Slow design | The Kitchen
Can you believe it’s June already?! It has taken a full year of living with certain choices and making considered swaps, to finally feel like our kitchen space is coming together: layered, warm, and functional.
In the process of building and designing anything, mistakes and less ideal design decisions are made. And oftentimes, you don’t know this until living into a space for a while. In some ways, I was grateful I didn’t make all of my selections up front to account for this learning curve.
Along with adding thrifted antique shelf brackets I found in a local antique store for $12 and the serendipity of the dimensions just fitting within our counter to ceiling cabinetry, topped with thick oak boards harvested and milled 20 years ago from a family friend’s farm to create shelves. An heirloom and antique inspired pail bench at the back door for incoming egg collections, foraged flowers and garden harvests.
I had come across the function of pail benches in a book The Heritage of Country Furniture I thrifted at my favorite used bookstore Renaissance books at the Milwaukee airport. These benches historically were placed at entrances around a country home. They held milk pails, baskets, and other such necessities for the comings and goings of country living and I love the addition and pop of sea foam green from this heirloom inspired piece from Greenrow.
a place to set all our garden harvests on this Pedestal Bench
The other selection we made without living in the space was lighting. Looking back on the build, lighting selections needed to be made so far in advance so the electrician could wire things in. I remember thinking to myself, “why don’t I have more time.” My head was spinning with selections and I would burn the midnight oil looking for one right in ur price range, looking for function and style. A later tip a mother in my daughters' class recommended from her own build and renovation projects was to just use simple light fixtures and change them out accordingly. That would have removed the pressure and decision fatigue, and I'm keeping that in my back pocket for any future design projects. In the process of the build, there were so many choices and very little time and a budget. The lighting over our workspaces around the stove while cute was not functional. They tipped up too much and light glared into our eyes.
A nod to the classic Thonet style, we love the Ton 811 Cane Counter Stool from Rejuvenation
Other selections were based on what was available at the time. One of those were the barstools for the island. Our kitchen revolves around island living. I’ve read in some design blogs that islands are out, but not around here. It is central to our living. The children eat breakfast at the island while I prep school lunches and AJ makes our morning coffee. The island is where our kiddos land for an after school snack and where dinner preparations begin. It is a place where guests pull up an extra chair to join our living, laughing, eating and sharing. and friends gather for an occasional wine night and charcuterie board.
The counter height bar stools we originally selected for our island were ordered online when we first moved it. They were reasonably priced and according to my measurements fit, they had arms and were comfortable for sitting longer periods of time. But when we started living with them, we realized the arms scraped against the bottom of the island and hit each other. They were actually too tight to fit three seats together under the overhang of the custom island. After finding a new home for these barstools at my best friend's house, where I now get to visit them frequently, we selected these cane backed counter stools from Rejuvenation. Their slim profile fits better and bentwood and caning is a nod to a parisian bistro, and the vintage Thonet style in a sturdy and modern form.
Brookside Rail System for hanging things we use daily.
Our ZLine Autograph Edition Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator and a peek into the pantry.