lørdag 24. januar 2009

A Witch's Kitchen

A new day arrives, and there is not a sound outside my window... mysteriously mutet the house seems... so I walk over to the bedroom window, comfortably wrapped in my oversized robe... and what meets my eye out there in the world? Snow... and too much of it... It has basically snowed non stop for a week now... enough is enough allready... But I do have to admit, it is magically beautiful... Breathtakingly so...

So after I thank fate for the blessing of a overbuildt porch with lots of firewood (becuase who wants to tread snow first thing in the morning to get firewood?) I walk downstairs, put on a cup of coffee, light the fire and feed Hexa. Who is meowing at the top of her lungs, hungry and longing for a warm lap... It is sure nice to be inside on a day like this... and I clean the kitchen, do the dishes and listen to some favorite music... Life is good....

So let me show you the kitchen, I have showed work in progress before, but this is it nearly done. Curtains aren't up, but thats about it... plus a few minor details to come!

Remember this?! (shudders!!!)
And the fantastic old cooker... but look at that horrific colour, and the floor!!! Sigh.... And so, with alot of determination, and alot of patience and muscleforce from my dad... we went to work at my dream kitchen. The colour choice a big discussion theme in my family, thank goodness I knew what I was doing when I didnt buckle... Becuase mostly everyone that thought the colour was horrid, now seems to think it's the prettiest thing in the world... Well, I knew it would be... The green compliments the "old" look that I wanted... and looks perfect next to my favorite cabinets, fresh from Ikea... who would have thought cheap could be a favorite... h aha

well as you can see alot has changed... curtains missing still... comming soon... The countertop is solid oak, a gift from my parents. Cut and polished by my lovely dad. Glass cabinets is something I always wanted. However I did loose alot of stoarge space... But I wanted somewhere to show off my beautiful things... And it houses my amazing wineglasses too...
The kitchen table is very old, from my grandmother, and from her father's farm. So that is very dear to me. I kept some of the paint on the top, as I love anything that's distressed... The little stool was rescued from certain death at my old job... the only good thing that came from that job.. ha ha... The big comfy cahirs were fleamarket finds, that I painted in a very old colour called "lavender"... which is nothing like purple at all... hmmm... The cooker is a present from my granny. It was nearly new when I got it, but years of neglect and weather damage made it look horrible. However my mom, the cleaning magician, took care of that. And now it looks like it's right out of the shop!
Hexa sure enjoys the view... from my old table...
This wonderful old scale was rescued from my uncle's garage... where it was used to weigh all sorts of things!!! poor thing... so I cleaned it up and took it home with me... the little candle holder is actually a sugar bowl, from my grandmother's home. It was first given to my mother, and then she gave it to me. I love it so much...
This is my caferie! Ha ha... yes I have one of those super tiny fridges... another thing I knew I always wanted. My grandmother has one just like it, and if she could manage on that, so can I. It can only house essentials... and I have to be rather crafty whenever I shop, to make everything fit... I might cave in and buy a bigger fridge to put in the basement with my freezer... to store leftovers, and larger foods... The floor, which used to be orange cork, is now lineolium oak. It's so soft to walk on, and feels so real to the touch... I'm pretty pleased... so easy to wash as well :) And it gives the rooom a warm glow...
You might regognize the little drawers, they too were rescued from my uncle's garage. I cleaned it, painted it white and dad fittet a oak shelf from leftover countertop. He also had to cut off one big drawer to make it fit, which ment he had to seperate the row of smaller ones, to re adjust it to center... my dad the magician! The coffee grinder is from my great aunt Anne. A crazy crazy lady... She was the twin sister of my great grandmother, raised alone by their mother who took over the farm from her parents. Refusing to let anyone know who the father of her girls were, she did it all on her own. While my great grandmother married and took care of the family farm, had loads of children, including my fantastic grandmother, Anne took off to the big city. She lived in Oslo as a sewerdress to Queen Maud. She lived in a tiny apartment with something between 15 and 30 pedigree cats. In the end all the other neigbours had enough, so they told her she either had to get rid of teh cats, or move. Auntie Anne took all her cats and left. She arrived on a train back to the farm, cats in all sorts of boxes, suitcases and whatnot. She sure was the talk of the town... Moved back with her sister and family, where she lived untill she died. Never married... I get told I resemble her alot... ha ha... And the scary thing is I can totally see that... a pig headed artist, travled from her small town home to see the world, only to return to the countryside becuase of her love for the cats.... yeah my grand auntie Anne was something else...

As for the alminium coffee pot, it's from my grandmother... it's so cool, it has a glass top, and a filter inside, when the water boils, it's brought up into the filter and soak the coffee, which then goes back into the pot... clever clever! And it works for tea as well :)

My greengate cups are hanging from the drawers, which contains tea, I always knew I wanted them on display... too pretty to be left inside a dark cabinet. Besides, it's easy to grab a cup when the urge for coffee attacks you! The teal lidded box is also a treasure from my Uncle's garage. Something from my granny's past... and the coffee tin is from the Antique shoppe in Aamot.
And the old cooking stove back in place. With a new concrete wall behind it, painted white instead of gray. I keep my cauldron on top (no witche's kitchen without a cauldron after all), as well as my black morter, a gift from my sister... Look how much prettier it is now, than what it was. Dad also rearranged the pipe, so that it's not too close to the wooden panels, and is actually usable now... I shall have to try it one day. All the old trays ect ect are still intact... Cookies in an old stove... hmmm... must be tried! Dad will also make me a new hanging device, like in the before photo... so that is one detail missing....
Well that's it for today :) I shall return with more photos soon :)
Have a great weekend!

4 kommentarer:

Monica Helén sa...

ble så flott! Alt sammen! Kjempegøy å se før-bildet igjen også, det satte virkelig ting på spissen..:p du skreiv så mye morsomt om tanta di..:)
Og hørtes skikkelig idyllisk ut den innledningen din.. Skulle ønske jeg var der og så og opplevde.. :) snart...! :)

Brocante sa...

Men her herre min da - så fint kjøkken du har fått! Gøy å pusse opp ikke sant? - men, MASSE jobbing. Gøy når resultatet blir så fint da. Passer fint med gamle ting også!

Jorunn sa...

Her har du virkelig fått det fint! Og fargen på veggene er bare flott, den passer så fint til kjøkkenet forøvrig :0) Godt du ikke hørte på de andre! Du er så flink med detaljer! Kjøkkenvekta og hyllen med GG-koppene likte jeg godt! Jeg må gi deg skryt for din gode smak!! Du har et gammelt hus, og du har pusset det opp i en stil som kler huset, men som likevel tilfredsstiller nåtidens krav til komfort og stil. Du er flink!!

Lena sa...

Så utrolig fint kjøkken du har fått!!
Her har du jobbet ser jeg:)
Men å så gøy når forandringen blir så stor!!
Ha en fin dag!