A New Kitchen For An Old House In Santa Barbara

This is an old house. She's 92 to be exact.

What's that saying about not teaching an old dog new tricks?

I agree.

An old house is not going to budge when it come to certain things, especially at 92.

I can't change the footprint because of set backs and the usual rules governing a historic house.

And I can't mess around much with windows or doors and why would I? 

They are all really beautiful, with old arches and screens and large french patio doors

So that leaves us with the interior walls, which I had initially thought could be moved 

and reworked to 

 enlarge the spaces visually.

Then a few weeks ago, I had a visit from a person who used to live in this house.

She was in her 70's and her daughter had recently passed away.

She wanted to see if she could find this house again 

because she and her daughter had enjoyed it here so much.  

Her parents had moved to Santa Barbara from the Midwest and had rented this house from the original owner who was then very elderly.

She remembered the house was pink with sage green trim.  

I've found traces of the old pink paint every where 

and you don't often see a pink house these days.

She recalled, rather tearfully, sleeping with her small daughter in the screened porch area off the master bedroom.

We had recently completely gutted that part of the house and

I honestly felt guilty telling her it was all different.

I made the decision then and there to leave as much intact as I could 

going forwarded to preserve what I think will enhance her old bones 

and put some spring back in her step.

Which now takes us to the kitchen:

The kitchen was remodeled at some point in the early 90's

I'm showing this photo of my Thanksgiving morning crazy woman cooking mess because I love a good "before" shot!

The tile is sort of faux Spanish and although it has held up pretty well it's really orange!

Sort of like orange sherbet ice cream...remember that stuff?!

On the opposite side is this massive old Thermadore

This was one of the first commercial grade stoves for the home chef and it's a beast.

I have repaired and cleaned every burner so it cooks evenly but there is no such thing

 as a simmer setting.

On is on and on is 18,000 British Thermal Units of hell.

Same goes for the oven,

Burnt everything.  

Tops, bottoms sides, you name it 

Me and my big girl oven, we have fried many a meal to a blackened crisp.

So she will now have a home at a local homeless shelter next week, because, well they needed a new oven and they wanted it.  

Hopefully they will have better luck with her and keep the burnt cookies to a minimum 

I've decide to use Bosch for some of the new appliances.

I like the minimalist clean look of them.

I'm also going smaller.  

I love to cook and yet I never really use more than 4 burners at once on a stove top.

So the new range will only be 30 inches wide 

which will give me more prep area on either side as well.

The stove area is inset so it will have some nice spots for open storage, spices and crocks 

and a little pot rack for a vintage copper collection

All of the new counter tops are Ceasarstone.  

I chose Raw Concrete, honed, with an 1.5 inch mitered edge detail

And yes it is counterfeit, but it looks like the real deal only better!!!

By the way....all three of these colors are beautiful.

 I'm still tossing around paint colors, like darker grays.

The kitchen walls will all be re-stuccoed and left raw 

as we have done throughout out the rest of the house

Tile will be kept to a minimum.  

All the tile is hand made and hand glazed and somewhat irregular.  

Fingers are crossed that we get it some time before the 4th of July.

Reclaimed wood, raw steel and whitewashed terracotta  are a few of the other details.

A small china cabinet will be outfitted with wire or wired safety glass

 for some additional texture.

I found these safety glass pendants at Restoration Hardware.  I love these.  

Even better was the price

Originally $890 each I scooped them up for under $300 dollars

A few trendy things like a black faucet and some brass 

hardware will probably sneak in too!

Gray and brass in kitchen design is definitely having a moment but  

in the back of my mind I want it to look at least something like it did in 1925  

and more importantly I want it to feel like an old-ish kitchen.

I'm especially fond of these classic English kitchens by Devol.

I think they look somewhat similar to what this kitchen may have looked like.

Small and compact but warm and inviting and a fun place to cook.

Demo starts next week...bring on the trash cans! 

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xoxo