Redesigned Online: This Old House Magazine Feature

A longtime blog follower and fellow lover of vintage 

requested a little help with her kitchen remodel.

Amber and I worked on some small items in the past

but the kitchen was a pretty big design challenge.  

I have been doing e-design for a while 

and this was the perfect project since we live over 100 miles apart.

 Our finished project was featured in This Old House magazine June 2015

Amber is very creative and was able to manage her subcontractors and control her budget which is critical to a great outcome using e-design as a roadmap for a remodel.

 The "before" kitchen was pretty dark 

and there was so much brown it sort of sucked the energy out of the room.  

The layout is open to the family room, which is wonderful

and the updated kitchen brought new life into the adjoining spaces as well.

 The entire bank of upper cabinets over the cooktop was removed and the island was reworked to add a cookbook and display niche.  

The pendant light locations were moved and a few of the recessed can lights
reconfigured to make more sense 

The cabinet doors were replaced with a more current shaker style front and the refrigerator was replaced with a model that would accommodate painted panels for a built in look

New tile and countertops were also a key part of the remodel

My approach to e-design starts with the client receiving a packet PRIOR to payment.  It explains the process, the fees and exactly what you will receive to create/update/redesign your space.  

I don't use questioneers and prefer one or two conference calls with clients prior to starting.

Pinterest boards for every client has been a huge help as well!

more on that later.... on to the great kitchen!

Ambers design was inspired by some bright and fresh design elements

jadeite green 

soft coral 

copper

wicker 

vintage

 reclaimed wood

The copper came into play

because Amber had purchased 

a wonderful custom copper range hood on Craig's list 

In anticipation of her kitchen remodel 

Amber also purchased the large verdigris pendants 

and the drawer pulls, all at reduced prices.  She wanted these to be part of the design, which was pretty easy.  The bigger concern I had was the hood because it was such a strong element.

And guess what else she found?  

Not one but TWO Shaws sinks on Craigs list

Can you believe it!!!!

Lucky

Here is Ambers new kitchen!

So fun and bright

 The copper hood is such a great element in this kitchen and now the dark floors add the perfect contrast to the bright white cabinets

 A new faucet set in copper with the Craig's list Shaws sink

 The counter tops are marble.  

Amber really shopped for the right stone, at the right price 

because it was such a huge part of the budget

The new refrigerator

 The open shelving with reclaimed wood is beautiful and so fun to style with 

 bright dishes and vintage finds.  

I received quite a few emails about the brackets 

which were purchased here

Traditional subway tile with a nice clean beveled edge looks much cleaner and current.
 Amber found a great source for the reclaimed wood in her local area and it was cut to her specifications for the open shelving

 Below is the cook book niche at the end of the island.  

All of the small details really add up to a wonderful bright space.  

Are you inspired?  I am!

Thank you Amber

&

This Old House

Styling:  Sunday Hendrickson

Photos:  Ray Kachatorian

more facts about Redisign Online to follow

Dining Al Fresco

 Where did Spring go?

Are you a lover of dining outside?  

I sure am and we try do do it as much as the weather will permit

Simple tables are beautiful in the garden and does the food taste better outside?

 I have saved a boat load of images from magazines over the years

 and love to pull them out for inspiration 

 Now that we all use Pinterest we can save our favorites digitally 

and look at them everyday if we need to....

 I'm not sure which magazines I pulled these from 

but I suspect some are over ten years old

 But it is wonderful how a beautiful garden setting 

and a dining table are timeless

 Wicker in the garden.....a classic favorite

 And of course cafe' style chairs....love this table!!!!

 those lanterns!!!!

 modern farmhouse dining

 shabby and weathered with hydrangea....so pretty

 a little photo inspiration 

for the long weekend coming up

 these last three are from our little house in Ojai

we had some memorable and wonderful meals in the garden....(big sigh)

have a relaxing holiday and see you soon!

;)

kelley

A Chefs Modern Farmhouse

 Many of you know that I am a huge fan of the Modern Farmhouse esthetic.

I wrote a post a while ago about the subject here and it has been viewed over 20,000 times.

 Clearly it is a style or perhaps a lifestyle that resonates with so many.
 It's a dream for some and a reality for others but the Modern Farmhouse look
has become the darling of Pinterest, with bloggers and decorators
and of course retailers are on the bandwagon


  I thought I would share another version of the Modern Farmhouse,
a conundrum of styles and ideas
created and lived in by a chef
in rural North Carolina

 I must confess that I am not a big television watcher but I happen to love PBS and many of the other interesting cable stations that have incredibly well written 

and creative passionate stories.

