A Tale of Two Kitchens

Just when I was almost ready to install the villa's lower-level ceilings, I made a disturbing discovery. I realized that when the ceilings were in, blocking much of the access to the back walls, I would be unable to reach in far enough to arrange all the tiny accessories that I needed on shelves, cupboards, and on the walls. My two previous styrofoam houses measure several inches less in depth than the Villa del Vigneto, so furnishing and accessorizing those rooms after completing construction hadn't been an issue. This was a new problem, and the only solution was to delay the ceiling installation and move on with accessorizing and partially furnishing the rooms. 

I decided to begin with the kitchen, since there were all those shelves waiting to be filled. Fortunately, I've been collecting kitchen things since before I began construction on the villa, so at least I was prepared for the premature "moving in." 

I had forgotten that I had SO MUCH STUFF packed away - all of it tiny, most of it slippery - and each piece required being secured in place with a dollop of sticky wax. That took much time and patience, and of course I loved every minute of it!

Well, I wasn't completely prepared to move in! I had all the pieces of kitchen furniture that I needed; but the hutch was unfinished, the table needed a different finish, and the icebox was damaged and needed new handles. I mended, refurbished, and refinished the pieces as necessary.

Here are the same furniture pieces after their make-over.

I found these very shiny chairs (the shine doesn't show so much in the photo) at an estate sale, but I can't remember where I bought the chopping block.

I aged the chairs and the chopping block along with an unmatched chair, a pie board, and a cutting board, but I forgot to take "before" photos of the last three items.

I first intended to only partially furnish the kitchen, but so many of the things would have been harder to secure (all the wall-hung pots, for instance) once the ceiling was in place. I finally decided just to do the whole thing and hope I don't make a mess of it when I install the ceiling. So I spent more time sticking down many more tiny things. (And I was still having a good time!)

A view of the hutch wall. I found the green platters in September during the annual Nebraska "Junk Jaunt" - 300 miles and 3 days of garage sales, including vintage, primitive, and antique items. The platters are slightly larger than scale, but I couldn't resist them. 

The sink wall and shelves from above.

A top shot of the hutch and the icebox...

...and of the range wall.

As you can see, the villa kitchen is very rustic and has not been modernized in keeping with the rest of the villa. Rudimentary plumbing has been installed, and electricity was recently added, but the old wood-burning stove and the outdated icebox have remained, at the insistence of Magda, the old cook who has been with the family for many years. Magda is an excellent cook, and if she chooses to nurse along the temperamental stove and deal with the regular deliveries of heavy blocks of ice, then so be it. Magda is a highly appreciated and valuable asset to the family; no one is willing to thwart her culinary preferences!

And so we will leave Magda to perform her wonders in the villa kitchen, while we move on to another time, another place, and another kitchen. 

Some of you may recall that I spent some blogpost time bemoaning the inconvenience of our real-life kitchen renovation. It wasn't even much of a renovation; the original kitchen is only eleven years old, so it wasn't necessary to change any of the appliances or cupboards. But my husband, like Magda, is the family cook, and an excellent one. Like Magda, he is the ruler of the kitchen; and I am not willing to thwart his culinary preferences! 

Robert's main preference was to have more preparation space. Our original countertops, shown above, consisted of a standard height counter abutted by a raised bar-height counter. Robert found that the raised portion prevented his "spreading out" as he worked. He also preferred to have more seating around the counter, since that's a gathering spot for friends and family while he cooks.

After the renovation, the new quartz countertop is not only flattened out but is slightly curved on the seating side, and is also 18" wider at the widest point. The end of the counter was also extended to allow room for two additional seats. Robert likes the backless stools as well; the space appears less busy. 

Another view of the four "old" bar stools. Our grandchildren (and sometimes adults, too!) were constantly banging the backs of the stools together as they swiveled. For my part, I was just thankful and relieved that there was still space to retain the loveseat in front of the window; that's my favorite corner to sit and sip wine when Robert is cooking. The space was intended for a "breakfast nook," but I prefer the loveseat to a table and chairs.

The six new stools swivel to adjustable heights, but they swivel so quietly! The color scheme for our very open floor plan in the kitchen, living room, and dining room is sage green (as you see on the walls,) deep red, and eggplant. We used an eggplant color to paint the new cabinet base. 

This is my "other" corner. Since I'm the clean-up lady, I admit that I spend as much time here as on my comfy loveseat. Robert is usually, but not always, a tidy cook. Sometimes it's a challenge to keep up with him. The above photo shows the old countertop.

This new view hasn't changed much; the sink is now under the countertop, which does make clean-up easier. The new faucet is taller than the old one, and the counter is now less cluttered and provides more working space. We moved all the coffee apparatus into the adjoining pantry, which now holds our coffee bar. 

Here is the old pantry - actually a mud-room sort of coat closet that I could sometimes keep organized. I sometimes lost control.

The folding doors on the closet were always at loggerheads with the door into the kitchen. 

