Range in Motion

My old range is a smoker... if you look closely just above the burners you'll see the smoke. Even with the exhaust fan on full blast the kitchen hazes over in a hurry.

So I picked out a new one, a non-smoking model. And today my range arrived!  So... this old harvest gold range... is on it's way out...

Bye bye old stove! (Actually, this one went to the basement art studio.)  Maybe it won't matter if it smokes down there.

Here they come, bringing the new range down the hill from the truck.  (In the rain)  Don't slip now!

They carefully put it into place.  These guys were great!

Leveled it up, perfectly!  Thank you Gentlemen!  That's team work!

Look how nice and shiney and clean it is!  This is as clean as it will ever be.  Ta Da!

Looks pretty good in place... (and one of these days a new dish washer to match)

I made lunch...

*and burnt it...*

There is a bit of a learning curve here.

The old range came in 1975, this one is the 2010 version.

It's going to take some time to get used to it.

I made a toasted sandwich with black forest ham with sharp cheddar cheese on wheat with mayo... (Yum)

It was burnt, but it was still yummy!  Here is proof:

It took a while to scrub that poor lil skillet!  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
And just for the sake of a little perspective... here is the "before" photo. 

This is when I met my kitchen for the first time. 

Yes, I fell in love with this house when it was in this mess!
*Potential!*

It's come a long way!  Here are some things we've done:

• The light fixtures have been swapped out plus some new track lighting.
• The cabinets have all been painted, the uppers are all white and the lower cabinets are gray.  I painted the kick plates black.
• I made polymer clay handles for the upper cabinets and new hinges on all plus new pulls on the lower cabinets.
• New kitchen floor in harlequin tile (one of my favorite changes, that old floor was HORRIBLE!!)
• New stainless range hood, new range and new faucet.
• Painted the walls and trim.  (I love the cobalt walls, not crazy about the turquoise so I may or may not get around to changing that soon.)
• Put art glass everywhere!  =)

And Hope has reclaimed her spot.  She's the finishing touch!
Glad to have a non-smoker for a range! 

Happy Transformations,

-Carmen Rose

New Kitchen Details

I posted this "before" photo... well.. uh... before. But I have to keep reminding myself that it's the same place, just getting rid of THAT FLOOR made a big difference in how I felt about the room.

We changed out the lighting and painted the walls blue.  The cabinets (in that section at least) are painted, the hinges came and we were able to get the doors back on. Believe me, I'm grateful for that! And I really really like my polymer clay covered knobs on the upper cabinets and the simple black ones on the lower ones. I'm not usually into details like a polymer clay handle, that but this time it feels right.  It seems like it might be a good idea to go back and paint the toe kick, huh?!  Funny, it didn't occur to any of us working on the project at the time.  And now it's on my list.  I LOVE my new floor!  That project seemed to take forever but I am pleased with the result!

So... let's see.  Here we have a little of my hand painted glass.  A framed photography grouping that spells out the word "PEACE" with photographs I took around my adopted home town a while back.  I took two weeks walking around town looking at things and photographing everything that looked like an alphabet letter.  THAT was fun!  Try it sometime, it's a creative exercise in adjusting your vision to see beyond what you think is in front of you.  Alphabet photography got popular and then started to look a little kitchy to me.  Oh well.  I photographed the entire alphabet, the Q was one of the harder ones to find but I have a good one!  You may recognize that little floral quilt from a recent blog post.  And also the open sign from my gallery in the old days.  So far so good.  Feel free to leave a comment!

Happy Creating,
-Carmen Rose

Kitchen Update

I followed the tracking information on the hinges but there had been no updates after they left the warehouse. So imagine my surprise when I hear the Post-Lady drive up Saturday afternoon and so I peeked out the front door and there she was walking my direction with a box in her arms. Yay! The hinges finally came! I was SO glad to see them.

Turns out that it wasn’t quite as simple as putting screws back in the existing holes. These little buggas are a little more temperamental than all that, so it took a long time to get the doors back up – but Holy Smokes! There are doors on my kitchen cabinets again! YAY! I can’t believe what a difference it makes in the room! And the white cabinets really brighten up the room! I took some photos but it was dark and the lighting isn’t that great so I’ll wait for a bit of sunshine and then let you all in on the details that are finished so far.

I have six sections of cabinets, two of which I think are complete. When I paint the toe kicks, two other sections will be finished. The fifth section needs a final top coat of paint but I’ll do that with the cabinet doors in place. And tables and red rosin paper are back out and the doors are off the final section waiting for the process to begin all over again.

We had guests here last evening and it was nice to have the kitchen looking more put together (aside from the cans of paint and boxes of kitchen hardware) even if it was fleeting. Taking down the tables and the saw horses sure made the place seem much bigger for a while and I got to enjoy the new floor for a while. But it’s really time to wind up this project, I’m very impatient to have it complete. So, tomorrow I’ll start again if I can. Photos coming when I get a little good light, though it’s been raining so much that I soon expect to see animals coming up Gypsy Hill two by two.

I just couldn't finish the post with no photos at all, so here is a sneak peak:

THOSE are the polymer clay cabinet knobs in place.  And I lurve them!  I really do!

Happy Creating,
-Carmen Rose