My kitchen update is done!!! We need some celebratory MUSICA! I haven’t put everything back yet; it’s SO clean; I almost don’t want to overwhelm it with my stuff!
So far, my new magnet✪ is the only one that’s made it back onto the fridge.
We had a wonderful weekend, the weather’s been beautiful, definitely sweater weather, chilly in the morning, but sunny, fresh island air — this is how it looks in our living room right now . . . my book is waiting for me! Kate Morton is folding me into her world!
I’ve been getting so much done, I’m on page 71 of our book!
But I did get a start on putting things back in the kitchen, beginning with some of my cookbooks!
When I was about twenty-two I decided I wanted something cute to get me to the high shelves in my kitchen, so I went to an unfinished-furniture store and bought this little child’s chair. I put it on newspaper in my driveway and spray-painted it red, and it’s gone everywhere I have since then.
First thing’s first for a new kitchen, get some flowers from the garden.
Time to hang up some pictures — these two have been in my kitchen forever . . . the bottom one I found at a yard sale years ago; the apples, I painted in 1978, one year after painting my first painting; the glass is all shined up.
Jack’s helping, as usual. Guiding me.
Jack follows the ladder wherever it goes.
He may be moving to the barn when we are done.
This leg from our kitchen table is indicative of the distress the whole kitchen was in at the time we decided to update . . .
Joe took them off, sanded the wood top of the table; I oiled it, and he repainted the legs. It looks like new!
One reason I’m so glad we have our kitchen back is because all this stuff came off the floor. That’s not a bug, it’s just some sort of thing on the cardboard, but every day when I would come around the corner I would catch a glimpse of it and jump three feet! I’m so glad it’s gone!
Joe sanded and repainted all the doors. There are six doors going in and out of this room!
The old brass doorknobs are so beautiful, they are like jewelry.
But they seriously needed a good polish!
Aren’t they gorgeous? They don’t make ’em like they used to!
Joe washed and put the glass knobs back on the cupboards.
He painted the set of shelves that fits next to the stove. The previous owner of this house, Mr. Bowditch (he and his family bought it in 1949), was a wonderful woodworker; he made so many things for the house, almost all the charm around here came from him. He made the arbors, the pergola, the adirondack chairs, we think he made the kitchen cupboards and counter, and he made this shelf.
It fits next to the stove and is the perfect place for the phone book and all the little office things you need in the kitchen.
We did not work all the time. We’ve been taking advantage of the lovely weather and having lunch in the garden.
I’m getting my cup shelf back! We’re almost there!
While Joe is doing that, I was hanging sheets on the line . . . it’s so fall around here, and sheets dried in autumn wind smell like heaven!
Jack and I washed the kitchen windows, might as well do a little fall cleaning and eek out as much sparkle as possible. (See my handy little chair?)
Then it was time, it was done, and all we needed to do was figure out where everything goes. Here are the pictures I took to remind me!
I almost don’t want to put anything back, it’s so perfect and clean.
But it’s time . . .
I started slowly, cleaning everything as I go . . . back go the cookbooks . . .
Jack is wondering what is going on . . . “Are you saying this in NOT my throne?”
I washed the platters, and shined the glass on the pictures before they went back up. I love the color of the walls! (Benjamin Moore Woodlawn Blue, and the white is Swiss Coffee OC-45, also Benj. Moore.)
I got enough done to make it feel like home again, it was about time for dinner, so I went to the garden to get the last cabbage and made fresh coleslaw with honeycrisp apples — if you can find these delicious, organic apples in a store near you, snap them up! So good!
By the way, this coleslaw is made with thin-sliced cabbage, apples (any good, crisp, sweet apple),
golden raisins, and a dressing made with mayonnaise thinned with lime juice, salt and pepper, and that’s it. SO good!
And while I did that, Joe made lobsters! And that was the end of our red letter day! Happy we did this big job, now it’s all ready for the holidays! I have to say, what would I do without Joe! ♥
And FYI, I’m sure someone will ask where that little magnet✪ came from, and I think, from this photo, you can see! This is a new recipe scrapbook that just came in . . . it’s the only place this magnet can be had . . . it has the same cover of another of our scrapbooks, but it’s different on the inside and is an inch or so smaller . . .
This is what it looks like . . . I think we have ten of them in stock … and more coming in about ten days . . . here is a LINK so you can see it! OK, back to our England book I go! Have a wonderful day girlfriends! xoxo
Your kitchen looks lovely, Susan…don’t you just love how everything looks when it’s fresh and clean? I absolutely adore the color on your walls…it goes perfectly with your crisp, white cabinets 🙂 Seeing all you’ve done is putting me in the mood to do something fall cleaning. And, Jack sure is king of your household isn’t he? 🙂
xoxo
He is the king!
We also have a kitty that is king of our household 🙂
Dear Susan,
The kitchen looks lovely! Now you can sit back and enjoy it! Fall is in the air here too, in Central Massachusetts. Beautiful sleeping nights and cool days – my favorite time of year. I have my Autumn book out which I reread every season as I do your other books. I always find something I missed before!
Wishing you all well…
xo Tracy
Thanks Tracy! Same to you!
Joe is really one amazing man! Of course, you are an amazing lady, so a perfect pair. Your kitchen is beautiful! Love the sheets blowing in the breeze. Aren’t Kate Morton books the best? She has a new one coming out in Oct, just in time for curling up in front of the fire. Tell Jack that he makes the best case of anyone for getting a new kitty after the loss of our sweet old boy cat. Jack is pretty irresistible, though I hope I still have the energy for a kitten’s wild ways!;)
You’d be surprised! 🙂 Pleasantly, the laughter is worth everything!
Such a good feeling to have your kitchen back, clean and spankin’ new. Your Joe definitely needs a hug and kiss for all the work put in.. Such an undertaking. Thanks for the updates.
Susan,
If I look up cottage charm in the dictionary, I’m sure I will see a photograph of your kitchen! It is beautiful, the epitome of all things that lead us back home, if only in our sweet recollections. Jack has had so much experience on that ladder he will be a great “help” decorating your Christmas Tree! 🙂 It’s a wonderful autumn day in NJ and your blog post made it even more special. They are always a treat.
Your Friend,
Deborah
It’s finished!! The color is perfect. Your kitchen is just charming. I bet you’re both so glad it’s finished and life can return to normal. Jack, however, may not like the fact he’s not the able to sit on shelves full of china. haha….