The entire closet was torn out and the kitchen door removed. The above photo shows the new plumbing for the bar sink. Electrical outlets have been installed for the coffee makers.

All the old wire shelving was removed from the upper portion of the closet as well.

And at last we have a new coffee bar, which saves much space on the kitchen counters. There is also ample space to store many of our large pieces within easy reach and in plain view. No more searching, rummaging, and shifting objects around to reach what we need! The tile backsplash was made from tiles that were left over from the original construction in 2005. We knew the number of tiles required would be very close to the number available - but when the backsplash was completed, there were TWO tiles left over! Too close for comfort!

Whew! What a lot of work to create/renew two kitchens at the same time! There's a surprising amount of effort involved in planning, organizing, watching, and waiting for first one thing and then another, whether the kitchen is life-size or miniscule. But the important thing is that all the effort was definitely worthwhile: both Magda and Robert are happy in their respective kitchens, and their culinary creativity is unthwarted. So I'm issuing a standing invitation for you to come visit either kitchen, whatever its size, and whatever its place in time or space. I promise you a memorable meal!

The Entrance Courtyard of Villa del Vigneto

At last! I have found a name for my Tuscan villa-fattoria. I was reviewing some photographs of a table setting that I assembled for a dinner party last spring, and suddenly all those grapes and vines made a clamorous bid for attention. I realized that I had overlooked the obvious; the villa has a grape motif on the living room fireplace, and there's a grapevine fresco on the dining room wall. A grape arbor shades the loggia, although at present the arbor is invisible except in my mind's eye. In the natural order of things, it seemed only fitting that the Villa del Vigneto, the villa of the vineyard, should be the official name of this farmhouse-turned-country retreat. So thus it is. 

During all the days of August, I've accomplished only two things on the villa: I did some simulated "repair" work on the exterior stucco walls, and I made a stone path from the front entrance gate to the front door. This is, as a result, my briefest blogpost ever. Possibly in September, our kitchen remodeling will be Finally Finished, I'll reclaim my garage work space, and I can begin work on the second level of the villa. (If I can remember what I'm supposed to be doing!)

In one of my storage bins, I found these rectangles made from Sculpey for some abandoned project and decided that I could use them for the border stones in the courtyard pathway. I cut the rectangles into individual stones.

I experimented with several stone patterns for the pathway. You can see some of the repair work that I made on the stucco walls. The pedestals and the birdbath shown here will probably not be used in the finished courtyard.

When I knew that the border stones would work to outline the courtyard path, I applied some joint compound to make the pieces look more stone-like.

The white border stones are ready to paint with a darker finish. The cork coasters, prepared with joint compound and various paint colors, will be cut into rough squares and rectangles and used for the flat stones on the courtyard path.

The white Sculpey border stones have been painted to resemble real stones.

I practiced laying the square and rectangular flat stones so that I could get a sense of how they would fit together. It was necessary to cut some of them to fit in awkward spaces.

The border stones have been laid and glued down in my chosen pattern. I started laying the flat stones from the entrance gate forward to the front door, using Elmer's glue lavishly.

Laying and glueing more flat stones, working around the circle.

The stone path is in place.

I used a sponge brush and eye shadow to darken and age the stones.

Using a toothpick, I applied glue in some of the cracks between stones, then spread model railroad landscaping material, "coarse turf," liberally over the glue. After patting the turf down firmly, I waited for the glue to dry.

When the glue had dried, I used a soft brush to sweep up the excess "moss" from the cracks and continued sweeping carefully until just the right amount of moss remained between the stones.

Finally, I aged the stones a bit more, using different paint colors.

More model railroad landscaping material, "fine gravel," was used for the courtyard. I spread a generous layer of glue onto the courtyard, then spread the gravel evenly and pressed it down firmly.

The courtyard is finished, and I have repainted the stucco "repairs" with the same color of paint that I originally used for the exterior walls. I have a vague plan to use other paint colors on the walls and simulate more repair work until I achieve the look of aged and layered stucco. (More experimentation!) 

I placed the remaining border stones along the right edge of the loggia to outline the trunks of the grape vines that will grow there, up and over the arbor, providing a pleasant, cool shade for dining al fresco.(You can see the vines if you close your eyes tightly and VISUALIZE, VISUALIZE, VISUALIZE.)

During a long lull in Project Kitchen, and to avoid the necessity of washing EVEN ONE MORE dish in the bathroom sink or making EVEN ONE MORE micro-wave meal, we escaped for ten days to Bison Hill, our Nebraska Sandhills home, which comes with a FULLY FUNCTIONAL kitchen!

From the east deck of Bison Hill, we watched the moon rise over the Calamus Reservoir.

And the moon was just setting in the west the next morning, almost in time for sunrise.

The cattle on the ranch to the west of Bison Hill show no interest in either the moon or the sun. Their 

only interest is the green, green grass of their Sandhills home.

May all your September days be good ones - from sunrise to sunset; from moonrise to moonset.  

