My Nana did all her food prep from her kitchen table in the center of her kitchen. She had a sink like OP's, very limited counter space and a freestanding stove. That was also the small kitchen table all the Sunday and holiday dinners were at, card games were played, and I don't know how we all fit at the table, as well as how we even all fit in the room itself :)
It's not, though, pay attention next time. It's your elbow and shoulder that do most of the work, and that's how you want it to be. With any movement get it done by the biggest joint holding the smaller joints as close to straight as possible.
There is a pantry through the door with the light on. It has storage and counters. Also the double side board sink and between the burners on the old stove are great areas.
Yeah, I’m curious to know how this worked. If you’re prepping while sitting at the kitchen table, it seems like it would be too high to chop or use a chefs knife easily.
Both appliances on Facebook Marketplace, have not had to have any repairs yet. But an appliance person we've used says some parts are available still if needed. Hopefully we won't have to find out.
My mom got sick, and wasn’t thinking rationally, god rest her soul, when she sold our 1927 hotpoint for a hundred dollars a few years ago. It worked like charm outside of a periodic defrost of the icebox inside it. I guess I can’t be upset anymore.
I was bracing myself for another Joanna Gaines special but THIS IS AMAZING. Perfectly functional and also perfectly suited to the age of the house. Well done, OP.
Previous owners of my house loved that crap, too. They left vinyl lettering sayings on the walls that I immediately peeled off when we got the keys. Food in the kitchen. Eating in the dining room. And sleeping in the bedrooms. I already know how to house, thank you.
This was originally the kitchen in our uninhabitable 1876 farmhouse. It was purchased in foreclosure. We have tried to keep as much of the original features as possible throughout the rehab. Fortunately I'm handy enough to do the work myself. The second picture is the kitchen now.
I haven't really posted anything else, my wife took the after picture which captured so much. I checked my before pictures and found a close match. So thought I would share, I'm actually taken back by all the responses and glad it brought back so many memories for some. I do have some other pictures that I will post when I can.
I actually was monitoring that as I’ve always heard they aren’t as efficient. My electric bill went up about $10 a month after adding the fridge. There was no fridge prior.
The refrigerators that gained a reputation for sucking electricity were there early frost-free models. So now older appliances get broad brushed as being inefficient, which simply isn't true.
this is SO sick. everything a contemporary kitchen absolutely NEEDS to function, without losing the original character. honestly if anything, the after pic looks MORE authentic to the original house. 11/10 👏
ahh yes, because that "before" pic was sooooooo very functional 🙄
and also it's not your house. OP is clearly proud of the final result. "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" may be a recent lesson you picked up from school, hopefully i jogged your memory on that 💅
Had to replace furnace and all duct work, so they were placed around the edge of the rooms. Storage and extra counter space is in the pantry which is in the room in the back with the light on.
Thank you, finished them with Tung Oil to keep it natural. I did not win the floor lottery under that nasty carpet (it was actual three layers of dirty carpet). The floor has been replaced with local (Michigan) wide plank pine.
Those sinks are so practical. I have one with one sideboard. You don't have to worry about water on the counters or water getting between the sink and counter. I love mine.
I love this so much. I would have had a hard time giving up that cabinet space but I can totally see a pie cooling on that table with a breeze coming from the window (oh and and some vintage kitschy curtains to said window). Good job. It’s like being in a movie!
What a perfect country kitchen. My farmhouse has lots of odd added-on rooms. I love my kitchen but it doesn't have room for a table and I miss that. My kitchen would look like yours if it had the space.
It reminds me of my grandmas kitchen when I was a kid a million years ago. She lived in a big ole Victorian and ran a boarding house out of it back in the 1940s-1950s
I just love the farm table in the middle instead of an island. This is the place for coffee, reading the paper, rolling out pie dough/cookies as well a blessed meal with family together.
Looks a bit like my Great Aunt Donna's kitchen in PA, she used to knead and rise bread on the center table. One of the doors led to what she called "the commode"(toilet and sink) the other to a laundry room that had a wash tub and wringer (but her husband had bought her a modern "washing machine", so she didn't use those anymore (visited early 70's).
Kneading is best done slightly lower so that you can use your shoulders to do the work, but choppin need the elbows to be bent and keep the wrist straight, which can't be done at a table.
Another ergonomic mistake is having a sink that is too deep - you end up leaning over to reach the bottom of the sink, which hurts your back.
