Here is the sink base my hubby built for me.
It is 40 inches high instead of the standard 36 inches. Behind the curtain near the fridge side is a pull out cart with drop top and wire basket shelves for storage and island prep and usage. I stored my trash can and cleaning supplies under there too. There is a garbage disposal and sprayer. This kitchen was not original to the home. Since we discovered that by deed the house was built pre-1880 by Benjamen Robinson, an Earlington businessman, many things we saw as we renovated made sense. This wall you are looking at originally held two very large (that matched the dinning room) windows positioned in the same places as do the ones in the dinningroom. When my hubby upgraded the plumbing and removed the tired kitchen cabinets, he replaced the plaster with sheet rock which showed him the original studding. Two windows were there originally, and our guess is that when the kitchen was either remodeled to accommodate the upper cabinets (like when we bought it or some earlier ones we did not see) that the owners enclosed the windows and placed the current. The current window is more modern than any in our home. The trim was preserved to match the rest of the kitchen. Also note that where the fridge now sets, there was a wood burning stove with pipe that went out the wall about where the socket the fridge plugs into. It's all been enclosed and no wood burning in the home at present for heat.
The other side from the sink base in the kitchen. You can see the electric and gas hook ups for the stove. This chimney and wall are not original to the home. We discovered this when a contractor pointed out that the wall adjoined into the trim of the double pocket doors from the dinning room into the foyer. Our assertion is that craftsmen of the late 19th century would NOT have built a wall into trim, and since we also found matching window openings that the dinning room was huge and no kitchen existed in our home but would have existed as did those of the day in an outside building. This home originally sat on 4-fifty foot lots~meaning that the width was 200 feet wide...now it's 40 feet wide as was evidently sold off as by deed search prior to the 1939 transfer. You can see a post further down that lists all the owners and when it was done.
Also notice the vinyl flooring that is completely adjoined beautifully to the hardwood flooring. No lip or height differences! This was done when we opened the wall in the discovery of the kitchen creation and wall. Before this renovation 2007, the back entry, butler's pantry, kitchen and under stairs closet flooring were all different heights~awful! But today there is only a slight difference in the under stair closet~So much thanks to the contractor who did this wonderful job for us!!
You can't see the floor here which is the same brick pattern as the kitchen, back entry, downstairs bath and under stair closet, but this view is from the kitchen into the butler's pantry. One door is open on the left side, and there is an identical cabinet on the right to match the left. In center, you can see shelves, but on the base there are two wonderful WONDERFUL veggie bins~they are lined with metal and will hold onions and potatoes are nice long time! There is loads of storage in this pantry! AND the unit does not take up the entire width of the room. I had a set of shelving that sad to the far right where I stored my bread maker and other big gadgets as well as my mop, broom and bucket for cleaning! This shelf I placed was hidden by the swinging pantry door into the dinning room opening into the butler's pantry. You will see this in the next picture. Also note that the lighting matches the kitchen pendant over the sink and in the back entry back door area.
This is the dinningroom side of the butler's pantry. This pic was taken standing in the dinningroom looking into it. You can see the swinging door~and boy is it heavy! I used my grandmother's 18 lb cast iron antique iron to hold it in the back position into the pantry so I could enjoy seeing my pantry with ornate milk glass collectables on the shelves and baskets/greenery ivy on the top! I really enjoyed ALL this storage in my kitchen and never regreted or missed traditional cabinets because of the "original" look without them the kitchen had. Also it's fair to tell you that to have some in kitchen storage, I had two pie safes with punched tin doors and a smaller one 1/2 the width of the other two. These were in addition to the tabble, chairs, sink base, fridge and stove. (Just in case you wondered HOW I managed without traditional cabinets!) I USED this wonderful butler's pantry!
Since we're in the dinning room, here's the fireplace and built in china~
Of all four fireplaces, this is my favorite. I have never seen one like it before! I truly enjoyed this room the most! It has 3 large windows with wonderful sunlight that as the day progresses the walls change hue of color~they are painted a gray-green, but as the sun sets, they will appear more green. You can see the kitchen from the opening to the eat in area, and the walls will look more gray...it's some lighting illusion, but quite nice! The kitchen, dinning room, butler's pantry, under stairs closet, back entry and bath are all the same paint: gray-green.
The pantry is totally original. It has original wall paper still on the back walls where the shelves are. Coal used to be stored in the bottom doors, but I cleaned it well as it had been earlier as well, and used it for my sewing machine and fabric projects. The doors are original glass. One is cracked. We did not replace it because of the kind of glass that it is in light of its age.
The fireplaces in our home are all nonfunctional at present and retain their coal burning capabilities. The summer covers are original, and the only one different is in the living room. I'll show you that later. . .
The light is this room is partially original. The metal parts are, while the glass is not. I added those pieces. I had frosted white torch lamps in this room as well as the foyers so the frosted globe was nice. I added the crystals. They are crystal but reproductions. The three windows can be seen in this view as well as the crown molding which is throughout. I think there is one bedroom upstairs (baby blue room and you can see that in a pic) that has no crown molding. This light has a three way switch which makes for nice lighting for any occasion!
From the foyer you can see the dinning room and double pocket doors (only one side is opened)! The wall to the right in this photo where the time/date stamp is placed is the back of the fireplace and china. The orientation of this picture is that the photographer is standing on the stairs leading to the upper landing in the foyer.
Here is the landing, steps to it and the staircase going up to the second floor. The door you see leads into the closet that you can see in the kitchen photo from the back entry orientation. In this closet is the hot water heater and an under stair cabinet with door. I put one of the pie safes into this closet to store my everyday dishes and glass ware. These were not tall pie safes about 48 inches, so I also put baskets on it. There is a full sized window in this closet. At one time there was evidence that this closet held a toilette from what can be known of some plumming under our home. My how things change through the years!
This is a view of the other side of the foyer from the stair landing area and how I decorated it. It's a nice sized space, and remember there are room measurements on into the blog for you to read. The owners before us removed a large wood burning stove from this area that sat on a brick pallet. My husband refinished the hardwood floors in 2006.
This may give you a better idea of the space. The left wall is the one behind the dinning room fireplace/china and the right is the front door and to the right lower corner the doorway into the livingroom. It has a single pocket paneled door.
This is the summer cover in the living room. It's the one that is different from the other three and my favorite.
Here's the light on~
And here it is light off...it has a lacy pattern to the globes. I do not know if the globes are original or not, but they are very pretty. I nor the owner before me replaced any globes so it's possible they are original or at least have some age on them. You can see that the light extends down from the ceiling which is 10 feet. All except two that I am aware of are 10 foot ceilings. I will tell you about them as we get into those rooms ;-))
This is the fireplace in the living room. Check out the room dimensions on a later post. This is a nice sized room! There are three large original windows that face into the enclosed front porch. You can see that we did not replace this wall paper. I did not repair it either as there are some places where it is coming off, but I wanted to give you that option of an easy removal or to repair it. Just some simple wall paper paste will fix if you like the reproduction pattern.
If you will read on through the blog you will find many more pictures of our home with our furniture and decor. It will give you some more idea of how we lived in our home, but these pictures are the latest images taken this week. I received them today and want you to see!
Please remember we are looking for a bank qualified buyer who will either purchase with conventional loan or cash. We will not consider owner financing, land contracts or renting to own. I am sorry if this is your situation. Please understand ours. If you would like to see our home or have additional questions after you have read my blog, please contact me
SisterTipster@gmail.com
216-759-7596
Thank you!
