THE Kitchen

There are a few plus sides to Michael being out of work. Give me a few minutes and I will get one.  No, truthfully, all joking aside, this has been a good time in our lives.  It is nice to see him being him.  He is able to breathe again. And, between looking for a new job, he is building our kitchen. 

Not everyone builds their own kitchen. In fact, I cannot even count on one hand the number of people I know who have. My grandfather - my Dad's Dad. There. End of list.

In my mind, Michael building our kitchen is so obvious.  It feels like a "right of passage" in this home. It feels like we are honoring the families that came before us.  And, most importantly, he knows what he is doing - and we know what we want.

Let me be clear..this is NOT something I would recommend.  I would not tell my friends this is a great idea.  I would not be shouting "go for it" to anyone. Too long, too stressful, too many decisions.  There are much easier ways to get the job done.

So here it is SO FAR!  Not done, but getting done. 

The cornerstone, I think, is our vintage Munson Slate sink (see previous post).  We saw this sink at an antique/renovation home store years ago.  We called the next day to see if we could get it and it was gone. Gone in the way you want it so bad and cannot believe you did not even have the chance to want it so bad.

The seed had been planted. Michael scoured the internet and found one in New Hampshire at a romantic antique joint "City Girl in the Country." So Michael loaded Maddie in the car and they set off to get the sink. Hours later, the sink had arrived home and we knew it would be the foundation for our space. 

Our inspiration for the space comes from a renovation magazine I have looked at so many times I can practically guess what is in their cupboards. We are building an antique red kitchen - and I am in so deep that there is no turning back.  It may not be the choice for everyone, but it makes sense in this space. Real good sense.

We have recruited "cheap labor" as my Dad calls himself.  Grape soda is all it takes to draw him in.  He used to ask me if we were going to "flip" this house.  I say, we are way past the flip stage - that is for tv shows on HGTV. I actually think my Dad likes helping as much as we like having him help.  And if he doesn't, he does a darn good job of acting like he does. 

The funny thing is at every stage it feels like it has always been like this.  When another thing gets finished there are no fireworks shooting off, no fanfare.  The upper cabinets look great flanking the sink, and the oven has already baked a mean flour-less chocolate cake. The transitions that could have felt awkward seamlessly change.  It is a lesson far beyond the kitchen.  Life moves, things change, make it seamless, don't get caught up in it, breathe.

Our antique hoosier cabinet we bought last year from an estate sale sits in the front part of the kitchen