The kitchen

[empliau]

In the delayed gratification thread, I posted a picture the slab for our kitchen countertops:

View attachment 974073

And now I have a few pictures of the final product, which is delaying my Buccellati, possibly indefinitely. It may have been worth it. It is quite an experience to have a kitchen I have chosen - floors, cabinets, countertop and backsplash, appliances.

ETA: Photos in wrong order. Apologies.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

WOW! Beautiful and such clean and elegant lines. Enjoy!

cheers--Sharon

 

[empliau]

HI:

WOW! Beautiful and such clean and elegant lines. Enjoy!

cheers--Sharon

You're so kind! We had constraints because our house is a square, built around a pair of staircases (main and back), and changing that would have impaired the structural integrity of the house. So we have an L-shaped kitchen. But we enjoyed doing the best we could with what was possible, design-wise.

 

[canuk-gal]

You're so kind! We had constraints because our house is a square, built around a pair of staircases (main and back), and changing that would have impaired the structural integrity of the house. So we have an L-shaped kitchen. But we enjoyed doing the best we could with what was possible, design-wise.

Well, you made the most of it. Don't see any sacrifice (L is for LOVE)!!

 

[Matata]

Lovely room; stunning AGA. Me jealous.

 

[empliau]

Lovely room; stunning AGA. Me jealous.

Thank you! We got the AGA in indigo instead of black, and I really like it - even though we had to wait longer for it.

 

[Calliecake]

Your kitchen looks beautiful @empliau.

 

[dvj]

Really nice. Enjoy your new kitchen!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

it looks really lovely, i love the cabinatry especially
best wishes for lots of yummy home cooked meals enjoyed with love ones

 

[canuk-gal]

Lovely room; stunning AGA. Me jealous.

+ a billion. And I thought I could just be jealous of jewellery but I guess not. Range envy!

 

[monarch64]

Beautiful! And I love your (flame?) Le Creuset! Lol

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

OoOoh, this is what I'd love to have if I could swing it.
Especially obsessed with the cabinetry and the molding details. And the slab <3
It was worth it.

 

[dk168]

As someone who had spent a fortune on a new kitchen, including a granite worktop, when I moved into my new house back in 2006, with the layout designed by me and appliances chosen by me to suit my own cooking style and preferences, I can fully appreciate the joy of spending money on kitchen renovation!

The granite I had chosen was a lot cheaper than yours, which looks to me as Green/Emerald Pearl (however, I could be wrong) and my kitchen is a lot smaller!

Lovely kitchen, and I hope you get lots of enjoyment using and perhaps entertain in it.

DK

 

[empliau]

As someone who had spent a fortune on a new kitchen, including a granite worktop, when I moved into my new house back in 2006, with the layout designed by me and appliances chosen by me to suit my own cooking style and preferences, I can fully appreciate the joy of spending money on kitchen renovation!

The granite I had chosen was a lot cheaper than yours, which looks to me as Green/Emerald Pearl (however, I could be wrong) and my kitchen is a lot smaller!

Lovely kitchen, and I hope you get lots of enjoyment using and perhaps entertain in it.

DK

Thank you! actually (you awoke the sleeping Dinosaur Nerd Kid in me, I am not responsible for the consequences) the countertops are green serpentine from Vermont, that was formed by massive collisions that brought basalt from the earth's mantle up and exerted huge pressure and temperature on it in the Palaeozoic era, between 450 and 300 million years ago. So my countertops were actually formed before dinosaurs walked the earth! though not cut and polished.

 

[empliau]

OoOoh, this is what I'd love to have if I could swing it.
Especially obsessed with the cabinetry and the molding details. And the slab <3
It was worth it.

This means a lot to me - we've been on similar journeys in remodeling hell/heaven. Many thanks!

P.S. The holophane lights are vintage! I know you love your vintage lights too. I didn't want pot lights so we have the holophane and LED under cabinet lighting. Works a treat.

 

[empliau]

Beautiful! And I love your (flame?) Le Creuset! Lol

Our kitchen designer is really good - that's the angle of the L, and having a cabinet stick out there would interfere with traffic. The open shelving - something I normally hate with a passion, since my mom had lots of it and I washed the schmutz off her display china multiple times per year - was a brilliant solution.

And some of the Le Creuset was my mom's. She bought it in 1972, and found it too heavy to use. I loved it so she gave it to me when I went to grad school, then bought me more later as a wedding present.

 

[empliau]

Closeups of my (I'm obsessed) countertops:

And the sleeping architectural nerd in me (oh, who am I kidding, my internal nerds don't really sleep) loves that this kind of stone, green serpentine, was used in classical and Byzantine architecture. The ambo of Hagia Sophia was of green serpentine, and it was widely used in great architectural projects all around the eastern Mediterranean.

 

[Ally T]

Beautiful result & beautiful counter tops! I feel your pain with designing from scratch, but it is So. Worth. It. Everything is laid out exactly where YOU want it to be & it flows for your personal needs.

We also have Le Creuset in Volcanic - we are crockery twins!

 

[empliau]

Beautiful result & beautiful counter tops! I feel your pain with designing from scratch, but it is So. Worth. It. Everything is laid out exactly where YOU want it to be & it flows for your personal needs.

We also have Le Creuset in Volcanic - we are crockery twins!

You know, the idea of being crockery twins with you and your magnificent Historical Old Vicarage is making me happy! I have been joking about bringing our house back to its 1902 self - installing vintage lights, redoing bathrooms, and now the kitchen. Your house saga, which I have followed, has really been an inspiration. Thank you so much!

 

[Ally T]

You know, the idea of being crockery twins with you and your magnificent Historical Old Vicarage is making me happy! I have been joking about bringing our house back to its 1902 self - installing vintage lights, redoing bathrooms, and now the kitchen. Your house saga, which I have followed, has really been an inspiration. Thank you so much!

I’m glad I made you happy! And you should, with time & not make it ridiculously overwhelming, bring your house’s style back to 1902. Ours is 1904 & whilst it was stripped back to bare brick, I have tried to re-introduce things that would have been here once, with a modern twist. All of the ornate ceiling roses were pulled down at one point, so I had new ones fitted that look like they have always been here, each styled for that particular room. I sourced authentic antique brass Art Deco cinema wall lights from Germany for a song, handed them to the electricians & said please re-wire these & make them work. And they look magnificent!

Pulling up the vile green, dirty carpet on both staircases revealed painted edges & bare, never been touched wooden centres where the original stair runners were positioned. So we re-pained & had a stair runner rather than carpet put on the main staircase with beautiful antique rods. Little details that nod to its history & it’s past.

Do some decor research & see what you can bring back? It will be a fun journey & I’m totally here with you for the ride!

 

[empliau]

We have done the bathrooms - here's one - we left the marble-topped vanity and tub, but installed stained glass for privacy (it looks right out over the entrance to the house!) and period-appropriate flooring and porcelain sconces for lighting , though the lighting doesn't show:

And the bathroom off our bedroom is quite small, but we have a clawfoot tub and more period tile:

And of course stained glass for privacy:

 

[dk168]

Thank you! actually (you awoke the sleeping Dinosaur Nerd Kid in me, I am not responsible for the consequences) the countertops are green serpentine from Vermont, that was formed by massive collisions that brought basalt from the earth's mantle up and exerted huge pressure and temperature on it in the Palaeozoic era, between 450 and 300 million years ago. So my countertops were actually formed before dinosaurs walked the earth! though not cut and polished.

That sounds VERY expensive for being rare!!!

DK

 

[SparklieBug]

I am loving this thread! I adore when people bring old houses back to their original beauty—with an empathetic modern touch to fit modern times.

 

[empliau]

That sounds VERY expensive for being rare!!!

DK

Well, I can't say it was ten cents per square foot - but it was in the same ballpark with soapstone, the other major contender. And most of the soapstone is now imported into the US from Brazil, whereas I live less than three hours as the car drives from the serpentine quarry. So for about the same price the stone didn't have to come on container ship from another hemisphere, a win in my book. In fact, delivery costs were practically negligible, given that they send stone to my area every couple of weeks.

If we were either new construction or a commercial establishment, we could get a tax break from doing sustainable building. The floors are reclaimed old growth red oak from a local business, the cabinets were built here in New England from North American wood, the light fixtures are restored and rewired vintage, and the stone was quarried and finished locally. But sadly the US government doesn't give LEED credits for residential remodeling.

 

[Ally T]

I love the bathrooms & the stained glass is a stroke of genius!

Please post more pictures if you are comfortable to do so. I would love to see what else you have done!

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

That FLOOR in the bathroom. The fixtures. The vanity. YOU HAVE STAINED GLASS!! Can I just live with you? It would just be easier. I could bring some lighting.

 

[empliau]

@ItsMainelyYou Come on down! We have lots of bedrooms.

 

[empliau]

A few more photos for @Ally T and anyone else interested:
Better photo of stained glass in hall bath (he does wonderful irises):
Photo of our bath to show tile. Sorry about the undecorative toothpaste.
Landing with Palladian window:
And front hall with leaded glass sidelights and tympanum:

 

[SparklieBug]

Along with the irises, I swoon over the magnolia stained glass piece. A friend of mine really got into doing stained glass work herself, and created gorgeous garden scenes for their sidelights, and lower windows for privacy. Their's is also an old, beautiful home.

 

[Ally T]

A few more photos for @Ally T and anyone else interested:
Better photo of stained glass in hall bath (he does wonderful irises):
Photo of our bath to show tile. Sorry about the undecorative toothpaste.
Landing with Palladian window:
And front hall with leaded glass sidelights and tympanum:

Iris’s are my favourite flower & I currently have a big purple bunch on my hallway table The glasswork is incredible! We had panelling exactly the same as that by your bath put into our downstairs toilet. Is your original?