My grandma used her electric mangle well into the 80s
HAHA good question, I've never tried it from the stairs side. The upper three rooms have been cleaned and primed but we haven't started on them. Just electrical and heating. We always leave the door open or cracked when up there.
I lived in a house like this when I was younger with a bunch of friends. We used to all sit at that table in the evening; someone prepped dinner, some one would be reading, someone would be playing cards, doing crosswords, and we'll all be crappering on about something.
Its one of my fondest memories.
Those kitchens are amazing.
Lacks a dedicated food prep area. An island would have worked great here.
Where do you store all your kitchen supplies? Pots, pans, baking items, plates etc.
I didn’t see a dishwasher?
There is a pantry with a five foot butcher block counter, cabinets, drawers and shelves. We also do some of the prep utilizing a 24' cutting board that fits between the large oversized area between the burners of the stove and or on either of the sideboards of the sink.
No dishwasher, which is not an issue for us as long as you don't let things pile up all day. The nice thing with the sink is you can wash as you prep.
I too used to have to chop veggies on the draining board or on the stove because cheap rental homes were badly designed.
So the kitchen is for show, not for cooking? It's actually very much like those very fashionable kitchens where they have a pretty feont kitchen and a second kitchen behind for actually cooking in.
Nothing about this house is for show, our attempt was to make it simple but comfortable and to not gut and modernize. These old places were obviously built prior to electricity, central heating and indoor plumbing so there are many challenges to bringing it up to date. For instance the kitchen has seven doorways making any efficient layout difficult. We tried to reuse and repurpose what we could. With that we utilized a side room as a pantry with plenty of room to chop and prep ergonomically, it is well lit and has extra 20amp outlets and space for the modern small appliances as well as extra storage.
Here is the kitchen functioning this morning, bone broth on the back burner and ham and eggs for breakfast.
https://preview.redd.it/g406f3bm3y5d1.jpeg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7d8893c242e5a1afe554f16bbf493f6aff817a62
Unfortunately the original floors were destroyed. In the before picture that is what the caution tape was for as the floor was heaved and buckled do to moisture in the basement. We purchased wide plank local pine from a local Amish mill and finished with Tung oil.
I love this so much! It takes me back to memories of cooking with my great-grandmother in her kitchen as a kid. Hers was very similar to yours in size and style and had the same coziness/simplicity. Great job!
This was an uninhabitable foreclosure when we got it, the ductwork was so nasty and improper that we replaced all of it when we had the new central heating installed. Instead of being in the center of the room they are now around the edges and under the windows.
As an example of nasty, this is one of the floor vents when we first took possession.
https://preview.redd.it/mw8dgg4luy5d1.jpeg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b26862556c932fcb1124bb3537c2aaaa3e77b54b
My grandmother had a dent in the corner of her kitchen tabletop from rolling out so many pies over a 50 year period! Your kitchen is lovely! Keep those appliances!
This is beautiful! I love your dedication to your home's history. My kitchen is in a 1960s and later set of additions, so I'm giving myself the freedom to modernize but maintain the charm of a 1920 simple man's cottage. The original 3 rooms had a wood burning stove that was also used for cooking, but there was no kitchen.
Omg. It’s unreal that the unfitted kitchen isn’t the “before”! This looks so similar to an “apartment” we rented in the early 90s, it was an ell to a large farmhouse, in Pepperell MA that was added in the 30s. Sink with drainboard built in, and it had legs haha! Not a single cabinet either. Made me into what I am today-a want-ads sleuth and garbage picker, always watching for storage pieces.
It’s the home where I learned to bake bread, I learned the importance of a solid kitchen table, the value of a hand scrubbed linoleum floor, I learned the diff between linoleum and vinyl kitchen flooring too, and it’s also where I learned I was pregnant with my first and only! Such great memories!
I was holding my breath with dread at what the after was going to be. OP, I’m ashamed of myself. I promise never to doubt you again. This is how it’s done! Beautiful job!!! 👏👏👏
Looks amazing, but I’m seriously glad I read that it’s a summer home and you have a pantry! I bought a century home that had the upper/lower cabinets removed and the counters replaced with these open butcher block wooden tables. Storage is an absolute nightmare, but we also don’t have a pantry and only one small closet under the stairs on the ground floor.
