# Think of the Torts I Could Have Bought!!



## Edna (Apr 8, 2011)

A year ago my boyfriend and I were looking at houses for sale in town, thinking that something else might be a better fit for us. The realtor we were working with kept showing us houses that were completely unacceptable in one way or another. Too small, crowded onto tiny lots, "improvements" that destroyed the character of the house, etc. She also showed us some really nice houses that were already under contract. I never saw anything that I liked better than the house I bought when I moved here, so we decided to remodel our kitchen. Yay! Of course, in a small town like this things unfold very slowly. We ordered our cabinets the first week of June, delivered end of August, and we are just now (almost) finished with the project.

It's a small kitchen, about 11x20. 9' ceiling, two windows. There's not much cupboard or countertop space. We chose to preserve all of the original woodwork, the plaster walls, and the wood floor. 

Original fir flooring, circa 1922, refinished with love.






Nail holes/stains, filled.





Tile backsplash and black granite countertops.





Asymmetrical sink/window. It's called working with the space you have!










Thanks for looking! Stop by for coffee and scones when you get a chance!


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## dmarcus (Apr 8, 2011)

A job well done, it looks great!!


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## fhintz (Apr 8, 2011)

That's a nice looking kitchen


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## ALDABRAMAN (Apr 8, 2011)

Nice!


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## terryo (Apr 8, 2011)

That is gorgeous! I am dying for a new kitchen, but my yard had to come first. Lots of luck with that. It's beautiful.


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## Tom (Apr 8, 2011)

I'm not letting my wife see this. I'll be buying torts instead.


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## Laura (Apr 8, 2011)

LOVE the old floors, the color and the cabinets!! 
what does the rest of the house look like?


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## Yvonne G (Apr 8, 2011)

Oh Edna: You made such good choices. I love the black and white. And the cupboards are so pretty! Tortoises would have been nice, but think of the good time you're going to have cooking and washing dishes in that pretty kitchen!


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## CtTortoiseMom (Apr 8, 2011)

I love it! It's so open an airy and I love the window!


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## Edna (Apr 8, 2011)

**Cough!**Gasp**Cough** The new oven has been used twice, baking pizzas! I heat water on the stove to make tea most evenings, once a week or so cook some pasta to throw in my salads. I do have to wash the salad bowls, cutting board, and tea cups, but there's not a lot of cooking happening around here.


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## rachael (Apr 8, 2011)

your kitchen is AMAZING!! 
I cook a lot and could definitely put those appliances to good use. I like how everything is black and white and the walls are the color splast. Some kitchens end up so tacky, but not this one.


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## Edna (Apr 8, 2011)

Laura said:


> LOVE the old floors, the color and the cabinets!!
> what does the rest of the house look like?


Thanks! It's 1922 bungalow type, which has always been my favorite, and it's mostly untouched. The woodwork in the formal dining and living rooms has never been painted, and it's the dark craftsman finish. There is picture rail at 8.5' in the main rooms. The floors throughout are fir. Bedrooms are spacious for a small house - 12.5'x13.5' or so, DR and LR are also generous. 1922 bathtub, big and deep. Big windows, 9' ceilings make it all feel spacious. South-facing protected porch. Full basement. My projects so far have been removing the 1970s wallpaper from one bedroom, layers of wallpaper from the kitchen, and replacing the carpet in my bedroom, the only room in the house with carpet.


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## rachael (Apr 8, 2011)

Our house ( we rent ) is an old bungalow as well. Unfortunately, even though we're the first renters, someone made some bad adjustments and updated somethings I wish they had left alone. Oh well. Ill save the heavy projects for my own nest for now its all about making this one homey. Congrats on your new kitchen, and house!


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## Balboa (Apr 8, 2011)

Looks great! I love the craftsman homes as well. Our's originally would have likely been at least somewhat craftsman, but so much butchery over the years eliminated most of it, and I've been in the process of trying to "restore" some of that charm.

We kept the original cabinets and refinished them. They're made with the same heart pine floor as we found buried under the carpets (and will be refinishing as well), so there was no way I was ripping those out, priceless.

I went with tile for the counters, but do have a bit of envy for that solid granite. The tile is more period, but dang that granite is just nice.


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## Edna (Apr 8, 2011)

Balboa said:


> Looks great! I love the craftsman homes as well. Our's originally would have likely been at least somewhat craftsman, but so much butchery over the years eliminated most of it, and I've been in the process of trying to "restore" some of that charm.
> 
> We kept the original cabinets and refinished them. They're made with the same heart pine floor as we found buried under the carpets (and will be refinishing as well), so there was no way I was ripping those out, priceless.
> 
> I went with tile for the counters, but do have a bit of envy for that solid granite. The tile is more period, but dang that granite is just nice.



The cabinets we took out weren't original. They were added in the 40's or so. We found a lot of evidence of changes to the kitchen when we took out the floor layers and the cabinets, but fortunately the rest of the house has not been messed with much. 
You should have heard me fighting for my plaster walls! They are patched and irregular and have about 3 different textures, and people go to all kinds of effort to fake the look that my walls have already, but the kitchen guy wanted to cover them with *gasp* sheetrock. Ugh!


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## Angi (Apr 8, 2011)

Very pretty!


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## Jacqui (Apr 9, 2011)

You did a wonderful job! I like that you went with that window rather then either none or one just over the sink.


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## Edna (Apr 9, 2011)

Jacqui said:


> You did a wonderful job! I like that you went with that window rather then either none or one just over the sink.



Thanks! The original window was a double-hung, installed sideways to open side to side. Then the storm window was made to open vertically and the whole thing was an ugly mess! Our replacement window is a picture-type, doesn't open at all, no need for a storm. We considered changing the position/shape of the window (it's a little to high for me to see out of) but decided to keep all that as is to perserve the woodwork. There's another big window in the breakfast nook that I can see out of, so it's all good.


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## ChiKat (Apr 10, 2011)

It's beautiful!! I love the black and white too, and the backsplash is very pretty.


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## Jacob (Apr 10, 2011)

nice house!


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## Maggie Cummings (Apr 10, 2011)

I love it! You did a really good job.
At exit 122 (I think) Just out of Rock Springs is a gas station and a restaurant and they make the best burgers and fries. They use actual potatoes for the fries. I used to park my truck there and get a burger and spend the night. Now it's probably something else...Your kitchen is lovely...


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