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117 Comments

  1. Mary
    May 22, 2014 @ 10:12 am

    Liberace meets Versailles…you crack me up. Thanks for the first laugh of the day!

    Reply

  2. savannah
    May 22, 2014 @ 10:12 am

    We’ve been in our home for 8 years and the only thing we’ve done to the kitchen is paint and install plantation shutters. I think we need an entire gut job for the kitchen, breakfast room, dining room, mudroom/laundry! Or maybe, we should just move. šŸ™

    Reply

  3. Sandi
    May 22, 2014 @ 10:13 am

    Liberace meets Versailles. Favorite Label Ever.

    When we remodeled our kitchen, eons ago in another state (cue music) I confess I didn’t do all of this work. We went to Home Depot and looked at their models and just picked stuff from their showroom/warehouse/catalog.

    I know. I know. Horrid of us, right? But it worked and we had a pretty little kitchen. (LITTLE. It was 10×12. Ugh.) We preferred the medium stain wood, dark Corian, oiled brass kind of ambiance.

    When we re-do our current kitchen (are we ever satisfied? does it matter? wouldn’t we keep doing this anyway?) I will be very tempted to live on your pin-board and swoon. šŸ™‚

    Reply

  4. Alex
    May 22, 2014 @ 10:16 am

    Your Pinterest kitchen board can hang out with my kitchen board. Both of them. I have two because apparently one wasn’t enough.

    And like you, apparently pinning over 500 of the same white cabinet, butcher block, Scandinavian meets vintage farmhouse kitchen, still has me sitting there going “I wonder how long it will take my kids to leave their “art work” on the bottom ones and for me to notice that I have to clean the dust in the ridges of the shaker cabinets”. Followed by me trying to rationalize that I won’t care when I know I will.

    Are two tone cabinets out yet? I can’t keep up.

    Reply

  5. Linda
    May 22, 2014 @ 10:16 am

    Is it even possible to look at every kitchen on Pinterest?? Kitchens are so beautiful, but in the end it has to be what suits your lifestyle, what you have to work with, and a few smaller items to make it shine. For most of us in life, that’s real. Love your blog.

    Reply

  6. Jessica@CapeofDreams
    May 22, 2014 @ 10:17 am

    I am not going to send you any more pictures and overwhelm you any further. I just want to offer encouragement and let you know that it will get done, and you may be disappointed at first but you will most likely end up loving it.

    My advice would be to stop looking at pictures now and sit in your room and draw up a vision of what you see in there. Have Paul do the same and then compare the two and figure out a way that you can combine the two and make it happen.

    Reply

    • Jenny
      May 22, 2014 @ 12:18 pm

      Yes, what Jessica said. (Incidentally, I gave the same speech to my affianced daughter when she began to agonize over the fact that her wedding is almost a year away and she still doesn’t have a dress. Stop trolling for new ideas, go someplace quiet, turn your phone off, and sketch some ideas out.) I am actually a big fan of the process of getting my head out of media and exploring what is actually IN my head which makes me happy.

      I have resisted having my own Kitchen board, lumping everything together in Dream House instead. One of the first things I noticed about my own Dream House board is that it is almost entirely kitchens and bathrooms. (What does this tell you about the house I live in right now? Exactly: the kitchen and the bathrooms are deficient.) But I follow yours, and a small number of other kitchen boards, because the appearance of luxe kitchens in my pin feed makes me feel kind of dreamy.

      Someday soon, the catalyst will come, you’ll find the defining article, and your kitchen dream will solidify. Have faith!

      Reply

  7. cryth
    May 22, 2014 @ 10:18 am

    The kitchen in Practical Magic is my dream kitchen. Well, the entire house really. Which isn’t a real house at all and was built for the movie.

    Reply

    • Joy
      May 22, 2014 @ 10:43 am

      Yes! Practical Magic. Best. Kitchen. Ever!