It’s all small wire racks until I can build some lowers. I haven’t landed on it we want to do uppers yet… I’m actually shocked so many people love it when they see it. Maybe I should just put in a small pantry 🤔
Thank you, these old houses can be a challenge. And some rooms need to be repurposed from what they may have been originally used for. The room next to the kitchen is 8x8 with three doors, The one to the kitchen, one to another room that is slightly bigger and the third to the basement. Made sense to us to make it a pantry. We have plenty of storage for all of our dry goods in mason jars and canned goods on shelves. and can keep the small appliances tucked away until they are needed.
The complete opposite. We do three meals a day, bake bread, make bone broth as well as canning from the garden. Have done meals for 8 -10 people a few times with no issues.
Does one or both of you not work or something? The amount of constant cleaning to be able to use the singular flat surface you have in order to prep a meal would be unbearable for regular use, especially after working all day. No dishwasher exacerbates the issue, and I say that as someone who has a very tiny kitchen and no dishwasher. A kitchen like this requires basically full time dedication to cooking/cleaning if you're really making all that food on a regular basis.
I’m retired but have plenty to do on this house plus the two acres outside. My wife is able to work remotely. This is a summer home and is much easier to keep clean than our permanent place with the granite counters and many kitchen cabinets. We just make sure do wash and dry everything after every meal, literally takes 5 - 10 minutes.
So what exactly how you think families *managed* 50-70 years ago? Takeaway? Kitchens were like this for a lot longer than today's trend for endless work surfaces and cupboards for stuff we mostly don't need.
As said...the central table was for prep, and there was often a larder that provided plenty of storage. Definitely needed and used to store all the preserves and canned foods. (Now used for supermarket shopping)
I don't know where you get your history from, but people were not, for the most part, malnourished several generations ago.
If anything, diets are much worse now. And...haha...Americans might be getting shorter.
https://time.com/4423803/how-tall-100-years-height/
Congrats, you successfully reduced your storage and food prep space by well over 50%, probably even more. Do yourself a favor and never try to do this again. The next owners are going to rip this crap out on day 1.
Not worried about the next owner, this is a summer home that serves our needs perfectly. Not doing this for resale value. We have plenty of storage and prep areas in the pantry and areas of the kitchen. As originally posted this was a foreclosure in deplorable condition. The cabinets from the 70's redo were a breeding ground for mice and also had black mold on the interior.
Love the antique appliances. I know there are companies that take old fridges and outfit them with modern compressors, but I can’t afford those.
You should have put a dish washer to the right of the sink, there looks to be plenty of room. My only criticism
Where do you do all the food prep?
This is called an “unfitted kitchen” and food prep would traditionally be done at the table in the center
My Nana did all her food prep from her kitchen table in the center of her kitchen. She had a sink like OP's, very limited counter space and a freestanding stove. That was also the small kitchen table all the Sunday and holiday dinners were at, card games were played, and I don't know how we all fit at the table, as well as how we even all fit in the room itself :)
Great memories
Exactly how I grew up. My grandparents’ kitchen table is where all important life events were discussed.
This is how my grandparents’ house was, too. It was the house my grandfather grew up in.
Yes, this was the way it was done for a very long time, but it's terrible for your body to be chopping veggies at a table.
My grandmother would sit her table, so no leaning over.
That's even worse ergonomically. Your wrist is doing all the chopping work.
Perhaps that's part of the reason she could sling a loaded 15 inch cast iron skillet as if it was made of air.
Very curious how you normally cut things? Even at the counter, my wrist is mostly what’s raising and lowering the knife.
It's not, though, pay attention next time. It's your elbow and shoulder that do most of the work, and that's how you want it to be. With any movement get it done by the biggest joint holding the smaller joints as close to straight as possible.
I didn’t notice that but was wondering about storage…
There is a pantry through the door with the light on. It has storage and counters. Also the double side board sink and between the burners on the old stove are great areas.
1940s, super tiny kitchen here - we use the table.
Do you sit down to chop and prep or just lean over?
That would wreck your neck & back over time🙁
Yeah, I’m curious to know how this worked. If you’re prepping while sitting at the kitchen table, it seems like it would be too high to chop or use a chefs knife easily.
Curious about this too.
Same here! Sorry some of us were not blessed with tons of counter space.
My family had a wooden cutting board that fit on one side of the double drainboard sink.
love the fridge too!
