So here we go, the time has arrived to start the kitchen refresh and in honour of both our budget and the principles of eco-friendly design I am planning to craft as much of the kitchen as I can off of Facebook Marketplace (FBMP).
I am happily participating again in the One Room Challenge, the ORC is a wonderful event in which anyone can participate! The challenge of the ORC lies in completing a space within 8 weeks. Be sure to click on the link and learn about all the wonderful projects and participants!! In previous years I have completed A DIY Limestone Patio, A Colour Saturated Vestibule, and a Bedroom for Busy Boys.
Now about the kitchen, no, I’m not trying to buy an entire kitchen from FBMP, uninstall it from one house and then shoehorn it into our space, in fact I am looking for a total of 3 typical kitchen cabinets; 2 drawer units and 1 sink unit. The rest of the kitchen will be fitted out with marble topped antique pieces. Yup antiques, I want to make our kitchen out of antiques.
Here is the thing, I can spend the same amount on antique cabinets to fill a wall as I do on standard melamine boxes with mdf doors. Except with the FBMP cabinets I don’t then have to go out and purchase a countertop. I love marble, I actually think it makes for a great countertop, I really am not bothered if it gets stained or chipped, in fact I have been on the hunt for some time to find a marble table with an iron base to leave in the backyard year round. My parents' laminate countertops were replaced 2x within the first 30 years of my life, marble is going to outlive me. Environmentally the energy and resources have already been expended to create these pieces beside which we have had a large marble slab next to the stove these past 4 years and it is aged and beautiful, also super functional!
Adding to my resolve is the fact that we are already living with antiques in a very unfitted kitchen. The hardest working piece of furniture and the only reason we have made the kitchen work so far is the Victorian dresser I inherited from my parents, it is about 130 years old and solid. It will be staying in the kitchen to serve as our pantry with a bit of refreshing. I’m still thinking through whether I will be putting the doors back on or replacing them with curtains, we will circle back to that.
Read all about the new layout and why I've designed it around ADHD needs.
So in addition to the wood of the cabinets (2 different tones once we add in the other antique pieces) and the marble (I’m trying for a white carrera but we will see what I can find) I am looking ideally for white plain front cabinets topped with a chevron butcher block (that I am buying outright from HD). The walls will likely be a venetian plaster in a yet undetermined colour. I’m thinking about incorporating some narrow marble shelves (I’ve already saved the marble pieces on FBMP) with brass brackets and doing a dark grey and cream (or white?) large format diamond pattern on the floor.
Also two of the walls will only have lower cabinets, the wall with the fridge and dresser is vertically pretty full and the last wall (the one that will eventually come down) will have a lovely glass cabinet to house all the glasses and some serving pieces.
I am really excited to get started and challenge the idea that a beautiful kitchen with higher end materials has to cost a fortune. I am also in no way going to worry about resale value because that leads you into the white cabinet vs wood debate and no matter which you choose 50% future buyers are going to put in a new kitchen anyway! Besides, we have no plans to move!!
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