I’m going to make your coleslaw for dinner, yum! Thanks for the apple idea.
Susan,
Your “new” kitchen looks wonderful. So fresh, clean and inviting. I think I am going to go clean on mine. 🙂 So fun too that you guys took the time out to enjoy with your lunch outside and dinner instead of grabbing fast food. I commend you for being so good! 🙂 So easy to “grab” when remodeling. Jack is a sweetheart and how blessed you are to have Joe and that he appears to enjoy doing things as much as you do. Enjoy!
Your kitchen and everything else (food!) is just perfect! Joe must be as my hubby, such a wonderful and willing help. Enjoy the season completely!
Fantastic! Even though you have many doors you have a great kitchen and the best part of your kitchen is “JACK” I just adore him. I am a cat lover…..
WOW! it is just beautiful… Joe !
I need Joe to come and do my kitchen! Can I borrow him pretty please:) Your kitchen is so lovely and cozy and full of charm. You can keep your granite countertops and stainless appliances….I love your kitchen! Enjoy tweaking and making everything as cute as can be!! xoxo Debbie
Your kitchen turned out lovely and inviting. We live in Georgia and I’m afraid it hasn’t cooled down enough for a fire but your pictures make me want to turn the AC up really cold and put on a pot of Chili.
That’s one way to do it!
🙂 ditto
We are in North West Georgia and while it is chilly in the mornings and evenings, no, it isn’t quite chilly enough for a fire YET 🙂 I did try to convince my husband the other day that it wouldn’t hurt to burn just one log 🙂 🙂 LOL! He put on his selective hearing and went about his business… 🙂
Susan, the kitchen looks absolutely fabulous! I really love the colors!
Susan, You are so clever, knowing we would want a magnet of our very own. As soon as the page opened and I saw the magnet, I just knew I needed one and then you provide the details. Thank you!
Your kitchen looks fabulous. I love the color of the walls and all that beautiful, crisp white is just gorgeous! You must have gotten a double-dose of the decorating gene!
I thought of you this morning as I was looking out my kitchen window and saw a few spots on the window, splash marks from the sink below. So there I was before 7 am and finishing getting ready to leave for work – taking everything off the window sill, cleaning the window inside and out and putting it back thinking of you and your sparkly, clean glass philosophies. Looks so much better, now for the rest of the house!
Jack looks darling no matter where he perches. He’s just got “one of those faces” that melts your heart into a big puddle! 🙂
Hope your week is as beautiful, warm and welcoming as this post!
XooX – Jeanette
Thank you Jeanette, Happy week to you too!
PS. Your door knobs! Such beautiful detailing. I wonder how many hands were placed on them through the years and if any of them belonged to writers or artists. We live in an old Victorian farmhouse with wonderful treasures unique to the era. We had a surprise guest last Saturday when an 83 year old man showed up at our door. He was born and raised in our home and shared so much of its history with us. (Our house was built in 1880.)
Mrs. Bowditch came here once, it was very touching. I could almost hear her children playing in the rooms as we walked through.
Deborah, Susan,
I just left an 1860 farmhouse and that is one of the most beautiful things about having an older home…..the people who
just show up and are filled with so many stories.
I got goosebumps when I read this!
Wow, that’s great. How lucky! You must have had the BEST time – what he must have been able to tell you! I know I would have just peppered him with questions! :>)
Susan, Glenda, Cathy and Janet,
He doesn’t live far and I am going to have him and his siblings over for lunch one day soon. They are going to bring photographs!
The beauty of old houses is that they have a life of their own and sometimes when everything is still, you can hear it tell it’s story in echos from the past (as Susan stated above about Mrs Bowditch’s children’s laughter.) I wrote a poem about an abandoned old house that was up the road from mine. fairfieldhousenj.com/2010/09/16/trespasses/
How nice that you’re having them all to lunch – you are gonna make their years! Bet they jibber-jabber like crazy. Remember this? Remember when we did that? We used to have this right there… I give anything to be a little bird at that table! Be sure to let us know how it goes. :>)
Susan, your kitchen looks absolutely beautiful! Jack reminds me of our late great cats… my husband did some painting on his office ceiling, using a ladder, and that ladder never got put away the whole time we lived in that house, because if the cats were awake, they were both on it! We should have spray painted it and called it furniture. 🙂 Enjoy your new kitchen!
Uh oh, I had no idea they could actually love it so much! We better get this out of here!
Oh what a happy day! Such a good feeling having a sparkling kitchen to walk into each morning! Sadly, I have to sell my happy kitchen, to get married and move to Illinois. Maybe some day, I’ll get another happy kitchen with my “Joe”.
Sounds like you’re on your way Jenny. Wishing you lots of happiness!
Thank you! It’s a 2nd marriage for both of us, but we were high school sweethearts, so it’s meant to be. Can’t wait for all those breakfast’s in bed 🙂
My favorite kind of story! I always wanted that, except I didn’t have a “real” high school sweetheart, so it would be difficult! Congratulations to you both — so romantic!
Jenny,
Congratulations to you! And, let us know when you get to Illinois. I moved here about six years ago from Florida and had separation anxiety from the home we custom-built only two years before. Actually, I still miss my kitchen. I love to cook and bake and spend so much time in it, I think I need some updating. (wink, wink)
Wishing you much happiness!!!
Jeanette
Welcome to Illinois!!! We have many happy kitchens here!! You will bring your happiness to your new kitchen and make it all over again!! How exciting!! Congrats!
Congratulations and best of everything, Jenny! I hope it’s going to be a Fall wedding! :>)
No wonder it took so long! Joe is very thorough. It makes me want to clean all the nooks and crannies in my kitchen….almost. I recently bought several different kinds of your recipe scrapbooks. I’m using the set that comes with the box to hold all my day-to-day recipes I use that are in various different books. Starting from now on every time I make something I’m rewriting it onto one of your cards and putting it in this box. And if it’s one of your recipes that you have on-line, I’m printing it out and pasting it on the card. I also got the Holiday Recipes book and am looking forward to collecting all my holiday recipes in one place. You’re going to have my recipes organized yet!
Good Job Cathy!