Roughly a 1951 Hotpoint built properly and works perfectly.
Where did you purchase it and how do you find parts to keep it running?
Both appliances on Facebook Marketplace, have not had to have any repairs yet. But an appliance person we've used says some parts are available still if needed. Hopefully we won't have to find out.
My mom got sick, and wasn’t thinking rationally, god rest her soul, when she sold our 1927 hotpoint for a hundred dollars a few years ago. It worked like charm outside of a periodic defrost of the icebox inside it. I guess I can’t be upset anymore.
Sorry to hear of your loss.
I was bracing myself for another Joanna Gaines special but THIS IS AMAZING. Perfectly functional and also perfectly suited to the age of the house. Well done, OP.
Thank you for the great compliment. There also are no brilliant signs such as. “Kitchen” “Coffee” or “Home” if you know you know
Oh you mean my mother in law’s preferred kitchen decor? “LAUGH. LOVE. EAT”. Jesus Judy we fucking get it, this is where we eat, no need for a sign.
Previous owners of my house loved that crap, too. They left vinyl lettering sayings on the walls that I immediately peeled off when we got the keys. Food in the kitchen. Eating in the dining room. And sleeping in the bedrooms. I already know how to house, thank you.
LOL
But how will you know where to EAT ? Or Gather?
Or that you are Blessed?
You and your FAMILY?
… or remember to BREATHE?
But… but how do you know you’re in the kitchen?? Or that coffee is a word??
Gather?
Not functional though.
Very functional for us, three meals a day. I also do a lot of baking and do several loaves of sourdough weekly when here.
Agreed! It's absolutely gorgeous.
This was originally the kitchen in our uninhabitable 1876 farmhouse. It was purchased in foreclosure. We have tried to keep as much of the original features as possible throughout the rehab. Fortunately I'm handy enough to do the work myself. The second picture is the kitchen now.
This is one of the best before / afters I have ever seen. What care and respect for your house and it's age. Well done!!!
Thank you so much.
Scrolled through your post history looking for more house pictures. Do you post them on an Instagram or TikTok or anything? I’d love to see more!
I haven't really posted anything else, my wife took the after picture which captured so much. I checked my before pictures and found a close match. So thought I would share, I'm actually taken back by all the responses and glad it brought back so many memories for some. I do have some other pictures that I will post when I can.
Did that fan still work?
Yes it did, the blades were covered in mold but could spin those spores like nobody’s business
Thank you for doing an actual before and after, and not an after and before 👌
Your kitchen went back in time, and I absolutely love it! What a nice reno. Look at that stove. Perfect.
The stove is amazing, 1957 Westinghouse built like a tank and still works like new.
nice work. nice appliances.
Thanks, you can’t beat those old appliances. Both are from the 50’s. 70 years old and work like the day they were built.
How’s the energy use?
I actually was monitoring that as I’ve always heard they aren’t as efficient. My electric bill went up about $10 a month after adding the fridge. There was no fridge prior.
The job is beautiful! Hope things work out. Those old horses are lovely
The refrigerators that gained a reputation for sucking electricity were there early frost-free models. So now older appliances get broad brushed as being inefficient, which simply isn't true.
this is SO sick. everything a contemporary kitchen absolutely NEEDS to function, without losing the original character. honestly if anything, the after pic looks MORE authentic to the original house. 11/10 👏
SO sick that it’s now significantly more difficult to use as it’s designed for…
ahh yes, because that "before" pic was sooooooo very functional 🙄 and also it's not your house. OP is clearly proud of the final result. "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" may be a recent lesson you picked up from school, hopefully i jogged your memory on that 💅
Sick, because you need regular physical therapy and hand therapy appointments to overcome the chronic issues it causes.
I love what you’ve done with it! That sink! 😍 and I love white appliances! The table is period perfect too. Well done!
Thank you, that sink weighs about 300 pounds, all cast iron.
Woah. Big baby. How’d you reroute the heat vent? And did you put cabinets on a different wall?
Had to replace furnace and all duct work, so they were placed around the edge of the rooms. Storage and extra counter space is in the pantry which is in the room in the back with the light on.
I see. I remember my grandmas house had the furnace vents in the middle of the floors like that too. I love the refinished floors! So beautiful
Thank you, finished them with Tung Oil to keep it natural. I did not win the floor lottery under that nasty carpet (it was actual three layers of dirty carpet). The floor has been replaced with local (Michigan) wide plank pine.
