Thursday, November 3, 2016

Farmhouse Kitchen Reveal:Part 2

I'm going to share our lighting, the sink wall and the island.  



These two central schoolhouse pendants give tons of light. The white globes reduce glare and it gives a warm light with the LED bulbs we chose.
The back on the left are the  exhaust fan lights. I had been cooking in the dark with light sources always behind me. The back lights on the stove lasted a year and then conked out.


The new kitchen did not align with the existing light box, it was off center and too close to the fridge. So, Hubby, built this long box from the ceiling headboard with trim and finials that match the woodwork in the rest of the house. Inside is the new wiring hooked into the old electrical boxes.


Now the entire kitchen even the eating area is centered. It wasn't before.


The existing refrigerator is only a few years old, we chose to use it and build it in. The overhead cupboard is deeper and is finished off on the right side with a floor to ceiling panel that matches the cabinetry, a filler piece has been added since this picture. Now the upper cabinet.


I really don't have to get on a stool for this, as with the organizational racks from IKEA, we used 5, all my flat pans are organized. This will work unless something gets pushed back. I really love this. If you bake, can, or cook for crowds, this organization is wonderful.


Hubby finished off the back hall with wainscoting from bead board. My antique and family collections are displayed here. Down the stairs is a section with bbq tools, etc. on the right.
I'm going to look for a great GREEN recycling bin in wood or tin for here. 
We recycle tons of stuff and sadly fill one up every two weeks with just the two of us.




My roaster shelves are still there. Wall treatments are still up in the air here and on the eating end of the kitchen. 


Starting on the sink wall, we have the coffee shop. I still haven't made the magnet/picture to go on the coffee pot. We use this machine constantly, in the afternoon I have instant hot water for tea. It's ugly but super! 


The cabinet above holds our teas and coffees and servers.

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Below is our metal shelves that are currently holding large bowls, strainers, breads and vegetables.


I could have done a smaller cabinet, but on paper we had room for this. I'm going to look into all one color bins. But this is what I had without new purchases. 


Next to the right is MISCELLANEOUS drawer. We are still trying to find things. So right now this is the status of this drawer. Eventually it will be edited and reorganized. I hope to have all the things that I used to keep on the fridge in here.



This drawer looks a mess. Mostly because I have ALL my towels in here. These will be edited. 
A bucket of markers, soap and sugar substitute. Clearly drawer this needs some work.
Nothing like a photograph to show you glaring deficiencies you ignore.


The bottom drawer is deep and has some odd things together in here. Three crockpots, my graters, a bin of jar covers and some odd stuff, and the extra dish strainer which doesn't fit under the sink. 
Paper bags will eventually have another spot. 
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This is what the sink usually looks like, always in use. Our old dishwasher is on the right, and is so quiet now that it is properly built-in.



We love the Vinyl Plank floors, but I chose some rubber backed rugs for spills and for safety. We are seniors and falling or slipping on water/grease is not a good idea.





The sink is oversize on the left and smaller on the right where the disposal is.



Under the sink, we chose pull-out bins on tracks for garbage and kitchen garden waste. THESE are worth every penny---silent and just slide back in. Plus behind the waste bin is our soap box for the dishwasher, out of sight from little ones.



Here they are pushed in. And the hardware is silent and runs so smooth.




To the right is a small cabinet with everyday glassware in it. The next cabinet area has glass doors.
This holds some treasures and on the bottom shelf my everyday mis-match blue dishes with a sprinkle of reds.
Inspire Me Tuesday

The counter top here keeps changing. This was an early picture before the tile.



I have six pictures of this area from the last month, and all different. The only thing consistent is the cookie jar and my favorite enameled tray. I'm going to find a spot for the chopper, though I use it almost everyday.


This cabinet is the dish/serving cabinet the drawer is 36" wide, but shallow---again you can't pile it deep. Here's the layout. Since it is to the right of the dishwasher it is really easy to put items away. So far, for a month it has stayed neat and organized. 



The bottom drawer holds serving pieces, while the next drawer holds smaller plates, bowls and some serving bowl pieces.



Here is the cabinet lighting during the day on low. 


This is on high...LOVE the lighting. Its warm and welcoming and we leave one section on at night.


I'm officially in love with the glass door cabinets. I know they will evolve, especially when I get into all my antique bins I still have in the basement/garage.


The island is the heart of the kitchen. It is the WORK area. So it has to function. The countertop is 5'x4' butcher block. The cabinetry consists of two 30" wide cabinets with three drawers. On the stove side are three stools which will be red or maybe replaced with white ones. Not sure yet.


The left cabinet is the baking cabinet. Top drawer is actual two drawers one hid inside the other. The top one holds all my measuring tools, spatulas, mixer tools..etc. Very handy. 