Do let us know if Jack does decide to take up residence in the barn. Such a cute face that cat has! He’s the cat of many expressions. I wasn’t sure about the blue you selected; however, I must say that it is perfect…just a wonderful color. Your kitchen is a treasure and I’m so glad that you didn’t turn it into some modern interpretation of a kitchen. It is heavenly.
I could never let him leave me for a ladder! 🙂
Your kitchen is just lovely!! And by the way, I love Kate Morton too!! Looking forward to reading her new book, The Secret Keeper!!
Susan,
your kitchen looks wonderful! I love the color and your floors, wow.
It is a wonderful thing having furniture in your house made by hand. it holds
the love that person put into it, and with that it withstands time. I love my
little cabinet my brother made; it’s personal, it’s unique! well anyways enjoy
your lovely kitchen, and have a great afternoon!
kim
So Pretty and sparkly. The floors are beautiful and I love the new paint color. Does the color seem to change a bit as the light moves through?
Poor Jack, having to give up his ladder.
Yes, the color changes, I love that!
Hi Sue, just finished looking over your pictures of the kitchen and it looks wonderful. I’m sure it feels great having it all back the way you want it. I could close my eyes and make believe I’m standing next to the clothesline and can smell the sheets and feel the cool breezy blowing my hair around gently. I think that tonight you should make yourself a cup of tea, turn on some of your favorite lights in your kitchen to give it that cozy look and just sit at the kitchen table and enjoy the wonderful view of it all.
I just did that a few weeks ago when I bought myself a set of Royal Albert Old Country Rose china. I put it in my china cabinet in the diningroom and then later that night just lit the little light in the china cabinet, made myself a cup of tea and went and sat in my dark diningroom and enjoyed the view of my new dishes. It’s the small things in life that give us such enjoyment…isn’t it? As always…I’m jealous of the beautiful Autumn weather you are having. I’m trying to make believe I’m up north there with all the decorations I’ve put up in my house. As a matter of fact, I’m going to make your Ginger Crisp cookies that Peg sent me the recipe for and use the little letter stampers she sent me to decorate them with. Gotta just love that Peg!!!! Have a wonderful heart delightful day and….just between you, me and the girlfriends……That Joe of yours is a KEEPER !!!!!! LOL! FOSB 4~Ever! ~ Doreen ~ XOXO!
Love it! Looks so fresh and sharp. And the wall color, it is just perfect for your home so close to the sea! I just pulled my Fall cookbook out and set it out on the kitchen island. I need to go downstairs and find some other fallish things to set out and about. I have butternut squash from our garden and plan on making the butternut squash soup out of the fall book. Yumm.
I love the new kitchen! What paint color did you use on the walls?
Benjamin Moore Woodlawn Blue.
I am so happy to see your finished kitchen! It is just lovely! Your cabinets so beautifully painted —You are right–so clean– even polished doorknobs–I have loved your cabinet that houses your Emma mugs since I first saw them here–so I am adding one a little smaller to my kitchen. Since we painted I have not put up all the same things I used to have on the walls. Today I painted that small cabinet white that I will put my one Emma mug on and my bird mugs on! I am so excited and thank you for this great idea! Enjoy your “new kitchen”! Great job Joe! I love the woodlawn blue. xoxo ♥
I love it, Susan 🙂 It looks nice and homey and your treasures make it all the more homier 🙂
Just in time for fall decorating.
I have a lot of those cookbooks on the bottom of your pile *wink* my favorites, of course 😉
Kate’s book is still by my night table… I can’t wait to get her new one, too.
the little red chair is a good idea, I’m like you and need a stepping stool for the high areas 😀
Thanks for sharing your new kitchen with us 🙂
Love
Denise
F A B U L O U S !!! Everything looks so light and beautiful. I especially love your doorknobs. They are exquisite. Lobster and homemade coleslaw was definitely the way to end such a happy day.
Ps, I’m soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo glad you accept Paypal!!!!
xoxo 🙂
Absolutely beautiful! So happy for you!!
It is beautiful! Thanks for inviting us in.
Susan, your kitchen is wonderful. The new blue is soft, warm and cozy looking. Is that by any chance the old blue we can see at the bottom of the stairs? If it is, you can see quite a difference. You and Joe are such perfectionists. Your beautiful old home deserves the quality of work you like to do. We do most of our own work here as well, and I know just how much work went into your kitchen. Wow! Joe is so wonderful…did an amazing job. Love the little red chair, and the idea of the little red chair. You have such a sense of humor. Always enjoy getting a laugh, usually at Jack. I can see Jack now, doing his “timeout” on the top of the ladder in the barn. Wouldn’t be long before he was back inside though. Interesting how when the black spot showed up on the cardboard, my mind screamed bug! We must all be alike. Waiting to see your new kitchen all decked out for the holidays. Nice to see a crackling fire in your fireplace. Enjoy the crisp fall days.
PS Possibility you may have to enroll Jack in some type of a “ladder addiction” program. Or at least wean him off of it slowly. You two are just too funny! xo
I’m thinking about giving him the top of the fridge for his perch!
That sounds like a great idea. For some reason, animals seem to like to be up high…to get a ‘birds eye view’ I guess. My little pomeranian spends most of her time at the top of either of two staircases that have access to my kitchen. She can watch everything going on from up there. If she’s not underfoot, I know exactly where to find her. Once the ladder is gone, Jack will probably settle in nicely on top of the fridge…the purrrrfect spot for him.
I love your kitchen, and it is the perfect color–so peaceful. I love to cook, so I would be in heaven in your kitchen. In fact, your kitchen sprucing has encouraged me to do the same to my living area, so I took a weekend, cleaned it totally out and repainted – a nice soothing light, light, green. Now back in with all the stuff, and I am sure that I will weed some of it out because if it is not useful, beautiful, or both, it is out-of-there. But now that the Living Room is redone, the dining room looks a little “blah” so I will continue until the whole house is done.
Happy Fall! -Donna
Ohhhhhhh, I just had to share with all the girlfriends that I just went and did a little shopping for myself on Susan’s online shopping and bought myself the cute “Homemade Recipe” binder with those adorable magnets that Susan pictured in her blog today! So excited…can’t wait till it arrives. Oh and BTW…my desk calander arrived and it’s just beautiful Susan…I love it! FOSB 4~Ever! ~ Doreen ~ xoxo!
FOSB 4-Ever Doreen!
