The Giganto, Humongous, Mondo, Uber Project Begins

My husband wants a new kitchen.  No! Seriously!  He hates our kitchen and he wants a new one.  Every day he has to walk through the kitchen to get to his precious Man-Cave so he is constantly reminded of how much he hates the kitchen.

1954 was a lovely year for kitchens

 But remodeling would be super costly, and we are too cheap.

So here is the goal...remodel my 1954 kitchen for as low a cost as possible, re-using as many of the current items as possible, while achieving a fine French Country finish deserving of a few "oooo's" and "ahhhhh's".

The cabinets are sight built and structurally bound to the universe.  They don't build them like that anymore.  They'll be staying put and receiving a fine treatment with fabric, recycled window blinds, paint, caulk and drywall mud.

The appliances all work just fine.  Olivia is the original 1954 gas cook top.  She works like a dream.  I'd like to find a way to re-finish her with a heat resistant enamel paint.  Carol (lovingly named after Carol Brady), the 23" gas wall over works just as well.  Even the built in timer functions flawlessy.

Dated but fully functional appliances

Ok, ok, ok.  So I have to throw in this story here.  This is the first house we have had with gas appliances.  Right after we moved in my husband, Dave was yelling from the kitchen that the oven wasn't working.  When I went into the kitchen to investigate he was repeatedly pushing a button above the oven door.  "It worked fine the last time I used it.  What did you do to it?"

"Nothing" he replied.  "But the 'light' button isn't working."

"The what button" I asked curiously?

"The 'light' button" he responded as he pressed his Schwarzenegger finger on the tiny little chrome knob over and over again.  I burst out laughing and he looked up at me with crooked, sheepish grin on his face, those blue eyes twinkling with confusion.

"Honey, dear", I mused.  "That's the button to turn the light on so you can see what's cooking.  You turn the oven on by turning the temperature dial."  I slipped my hand up the knob and turned it to 400 for pizza.

After a brief pause he huffed with embarrassment and said quietly, "Oh.  I thought it was like the stove and it had an ignition."

I love that guy.  Back to the project...

I took the door off of the horizontal cabinet above the sink.  No one but Dave can reach it anyway, so I will add a treatment to this "plant shelf" to tie it in with the cabinets.  I will also be shopping for a set of matching vintage light fixture to replace the ultra cheapo hardware store versions currently in place.

A plant shelf and new light fixtures are in the plans

 And last, but of course not least...the counter tops.  Those lovely Formica counter tops;  those UGLY Formica counter tops with their burn marks, scratches and permanent mold caulking around the sink.  I can't replace them without ruining the back splash, and that I actually like.  We will be tiling over the existing counter with new ceramic tile in black.  The current back splash is in perfect condition and has a sweeee-eet black accent that will tie the whole thing together.  You can see it better in the appliance picture.

Can you say "Yuk!"

I think this project will take several months, lots of man, um no wait-woman hours, and some minor expenses.  The project will be blogged as I proceed with the costs incurred and the techniques.  I will summarize all of the expenses and hours when I am finally able to post the photos of my completed Country French kitchen.

After that...  A vacation.  I don't think I'll be done before our pre-Army ship-out Disneyland trip with my son in March.  Hopefully when we return from his Basic Training graduation in May we will be coming home to our "magnifique cuisine".

Stay tuned...ask questions...make comments if you wish, and don't be surprised if an emergency room tale, or complaints about how old I am surface occasionally.




Where is Bryndal, anyway?