      Reply

    • Jenne
      May 22, 2014 @ 11:01 am

      ^ This. Times 1,000,000

      Reply

    • Sara
      May 24, 2014 @ 9:44 am

      I look at pictures from the Practical Magic set almost weekly. It pains me that it’s not a real house. It is indeed the best kitchen in the world, along with the rest of the house. I love that other people feel the same way

      Reply

  8. becky up a hill
    May 22, 2014 @ 10:20 am

    One of my huge pet peeves are stainless steel appliances and how they are so amazing. I’ve seen plenty of white kitchens and then they ruin it with a big silvery frig and stove, so I hope you are going to just do white. I would love marble, white cabinets and glass fronts. I love the choices in glass now, the kind with bubbles, ribbed or wavy glass. I also love French doors with a garden beyond. Currently, I am sitting at my white kitchen table with my white chairs and golden oak cabinets from 1989. Waaaahhh…I’ll stop there, but please tell me you are going white on the appliances and then can you tuck a butlers pantry into your plans too? I’m sorry I said I would stop.

    Reply

    • Linda
      May 22, 2014 @ 12:54 pm

      For me, it’s just the opposite…I recently was able to finally get my stainless steel appliances which I love b/c my
      all-white cabinets, counters & flooring was just TOO much white. So, in my case, it was nice to see the old white appliances go šŸ™‚

      Reply

      • becky up a hill
        May 22, 2014 @ 3:22 pm

        I could see if your flooring was white too, the stainless steel could ground your white kitchen. Light always makes a big statement too, so much can influence it plays, that its all not just black and white! I am happy with your new appliances and they worked for you. I have not had anything new in awhile, so vicariously I live.

        Reply

    • Xenia
      May 23, 2014 @ 1:07 am

      Hi Becky, I have to agree with Linda. I had everything white in my kitchen, and after a while it started to get on my nerves. It was looking too “cold”, so I decided to redecorate. Most of my kitchen will remain white, but it is now getting some darker wood to “warm” it up. I just purchased an over 100 years old display case to hold my dishes. It has improved the look of my kitchen. I am now searching for just the right stainless steel open shelving to add to the look. I also moved my mahogany curio cabinet into my kitchen. I removes all of the dust collector things in it and replace them with all of my tablecloths and kitchen linen. It looks FABULOUS! All white is a nice look, but for me I could not stand it long term. My tastes are really more of a shabby chic meets bohemian style.

      Reply

  9. Tammy
    May 22, 2014 @ 10:26 am

    I can see why you would love the island with towel bars in the “vintage & repurposed kitchen” photo but I would recommend against them unless you want to forever wear bruises to your hip (not to mention Paul’s parts) from bumping into them! Ouch!

    We celebrate NYE with a bunch of friends at this amazing huge old rustic house in a small town that only charges $300 for the night. The upstairs has a stage and bar, couches and beds. We have live music and then spend the night. The downstairs has fireplaces and big comfy leather couches, several bathrooms and bedrooms. The place probably sleeps at least 20 people. The kitchen is huge and the handles on all the cabinets and doors are deer antlers. Every single year most of us end up looking like we were attacked by deer from the hips down. And if someone forgets to close an upper cabinet door, you really could “put your eye out”. We have taken to wrapping towels and pot holders around the worst ones as a little buffer but we usually forget until the moment the first person gets gored.

    love you and your blog!

    Reply

  10. natalie
    May 22, 2014 @ 10:30 am

    Reply

  11. Ann
    May 22, 2014 @ 10:34 am

    I’m not sure if these pot s are the same as the ones picture d in your blog post, but they are beautiful!

    http://www.thepinkpagoda.biz/category-s/1820.htm

    Reply

  12. april
    May 22, 2014 @ 10:36 am

    I designed my dream kitchen when we built this house. Then I started COOKING. Now my dream kitchen looks like a miniature Sam’s-club warehouse store and there is NO PRETTY involved. It works now because it has to–and I fight with it not ever ever LOOKING nice.
    Yours will be beautiful. And you will probably have great lighting and lovely spots to display lovely things. Can hardly wait to see what you come up with(and what awesome old stuff you manage to find and cram in there too!).
    ~april

    Reply

    • Catharine
      June 3, 2014 @ 2:23 pm

      Hi April,

      Why does your dream kitchen look like a Sam’s Club? I am doing my kitchen right now and it is a bit minimalist. Just want to know your experience.