The beautiful doorknobs — what kind of polish did you use?
Joe used steel wool!
Ahh! Beautiful kitchen! Isn’t it great to have everything so nice and shiny? It has inspired me to do a little shining of my own. You are a lucky girl to have both Joe and Jack (and Girl!!) in your life. Enjoy!
Susan,
I think you should find a permanent place in your house for that ladder. Jack looks so at home and comfortable on it, perched up there and overlooking his domain. Maybe you should crown him “King of the Ladder”.
I can almost smell the freshness of your clean kitchen from here! What a nice feeling “clean ” is! The door knobs are beautiful…I like what someone else here said in wondering about all the hands that have touched those over time…such history! But I’m really marveling at your energy to prepare a meal after all that work! You are one busy, energetic lady (and husband)! The color is perfect and the perching cat is priceless. Enjoy your new kitchen while I contemplate making that yummy looking slaw….
I’m still eating it today, I’m addicted!
Ah, Susan, thanks to you, I’ll be listening to Artie Shaw all day! I’d forgotten how wonderful he is! Lovely to share in your putting the kitchen back together, and see all the hard work becoming so worth it. That color is perfect for your walls. And your kitchen table is the life size version of the one in my dollhouse. However, the dollhouse kitchen has strawberry wallpaper (where else but a dollhouse would you put wallpaper in a kitchen!) Also in the dollhouse kitchen is a high legged hutch, under which is a laundry basket filled with Teddy Bears. (I saw this in ‘real life’ in a book somewhere). I’m going to find a child’s chair and paint it red and put it in the dollhouse kitchen as a tribute to you and the new kitchen. Perhaps I will add a ‘Jack’ (although we all know there will never be another Jack!) and a stepladder.
Susan, I get so much inspiration from you and your site! You and Joe are amazing! (And, of course, Jack and Girl Kitty….they are part of your family, can’t forget them!) Joe is surely a man among men. I’m trying to summon the enthusiasm to change a lightbulb in my kitchen (stepladder & me — no Joe, no Jack…), so I’m really feeling some envy here. However, I have a guitar and a stuffed sheep named Serendipity….life is good. And it’s still summer in SoCal.
Best wishes for much joy in the new kitchen. And so looking forward to your book!
Love it, your guitar and stuffed sheep!
This has been a true labor of love from Joe! (Six doors???) Wow! He’s definitely a “Keeper”! 🙂 (as if you didn’t know already) Your blue is so much “bluer” on the wall than it looked in the swatch. You were so right about it. And now you’re all done–just in time to plan for the quieter times indoors–I love seeing the fire in your fireplace, waiting for you to take some relaxing time away from work. It looks so inviting. I’m sure that even Girl Kitty will be glad to have Normal back. 🙂
The kitchen is lovely, indeed. I am happy with the paint choice, glad you didn’t choose beige or tan. Everyone needs a Joe, I have a Joe, but his name is Nick. 🙂
blessings to you.
Hi Susan and Joe…………..you have done a wonderful, wonderful job. Your kitchen is perfect and I love the color now that I see that wonderful set of shelves made by Mr. Bowditch and the color of it on top………….very, very special! I have to tell you that my living room table looks so much like yours. And your England book is already up to page 71 so that is amazing. I know you are working your heart out along with all you have going on in your house. Those brass doorknobs are so special and look wonderful all polished up. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such elaborate ones. Your home is so very cozy. I like to think my home is cozy as well but my decorating in this Florida house is so very different from when I lived up north. It’s so funny………..I love my home but when I see HGTV and Househunters……………I love many of the houses I see and mentally think how I would decorate them if I lived in them. I noticed too we have the same Hershey cookbook (and several others you have there also). My Joe used to work for Hershey Foods several years ago and my family enjoyed that there was an employee store. Your cabbage shows your garden is doing great! I’ll have to make that salad real soon! Hugs and congrats on your new kitchen. Gail Buss, Beverly Hills, Fl XX
WOW!!!…your kitchen is bee-u-ti-ful…an accomplishment you and Joe can be happy and proud of/about…your fall is really fall…here in northern Michigan we had a week of pouring rain…today there hasn’t been rain, but a high wind advisory and the wind is blowing right through this 106 year old cottage…demolition of our 106 yr. old garage took place last Wednesday…I talked to the garage and patted it before it came down…watched it all with tears for the first two hours…after that I was over it…until Thursday when the tree removal guys arrived…what a difficult day that was…over 35 trees 65′ to 70′ tall were removed…tearstearsandmoretears…today the excavators arrived to pop out the stumps…they uncovered lots of big rocks, but no treasure boxes of gold…I was so happy to see your doorknobs, Susan…they are just like the ones in the old cottage…I never thought of polishing them!!!…I don’t know if I will or not…I need to choose window and door hardware by 9-28 and I am leaning toward oil rubbed bronze because that finish is so close to the way the un-polished door knobs and window hardware look in the old cottage…whew…lots of decisions to make…xoxo…RA…
Oh my gosh Rae Ann, i would be bawling my eyes out too if i had to lose all of those trees!!!
Best wishes for your project!
❌⭕❌⭕,
Tawni
Thanks Tawni…now I have a huge hole with sand and gravel next to the hole…I’m wondering where the builders are today…no one is here and all is quiet…
The kitchen looks awesome! You and Joe did a great job. I know what you mean about not wanting to put anything in it, though…my brother redid our family room, and it looks so clean and bright that I don’t want to put everything back into it!
Your “stuff” looks wonderful, though; like it was made for the kitchen or the kitchen was made for it. Thank your for sharing with us!
Susan
All I can say is Wonderful, Marvelous, Beautiful !!!!!! You and Joe make a great team !!!!! It looks fantstic and at 4:00 am you can come down to your new kitchen and feel so cozy in this terrific Autumn weather! What joy!!! Love it, Love you !!! OOXX
xoxo thank you Wendy Louise!
So much love in your house and in your stories. Thank you
Thank you Thea!
Everything looks so lovely. Enjoy, Enjoy! I am preparing to have a new floor in the kitchen and I have to empty a floor cabinet so it can be moved….I started this afternoon. It is FULL of cookbooks. I decided to weed out things I don’t really need. So far there are three small books that I picked up at the checkout and the rest remain. It is very slow going as I have to go thru each book. Please tell me you have more cookbooks hidden away somewhere. I love that you are enjoying Kate Morton. I have already pre-ordered her newest coming out next month. Can’t wait. I hope you and Joe enjoy your new kitchen for many years to come!.