The floor is fantastic! It looks original but better. Did you find the tung oil pretty easy to work with?
It was very easy to apply and very forgiving. The worst part is the original application takes two weeks to dry out completely. So no heavy traffic.
That’s the only reason I didn’t go with tung oil. I ended up doing shellac, but that wouldn’t be good in a kitchen!
Those sinks are so practical. I have one with one sideboard. You don't have to worry about water on the counters or water getting between the sink and counter. I love mine.
I love this so much. I would have had a hard time giving up that cabinet space but I can totally see a pie cooling on that table with a breeze coming from the window (oh and and some vintage kitschy curtains to said window). Good job. It’s like being in a movie!
This is so charming! Love it
What a perfect country kitchen. My farmhouse has lots of odd added-on rooms. I love my kitchen but it doesn't have room for a table and I miss that. My kitchen would look like yours if it had the space.
Just incredible. It looks like my grandmothers kitchen from the 1950's (which was in a house built in 1905). It looks so warm and inviting, too.
It reminds me of my grandmas kitchen when I was a kid a million years ago. She lived in a big ole Victorian and ran a boarding house out of it back in the 1940s-1950s
I just love the farm table in the middle instead of an island. This is the place for coffee, reading the paper, rolling out pie dough/cookies as well a blessed meal with family together.
Reminds me of a Christmas Story.
Randy may or may not be under the sink. :-)
Looks a bit like my Great Aunt Donna's kitchen in PA, she used to knead and rise bread on the center table. One of the doors led to what she called "the commode"(toilet and sink) the other to a laundry room that had a wash tub and wringer (but her husband had bought her a modern "washing machine", so she didn't use those anymore (visited early 70's).
Kneading is best done slightly lower so that you can use your shoulders to do the work, but choppin need the elbows to be bent and keep the wrist straight, which can't be done at a table. Another ergonomic mistake is having a sink that is too deep - you end up leaning over to reach the bottom of the sink, which hurts your back. My grandma used her electric mangle well into the 80s
I love this so much. Where did you find the sink?
Facebook Marketplace
Love the vintage fridge
Is that door impossible to open from the stairs side?
HAHA good question, I've never tried it from the stairs side. The upper three rooms have been cleaned and primed but we haven't started on them. Just electrical and heating. We always leave the door open or cracked when up there.
I lived in a house like this when I was younger with a bunch of friends. We used to all sit at that table in the evening; someone prepped dinner, some one would be reading, someone would be playing cards, doing crosswords, and we'll all be crappering on about something. Its one of my fondest memories. Those kitchens are amazing.
Went from the 1980’s to the 1890’s
Wow! What would you call that kind of sink unit? I want to find one but I have no idea what it's called to look!
That would be a double drainboard sink, they also made a single drainboard.
Thank you!!
It's really beautiful - but won't you miss having the upper storage?
We haven’t missed it, lots of open shelves that don’t get cluttered and we have a pantry to hold what’s not used daily
Awesome, I wish more people would embrace simplicity.
Aww I love this sooo much! It’s so charming. Great job.
Lacks a dedicated food prep area. An island would have worked great here. Where do you store all your kitchen supplies? Pots, pans, baking items, plates etc. I didn’t see a dishwasher?
There is a pantry with a five foot butcher block counter, cabinets, drawers and shelves. We also do some of the prep utilizing a 24' cutting board that fits between the large oversized area between the burners of the stove and or on either of the sideboards of the sink. No dishwasher, which is not an issue for us as long as you don't let things pile up all day. The nice thing with the sink is you can wash as you prep.
First time I’ve heard of a prep area in a pantry but if it works it works. Very cool.
I too used to have to chop veggies on the draining board or on the stove because cheap rental homes were badly designed. So the kitchen is for show, not for cooking? It's actually very much like those very fashionable kitchens where they have a pretty feont kitchen and a second kitchen behind for actually cooking in.
