Kitchen with a Red AGA Range

This bright red AGA range is beautiful next to the gray custom cabinetry. I so wish I could see the rest of this kitchen! via

Best Kitchen Window

A wreath on the window over the kitchen sink is a great idea! via

Dogs Around an AGA Range

What? You want us to move so you can cook on our AGA? Could you come back later? We aren't quite toasty enough yet! via

Vintage Kitchen Items to Love

Who remembers the endless kitchen towel? This is so much better than a roll of paper towels for wiping your hands. Is it coming back? Let's hope so. I love this table beside the stove instead of a kitchen counter with a marble or granite top. It matches the windowsill too. I love all the vintage things on it; cutting boards, wooden spoons, ball jars with zinc tops and an old porcelain bread box.

Above: To be filed under why didn’t we think of that: beechwood plate rack modeled after hymnal racks in churches. They can also be used for displaying books and other objects. They look amazing mounted in long rows. Both images and resources found here.

Small Kitchen Island On Wheels

One of my friends bought a house over a year ago and she's still working on it. She wanted an island in her kitchen but didn't think she had room. I found this photo last week on Houzz and sent it to her. She loved it and is having her carpenter copy it. She has a small table and chairs for kitchen dining so she doesn't need an island with an overhang for seating.

Kitchens Without A Center Island

I was so excited this morning when I found an article that once appeared in the Wall Street Journal about "Why Kitchen Islands are Ruining America's Kitchens". I went thru this process when I was designing my own cottage kitchen in 2002. My contractor wanted me to put in a breakfast bar and I didn't want one. I don't like them because people can't look one another in the eye when sitting side by side. Please read the article in the link because I think it hits the nail right on the head. The photo above is the author's kitchen. She shows other views in the article.

I measured and measured, put down a cardboard cutout the size of my farm table and it worked perfectly in my cottage as you can see below.

This is my kitchen that was designed around this antique farm table. The bentwood chairs came with my cottage. I have never looked back. xo

Backsplash and Oven Hood

The tile work behind the Wolf cooktop is simple and beautiful and I love the woodwork around the range hood. It looks like a fireplace wall with mantel and elaborate ceiling moldings. The open cupboards on either side are perfect. via

A Fantastic Kitchen

via

I like everything I see in this kitchen. It's a big one but it seems to be well designed. More than one person could work here and not get in the way of the other(s), I can't really see the sink in the marble island, just the faucet. I like the window over the farm sink, the oriental runner, the wooden floor, the Wolf commercial range, the beams and everything else. I like the white cabinets and the steel windows too. Wish I could see the rest of the room but I'm sure I would like it.

The weather today was very strange with torrential rain for five minutes, and then it would quit for five minutes. Repeat. This was all morning long. The sun came out in the afternoon but more rain is coming in the wee hours of the morning. Big wind is starting up now. Off to close all the windows. See you tomorrow. Sleep tight. xo

Shaker Kitchen in UK Showroom

Here is a larger view of the kitchen I posted yesterday while wishing I had more photos of the room. Presto, my wish was granted! One of my readers and followers found a link! Thank you so much, Leslie. This kitchen is in a deVOL showroom in England and all the bespoke elements are swoon worthy. Click to see other views of The Loft Kitchen. 

A Country Kitchen to Love

photo source

I love this kitchen island with lots of drawers and two open shelves at the end. This large kitchen has a farm table too instead of bar stools. Yay, and a window seat too. The floorboards look old but the construction looks new; perhaps it's a restoration. I couldn't find any additional photos but I know I would like the rest of this kitchen.

Kitchen with a Great Ceiling

The ceiling is my favorite element in this beautiful kitchen. I wish I could show you the rest of the room so we could see what the sitters on the stools would be viewing but I cannot find more pics. I am off to an early office meeting wondering what to wear. I haven't gotten out my summer clothes and it's supposed to be in the high 80s today and I will wilt. See you later. xo

Vintage Gas Stove in a Kitchen

I always stop to study small kitchens with vintage gas ranges. I could work here happily! via

Vineyard Haven MA Dining Nook

‘The Gray Barn Farmhouse in Chilmark'
 Holmes Hole Builders, Vineyard Haven, MA.

I like a sawbuck table next to a window wall. via I love the cupboard wall and the paint color.

Sag Harbor Kitchen to Love

Click here to view the entire house project in Sag Harbor, NY by S. R. Gambrel, Architect. The kitchen is wonderful, isn't it? A farmtable instead of an island shows great restraint in design. Give me a chair instead of a stool any day.

Kitchen Doors that Open Out

Hmmm. Would this work at my cottage? If my two French doors were divided and opened out, I could have full-length draperies to block the blinding sun in the summer and the cold drafts in the winter. I must investigate this idea. The only time it might be a problem would be during a deep snow. I like the teak flooring squares on the balcony floor too. Nice! via

All is calm at my home this morning after a day of frightful wind yesterday and last night. I lost power for a short period four times and appreciated having a generator. Some large trees came down in the woods but not on my property. The wind after I went to bed was the worst. It sounded like a freight train but I diverted my ears to the TV and watched The Nun's Story on TCM that I had recorded earlier in the day. I had never seen it and enjoyed it very much. Audrey Hepburn was great. Have a peaceful weekend and be safe if you live on coast where the tides are going to be a problem this morning and this evening. See you later. xo

Black and White Kitchen

This kitchen would work for me, very nicely, if I were a city girl. I love the huge window over the sink looking out on another townhouse. I don't think I would need two sinks so close together though. Robbins Architecture, Winnetka, IL. via

It rained all night at my cottage and so far, the weather hasn't been out of the ordinary. BUT the worst part is going to be from 8pm until midnight with high winds and I'm not happy about that. I am not going out for anything except to walk to my mailbox after the mailman comes. I have a generator now in case I lose power and my new roof is the icing on my cottage. I made a new batch of yogurt in my Instant Pot yesterday and I went to the market and bought new food for my clean refrigerator. SO, I am prepared for what comes. Thankfully, I am not on the coast. Be safe if you are, my friends. See you later. xo

Gorgeous Martha's Vineyard Kitchen

View the other rooms in this barn-like structure in Menemsha Beach, Massachusetts here. Enjoy the last day of February. xo

Cleaning My Refrigerator

I have been in a cleaning frenzy lately. My refrigerator was today's project and boy, did it ever need it. It took me a long time too. I started out this morning thinking I would just do a shelf or two and ended up doing the whole thing, and the two freezer drawers down below as well and it felt to good! Weekend before last, I tore my bedroom apart and cleaned it top to bottom. It must be something in my starts. I get this way every now and then and I hope it continues. I put this photo on Instagram today and it seems nobody likes to clean the refrigerator. It is one of those dreaded tasks and it's a pretty thankless job. 

You know what they say about housework: "It's something nobody notices until you don't do it." HaHa.

I Love This Marblehead Kitchen

Marblehead cottage renovation, MA. Molly Frey Design. Eric Roth photo.via

I took this photo yesterday of my mature rosemary topiary that has tree bark on the trunk! It isn't that old either, maybe four years, and I started it from a cutting I rooted in water. It had a few tiny purple blooms over the winter that looked like tiny orchids. I have some of her cuttings rooting right now and I have four with tiny roots that I planted in a pot along with a geranium. I often do this so they can get encouragement from another plant until they harden off. How does your indoor garden grow?

Really Gorgeous Kitchen Cabinets

Westport CT Island House. Read more here.

Photo by Shelter Interiors LLC