Love the kitchen – so pretty! The slaw sounds delish!
Beautiful Susan…and it’s nice to know that Jack still feels right at home amongst the new freshness & prettyness!
I used Palladian Blue in my art studio but Woodlawn Blue was my second choice…such lovely colors, the both of them, soft and rich all at the same time…the WB looks perfectly perfect in every way in your sweet kitchen…couldn’t be more so!
Enjoy your ‘new’ heart of the home…
xo J~
Looks wonderful!!
xo
Yippee!!!! It’s done!!! I’ve been waiting and waiting to see it! It’s beautiful! I love it! Lucky lady! A fresh and sparkling kitchen!! Made me take a good long look at mine ….no comment! Tee-hee! Enjoy! And you are very lucky to have Joe! Thanks for showing us the finished product! I enjoyed it so much….I’m sure I’ll be back for another gander of it!
I saw mine in ways I never saw it before!
I love your kitchen! Others have expressed it better but I am so glad you’ve kept the handmade cupboards and the “old-fashioned” countertops. The warmth and character of your space is priceless. And the new paint looks perfect!
I feel like Mr. Bowditch (and Mrs.) are part of the family here!
I love the kitchen re-do! Fresh and sparkling for moving into the cosy season. That Jack, has grown into one handsome young man. What an expressive face! We’re having a little re-do here as well. Fall is the perfect time for a little “nesting.” We don’t buy furniture very often. We tend to buy classic pieces and live with them for a very long time, but we are having a new sofa and love seat delivered for the living room on Wednesday. I love your little red chair. Much of our furniture was purchased at yard sales and flea markets in the early years of our marriage (32 years ago). It’s hard to let go of furniture that has such wonderful memories attached. Hope you both enjoy your lovely refreshed kitchen!
Jack needs a ladder. I think you should find him an antique wooden ladder and paint it. You could do some of your magic on it! And cat paws! And his mustache! And then it can be his perch every day! Much cooler than those carpet covered cat towers. Like the one in my living room.:)
and mine 🙂
Hi Susan,
How exciting to have it all fresh and clean. Looks great. I was thinking you might have to pick a nice BEN. MOORE PAINT color for the the ladder and find a place in the kitchen for it. It would always be handy for jobs, and Jack would be happy. You could paint it Red to match the little step chair.
Well something to think about anyway.
Page 71, oh boy!
Nancy Jo
It’s so pretty! The floor is gorgeous! I’m so happy for you and Joe….you will be falling in love with your house all over again and seeing your “stuff” with new eyes as you put it all back…fun, fun, fun!
Have a wonderful 1st week of Autumn, Sue!
xoxoDebbie
Everything turned out so beautiful. Love the color and….I want to pat Joe on the back for doing the job “right”. We get in such a hurry that sometimes we let a few steps slip – he is “spot on”! The charm of an older house is the SIZE of your great kitchen. LOVE the idea you had many moons ago with the child chair – and the RED paint:)
Oh, that sandwich and slaw AND wowser…a lobster pot…..I’m hungry!!! Did yard work today and have 6 HUGE TRASH BAGS ready for pick up. Your perky kitchen is all ready for the upcoming holiday season:) xxxooo’s
Your bright “new” clean kitchen is to die for – the colors are perfect. Nothing like Fall in New England! I am taking a trip to Chicago this weekend to visit some cousins – one I have never met and one I haven’t seen since 1958! When I return, the next few weekends, I’m going to get moving and clean my house from stem to stern!! You have inspired me – and the recipe collectors, etc. show me that organization is key. Enjoy that lovely, warm kitchen and say “meow” to Jack!
P.S. We just went apple picking last week and I have almost everything for the coleslaw recipe…. I am making it tonight to have for lunch tomorrow. YUMMY!!!!
Those door knobs are sooooo delightful and those keyholes… I just LOVE them!!!
Oh you lucky woman to have that shiney kitchen and Joe and the Kitties….al so picture perfect….
Hi Susan, your kitchen looks beautiful and so cozy… what a great feeling it is to have it all fresh and ready for the holidays. Joe really is awesome and the two of you are a great team! I’m in love with Jack….that face!!xoxo
Hi Susan – so nice to see the kitchen project finished for you. Joe is a charm. And everytime I see Jack, he makes me smile – really, he’s so good for the sole. I’ve been wanting a cat for years, tears, family said too much responibility. I was raised with cats till I got married, and I miss them so. Maybe someday…..Marge
good afternoon susan, everyone…..i love your kitchen, its so clean and fresh and i do love that paint on the walls, inspires me to get busy in my kitchen. awww jack is at home wherever he sits or lounges, just like my cats, they rule the house and they know it. i love autumn windblown sheets or shirts, but soon it will be time to put the clothesline away for the season. don’t you just love that fresh crisp smell???? i love honeycrisp apples, they are grown out here in Oregon and i am hunting in every nursery for trees so i can grow my own. well i know its autumn around here, the squirrels are getting even with the mail carrier again, every time the mail carrier drives into my yard to deliver a package, she startles the squirrels and they run up the tree and sit there and plot their revenge, well payback is at hand. she had come in the yard today to deliver a package to me and the squirrels let her have it by throwing their acorns at her…bombs away!!!! it was a sight, acorns hitting her mail truck and all over the driveway. peace reigns now in the front yard, the squirrels are happy that they drove that thing out of their yard, but they are waiting for the next victim to come along, and it starts all over again. hope they nail my MIL!!!! LOL!!! they got her good last year. well off to get the last of the laundry in and then get busy on dinner preps. you all have a wonderful fall evening and a Happy Fall!!! hugs…… 🙂
Your story of the acorns and the mail delivery reminds me of a bit in the Mutts comic strips where the squirrels are always throwing acorns. I had no idea such a thing happened in the real world! How funny! Thanks for sharing that!
What a great kitchen! What great colors-Good job JOE!!!! I used to clean homes for a living, and the satisfaction I got from seeing a clean, polished, sparkley home when I was done was so satisfying! I always thought of how the ladies must feel to walk into fresh smells and everything orderly. It was so rewarding to make them happy! I love a clean house. Enjoy your cozy home.
