A Kitchen Transformation
I hope you all have a copy of my latest issue of “Living” - our September 2021 magazine is on newsstands right now and it features a beautiful story on the latest transformation project at my farm - a kitchen renovation.
During the past year and a half we've all spent more time at home than ever before, and for many of us that meant changing the way we work. For me, many days are filled with phone calls, video conferences, and various virtual appearances and broadcasts. Earlier this year, I decided to transform the first floor of a guest house, so it could function more as a production work space and studio. I repainted the walls and cabinets, replaced several appliances with Viking, extended the center island, added deep shelves for displaying antique ceramics, installed new French doors from Pella, hung shades from Erik Bruce Inc., and decorated the room with my personal collection of copper. The entire kitchen was transformed and modernized and it looks great.
Enjoy these photos and be sure to read more about this renovation in "Living."
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- Here is a “before” photo of the kitchen – the first step was to empty the room completely. All the pots, pans, dishes, and other supplies were neatly stored in a nearby room. Taking everything out before painting is time consuming, but very crucial to prevent any pieces from getting damaged in the renovation process.
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- Next, all the drawers were removed and every surface not being painted had to be carefully covered.
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- Then it was time to tape. Taping before painting provides a barrier to surfaces that aren’t being painted, allowing painters to work quickly without worrying about making mistakes. Taping also helps create clean lines and protect areas from possible drips.
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- The cabinet doors are covered in a dark granite almost black primer and left to dry completely over several days.
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- Doors and window trims are also primed and left to dry.
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- On this day, the new appliances are brought in to replace the old, outdated units. I installed this new wall oven from Viking. I love the French doors. This double side-by-side door design allows one to stand closer to the oven when lifting items in and out, while maintaining a safe distance from the heat – no more burns when opening and closing these doors.
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- The walls are painted white and all the cabinetry and millwork a satin black.
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- Beautiful French doors from Pella replace the timeworn ones.
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- And here they are fully installed – look at all the light that comes through from the terrace. Pella offers a wide range of beautifully designed doors and windows for any room.
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- Within weeks, the entire space was changed. I love how the black gives the kitchen a more modern feel.
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- Everything was washed and returned. Crocks and other antique or vintage ceramic containers house wooden spoons and other cooking utensils for easy access.
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- A drawer dedicated to linens holds ironed napkins – neatly folded and ready to use.
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- I chose these simple and classic drawer pulls from Baldwin Hardware. Changing out the knobs or pulls on kitchen cabinets is an inexpensive way to update a kitchen.
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- I hung my own copper pots and pans on the rack – I love how the copper coordinates with the black. It looks so elegant.
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- Copper molds sit on this open shelf above the back counter.
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- Look how gorgeous this cut tomato from my garden looks on the black marble table. The knife is from Wusthof, a longtime favorite for cutting tools.
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- Other often-used kitchen appliances include the Cuisinart food processor, my Vitamix blender and a black KitchenAid stand mixer.
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- I placed a cooktop, also from Viking, in the center island. This helps when shooting cooking demos for television and video.
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- The Soda Stream machine, like a soda syphon, carbonates water by adding carbon dioxide from a pressurized cylinder to create soda water to drink. My grandchildren love the Soda Stream.
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- The shades are from Erik Bruce Inc. These manual roller Husk II shades in granite are perfect for letting the filtered light in without too much glare. I’ll share more photos from our shades installation on my next blog.
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- The Viking wall oven looks fantastic in its new home.
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- For the counters, we use these simple and efficient cutting boards from cuttingboard.com, the Cutting Board and Butcher Block Shop. They’re so easy to maintain and great for all sorts of prep work.
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- The cabinets are organized with spice tins and storage jars from my longtime partner, Macy’s – and of course, they are all clearly labeled with each container’s contents.
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- More copper and brass decorate the cubbies at the other end of this large built in shelving unit.
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- I am looking forward to many, many shoots and demos from this gorgeous new kitchen. What do you think of it? Share your comments below.
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- And be sure to see more photos, incouding the adjacent cookbook library and the deep shelves filled with my yellowware in the September issue of “Living” – it’s on newsstands until September 10th. Happy home renovating.
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