A Kitchen at Last!

For those of you who remember, the kitchen is the big nucleus of the homestead. From the very beginning, the kitchen was designed to hearken back to earlier times. As a cook myself I wanted the kitchen to be warm, welcoming, well built, but above all, functional and easy to work in. I shun the modern showroom kitchens and the slim-trim, sleek-lined Italian kitchens because, in general, those kitchens are for photographs and not for living and cooking.

Going back over 16 months now I commissioned the kitchen cabinets. We carefully laid out the kitchen so that the hob, sink and refrigerator were all in a usable, traditional triangle layout. Granite has its place but it is over-used in my opinion and not at all functional....plus it is really hard to keep clean which is the way it looks best. We wanted LOTS of counter space, usable counter space. We elected to use 1-1/2" cherry butcher block and to finish it in a food-safe tung oil. The cabinets themselves are all solid maple. With the exception of a few doors, the entire kitchen is milled maple, cut down from 2" thick planks of beautiful maple. The cabinet boxes are solid wood, no plywood which can warp and de-laminate over time. No nails either, all splines and pegs just like a cabinet maker would have used in the old days. All the cabinet backs, doors, and drawer bottoms are hand made tongue and groove planks finished in clear tung oil. This is a true craftsman's kitchen.

Regrettably, for a variety of reasons, the kitchen remained until almost the last to be finished because it required the greatest finesse and detail. The cabinets are all finished in Benjamin Moore Alkyd Satin Impervo White Dove. The hardware is all Austrian-made hinge and American-milled chrome pulls and knobs. I waited to make sure that everything was ready, including me. When last we left off, there was no back splash, no cabinet doors, and nothing was painted.......

Step one was to finish the back splash. I could not find the size tile I wanted anywhere (or at least not in the type/color I wanted). We selected a yellowish-marbled soft Egyptian limestone which has a lovely smooth feel and soft appearance. I wanted a "subway" tile but I did not want the standard 3"x6" tile which we had used in the bathrooms upstairs. I wanted a small, 1-1/2"x3" tile but I could not find it anywhere. Not to be deterred, I decided to take the 4"x4" tile I found and cut each one down to size. Above you can see each one being put in place separately. Most tiles this size come mounted on a mesh in 1'x1' mats. Mounting each tile at a time took a lot of time.

After finishing the back splash (photos to follow) it was time to tackle the dishwasher....something that had scared me for months. We had chosen a Bosch 800 Series SV45M03UC near-silent dishwasher to match our other appliances. It came with a sheet metal front on which one may mount a panel or ready-made factory panel in white, stainless or black. I wanted a panel to match our cabinets but due to problems with out cabinet maker (I will explain as we go) I was stuck either buying a stainless panel from Bosch for a mere $345.00USD (the dishwasher only cost $800.00USD) or making one myself. I reached down and decided to jump in.

I selected a piece of premium maple plywood at 3/8" thick and a 1/2" maple board for the border. I made a picture frame the size desired to cover the dishwasher and then routered the inside of the frame to accommodate the maple panel. You can see the detail above. Next I need a way to get this panel affixed to the dishwasher pictured below. This was the part that really woke me up at night. In the end it proved very simple. Note in the photo above, the screw I have positioned in the wood. I put one on each side on the back of the panel. The head of the screw was positioned perfectly to be inserted into the keyhole slot on the dishwasher face below. You can see the keyhole on the right below....it is the second hold at the bottom of the top panel on the right. There is a matching hole on the left as well.

When the panel was done, screws attached on the back, I painted both sides with Benjamin Moore White Dove Satin Impervo and then fastened on a drawer pull which matched out drawers. Note above the two white strips at the bottom of the dishwasher face....those are Velcro strips to hold the door at the bottom...this was a long shot but it worked like a charm. Next, I put it in place on the door......you will see that photo below as I show the kitchen completed.

With the back splash and dishwasher door on, I painted all the face frames on the cabinets. The gentleman who built the cabinets did an amazing, old-school job on the cabinets. Unfortunately, for reasons I can only speculate, something went wrong with Jamie. We had intended to use face mounted hinges for the doors. When it came to the doors and the hinges, something went terribly wrong. Jamie made a mess of the face frames and the doors. I had to remove and burn all the doors, and completely re-face frame all the cabinets and paint them myself. In the end they looked great. Now all that was left was to have Billy, my faithful friend and house framer, put together 19 replacement doors for the ones that my cabinet maker butchered.

Billy made short work of 19 doors and I have to say they were stellar examples of cabinetry perfection. I provided him with the maple and he provided me with 19 beautiful doors which fit like gloves. As soon as he had them ready I primed them, drilled 1-3/8" holes for the Blum hinges, and mounted each one in the cabinets. You can see how I positioned each one in the photo below.

One by one the doors went into place. Each one fits so beautifully that I feared something must go terribly wrong to balance such a perfect situation. Nothing did.

We elected to put glass panes in the six doors above and next to the sink. It opens up the kitchen and allows a beautiful view of the wooden interior of the cabinets.

At last, with the doors in place, it was time to paint and put the glass in the six doors. Foam roller and brush in hand I went to work. Once finished I re-mounted the handles/knobs and cleaned up the kitchen. May I present, after far too long, the magnum opus of the F&H Homestead!

This picture looks across the peninsula/breakfast bar towards the sink. Above are two fantastic custom made lights purchased at Privet House in Warren CT. Each of these fixtures (this is one of many models including floor and wall mounted lamps) is made by hand from old factory parts by an artist in Philadelphia. They have a 14 piece, triangle cut mirror interior and we installed Edison clear bulbs on a dimmer to give the perfect light.

A view over across the kitchen to the hob and the hood with fan and lights. The Bosch 800 series microwave and oven are to the right, mounted in a custom made unit with cabinets above and huge roll-out drawer below.

Just to the left and below the oven is a single cabinet door. Inside is a slide out 30 litre kitchen trash bin. You may also note the "feet" on the bottom of the cabinets which give the cabinetry a feel of single piece furniture. There is a kick plate mounted 4" back from the feet under the cabinets which I painted flat jet-black. The kick plate keeps dust and debris from building up way under the cabinets and the black kick plate makes the underside of the cabinets look open.

Above we see the dishwasher with the custom panel in place. I was shocked and a little proud at how well it works and matches the kitchen.

Our farm sink with Rohl tap in place.

A view from the pantry/laundry area in the cross-through looking into the kitchen.

One of our features in the kitchen is the desk/workspace in the corner. Here we get a good view of the desk. On the left is a double door cabinet with dual slide-out 30 litre bins for recycling and returnable cans and bottles.

On the right of the desk are three drawers, the bottom one sized to handle A4/letter-sized hanging folders.

Standing next to the oven and microwave combo and looking at the peninsula we see the drawers and the dishwasher on the far right. The french doors lead out to the porch and to the backyard. An additional door also accesses the porch from the living room which is down the short hall just to the right of the doors above.

Another view of the sink and cabinetry above as well as the sink and Rohl tap below.

All in all we are thrilled with the kitchen. It is a perfect example of old-time craftsmanship and the model of functional cooking space. To celebrate the completion I decided to make my all-out Mexican Chicken Burrito dinner that night...the other half of F&H was kind enough to photograph the results! Mmmmmm mmmmm!

Stay tuned for the finished photos of the lavatory, living room, and back hall/mudroom!