Bravo! Wonderbah! It looks lovely. A true labor of love! Unfortunately it still very hot here in Southern Cal. Can’t wait for that nip in the air. Again, you should be proud – and Joe too!
OH, your kitchen looks so great ! Love the color…have fun “playing house” and getting everything just right. Have to say I love the idea of the little red chair. I have a little blue chair that was my father’s, it’s so old I think the paint is what is holding it together….and it’s not so big. I have an antique doll on it now and I use the kitchen stools from the breakfast bar to climb up and find stuff in the top cabinets. So, when I saw your chair I thought – wow…I gotta get me one of those. I don’t like using step stools because I don’t think they look nice sitting out…but your chair. Charming, cute, and perfect. Thanks for the idea and all the inspiration you give !
I really like your finished kitchen, too, and I’m positive Jack would LOVE the top of the refrigerator for a perch. (remember my kitty story?) 🙂 Thanks for the apple coleslaw recipe–really looks good! We’re having company for dinner Wednesday night and I think I’ll make that for salad and bake either porkchops or a meatloaf with baked potatoes, squash and fresh green beans from the farmer’s market. It is so much fun to have it cool enough to use the oven again and fix favorite Fall menus again…
I just copied down your recipe–decided one could use golden raisins and/or craisins (for color and taste) and add walnuts, too! Am I right that the Honeycrisp apples were developed here at the University of Minnesota? Can’t beat them for taste! 🙂
Delicious. There are lots of different things you can add to this coleslaw … walnuts, yes, and pineapple is something I love, also jicama (cut in sticks like the apple) is good; all delicious with cooked chicken or shrimp on top. I mix the mayo with lime, but it’s good with lemon or pineapple juice too.
Hi Susan,
Just looooove the “new” kitchen….Blue and white are so fresh and inviting….Good idea to take “before” pics….so things can go back where they belong !…Enjoy the fall days to come …..
I loved looking at the pictures of the finished kitchen. Your home seems like an amazing place. I was charmed by the pictures in your last blog that showed what you see when you look out your windows – the street scene, the church – how lovely! If you haven’t already done so, you must read K. Morton’s The Forgotten Garden. And I, along with everyone here, can’t wait to read the diary. Remember – the longer it is, the better !
Loved The Forgotten Garden!
Hi Susan — I’m also an Ohio gal in SoCal, from Lakewood, near Cleveland. Miss it there, but oh those winters….
Everything looks so fresh and clean! I envy you so much because I am in the middle of a flooring and painting project and my home is in a big uproar. The poor dogs don’t know what to do, they are cut off from half the house (and it’s a small house). By week’s end it should all be finished and I can put everything back together again. Please don’t tell me you stand on that adorable red chair!! It does not look safe. Find a cute stepstool for all our sakes. We need you!
Now that is a kitchen fit for a king and a Jack! LOL! Just BEAUTIFUL. I can feel the warmth and happiness of your home all the way over here in Colorado.
Treese
The big reveal!!! Oh YAY!!.. It is BEAUTIFUL… I am sooo envious.. my own kitchen will be undergoing renovations soon… I know that everyone has stainless, but I really like white appliances and will be painting my cabinets white maybe on the top and a slate grayish blue for the bottoms….a white kitchen just “pops” and says welcome I think.. of course the walls will be blue.. or maybe white!! LOL…. I am so wishy-washy on decisions.. especially putting things on the walls because I know once I put it there, it will be there forever. I am not one to move things around a lot… but I LOVE LOVE LOVE your “new” look.. The paint matches your calendar perfectly I think!!! YUMM Honeycrisps… soo good! Ah fall.. how we love thee!! I think Joe deserves a very special “treat” for all his hard work!! Love a hardworking handyman!! You should definitely christen that new kitchen with some champagne at least!! I am off to sit by the fire with my honey and some champagne for a belated anniversary toast.. he was on call and working so we can now chill out a bit! HAPPY FALL ALL!!! FOSB- FOREVER!!!!
Hi Susan, thank you so much for posting the update! I have been so excited to see your posts and I am never disappointed. I love the colors in your kitchen and can’t wait to see the completely finished project. I hope you will post more pix as you go along…
Love your new kitchen and can’t wait to get the new recipe binder. I am making recipe books for my grand daughters using pictures and recipes that they are making now in their younger years. Your binders and ideas will make a fun recipe reminder when they grow up. Thanks for your creativity.
Hi Susan,
Love the way everything came out! My colonial house is a relative youngster, built in 1927, and one of the things I wouldn’t change was the walk-in pantry, with its wooden shelves and glass-fronted cabinets. There was also a Chambers stove, which we had to remove because of a gas leak before we moved in, and unbeknownst to me, my husband and his friend moved it into the backyard where it got rained on and ruined! 🙁
I was doubtful about the Woodlawn Blue, but it looks great. And hey, you and I have the exact same calendars hanging in our kitchens! I absolutely love the cup shelf with the little hearts, and could use one to house my growing Emma Bridgewater collection (just got the fox last week). Was the shelf original to the house, bought in an antique store, or custom-made?
Your cole slaw recipe was very timely because my husband and I went out to our favorite orchard on Long Island’s North Fork last week and bought A LOT of honey crisps (about a whole tree’s worth, as the girl behind the counter said), along with some just-baked cider donuts. Autumn bliss! Speaking of which, I just put out your Autumn book (my favorite of all your books, probably until the England book comes out!) to start my fall/Halloween decorating.
Enjoy your beautiful new/old kitchen and thanks for taking all of us along for the ride!
I think we ALL have the same calendar hanging in our kitchens….and I have the smaller version at work 🙂
Tied to each other with calendar strings!
Hi Susan, your kitchen just looks gorgeous and oh-so-comfy! I love it. And I just finished reading The Distant Hours and I loved it, I’m thinking its going to be one of those books that I will read and re-read. The Forgotten Garden is equally good, I love Kate’s writing. And speaking of books, since it was the first weekend for Fall, I had to pull out my “Autumn” book. Each Fall I love it even more, so much pretty artwork…maybe one day I’ll actually cook something out of it. 🙂
Did you know that Kate Morton is releasing a new book October 16th? 🙂
Isn’t it exciting to be moving things back in after a re-doing? Sometimes it makes room for some re-organizing.:-) Also, sorting through those things that are really necessary.
