Kitchen Confidential

Doing one's own design projects must be a dreadful thought to most interior designers as it is to me. When working on a client's project I select finishes, fixtures, furniture fearlessly.  I am in the process of decorating my kitchen/breakfast room.  I use the term decorating because I have no intention of tearing out walls, replacing appliances or changing the floor plan in any major way.  The couple that owned this home in the 1950's did an excellent job of that and saved me the trouble.  They did however leave behind  three layers of less than desirable wall covering and a set of turquoise cabinets.  Having looked high and low,  attic and basement, I have been unable to find photos of the original walls.  I did leave the manufacturer's label  when I had the cabinets painted in around 1990.

The cabinets were painted a griege along with the trim.  I love the griege and intend to keep that so begins my dilemma.  I am ready to return to my traditional roots.  No matter what new furniture I see or sit on I am always drawn to that aesthetic.  I digress.  When the cabinets were painted I also chose to paint the walls and ceilings signal red. 

This photo "reflects" that choice.  I used a semi gloss enamel as our kitchen/breakfast room is the most used room in the house.  Reflective paint also makes photography difficult.

We have so enjoyed the red but it has presented some difficulties.  It is so dark no natural or artificial light has illuminated the corners where the real cooking action takes place.

This photo is of the working area.  The island which is topped by a wood chopping block, which we love.  Here is one of the dark working corners I referred to.

Built in oven was innovative in 1950's and is still in great working order but you can see the remains of the old land line which we stopped using in 2005.

Although the cabinets have a green tint in this photo, they are a wonderful shade of greige.  The light fixture over the island only provides good down light and we have found that if we hang pots and pans or anything on the pot rack it disturbs the light further.  The cabinet boxes are wonderful.  There is a potato bin, an appliance garage for mixers, etc., a built in spice rack and wire shelves which are easy to clean.  The Frigidaire Flair stove/oven works and we love that.  There is room for our dishwasher, two refrigerators, and tons of dishes and pots and pans.  There is a built in Jenn Air grill that vents outside on the island.  So much packed into this great kitchen.

This built in bar is one of our favorite features.  The red paint with the greige cabinets is well illustrated here.

This is a perfect U working kitchen.  I use fold up bar stools so that I can remove them when entertaining because I want my guest to use the rest of my house.

The new cork floor we installed in November was the right choice for us.  Easy on the legs and durable.

So the stage is set for new wall color, new lighting and new furniture.  Follow this Kitchen Confidential to discover as I do what form this room will take in the following weeks.