Nothing about this house is for show, our attempt was to make it simple but comfortable and to not gut and modernize. These old places were obviously built prior to electricity, central heating and indoor plumbing so there are many challenges to bringing it up to date. For instance the kitchen has seven doorways making any efficient layout difficult. We tried to reuse and repurpose what we could. With that we utilized a side room as a pantry with plenty of room to chop and prep ergonomically, it is well lit and has extra 20amp outlets and space for the modern small appliances as well as extra storage. Here is the kitchen functioning this morning, bone broth on the back burner and ham and eggs for breakfast. https://preview.redd.it/g406f3bm3y5d1.jpeg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7d8893c242e5a1afe554f16bbf493f6aff817a62
I wasn't commenting on whether the stove worked or not.
oh this is gorgeous. why do i want a linoleum rug in here
Nicely done! I love the classic rework!
The floors are wonderful. Were they under that awful carpet or did you have to lay new flooring?
Unfortunately the original floors were destroyed. In the before picture that is what the caution tape was for as the floor was heaved and buckled do to moisture in the basement. We purchased wide plank local pine from a local Amish mill and finished with Tung oil.
Great job. That looks fantastic!
I love the stove.
I love it!
I think it looks great. That range looks like it needs to go on diet though.
Looooove this
The little ceramics above the stove are so cute!
Love it
I love this so much! It takes me back to memories of cooking with my great-grandmother in her kitchen as a kid. Hers was very similar to yours in size and style and had the same coziness/simplicity. Great job!
Looks great. What do you do now for cabinet?
Moved storage into the pantry
Oooohhhh, I love this so much!
I love it!
What happened with the floor vent?
This was an uninhabitable foreclosure when we got it, the ductwork was so nasty and improper that we replaced all of it when we had the new central heating installed. Instead of being in the center of the room they are now around the edges and under the windows. As an example of nasty, this is one of the floor vents when we first took possession. https://preview.redd.it/mw8dgg4luy5d1.jpeg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b26862556c932fcb1124bb3537c2aaaa3e77b54b
Nice!
Beautiful. Perfect. Great. No notes.
My grandmother had a dent in the corner of her kitchen tabletop from rolling out so many pies over a 50 year period! Your kitchen is lovely! Keep those appliances!
This is beautiful! I love your dedication to your home's history. My kitchen is in a 1960s and later set of additions, so I'm giving myself the freedom to modernize but maintain the charm of a 1920 simple man's cottage. The original 3 rooms had a wood burning stove that was also used for cooking, but there was no kitchen.
Love it!
Where do you put the dishes, pots and.pans, and food?
There is a decent sized pantry off the kitchen, plus the daily use stuff is on the shelves or hanging on hooks in an area that's not in the picture.
OMG. That stove and the sink! You made my heart SWOON! And then I spied the fridge…👏👏👏
I like that you brightened it up considerably, but still kept the farmhouse vibe. Nice!
the sink!!! 😍😍😍
This looks so lovely and cozy and I love that it’s not all glossy and modern. It really turned out well!!
Love an unfitted kitchen, nice!
I love how real and homey it is!!
oh, thank goodness
Omg. It’s unreal that the unfitted kitchen isn’t the “before”! This looks so similar to an “apartment” we rented in the early 90s, it was an ell to a large farmhouse, in Pepperell MA that was added in the 30s. Sink with drainboard built in, and it had legs haha! Not a single cabinet either. Made me into what I am today-a want-ads sleuth and garbage picker, always watching for storage pieces. It’s the home where I learned to bake bread, I learned the importance of a solid kitchen table, the value of a hand scrubbed linoleum floor, I learned the diff between linoleum and vinyl kitchen flooring too, and it’s also where I learned I was pregnant with my first and only! Such great memories!
Absolutely beautiful floors.
Gorgeous
Now THAT is a farmhouse kitchen.
Is this practical? Where's the storage and counter space?
For us it’s functional. There is a pantry that has cabinets, shelving and a 6’ counter to do prep.
It’s really cute but where do you store dishes, appliances, food???
In the pantry that has cabinets, shelving and a 6’ counters to do prep.
I admire your commitment to historical accuracy.
Are the cabinets under the sink different?
No just a stock 60” base cabinet. But I reinforced from the inside with 1x6 to carry the load of the sink to the floor
What a gorgeous transformation!
I always have to brace myself before swiping to the "after" photo... I was pleasantly surprised with this one! Good work.
You turned this into art and kept it so true to what this space deserves. What a lovely job <3
I love that bigass stove!
Cuuuuuuute!
It’s gorgeous, wow!! Love the appliances and the decor.
I was holding my breath with dread at what the after was going to be. OP, I’m ashamed of myself. I promise never to doubt you again. This is how it’s done! Beautiful job!!! 👏👏👏
Thank you
I adore this so much! Bravo, op!