I love the blue color. It would be just perfect for our family room! I’m not sure my husband is ready for that chore.:-)
I feel a bit of homesickness for MV in the fall. It was two years ago that we were there.
It’s great that the little chair has followed you around. Red is the perfect color.
Jack is definitely waiting to be named “in charge” of something.:-)
Happy Fall!
xo Nellie
Oh, it looks wonderful!! I know just how you feel, everything is so fresh and airy – love the new colors!
We recently pulled up all our wall-to-wall carpeting and refinished the wood floors underneath. Still haven’t found any area rugs that I like, and so I’m getting used to that bare floor look – just feels so airy and clean!
Thanks for another great post, Susan!
It does feel clean, and redone floors are so beautiful!
I knew your artist’s eye would pick the right colors. I really like the combo.
Don’t worry Jack will never leave his Mom for a ladder.
I can’t wait to try the slaw – I love honeycrisp apples. Did you know that they were developed at the University of Minnesota? I don’t know why that fascinates me so but it does.
Looking at your cookbooks makes me remember how much I love the Christmas book. So many great ideas for a wonderful Christmas.
It is feeling a little fallish even down here in Florida. The changes are subtle and most people probably wouldn’t feel it, especially people from up north, but I think it is starting to feel different.
Thanks for showing us the kitchen!
I didn’t know until now . . . I never had them before. It’s been a long time since I’ve had an apple like this one. My girlfriend Martha was here yesterday afternoon, I sent her home with an apple! She’d never heard of them either. Exciting to find something so wonderful, isn’t it!?
Oh it all looks so wonderful ! I do love, love your home ! Jack your a card ! Did you do any changes to this recipe scrapbook cause it looks just like the one I have of yours I got a year ago ! Love it by the way ! Thanks for sharing all with us *smile*
Have a great day !
Yes, just the covers are the same.
The blue walls and white trim are so fresh and pretty. How fun to have a “new” room. Thank you for the Jack pictures, and especially his spotty toes. We love kitty toes at our house (and white marshmallow paws).
We love kitty toes too, I take closeups of them, I will show you sometime!
Hi Susan,
I just love the kitchen. We painted ours this past Feb. Butter cream walls with white cabinets. I love the white. So fresh and clean. I still smile everytime I walk in the room. I really like the color blue you used. Give Jack a hug for me. He reminds me of my kitties. We have three. Always in the middle of what’s going on and always thinking they own the place. Of course we all know they do.
Yeah it’s finished! The colors you chose are perfect…..it’s simply BEAUTIFUL. I enjoy the process of putting things back after a project is complete. I would have enjoyed helping you, since I love all your pretty things! What a wonderful man you have there doing all that hard work too! That red chair is so cute and the look on kitties face. So often we can read the mind of our little friends can’t we, just by the look on their face. Thank you for sharing so many pictures of this project. I really enjoyed it. Your blog brings me joy! Happy Fall! Chilly day here in Michigan.
The kitchen is the epitome of cozy and sweet. I was anxious to see that blue when you finished, and it is lovely, as are the floors…..and the knobs……and the shelves…..and, well, just everything. Congrats on surviving the remodeling and bringing us girlfriends along. I feel like I got all the fun with none of the work! (That’s my idea of a really good project!)
You are always so good to include music to accompany our reading, but I think you need to invent a way to allow your followers to smell whatever you are cooking. Everything always looks so-o-o-o good in the pictures.
Monsieur Jack is a hoot. I won’t be one bit surprised to see that ladder painted to match the kitchen.
Welcome, Autumn to the midwest!
I would LOVE to waft you some brownie smells through my blog . . . that would be wonderful!
Your kitchen has turned out so fresh and beautiful. I especially love seeing the pictures of the ever mischievious Jack. I have a black and white Maine Coon, Bertie, who turns 12 tomorrow. He is nowhere nearly as energetic as Jack. I read the Distant Hours and enjoyed it very much. Kate Morton is a terrific author. I have The House at Riverton on my Kindle yet to read and her new one will be released in about a month, I believe. I am anxiously awaiting the England diary. You must be working your heart out to be so far along.
I am. xoxo
Your kitchen looks like YOU…just marvelous! I’m going to write down the color of blue. I want to paint my master bathroom blue….this may be it! Love your stack of cookbooks and all of your wonderful shelves! ENJOY! Happy Fall!
Love the “new” kitchen. Perfect color. It’s still so hot here in California, but I finally said what the heck, put away the summer things and did some autumn decorating this weekend even though after I was finished, I felt like it’s almost time to change the tablecloth and autumn decorations and do some Halloween decorating. Whew! That was sure a run on sentence. I think my seasons will just have to overlap each other this year; autumn into Halloween, into Thanksgiving, into Christmas and then . . . . time to put up your 2013 calendar! Enjoy your kitchen.
Love, love, love clean and order. Your kitchen is a cute and whimsical as your books. Now that’ something. Thanks for sharing.
I’m writing to you from our lake house in WA state. The fires in Idaho made our drive up here from Utah smokey and hazy all the way. That’s over a thousand miles of pollution. Yikes! Anyway, we love the peace and quiet and green but are hoping old man weather will clean out the air soon.
It’s a great day for you and your kitchen but a sad day for poor Jack’s lovely highrise office. But I suppose it must come down. I’m getting a red kiddy chair and getting rid of the step stool. Now why didn’t I think of that!
Here’s to the red kiddy chairs!
How WONDERFUL! It’s almost like moving into a NEW house that you’ve lived in, all made to order! The colors, the details, the freshness… and just in time for your weekend getaway! But, now that it’s “done” (we are never really done, are we…) how can you bear to leave?
Enjoy! Thanks for inviting us in for lobster! YUM!
Georgie
Yardville, NJ
We decided to go NEXT week, too hard to leave it now! 🙂
Beautiful…just beautiful! You and Joe and Jack have been quite busy!!! I too have a little red chair….a child-sized school chair. I drag it around everywhere too….a happy little thing. 😉
Funny, when you have something for a long time, it starts to take on a person-hood!
You and Joe (and Jack, too!) did a fabulous job on the kitchen…it’s like a facelift for a house! I just by chance picked up the September/October issue of Victoria magazine and there’s a travel article entitled “Scotland Splendor” I’m going to curl up with later on, but the issue also contains the following poem by Emily Bronte and I thought the Girlfriends might like it for this time of year:
“Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day
Every leaf speaks bliss to me Fluttering from
the autumn tree.”
