Cuisine Renovation

I knew my creative energy...or simply all of my energy that was not spent cooking, cleaning and chauffering, must have gone somewhere the past few months. As I was arranging my brand new spice jars, I realized just where that was; the kitchen! It started with an obligatory floor do-over when I realized there was a water-stain slowly spreading outward from the sink or somewhere in that vicinity...like under the dishwasher. Et, zut. New floor:

The desk was removed...to the dismay of the playroom/schoolroom which inherited the contents. Then things really got out of hand. There was this wonderful new space in my kitchen with so much possibility. I asked for opinions. This can be, in certain circumstances, a good idea. In this case, what I originally wanted to know was whether or not they agreed with my husband's desire to suspend out pots and pans from the ceiling in order to make more room in our terribley over-crowded cupboards. Good for the part about creating space. Bad...too many bads. They would block my view to the rest of the house, our pans are seriously ugly. Pure utilitarian. Not copper. We would require new pots. That would need quite a budget. Mmm, but copper pots are so pretty. They need what? Polishing? Ha! I'll take utilitarian, thanks anyway.

Instead, thank you to my father and my friend, Rebecca, for the winning idea, the insane idea. The project in which we turn the hall closet inside out to create a pantry in the kitchen. Easy as pie. The sort in which you convince 4 and 20 blackbirds to calmly crawl into a piecrust while you cover them up with another layer of dough and stick them in the oven. And the miracle, when you are finally finished and everyone is still in one piece, ready to sing...or cook.

Thank you to my mother, for her extreme painting sessions, I appreciate it! The pantry itself, and its matching bookshelf, came unfinished. I wanted them really really kitchen proof, so I undertook to know exactly how to paint new wood intended for kitchen use. It involved a lot of primer, sand paper and time.

Then the cupboards and walls, naturally, needed repainting, so they would be as pretty as the pantry. This too, involved sand paper and coat after coat of paint. Everything was done in cream, with just the one plum accent wall. I wanted a vintage look, but I was sagely talked out of distressing, I think. The French lace curtains and burnished sort of knobs on all of the drawers and cabinets convey the feeling nicely.

 Oh; and you can see the spice jars, all set to be used in my summer Indian cuisine lessons.

But finished? Oh no, not hardly. There is the hallway that needs repainting, since it now has a splotch where the hall closet once was. I thought I'd paint it to match. Then I looked for the paint; MIA. Then I realized there was some new (unfinished) woodwork above the old closet and below. Then I looked at the rest of the woodwork, all full of nicks and dents. It really needed to be sanded down and all of it painted to match. I accomplished this before my family came for Easter. Then I went back to real life. Now if I can just decide on a color to redo the hallway. Though I am pretty sure that when I come to the end of it the living room's paint is also going to look old and scratched up and...ready to be repainted. 

The children took full advantage of the extra free time when lessons were over and the weather was too gross outside. They were very busy making apples into swans:

Learning tunes on the piano via HD Piano, and how to play harmonica, drawing, making pop-up cards and doing experiments I do not necessarily endorse.

I am glad the weather and I have turned to gardening.