which we started fixing it up a little over a year ago. Well mainly because there was always something small left to do (and still is)...
I was used with renovations in flats, - having done a couple before- that take a few weeks up to a month max two and didn't really realise that renovating a (old) house takes so much more time... Our kitchen was ready a little before summer, but
as we did lots of other things too we finished up some details as late as August. Or, as I've said before, few thing are ever really ready in an old house.
Since the house is from the late twenties we wanted the style to be somewhat that, although still look kind of timeless. And as this is a farm house it could indeed look like a farm house kitchen, full of stuff, but then again I did not want it to be too "countryside romantic", shabby chic or so...
We originally intended to paint the floor with checks in grey and white, but as the hallway
also got such a painted floor it would have sen too much (phew! And it saved us a lot of work.)
It's a big kitchen, and we didn't want to fill it with a lot of fixed furniture so that it'd get too "heavy" but stay airy and with a lot of work space. The old one actually had quite little work surfaces. We have a long oak board that we tinted black with natural wax. We had to custom order it to get the right depth and length, and shape, as it sort of includes a little windowsill.
So instead of fixed cupboards underneath the work surface I got carts behind the curtain that can easily be moved around to where the stuff they carry is needed. This is the
same kind of cart that I have in our bedroom in the city in mint green; Råskog from ikea. I think many things easily get lost in deep cupboards. But not when you keep it on wheels! Muahahaha.
The curtain also hides our dishwasher. We didn't replace it with a new prettier or integrated one as it was still totally functional. In order for the system to work effortlessly we made our work surface a few cm deeper than standard size, so the curtain hangs far away enough for the dishwasher door to open easily. We also keep the micro wave (which we almost never use, but you never know) hidden next to the dishwasher.
And I'm super content with the "walk in" storage space. It keeps all the food plus some extra pots and pans. I wanted the shelves quite shallow, so that everything is easily visible and not hidden and forgotten in the back. No outdated cans or jars there!
The trash and recycling buckets are inside a wood crate that we put wheels on. Works well!
Generally Finnish kitchens have lots of closed cupboards - it is after all more practical, I confess, less dust etc- but, apart from one cabinet for plates and glass, have mainly open shelves.
I wanted the shelves to be kind of "rough", so they are made of floor boards we painted with linseed oil paint.
We had the stove unit built by adding pieces from here and there. The old wood stove is next by; we use it occasionally.
Pretty much everything was custom built in, or ordered for the kitchen. In some cases that can get rather expensive, but then again the solution with less fixed cabinets and pieces also meant less material and thus tured out to be quite economical. And in some cases custom made by a carpenter or handyman isn't necessarily more expensive at all,
like with the piece we had made in the kitchen in the city, or here with the stove and shelves, for example.
The cabinets we have are from Juvi, they're all wood and painted with linseed oil paint.
I made some faux-roman blinds for the windows. I wouldn't really ever close the curtains anyway.
And in usual manner it is full of small hands and cats.