I love it! Thank you Marianne!
Oh Susan I absolutely love your new…clean…kitchen! That blue is just perfect with the white trim…. What a great idea..taking photos before removing wall items…surprising how quickly we forget how we arranged them!! Thanks for the salad recipe..it sounds so yummy!
Jack looks so comfortable on that shelf…ha..ha! I think he’d even turn that ladder in for the shelf…lol
Blessings,
Gert
BTW…I love Artie Shaw…what an amazing musician! A quick question, how do you cut the apple into matchsticks? I love them..just not sure hoe to do it!
Cut it in half. Then do slanted cuts all the way through on both sides around the core, to basically cut out the core. Turn the apple piece, skin side up, and slice into thin slices, and then cut those into matchstick sizes. Voila!
Thank you…can’t wait to try and do this in the salad…soooo pretty!
You’ll love it Gert!
I love love love the kitchen!! I am so jealous!!!! And the Benjamin Moore Blue is just perfect. I know it is a lot of work putting things back where you want them, but I thought the idea of taking a pic of where they went was good. And I am happy that Jack helped, too. The floor looks super – the doors are devine and everything is soooooo clean and fresh. It will be a delight in the dead of winter to walk into your kitchen and feel the warmth. A perfect time to do remodeling! Just a note: Honey Crisp apples are my favorite and they are best when placed in the frig, take out & cut up with a little carmel dip!! YUM! By the by, I went looking for lamps today and failed! Actually, I realized that I have to put more into it than just walking into a shop and searching. It has to come from my heart and soul. But……the Three Speckled Hens Antique & Old Stuff Show is coming to Paso Robles October 13/14th – I am soooo excited! I will pay the extra money to be an Early Bird and ENJOY ENJOY ENJOY! Wish you were here. It is being held at the Fair Grounds in Paso. Thank you so very much for the inspiration you have been to me. I have needed a jump start and your blogs and wonderful ideas and messages and given me strength to carry on! Carry on with our England book – can’t wait! XXXXOOOO Pat
That should be a great place to find a lamp … if not, I’m sure there will be lots of other treasures. Two sets of antique stores I love: Cambria, and Arroyo Grande . . . also that one out near you, just off 101. I’m sure you know them all! 🙂
Hi Sue and Girlfriends! DAZZLING fall day here in the Finger Lakes of upstate New York State! The kitchen looks glorious – every surface clean and gleaming – you gotta be LOVING IT! And no wonder it seemed to take so long… Joe sanded and painted all the doors and cleaned the doorknobs too? Wow, I would think that alone would take one person about 2 weeks full-time! He did a great job too. I hope he’s gets another cheesecake for all that effort. He certainly isn’t reticent about tackling anything around the house – I bet he loves being a Handy Andy. What an accomplished fellow too – the left-brained mechanical skills side-by-side with the right-brained creative skills [chicken under brick]. :>)
Former bridal registry consultant tip – when you return your glass to their shelves, remember to turn them right side up – rims on top – to guard against stress and breakage [the rim is the weakest part of any glassware including bowls].
PS – you weren’t the only one! At first glance, I also thought there was a sizable insect on the cardboard too. Sigh of relief…
Have a wonderful week everyone!
You are so right about the glasses, I do put them right side up on the inside of the cupboards, but I’m afraid I don’t do it in the open cupboards, because of the dust. I still would rather have the open cupboards!
I don’t imagine there’s an awful lot of dust in YOUR kitchen – especially now [it’s gleaming] but I don’t blame you, Sue. If I had open shelves I’m pretty sure I’d do the same thing. Easier than having to check them every time you want to use them… :>)
Hello Susan,
That Jack is so adorable it’s painful!! His face is so expressive. I don’t know how you and Joe get anything done at all! If it were me I’d be laughing all the time or kissing that sweet face until he couldn’t take it anymore!!
The kitchen looks great! Thanks for sharing it!
He is starting to run when he sees me coming! 🙂
Your home just shines with LOVE – from Jack sittin’ up high and ornery, to your beautiful kitchen, stove and dishes (I love the color you selected), sheets flapping in the breeze, beautiful doorknobs (so much character in your home) and JOE – he’s the bomb – what a beautiful job he did and he’s been so patient. I am going back to stroll through your kitchen again. I just love it and BTW – your coleslaw recipe sounds delicious. Looking forward to making it. Happy Autumn!
Thanks Cathy!
Oh I loved seeing your kitchen. That Jack just makes me smile. The coleslaw recipe sounds delicious with honey crisp apples (yummm). I adore drying my sheets on the line all year long. Sometimes in the winter it gets rather tricky. I hadn’t thought about an unfinished furniture store for children’s chairs. I have chairs, but need a little table painted red. Off I must go very soon. Grandson is coming!
Susan:
Congratulations to you and Joe on such a wonderful project. Your kitchen looks so homey and sparkly. No wonder Jack likes to hang out in there. I hope you have many happy hours cooking and entertaining in your bright new “heart of your home”.
Susan in Spokane
Lovely, just lovely!! How great to be all ready for the holidays!!
The kitchen looks lovely, Susan. And the blue you chose is so beautiful with the white. Everything looks so clean and perfect. Thanks for the coleslaw recipe, it’s something we eat quite a lot of, and I have apples in my backyard. So good for you. Jack is a great supervisor, perhaps he should have a little yellow hard hat for perching at the top of the ladder.
Wow! Your kitchen looks absolutely Gorgeous!! I’m sure as you put everything back, you feel it’s been worth all the hard work. Love the antique door and cabinet knobs! What a treasure those are! They really don’t make them like that any more! Jack sure is quite the character and sure adds character to your posts! Someday you’ll have to do a book about him! 🙂 Thanks for sharing all the nitty gritty details of this latest adventure! Enjoy your “new” kitchen and your upcoming trip to see the Fall leaves, too! Fall recently arrived here in the Pacific Northwest and the leaves are just beginning to turn. However, we haven’t made a fire in our woodstove just yet. Your fire looked downright cozy!
Good evening Susan, Your kitchen looks like it is ready for a little Fall baking. I can almost smell the Spice cookies and Apple Pie! Love the charm, Marion