      Catharine

      Reply

  13. Courtney
    May 22, 2014 @ 10:36 am

    Have you tried a reverse image search on Google to find those planters? Or maybe you already know this is a thing, and I’m stuck in the dawn of internet-time.

    http://www.google.com/insidesearch/features/images/searchbyimage.html

    Reply

  14. Stacey Ballis
    May 22, 2014 @ 10:37 am

    I feel your pain. We are in process of converting a 1907 three-flat into a single family home, and a big part of that was kitchen design. I got very lost, as you have, in seeing so many gorgeous out-of-budget kitchen designs, and really didn’t know where to turn until I had an a-ha moment. I needed to stop imagining how my kitchen would look, and focus first on how it would function. My husband and I love to cook and entertain. We needed a kitchen that would let us both work together without either of us elbowing the other in the face or needing to constantly hip-check the other out of the way. We don’t have kids so we didn’t need the current trend of eat-in kitchen cum family room with homework station and crafting center. Ultimately we ended up with a design that is much more like a zoned restaurant kitchen with a chef’s table. Once we knew that layout would work, we thought about the function of our choices. We did appliance research first so that we knew what kind of a hit that would make on the budget, and then sat down with the seven cents we had left to imagine the greater vision. Would I have adored the look of period-appropriate zinc countertops? You betcha. But they are ridiculously expensive and cannot take a beating. Ditto that striking gray-veined white marble. So quartz it is, because it is still a natural surface, but is damn near indestructible. Would it have been amazing to find salvage cabinets with glass doors full of wavy glass? Yep. But ultimately we knew that what we would really appreciate on a daily basis is a kitchen full of well-made cabinets with soft-close drawers and great internal organization, so we ended up with a cabinet company that is much more contemporary than we would have thought, but will work well for how we want to work in the kitchen. We are warming and “aging” up the space with a great ornate reproduction tin ceiling, old schoolhouse lighting, refinishing the original hardwood floors, and we found a beautiful antique table that was once the conference table in a bank which will be a wonderful dining table. Adding these touches keeps the kitchen from feeling stark and cold, and hearkens to the age of our home without sacrificing functionality. My best advice would be for you and Paul to sit down and ask how you want to live and cook day to day in your kitchen. See if that sends you down a manageable path of decisions!

    Reply

    • Amy
      May 22, 2014 @ 11:05 am

      Stacy, your kitchen sounds amaaaazing. Pix please?

      Reply

    • Jeanette
      May 22, 2014 @ 11:58 am

      I second, pics needed!!!

      Reply

    • Stephenie
      May 22, 2014 @ 5:11 pm

      Stacy that sounds like a fantastic way to plan a kitchen. I was going to suggest starting with the appliances instead of the style because the former might actually dictate the latter. I’m in love with huge Agga stoves but 1950’s look refrigerators. Either way, I’m following a definite style idea. If you’re into standard appliance however, that probably won’t help in the least. šŸ™‚

      Reply

    • Xenia
      May 23, 2014 @ 1:25 am

      Great advice Stacey. It is nice to look at kitchen photos on Pinterest, but it is best not to become consumed by it. Try to get just a few inspiration photos and then get back to your own kitchen. Beautiful is definitely important, but the kitchen also must be functional. Looking at appliance costs first is a good way to start.

      It is so important to be reasonably sure that you can live with the results for the long haul. For instance, I think that Islands are nice, but you have to make sure that you will not get tired of it after several years, like I would. So I opted not to put in an island. One that is not permanently stationary and hooked up to plumbing is an option.

      To save money (and also because I love vintage) I scoured historic supply warehouses for items like my kitchen sink and cupboards.

      Now where are the pictures of your kitchen Stacey????

      Reply

      • Catharine
        June 3, 2014 @ 2:27 pm

        Xenia, I’m with you on the island question. One of the main reasons I gutted my kitchen was that it was too small for the island. Also, I love the idea of blithely waltzing across the kitchen instead of AROUND the island. Woot.

        Reply

    • Juliet
      May 23, 2014 @ 8:18 am

      I also am envious of the kitchen! It truly does sound fab, and I’m eagerly awaiting the pics of the finished kitchen. I’m in a 1941 classis cape cod, and the only option (without literally gutting and somehow resupporting the entire first floor) am stuck in a galley kitchen that is also the main traffic pattern for the house. The kitchen isn’t a terrible layout, but it feels both cramped and oddly too open (because of the traffic pattern) at the same time. *sigh* As I’m hoping to move in the next year or two, I’m focusing on the kitchen that functions better or is so bad that I can just gut it and start over in a well-priced house for the next one.

      Reply

  15. Silvana
    May 22, 2014 @ 10:38 am

    I love what you are doing with your home. It really is beautiful! I follow you all the way from Italy and this is my first comment to your blog. You have a very unique kitchen layout so I can see why it is difficult to try and choose exactly what you want. I also LOVE Pilar Guzman’s kitchen and I could really see that style working for yours…you even have almost the same paramour šŸ™‚ and by putting glass in place of the mirrors it would make a beautiful “credenza”. I kind of secretly hoped you wouldn’t choose white because I’m one of the very few who love the dark wood kitchens…but I’m sure whatever you decide to do in the end will be fantastic! Ciao Vittoria! PS – Give my best to Elvis…I have a cat that looks just like your her. xoxo

    Reply

  16. Jennifer
    May 22, 2014 @ 10:38 am

    All I can say from experience is that the Ikea kitchen cabinets with glass fronts etc. suit me fine and the black and white industrial tile checkerboard floor hides all manner of the dirt of life and looks great freshly cleaned too. I got my slate counters cheap because I found an ad for real slate chalkboards from an old schoolhouse. $120 instead of $3K. Hubby did all the work and I am much pleased even after eight years of living with it. The slate is grand for kneading bread and rolling pastry on too, if you like to do those things. I wish you the very best when you take that very first step to making your dream and reality. You can take a peek at my own kitchen here: mapleavenueretreat.blogspot.com I truly think that your kitchen must work for how you actually work in the kitchen, first, and look grand second. Your hubby ought to appreciate those priorities. šŸ˜‰

    Reply

  17. GreenCanary
    May 22, 2014 @ 10:39 am

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  18. Brittany
    May 22, 2014 @ 10:52 am

    Now go and spend a year of your life on Houzz. That’s what I did and praise all that is good I just ordered cabinets!!!! I will actually have a kitchen and not empty walls with holes and old wallpaper because I just HAD to rip out the old cabinets.

    And yes it is going to be WHITE WHITE WHITE with hardwood floors and a glass Moroccan tile that I want to french kiss.

    Reply

    • Xenia
      May 23, 2014 @ 1:26 am

      Houzz is a fabulous website!!!!

      Reply

    • Catharine
      June 3, 2014 @ 2:32 pm

      My sister told me to go spend time on houzz and it was the best thing because it lets you make all those idea books. I had one just for “kitchen looks” that I gradually edited until I knew what my heart really wanted – white with no island , hardly any uppers and NO island.

      Reply

  19. Susan
    May 22, 2014 @ 10:53 am

    Check out Steve’s bespoke , unfitted kitchen on An Urban Cottage-it’s a different time period than your Victorian ( his is Greek Revival) but he eschewed stock cabinets for an antique piece that he had made into pieces to fit in the kitchen, as well as an armoire for dishes.

    http://anurbancottage.blogspot.com/

    Good ideas that you may be able to translate to your situation šŸ™‚
    With more Liberace-sparkle , of course

    Reply

    • Catharine
      June 3, 2014 @ 2:49 pm

      Does bespoke mean custom? I was wondering about that.

      Reply

  20. Meg@sparrowhaunt.com
    May 22, 2014 @ 10:55 am

    As someone who has let craigslist build their kitchen for them, I would loose my mind going through all your kitchen pins. But perhaps you’ve not yet seen this kitchen? http://www.pinterest.com/pin/367465650818049102/ Grand and art nouveauy without being big, SHINY, acres of marble in the form of attainably priced subway tiles, huge moldings in the form of the sparkly tin ceiling etc… All that AND a chandelier….

    Reply

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