Hey, y’all! (I’m not from the South, but I can still say that, right?) I know it’s been awhile since I blogged. I definitely haven’t given up on blogging, but over the past few months I’ve been busy watching both my two boys (3.8 and 8 months), and my business grow like crazy. It is fun, exhilarating, scary, stressful, rewarding, and exhausting, all at the same time. I have no complaints or excuses – only gratitude, and the excitement that each new day seems to bring my way.
For awhile, I really wanted to write here, but was afraid to go all “Debbie Downer” on you, because I was in a bit of a funk. You see, when we first bought our house a couple of years ago, we moved in right away, but immediately started working on renovation plans for what I call the “back of the house” – that’d be the family room, kitchen, back hall (powder room, mudroom, etc.), and a basement playroom below all of that. The main goal was, originally, simply connecting the separate and isolated kitchen with the family room – kind of your typical family-friendly layout. The scope gradually increased to a point where were really happy with the plans, but needed to delay the work in the name of fiscal prudence. We once again started putting it out to bid earlier this year. And then, this happened…
Like many other New Englanders, we battled ice dams, and mostly lost. This was where our leaks started, but they soon spread to several other parts of the house. One night I realized I couldn’t cook dinner because all of my pots and pans were sitting under dripping soffits and casings. Thankfully, the “event” is finally over (after over a month of on-and-off leaking…seriously), but the damage was done. While we are still assessing said damage, it was clear to us that in 2015, we need to spend our time and money “shoring up” our 1896 historic home to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Especially in our brand new renovated spaces (and in the original, magnificent rooms I love so dearly).
In the meantime, we are proceeding, albeit slowly now, with our renovation planning, so we can hit the ground running next spring. I can’t wait to share all of our adventures, and the plans for the new spaces, as they come together. In the meantime, I’ll share a sneak preview of a mood board that captures my philosophy and vision for our new kitchen (and, essentially, the renovation overall).
Victorian kitchens were typically designed solely for use by “the help,” and were, therefore, situated in a small, isolated corner of the house where they could work and not be seen or heard. They were also not particularly pretty – just purely functional to get the jobs of cooking and cleaning done for the family, nothing more.
I hope to create a kitchen that the Victorians would have designed in the 19th century, if they lived the way we do today. I have plans to incorporate classical design motifs and materials, a mix of painted woods and quartersawn oak, traditional furniture-like components with an unfitted look, and a variation of the color scheme from the adjacent rooms. Basically, I want to elevate it to be on-par with the “front of the house.” I’ll write more later about the functionality of the kitchen design I’m working on – I’m really excited about creating a space that will serve the needs of my family far into the future. My kids aren’t yet doing homework in the kitchen, or fixing their own meals and snacks, but that time will be here before we know it.
Lots more to come!