The second holds bowls, supplies, sifter, hand mixers and large measuring cups. I have a divider for here, but haven't used it yet. The square bins clam unto the side bars and hold smaller items


Here is a full view of the top drawer with the scale in view also.This drawer is working very well. 


This drawer is also convenient, I may find a container or two to control the corded items.


Now my bottom baking drawer needs some help. The black box is my hand mixer, the box may disappear if I can work the contents to the drawer above. Round canisters are useless. I hope to have matching bins here eventually. My large pantry bins were too tall for this drawer.


To the right in the lower drawer are all the small baking pans, a set of clear bowls, apple bakers and some miscellany. The divider is working well here. We will see what happens as it gets used more.


The middle drawer holds just food storage, rolled products, jar covers, bag clips, and garbage bags. It really is nice everything in those categories are here. 
I'm using one divider to control the items. 
So far, after we use the excess, 
I'm confident the drawer will be neater and less duplicates will clutter it up.


We looked at all sorts of knife drawers. I settled on these dividers, instead. So far it is working well. Anything sharp that cuts anything resides here plus the can opener and garlic press. 
This is really handy for the work station. 

I hope you enjoyed a trip through the almost finished/organized? NEW Farmhouse kitchen. We still have some choices to make. I will save that for another time. 


Resources: 
Cabinetry-IKEA
Cabinetry lighting-IKEA
Countertops-Menards and IKEA
Hardware-IKEA
Flooring: Menards
Bead board Ceiling: Menards
Exhaust fan: Menards online
Flooring: Menards
Dimensional Subway tile: Home Depot
Elbow Grease: Three Seniors and Family

Thanks always for visiting. 
I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions or posts. Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle




Sandi












Late Fall in the Upper Midwest

Part of living in the upper Midwest is to complain about the weather. We had a horrid cold/wet Spring, a late beginning to a brutally hot Summer, but Fall has been slow, lingering, and beautiful. This week we have had above normal temperatures in Chicagoland.

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Trees and leaves have been slow to turn. Flowers are still blooming.

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I moved the Lemon Grass pots to the front of the garage from the backyard which is now in perpetual shade because  of the angle of the sun. They provide texture and are turning yellow. 

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A fishing creel with artificial greens is in the wreath made from our own grapevine.
 A pumpkin and a few mums add color.
Our flowers in the planter boiled (literally) this Summer.

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Everything is scraggly, but still trying to bloom. My OLD chairs are greatly in need of a REDO. Maybe next year.

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After this picture, I turned the pond off because I can't keep up with the leaves.

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The kids here, are patiently waiting for fish to bite. The real frogs left about three weeks ago when we had a frosty nip.

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The last of the flowering pots. I'm not deadheading blooms anymore, I leave the rest for the birds. I have picked many heads of flowers for seeds, a GREEN thing I do for starting next years plants. T
The Zinnias and Marigolds were crazy gorgeous this year.

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I put pumpkins in the middle of the planters to fill in the empty spots and added a few small mums

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Even the Dahlias are blooming and it is November 3? 

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These Dahlias grew over four feet tall, I'm going to try and bush them more next year. 

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The porch is always covered in leaves. I added a few mums, some outdoor pillows I found in a thrift shop an OLD wire basket, I filled with gourds, leaves, and artificial hydrangeas and berries.


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The real rubber plant went to my son's yesterday, otherwise it has been happy on the porch. The Rosemary is about ready to come in, next cold spell.

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A squirrel has resided in the arrangement, maybe he will keep the real ones from rooting around in there. The basket is sitting on a twig wreath.



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The dried gourds came from our garden. I just set three in the middle of the basket. 
They can be reused each year for a GREEN redo.
I try and decorate with what I have, I confess I have hordes of artificial flowers and grasses.
 So I seldom have to buy a thing. This Fall I did buy one sunflower bush because, I haven't found my totes of Fall items, YET? They might be barricaded in the the storage rooms downstairs, we still aren't totally moved in upstairs, yet. 


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Squirrel was a Christmas ornament last Winter from Walmart that sheltered in the china cabinet.

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This porch faces South so it's quite warm and cozy in the Fall. The REDO Ivy tree topiary has really filled out this year, you can see how to make your own, HERE. 
I'm looking forward to decorating it for the holidays, it's so thick and bushy.


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The sun is so low we have shadows all day long now.

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The throw was a thrift store find. I love the colors and it's very soft. I don't mind it getting wet or dusty out there when it was so inexpensive.


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While taking photos, I couldn't help but pick a few flowers and leaves and stick them in a vase for the kitchen table, and it's a perfect Fall day to enjoy with a cup of Chai. 

Happy Fall, I wonder how long it will last?

Thanks always for visiting. 
I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions or posts. Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle