my pantry (tucked behind in the middle), and a closet for coats and shoes (for the family room entrance which is through the doorway to the right). This part of this kitchen was formerly an office space, which we decided to turn into a main floor laundry area. I love having my laundry on the main floor.

You can see it tucked in behind here, along with our freestanding air conditioning unit. The home has radiant heat and that means no central air. While the main floor has been quite comfortable for most of the summer, the temperatures climbed up into the high thirties with the humidity last week and so we caved and put the air on.

There is a large window overlooking the side yard and the canal in the distance. We plan to create some sort of small built-in workspace to the right of the units, but that will come in time.

This is the West wall of the kitchen which leads out to the back patio.

One of our purchases for this space was a new gas range, which I love. I'm enjoying it so much.

I'm also very much enjoying having a dishwasher.

While originally we planned on replacing a lot of the kitchen, we've grown quite comfortable in it. But there are still a few things we plan to do:

Give the room as fresh coat of paint,

Replace the counter tops and backspash, 

Tile the floor (one day),

Replace the french door,

Finish the shoe closet,

Update the fixtures and hardware.

A Refreshed Kitchen and Dining Area

This week I spent some time freshening up the kitchen and the dining room.

I put away my red transferware, which still felt a little Christmas-like. I also took down some potted trees that were on my dining room shelves.

It's refreshing having everything back to normal.

Though I use my brown transferware in the Fall, I quite like it back up on my shelves. It still feels neutral, though I'm sure in the next while they will change again.

I don't think I've shown you where we moved our dining area. This room in our house has been many things: an entrance, a sitting room, a playroom, an office, and now our dining room.

For practical reasons, having the table in here is nice because it's just off the kitchen. The floor is also tiled, which is more ideal for cleaning up after the boys. Aesthetically, it's also full of windows that look out into the back yard which makes for a lovely view. However, one of the greatest benefits is that it frees up some space in our living room, which used to be a living room and dining room together. Now it has the feeling of a more open, airy space.

Eventually, when we do the kitchen, I would like to install banquet seating with an old square table. It would allow for more seating, and I think it would be a more efficient use of the space.

Because of the room's windows, I don't have much in the way of decor. I do have two small shelves to display a few pieces of my ironstone collection.

The doors go out onto our back deck, and the big window looks out back over our patio area. 

Here was our beautiful view while enjoying breakfast this morning. The best part of this space.

This is the view off our back deck, out the french doors, towards our neighbors immediate back yard.

Looking out back towards our side property line. You can see the ravine all behind our homes.

And straight out back into our back yard. We have narrow yards, but they are quite long. The tree line for the ravine in the back of this photo is about halfway back. The rest is all open woods.

It's why we bought our home.

Christmas Shelves

Before a very busy weekend full of cookie exchanges, Christmas parties and birthday celebrations, I was finally able to put away my brown transferware for another year, and take out my collection of red.

My collection of red transferware is quite a bit larger than my collection of brown. It includes place settings for six, as well as an assortment of serving pieces, small pitchers and various platters. I simply can't fit it all on my shelves.

So I just pick out my favourite pieces for a nice mix of patterns.

They look so beautiful against off white walls, especially with bits of greenery tucked here and there. 

Thanksgiving Dinner Preparations

In the midst of preparations for my sale, my house suffers. Laundry piles up, boxes are stacked all around, dishes remain in the sink and nothing really gets more than a quick clean.

With Thanksgiving dinner this Saturday, I've been spending my time trying to bring order back to our home.

Along with cleaning, there are some other preparations I'm very much looking forward to:

Baking my pies, setting the table, arranging a centerpiece, and of course preparing dinner itself.

Tomorrow I will be doing a deep clean of the house. Sickness didn't effect me enough to believe that my house will remain in such order until the weekend, but at least the morning of I know I will simply need to do a light clean.

I've also taken out my silverware to give it a quick polish, brought down my table linens to be washed, planned my menu and written my list for the market.

I know that a lot of people can't be bothered with such details. After all, they aren't necessary for a wonderful time together. But I personally enjoy the preparations nearly as much as I enjoy the dinner itself.

I feel much more relaxed as things start to declutter and return to normal.

I think this year I might include some of my brown transferware and use them as serving pieces.

My mom and I have been collecting silver-plated tea and coffee pots, as well as cream and sugar sets. They are planning on including a small tea room area in their shop and so we've been putting a collection of serving pieces together. These are my particular favorite.

On another note, last weekend I went to sale by Oliver and Rust. Meg, the proprietor, did a wonderful job! It's always so nice to find someone who chooses pieces that you yourself are drawn to. I found this antler and this beautiful framed watercolor painting. It's a cozy rural scene and it matches my other frames in my living room perfectly.

I also picked up another pair of beautiful brass candlesticks. These will be used in my table setting as well.

Autumn Shelves

Autumn... It's finally here!

Oh, how I have been waiting for this wonderful season to arrive.

In celebration, I added a few pieces of brown transferware to my kitchen shelves, as well as our first pumpkin and some quince.

What are some things you look forward to in the Fall?

Kitchen Shelves and New Peonies and Roses

This morning I dusted off my shelves in the kitchen and moved things around a bit.

I've been browsing Etsy for some pieces of brown transferware to tuck between the white serving ware come the Fall, and I have my red transferware for the Winter. I think for the Spring and Summer however, I will keep the shelves simple and white. 

As you can see, I'm clinging to the last of my beautiful Lilacs which are nearly finished. Actually, they are most definitly finished, I just can't quite bring myself to get rid of them just yet. There's the tiniest bit of life still left in them. I will prune them this weekend to promote new growth for next Spring. 

While at the grocery store yesterday, I browsed through the garden center looking for something to fill a bare spot in my front garden. I was so excited to discover they have two varieties of David Austin roses! I've wanted to order some for a couple of years now, but haven't quite dared. As the spot I needed to fill was in full sun, this would be the perfect addition.

I purchased two shrubs called Winchester Cathedral. Their beautiful double blooms are white with hints of pink. They are very fragrant and have a classic rose smell with hints of honey and almond blossom.

This is what they will look like once blooming. It was exciting to see quite a few buds on the shrub already. I haven't kept any roses in the garden so I've been researching how to care for them.

I also purchased another variety of white Peony that I don't have in my garden. It's a double peony called Gigantico. It will look similar to the Duchesse de Nemours (above) and Bowl of Cream varieties.

Our peonies are full of buds and the ants are busy helping them open into beautifully fragrant blooms.

I can't wait for everything to open fully. It's always nice to be able to have clippings from the Peonies and Hydrangeas around the house. I had to laugh because it reminded me of the flower show in Season 1 of Downton Abbey. I thought it was such a quaint idea - an award for Best Bloom in the village.