Linda's Kitchen: Let there be light and contemplating copper

Another Sunday and some more progress on my kitchen makeover!  My volunteer staff (a.k.a. close pal Rob) was all rested from his weekend away in NYC last weekend where he took in The Marriage of Figaro at the Met and Jude Law in Hamlet. He said Figaro was excellent and Jude Law was amazing as Hamlet. So, a little arts news for those interested!

This week, we FINALLY installed the recessed lighting! I was very excited!  Bright lights always make things better. Well, until I got a hold of what was going on in between the refrigerator and the cabinets...oy. Scary, to say the least.

So, here we are in progress, wires coming and going. And camera shy Rob who didn't want his pic taken. So we have a shoulder. I told him I wanted him to be my Ty Pennington and develop a fan base all on his own, but he didn't go for it. I told him he's every bit as good looking as Ty, maybe just not quite as thin. He suggested that if I put his pic in without his baseball cap (like that's really hiding something!), he'd take my pic in my work clothes, sans makeup. Yup, yup, nnnnope. So, take my word for it, he's every bit as good looking as Ty, maybe just in a slightly more middle aged, balding and softer way. My bff girl friend  is lobbying for him to start wearing a toolbelt, preferably in a kilt... but I digress.

And, voila, the lights are in!!! So pretty. You can see I've emptied the cabinets and removed the shelves to start prepping for painting the insides. (Forgive the trashbag that wasn't as out of the way as I'd hoped!) I now have dishes and glassware stored all over the place. Because, as I reported last week, my dishwasher is on the fritz, and it does make a good draining rack/storage space. My wine and champagne glasses are spread all over my dining room and most of my dishes and silver are on the bakers rack. Food is in bags or in the fridge.

A little note about the silly little window treatment, in case anyone was wondered what the heck I was thinking. I have had a black and cream toile roman shade up for years. Early in the summer, I took it down, thinking I was going to have it cleaned, or copy it to make a new one. I had a little idea about a blog post on making a cute little window valance in 30 minutes for under $10.  It's made from two dishtowels, sewn together. It didn't come out as cute as I'd envisioned, so I never did the post. But, it was pretty pink, so I figured I'd leave it up for the summer. The kitchen makeover grew and grew over the summer, so I've left it up as I'm going to be making a new roman shade once the kitchen is finished.  So, that's the scoop on my little 5th grade level sewing project!

So next up with the kitchen is that I am going to be papering and painting the insides of the cabinets and upholstering the shelves, since they are particle board and I don't want to paint them.  Then, we'll be painting the exteriors of the cabinets and putting on new hardware. The interiors are going to be off white (the same color the the bead board walls and moldings will be) and the exteriors are going to be black, with a little antiquing. So, of course, with all that work coming, I'm starting to ponder the decorative accessories. I have a small collection of copper - some molds, cookie cutters, watering cans and my pans are copper bottomed Revereware. Copper is coming back into vogue, so I might as well make use of what I have!

Here are a few inspiration images that I've gathered:

My love of copper can be pinned on my 2002 visit to the kitchen at the  Chateau de Chenonceau in France. Love the rope banister that leads down to the stone kitchen. And, those copper pots on the walls are enormous

Here's Martha Stewart'sTurkey Hill kitchen post- renovation.

And here was Martha's original kitchen at Turkey Hill

Unfortunately, I've lost the source of this image, so if anyone knows, please let me know.

Update: This is Martha's kitchen (out in the stable) at her Bedford home. Thanks to Deborah of Boxwood Terrace for letting me know, and, of course, to Eddie Ross, who also decorated this space!

And here is Eddie Ross' copper collection in the new Lonny magazine via EddieRoss.com

Eugenie-La-Bains kitchen via EddieRoss.com  I just love the symmetry of the placement of copper pans.

And, of course, Mrs. Julia Child's Kitchen in Cambridge, MA

And another amazing collection via Bluelines

And so, I still have a long way to go before I can be accessorizing, but it's much more enjoyable contemplating copper than planning to paint!

(image at top, an antique Swedish tea pot, is courtesy of Avolli).


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