18 September 2009

Kitchen: Before and After


The kitchen was definitely the most challenging part of moving in. It's old and has settled at odd angles leaving large gaps between the countertops and cabinets. As you can somewhat see below.

Before:

First, we removed the baker's stand, which was nice but far to large for the space, and we replaced it with shelves we bought from IKEA. Then, we replaced the old lights and tore out the non-functioning fan that was above the oven. It was absolutely disgusting - covered in grease! Plus, the cord dangled down in front of the window which just really drove me nuts. Next, I made curtains to cover the cabinets that didn't have doors, and the window. And finally, Alex fixed the loose faucet by putting up wainscoting which we decided to hang around the whole kitchen to make a backsplash. It's still a little rustic, but it looks a great deal better!

After:

This picture is taken from the living room, standing at the front door. I hope this gives you an idea as to how the house is laid out.
If you're standing here, you can look to your right to see our bedroom, and to your left to see the bathroom. Sorry the window is dirty, we just had it replaced.
The sink with the new light fixture and lovely wainscoting backsplash 
The white curtains to cover-up the open cabinets
Our new shelves from IKEA
And yes, the plug for the refrigerator is in the middle of the wall, right next to the pantry. But it's a covered pantry!
These flour tins that say, "Be it ever so humble, it's ours," belonged to my grandmother. I think they're quite pleasant and simply put. And you can also see the sweet, gingham ruffled curtains in the background.


17 September 2009

Be it ever so humble, it's ours...


"There was a crooked man, and he went a crooked mile,
He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile;
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse, 
And they all lived together in a crooked little house."

I was reminded of this Mother Goose rhyme one day when Alex was trying to put in the backsplash in our kitchen. He was having trouble with the measurements because there are literally no right angles in our house, everything sits in a slant. In exasperation he cried out, "Why is everything in this house crooked?" So I began to recite these verses - they were no help to him, but they sure helped me come up with a fitting name for our blog!

So now that all the projects are done, hear are a few long-awaited photos of our crooked little home:

This is our dining room table, it's actually in the living room and one of the first things you see when you walk in the house. The view out this window is our favorite, so even though it's the only place for the table, we kind of like it.

On the left side of the living room is our futon and barn door coffee table.

To the right, is our (at the moment) television-less entertainment center and bee-box bookshelves which are holding our DVDs.
This little area next to the front door had bookshelves in it, but we took them out and made it into a mudnook... it's not really big enough to be called a room. We figured it would be necessary when the rains come and we need a quick place to put our rain-jackets and umbrellas.
        
The house was built in the 1920s so you can do some really great snooping in the basement. We found these antique hand-drills in there and thought they would work well as hooks for our coats. So with the permission of our landlord we nailed to them to the wall and they work wonderfully! We also found the globe in the basement. I really like the subdued colors and vintage look of it. It fits the feel of our home well.


I will be posting more pictures of the other rooms soon! We have enjoyed settling in and glad that it's beginning to feel like ours.