We are pursueing an unusual route. We have what was a somewhat grandish 1882 home that is a mixture of Second Empire and Eastlake. Typical for the time, the back rooms (including the kitchen) were not finished to anywhere near the standard of the front (public) rooms. All the trim, moldings, floorings, hardware etc are/were several grades lower. Trying to recreate such a kitchen would seem fun for a museum, but not practical for the 21st century. And trying to create a muddle left us uninspired. Then we asked ourselves this question: What if, in 1882, they valued and utilized their kitchens as we do today? What if the kitchen was meant to be public and just as grand as the rest of the house? What would it have looked like? That question now forms our basis for design. We found the drawing below for a great ceiling and were able to order a replica, which we finally got installed about a month ago (lots of work!). We will do the floor in the Victorian style tiles from the Tile-Source. This week my wife is applying Venetian Plaster to the walls from Vasariplaster in BM August Morning, so that covers the large surfaces. The cabinets I am building and designing myself (thank God for Sketchup!), and they will be highly ornamental in the original Aesthetic Movement style, with no toe kicks and inset doors, ect. Crown Point has been an inspiration, but we are taking the design a lot further than they do in really trying to recreate period furniture/cabinet design. The idea is that upon viewing a person might reasonably think the cabinets are original to the house, with the exception that such cabinets were not built in kitchens at the time. It's all a bit risky, but it is exciting and we have our fingers crossed! Here is a link that might be useful: Tile Source

This is fun; thanks, everyone, for helping me celebrate. We have to make our own entertainment at times out here on the prairie! LOL ...HoustonMom...Are these the types of friends where you can simply invite yourself to the party? ...RedCurls...You're correct. Never wear white or ivory (or whatever color the bride is wearing) to a wedding, even in these days where the "rule" is "no rules." I like rules/guidelines. ...Kat WA...Yes, I'm wearing all the appropriate underpinnings; I just didn't want to advertise them to the world. LOL I found a lovely full-length slip with no lace of any kind on it to shadow through. It's peach, and more of dress liner than a slip. I could (if I were really buying all these items) simply hem it to be 3/4-inch shorter than the dress. No shadows at all. Seamed stocking are great, but I've never been able to keep the lines straight. (In my dreams I'm more of a fishnets kinda girl! LOL) I'm going with plain stockings. ...Sylvia...and DotMom...I'm in no danger of doing that, LOL. I just want to be appropriate for the occassion. ...Kacee...I'd love a hat, too, but I'm thinking with my full round face and short, full neck, and the fluffy wide neckline on the dress, a hat just might to "too" much. I love hats; when I was thinner I wore them a lot. ...Liz GA...You know you're going to have to bootleg all those copies. And after things settle down we can talk "Old Country Roses." By carefull searching, I've almost completed my set with all the older, still made-in-England pieces. I love, love, love this pattern.

Hmmmm a room-to-room fan. Never thought of that! In fact, I've never heard of it...but it makes sense. Only place it could possibly go, however, is above the door, where I had hoped to put in an operating transom window to let in more light and help air to flow from bedroom to bath. Will have to figure out which I need more...the room to room fan or the transom! The bath room will have windows as well.

I enjoyed it, but I hope that the heartbreak these women suffered from wandering husbands was not as bad as depicted. I was in college in the Midwest in the early '60s, and cat's-eye style glasses were long gone. The clothing seems familiar. The women's personalities are a little over done for the sake of TV.