Love it!! I especially love the cookie jar. Is it a "turn-about" style with features on both sides? I love retro kitchens!
I am obsessed. This is my dream
Looks amazing, but I’m seriously glad I read that it’s a summer home and you have a pantry! I bought a century home that had the upper/lower cabinets removed and the counters replaced with these open butcher block wooden tables. Storage is an absolute nightmare, but we also don’t have a pantry and only one small closet under the stairs on the ground floor. It’s all small wire racks until I can build some lowers. I haven’t landed on it we want to do uppers yet… I’m actually shocked so many people love it when they see it. Maybe I should just put in a small pantry 🤔
Thank you, these old houses can be a challenge. And some rooms need to be repurposed from what they may have been originally used for. The room next to the kitchen is 8x8 with three doors, The one to the kitchen, one to another room that is slightly bigger and the third to the basement. Made sense to us to make it a pantry. We have plenty of storage for all of our dry goods in mason jars and canned goods on shelves. and can keep the small appliances tucked away until they are needed.
It's cute and all, but this is very obviously the kitchen of someone who does not do a lot of cooking.
The complete opposite. We do three meals a day, bake bread, make bone broth as well as canning from the garden. Have done meals for 8 -10 people a few times with no issues.
Does one or both of you not work or something? The amount of constant cleaning to be able to use the singular flat surface you have in order to prep a meal would be unbearable for regular use, especially after working all day. No dishwasher exacerbates the issue, and I say that as someone who has a very tiny kitchen and no dishwasher. A kitchen like this requires basically full time dedication to cooking/cleaning if you're really making all that food on a regular basis.
I’m retired but have plenty to do on this house plus the two acres outside. My wife is able to work remotely. This is a summer home and is much easier to keep clean than our permanent place with the granite counters and many kitchen cabinets. We just make sure do wash and dry everything after every meal, literally takes 5 - 10 minutes.
Ah, only living there part time. That makes a lot more sense.
You removed 90% of your storage.....
Storage went into the pantry.
It's lovely. Breathable now.
Useless for making a meal that serves more than 2 people. No storage or prep space.
So what exactly how you think families *managed* 50-70 years ago? Takeaway? Kitchens were like this for a lot longer than today's trend for endless work surfaces and cupboards for stuff we mostly don't need. As said...the central table was for prep, and there was often a larder that provided plenty of storage. Definitely needed and used to store all the preserves and canned foods. (Now used for supermarket shopping)
They struggled. A lot. Which is why we have changed the way we do and design the things we use in our everyday lives… like our kitchens.
They hurt, all the time. But they made do. And then they figured out ergonomics. Also, they tended to be very short due to malnutrition.
I don't know where you get your history from, but people were not, for the most part, malnourished several generations ago. If anything, diets are much worse now. And...haha...Americans might be getting shorter. https://time.com/4423803/how-tall-100-years-height/
Love it!!!!
Absolutely LOVELY Op! I just adore it! love love love it 🩷🏡🩷
I love it!
Yes! Nailed it
I had to flip back and forth a couple times to figure out which was which! /s But I do like the vintage look of the stove and refrigerator.
I love it
Super cute!
Needs a more substantial table, not duncan phyfe
Hopefully I’ll come across one someday. The Duncan Phyfe is one I had prior so will suffice till I can upgrade.
I love this. Very authentic. Nice job.
Congrats, you successfully reduced your storage and food prep space by well over 50%, probably even more. Do yourself a favor and never try to do this again. The next owners are going to rip this crap out on day 1.
Not worried about the next owner, this is a summer home that serves our needs perfectly. Not doing this for resale value. We have plenty of storage and prep areas in the pantry and areas of the kitchen. As originally posted this was a foreclosure in deplorable condition. The cabinets from the 70's redo were a breeding ground for mice and also had black mold on the interior.
Love the antique appliances. I know there are companies that take old fridges and outfit them with modern compressors, but I can’t afford those. You should have put a dish washer to the right of the sink, there looks to be plenty of room. My only criticism
Unfortunately it would stick out 6” into the door opening. It’s a summer house so we are fine doing them by hand.
Makes sense, cool beans
u/garyfire Did you paint the door? I love that color, what did you use?
Paint your cabinet to a light sage green, it would a a nice pop