A Chefs Life is just that.

The series takes us along on the rather private and very interesting journey of Chef Vivian Howard, her husband Ben and their family.....once New Yorkers, 

they now reside in a very rural, middle of nowhere place:

Deep Run, North Carolina

Vivian and her husband were persuaded by her parents to move back to North Carolina 

by dangling an organic carrot of  sorts...

financial support 

to assist them in opening their own restaurant 

and a plot of land to build a home

Their restaurant is called aptly called The Chef & The Farmer 

and that is essentially at the core of her cooking 

Her relationship with local Famers 

and her ability to utilize the most basic of ingredients 

to create dishes fit for the cover of any 

top notch Food magazine is the story line here

She readily embraces the ingredients of her childhood 

and the regional specialities with such glee and focus 

that she makes the lowly sweet potato 

seem like a gift from the gods....

and perhaps if we were to try her recipe for Candied sweet potatoes with pecan bacon syrup .....

we would all agree 

Corn is just one of the more important vegetables grown in this region.

 as is wheat and rice

 oysters and of course shrimp

and all things pork 

including the rather odd and mouth watering (at least when it's done)

pork cracklin'

No regional item is off limits and in a couple of episodes we learn about Tom Thumb.

Yes my friends.... Vivian creates a sausage encased in the appendix of a pig 

and serves it at a James Beard dinner in NYC....

courage, confidence and the heart of a chef 

are at work here

Most of her cooking is much prettier that the Tom Thumb

 but she feels the need to share all of North Carolina's specialties

with her diners as well as others who love southern cooking.

She creates dishes that could be described as

"the new normal" such as her pimped up grits!

As basic as many of her dishes sound they are in fact quite complex, 

 layered with flavor elements and require hours of preparation to get the desired end result. 

You will see when you watch the series how much time she spends just creating a new dish 

and working with her young staff

At some point after the opening or the restaurant 

she and Ben started a family and have twins...

so I'm assuming that's why the Farmhouse was necessary

 They had lived in her childhood home for many years before building the house

 and the need for her own kitchen, 

bedrooms for her children and privacy for her and Ben

jump started the process

The house sits on a parcel of her parents vast acreage and was the topic of much discussion by the locals while it was being built

Some thought it looked like a spaceship 

and others a Doctors office

It actually looks like neither, but embraces midcentury modern vernacular 

that is probably rather foreign to most 

in eastern North Carolina

The back of the house with the massive fireplace is just beautiful 

The kitchen is open, quite simple and streamlined and the floors are all concrete....perfect for kids, family dogs and lots of cooking

At first I wasn't a fan of the blue tile but after looking at the entire house
I think it's a fabulous choice

The floating open shelves are just the norm for a chef
so they are probably more functional for Vivian as opposed to trendy

A collection of butter bean shucking pans lines the stairwell

I love it...minimal, modern and full of memories all at the same time

The collections are so cute and personal here.... you can't help wondering if these owls have a special meaning to Vivian
In one episode she visits a neighbor to cook little apple tarts
and admires her vast....(vast is an understatement)
collection of salt and pepper shakers

So as I have always suspected
collections are important and have special meaning to just about everyone...including your's truly!

beautiful bathtub!

Ben is also an avid painter and his work hangs 

throughout the house and at the restaurant

The relationship between Vivian and Ben is interesting.  He is clearly a creative, just as she is.
What is equally interesting is how he seems to have embraced the rural life so easily, almost more that she has at times.
He's from Chicago so he's not going home, he's finding home.

She on the other had is returning home,
to a place she vowed never to return.

The house is a lovely mix of colors and casual furnishings 

and the architecture is really striking

Vivian is now a co-producer and writer of the series which is wonderful for her, however she often complains about being seriously stressed out
so all of the added duties she has taken on is interesting to me.

I think her worries are the usual for all working moms and she feels truly exhausted and torn
(aren't we all) by the constant tug-of-war between family, work, success and marriage

It is hard to say no to any of it
and we all struggle with that.

Vivian also seems at times to be rather shy, which is interesting for someone being filmed for a television series

but her personality encompasses that strength of character 

that we read about in so many Southern women:

vulnerable, feisty, beautiful and hard working

And this is a story worth telling and worth watching to say the least... 

especially if you love to cook 

and enjoy the beauty of the local harvest 

as I have for the last few years

 Often I have written about my love of food and how anyone can learn to create a great meal 

with the meager orphans of the garden

Vivian is the master of that concept

find it here on PBS

or

  read more of her story 

 in a wonderful article written by Daniel Wallace 

for Garden and Gun

It's A Chef's Life Y'all