Maybe my kitchen was timeless after all!

13 years ago

I had the funniest thing happen yesterday. We live in CT and I took a trip to Westchester County to pick out countertops. The place only does wood and metals.

Anyway, I walk into the showroom, and there are a dozen or so very large photos mounted and displayed on the wall. One of them has the zinc counter I saw on the internet somewhere and had told my GC about.

But, right under the zinc one, is a large photo of my OLD kitchen, in NJ!! ABout 8 years ago I put an 18' long cherry counter in my kitchen. They still have the photo on display!

Too funny, I never heard of this place before ... my prior GC must have chose them.

PS for the question that comes up all the time, the answer is --- i loved the wood. It was in the galley part of my kitchen, and the opposite side counter run was granite, where i had the sink and range. I would use the wood side for just about anything, but did not chop on it. Wiped it up w water. Still looks great after 8 years, and I have a 7,8 and 11 yo. Used oil on it every 3 months or so... Especially perfect place to set out a buffet, with the undercounter lights adding to the ambience.

Here is a link that might be useful: my 18' cherry counter

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Comments (8)

inspiredisabel
13 years ago
Well it looks like a beautiful kitchen from that photo! :)

Can I ask where you got the pulls on the cabinetry?

Thanks!
palimpsest
13 years ago
Still looks relevant to me, design wise.
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Go for it! I like your thoughts on manly kitchens in which hammers can be dropped on the counters, for all those times when one is using a hammer in the kitchen, haha. :-) Lots of people on this forum have wooden countertops. There are various views on how to finish them, everything from tung oil to Waterlox to multiple coats of polyurethane as thick as what you see on the floor of a basketball court. The finish to choose depends on your needs and uses, of course; you can't stain a wood counter or put most types of poly on it if you want to use it as a cutting board, because those finishes aren't food safe, but IMHO counters are not cutting boards--cutting boards are cutting boards. (A revolutionary viewpoint, I know.) If you're a total slob who splashes everywhere when you wash dishes, or if you want an undermount sink, you may want some sort of marine finish (i.e. what they put on wooden boats) on your counters. Oh, and be sure the counter that goes over your dishwasher is finished on the bottom too, not just the top, to protect it from steam. Another minor factoid to keep in mind is that tung oil may not be good if you have anyone in your family with a nut allergy, because apparently tungs, whatever those are, are related to nuts. Anyway, point is, having chosen wood (for which I commend you), you're only halfway there: you now have to choose the finish. Or I should say, you're 2/3 of the way there, since you've chosen what kind of wood (distressed walnut). On to the finish line!
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dianalo
13 years ago
Please tell me you are not redoing that wonderful kitchen! Are you in another house now? Your house looks fabulous and I can't imagine changing it ;)
mtnrdredux_gw
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks, Isabel. The pulls on the large fridge have artichoke finials, i do not recall the mfr, I got them at a No. NJ dealer called Hardware Designs.

The pulls on the refrigerator door are the same pulls, minus the artichoke finials. If memory serves I had to pay extra to NOT have finials, since it was special order or somesuch nonsense.

Thanks, Palimpsest and Dianalo. We are not redoing that kitchen, and I do hope people like it .... we are going to sell it. With a house attached! Anyone interested?

We fell in love with a country farmhouse in CT over 18 months ago, and are expanding and redoing most of it (we fell in love with its lovely setting and stonework, etc). We moved to CT last August so the kids could start the school year here, but we had to move into a rental house because our CT house is behind schedule. So for now the kitchen you see sits empty, our "real" house is unfinished, we are in a rental that's lovely but not home, and when it snows I have to pay to plow all of them, yikes!
blfenton
13 years ago
I have a magazine House Beautiful kitchens/baths from spring 1996 (we finally got our kitchen done last year -shows how long the dream was) and it talks about 10 Top Renovation Tips to save time and money and they are still relevant today as then. It also has an article on timeless kitchens and shows some examples and if you were to put them in a magazine today (except for the wall paper on one of them) you would never know that they were 15 years old. Just an example - one of them has hardwood floors, drawers, an island, panelled appliances, a bridge faucet, prep sink, and schoolhouse pendants over the island. This kitchen would fit right into today. Just shows that proper planning and a sense of style is timeless - just like mtnrdredux and her kitchen.
rhome410
13 years ago
It's amazing. I'd be thrilled, as a potential home buyer, to see that in a kitchen. Very timeless.
northcarolina
13 years ago
May I ask what finish you used on that beautiful counter? If you oiled it every 3 months, does that mean it was a simple mineral oil finish, or is there a stain or something else there as well?
mtnrdredux_gw
Original Author
13 years ago
To my recollection, it was always only oiled, because we wanted it to be food safe. It was really easy to take care of.

Oh and thanks! If you really like it, it comes with a swell house, too!!

Maybe my kitchen was timeless after all!

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inspiredisabel

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Maybe my kitchen was timeless after all!

Comments (8)

inspiredisabel

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