Loggia Floor, Doors, Bookcase, and Front Arches

The lower-level interior rooms of the Tuscan Villa-Fattoria are nearing completion. I've also done some work on the loggia and applied a coat of primer to the exterior. I think I'm dragging my feet a little, because the upper level of the villa is going to be much harder to build than the ground level; it needs a slow and sure approach.

The "slow" part will be helped along by the fact that we're doing some remodeling in our real-life kitchen, and all the long folding tables that I need for cutting big pieces of styrofoam are now being used in the garage to hold every single item from all our kitchen cupboards and the pantry. So I have neither a work surface nor garage space for the villa project for at least three more weeks. 

Meanwhile, I do still have various things to finish up on the ground level, so I'm trying not to think too far ahead to all the hard work that awaits. (But what am I saying? This can't be Hard Work! This is Having Fun! I forgot myself for a minute there.)

This will be the loggia, which opens into both the kitchen and the dining room. I needed to lay the loggia floor before I could hang the doors for those rooms. I made the flagstone floor from painted and torn pieces of cork, just as I made the kitchen floor, which was shown in my last post. This photo was taken before I added sand to fill the spaces between stones.

Apparently, nothing in my villa meets any standard measurements, so I needed to construct the two doors that lead from the dining room into the kitchen and loggia. Robert, who sadly lacks confidence in my math and measuring skills, volunteered (much too eagerly) to cut the doors and the trim pieces that I wanted.

The Master Measurer smugly at work.

While I waited for the doors to be built, I painted the brass hardware black...

...followed by a few dabs of Russet to add a slightly rusty finish.

The kitchen side of one door gets a coat of creamy white paint.

I added some sage green paint to the kitchen door to highlight the trim pieces. The door on the right belongs in the dining room.

I found a stencil just the right size and stenciled both dining room doors; I also added a little wear and tear to all the doors.

All the hinges got the same paint treatment as the door knobs and backplates.

The door on the left will lead from the outdoor loggia to the dining room.

I attached the hinges on the doors easily by following the instructions on Lori's blog, "Works in Progress." Her hinge tutorial is entitled "Small Hinges for Doors." Thanks, Lori. (Sorry, but I haven't figured out how to create a link to another site. My computer skills are right up there with my math and measuring skills.)

The two dining room doors are ready to hang. We will none of us point out to Robert that the panels on the doors are not the same size. He is, after all, the Master Measurer; we're possibly only imagining the measurement discrepancy. 

The doors are hung; I had to wait for the glue on the hinges to dry before I inserted the nails.

The view from the kitchen into the dining room and out to the loggia.

The exterior loggia door is closed, but I left the kitchen door slightly ajar.

A view of the doors from the dining room side.

Time for one of my improvised "makeovers." I need a wide bookcase for the end wall of the living room. I gathered some moldings and trim pieces and embellishments to add to the unfinished bookcases that I bought.  

 I could not find any parts that I could use for the top of the twisted wood trim pieces that hold the bookcases together.  So, as usual, I turned to Sculpey and made some things that are the right size; that's about all I can say about them. But they work.

 Except that I failed to foresee that the flame-shaped Sculpey pieces would make the wood pieces resemble giant birthday candles! 

I stained the bookcase with a coat of walnut gel stain.

And added a second coat...

...then a final third coat, applied very liberally to the candle flames!

After I filled the shelves with books and other objects, I placed the bookcase against the back living room wall and felt very pleased with myself for remembering to get it in place before the front arch and the ceiling are installed. But then - after all the self-congratulations, and after the front arch was put on, I discovered that the bookcase actually fits just fine going in or out through the arched opening that I was sure would be too small. And then I finally remembered that ages ago, when I first planned the bookcase, there were going to be FOUR shelf units instead of three, so that the entire wall would be filled. And four shelf units did not fit through the front arched opening.

But I also want a piano in the living room, and the only place for it is in the corner where the fourth shelf unit would have been. So - I sacrificed the fourth shelf unit for the piano space. And now I must find a safe place to store the bookcase for who knows how long? There are some dusty, messy projects ahead in the villa, and I definitely don't want the bookcase in the living room getting shaken and dusty now that it isn't necessary!

Speaking of the front arch, here it is, installed and sealed up with a spackling compound.

The front entrance arch received the same treatment...

...as did the dining room...

...and finally the kitchen. 

All the arches are ready for a final layer of joint compound and a light sanding...

...followed by a coat of primer, which I applied to the two end walls as well.

So - I'm making some forward progress, and the villa is beginning to look like a potential home. Now, if I can give the villa a name soon, I'll feel that I'm really movin' on!  

This photo was taken on the deck of our Nebraska Sandhills home, which does have a name - we call it Bison Hill. Since our kitchen in Lincoln is torn asunder for the time being, we took our grandchildren, Junior, Sophia, and Leo, there so that we could get away from the remodeling dust and noise. They're all singing "Sun Go Down" to celebrate another gorgeous Sandhills sunset. 

I wish each of you a carefree August and many beautiful summer sunsets.