Light on a whitewashed wall, coming through a western exposure window at four in the afternoon, striking with stunning luminance to ignite a complex golden glow. The “light in Italy” effect, the color of autumn afternoons, liquid gold. I’ve wanted a kitchen, painted that color, my entire adult life.
Well, it’s not quite done, but I know that if I wait for it to be done to post pictures, I’ll never post pictures. It’s a work in progress, and I’ll leave this house for good someday thinking, “I wish I had – I never got around to -” but you know what? In the meantime, I have a kitchen that makes my heart sing when I walk into it in the morning. I’m not waiting for the “right” time, waiting for my life to start, anymore.
The archways and floor trim are still to be painted terra cotta, and some other areas of trim (none of them actually visible in these pictures) the same green as the vintage tiling. Some touchup and tape removal remains to be done and the doors of the breakfast nook cabinets still need painted and re-hung – it’s a fussy taping job, inside and out, because they’re six-paned glass-front doors. I’m looking at a mural of a chile ristra on the back of the door into the hall, or possibly on the pantry doors. All of the atomic steel handles and pulls from a mid-50s remodel will be replaced with wrought iron, and I want some kind of big open wrought-iron (probably resin faux) artwork above the stove and counter to break up the vast expanse of butter yellow. The stoneware utensil holder will be replaced by one that matches my beloved Tunisian dishware. There are other small bits of styling to do, mostly adding color. Plenty of work still, and each small improvement will make the whole room come together better, but the essential transformation is done.
I know, you’re saying – wait! The last post wasn’t about the kitchen, it was about the basement studio! Whatever happened to the basement studio?!? Don’t worry, it’s progressing apace. In order to move forward on that project, I needed to move some furniture temporarily into the breakfast nook, which meant getting the breakfast nook and kitchen painted either first, or not for months. I just wasn’t willing to wait. I’m juggling renovations on three rooms at the same time – the kitchen is farthest ahead, the studio about half-done with major work, and I’ve barely started peeling, scraping, patching and prepping the bathroom. And I’ll leave you with this teaser:
4 Comments
LOVE IT!! I love the color!
LOVE IT!! I love the color in the kitchen, and I can’t wait to see it in person in APril!
all the hard work paid off. it looks amazing. and whose idea was the chiles?
*laughs* And when I say, “looking at a mural of a chile ristra,” I really mean, “My wonderful daughter, who was SO MUCH HELP on this project, suggested a mural…”
Andi, I so hope you can make it down! Last time we talked about it, it was looking like “pick you up at the airport on the way to the event site and drop you off at the airport on the way home,” but there are SO MANY people here who were sad about not meeting you on the last trip.