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Since Christmas I’ve been busy creating a farmhouse kitchen that would suit this little old farmhouse I live in. It’s been challenging, because the kitchen is actually really narrow. Although I gave away pretty much half of what I own to move here, I still had boxes and boxes of my favorite small appliances and kitchen gadgets to find a home for. I’ve also (yikes) discovered that cooking is actually a lot of fun, so I’ve welcomed home quite a few new small appliances including a Belgium waffle maker, a Panini press, and a bunch of little things like cookie scoops. Have I mentioned I’m the home and appliance editor over at Best Buy’s Plug in blog? I covet new kitchen gadgets like some people covet clothes or comic books.
That’s probably why I’ve been working so hard to finish my kitchen, and that’s no easy task considering I’m a. Not a contractor, and b.I’ve never used power tools up until September of last year. It’s been a learning curve, but I’m getting there.
Case in point: I’ve always meant to have one or two upper cabinets and the rest open shelves. That’s exactly what I did too, and because I finally finished tiling the back splash, I could finally put up the shelves.
Here’s the details of what I did in the kitchen:
Shelves – I used 4 inch shiplap from my yard. It was taken out of the walls of the 1926 part of the house and I kept it exactly the same as the day I took it down. Nails and all. It looks amazing. The brackets are from Ikea.
Tile – I’m a fan of all things Fixer Upper, so I knew I wanted dark grout. I choose pewter grout with white subway tile.
The Breadbox – If you haven’t heard of Coop, you might not have one. I’ve always thought of it as a farmer’s store because you so often find them in small towns, but I sincerely love that place. I was searching through antique stores for a breadbox and couldn’t find one anywhere. Imagine the shock when I walked into Otter Coop and saw this one. It’s not antique, but I’ll take it.
Birds nest – You find all sorts of crazy things in the yard on a farm. This nest must have been knocked out of the tree because I found it right out my kitchen doors on the ground. There were no eggs or anything, so I picked it up, popped it in a bowl to keep the shape, and let it dry out for a month.
Next up I’m adding the stove hood and hanging the lights. I think this is the part I’m most looking forward to.
If you’re interested in how I ended up on 12 acres of farmland when I’m completely not a farmer, the full farmhouse story here. Also, if you’d like to see what sort of things you can unearth when you take apart a farmhouse, take at my favorite post: dead things under my farmhouse.
Shelly Wutke
I'm a freelance writer and copywriter who started this site to help me through the trials and tribulations of raising 4 kids. Along the way I've become the Editor of Home & Lifestyle for Best Buy Canada's blog, wrote for The Vancouver Province, and am currently working on my first travel book that's all about my love of a good old fashioned West Coast road trip. See you on the I5!
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