Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Log Cabin Dreamin'



Sooooooo
as I was telling you guys....
When I bought my cabin on the lake, 
the kitchen was so dark I couldn't even take a Polaroid photo of it...
EVEN WITH THE FLASH!!!
So this is what I did.....
(Unfortunately, I can't find the pictures
 of the stove or sink area.
I know the photographer took them,
 but they weren't published, 
and they have DISAPPEARED!!!!!)
WAIT! WAIT! WAIT!
I just found it!!!!!!!
YIPPEE!!!!!
I'll show it down below.....,
now you have to keep reading....
bwa ha ha!!!
The stove area was published, I just misfiled it on this stupid contraption.....
I thought computers were supposed to make things easier????
My printer refuses to talk to my computer right now too.....
OY!!!
Now back to my story.....
I opened up the ceiling for a cathedral effect
 to make the kitchen feel larger.
The living and dining area were crammed into one space making that room feel less than gracious,
 so to 
fix the problem!!!
I created an eat-in kitchen by 
adding a bump out off the cooking space,
 alleviating the need to  nosh in the living room.

To allow as much sunlight in as possible, I had a glass ceiling installed over the built in seating banquette.
It gave the feeling of a greenhouse and supplied a lovely view of the lake from the cushioned bench.
Later, when I winterized the cabin, I had a second layer of glass installed inside against the first, to create an air cushion for insulation.

The chandelier came from my childhood home,
I think my siblings are still scratching their heads,
trying to figure out how I scored this light.
Well it's very simple!!!!
MY MOMMY LOVES ME BEST!!!!!
The living room fireplace backs up to the kitchen, so I thought it would be a great place to set the stove.

I found a wonderful cement face at a salvage yard and thought....
"Of course, this should go in the kitchen, 
doesn't everybody 
 hang a cement face over their stove?????"
I know, I know...
It's blurry, I had to blow up the picture from the magazine.
This was all before digital cameras folks.......

When we were working on this shot, the stylist felt that the side of the cabinet was too big of a white unbroken square....
So we taped a checked napkin to the side to look like a dishtowel!!!!
It's all smoke and mirrors......

I didn't want all built in cabinets, so I fit in some old waxed pine pieces.
They hold a $%& load of stuff and often are less expensive than stock cabinets because you don't have to pay someone to install them.

The floor is made from wide hard pine boards that were then painted to look like stone.
I drew out the shapes, and had my decorative artist at the time paint them.
She had a minny meltdown while she painted, and I had to talk her through the whole damn thing.
It was a 
very long
couple of days.

So that's the story of my kitchen in my Sunapee Lake cabin,
next post will be about some 
other rooms
in my cabin!!!!!
You guys are sooooo lucky!!!!!
Latah Gatah
Photobucket

18 comments:

Honey at 2805 said...

The kitchen is wonderful, Betsy, and I adore the way you did a bump out of the eating area. The windows are splendid!

I'm just happy that I wasn't the person on the floor doing the painting while you stood over me!
Actually, the way we laughed all through our conversation, it might have never been
completed! ;)

Connie said...

The ceiling opened for a cathedral effect is wonderful. Don't think I've seen that before and it really adds the illusion of great space.

Katie @ Wildwood Creek said...

Love the windows you added and the stone!

NanaDiana said...

LOVE it-You did a great job on the remodel. Love the face over the stove- perfection! I have rehabbed 14 houses that we have lived in over the years and I soooo get what you went through. However, having a hubby in the window, siding and door business was a huge bonus...except for the complaining- lol Happy 4th to you- xo Diana

Anonymous said...

Hi Betsy! I'm loving seeing your darling cabin. Love the ceiling you opened up. Did the glass stay fairly clean? :) You made a cute little kitchen I love your cabbagey dishes. Have a wonderful 4th!
Be a sweetie,
Shelia ;)

Shirley@Housepitality Designs said...

That glassed cathedral ceiling is incredible...that was genius !!! Perfection!

Pinky at Designs by Pinky said...

LOOOVE that glass ceiling....you sure did RAISE THE GLASS CEILING!!!! Sorry, couldn't help myself:). Your kitchen is terrific. Love it all.

Sandy said...

Let's try again posting this on the first Tuesday of the month...

Tuesday Questions: Hubby has given me the ok to redo our family room...new furniture and storage units. I want to go with light colors like blue, white with pops of red here and there. I'm keeping the carpet - getting it cleaned - it's a light beige/cream color berber. Kitchen floor is laminate light gray/blue. Kitchen is open to familyroom. Walls are Benjamin Moore Oriental Silk (light cream/yellow color). We have lots of DVDs (over 500!), magazines, some books to store in the room. Our room is only 15 by 16 with a fireplace between two windows and another window kitty corner to fireplace window. Placement of furniture isn't easy and I am a TV watcher so there will be a big screen HD 52 inch TV in this room. Gosh, what is my question? How do I start? Furniture first and then select colors/fabric? I'm one of those people who buys furniture once every 20 plus years so I have basically no experience. I want a room that is cosy, comfortable but is functional too. Hubby gets to pick his lounge chair for comfort - he won't care about the fabric or color. I'm thinking of not having a sofa but rather four chairs so we can get to our storage units. It's just the two of us and we very seldom have company. Currently we have two danish wall units buried behind a very heavy sleeper/chair unit. I don't even know where to start. I'm open to all suggestions. Good luck with this one. I know you won't pick me. But just in case you would, I can email you photos of our current family room if necessary. Have a great July 4th week. Love, love, love your blog!!!!
You can see some of our living room here: http://teacuplane-sandy.blogspot.com/2010/12/our-20-christmas-tree.html

Nita Stacy said...

What an amazing kitchen. That glass ceiling is so beautiful. I never thought of myself as a person that would enjoy a log cabin but this one I love.

laney said...

...lucky indeed...blessings laney

laney said...

...lucky indeed...blessings laney

Anonymous said...

that bump out with glass ceiling and stove against stone....genius! soon worthy!

anne kelly
long island, ny

Anonymous said...

oops.....SWOON worthy....ugh!


anne kelly

Bonnie Schulte said...

Oh WOW!!!!! LOVE...

Ral @ARTbyRT Seascapes and Island Life said...

Your terrific 'bump out' has my imagination turning over all the possibilities on my own small block house. I love your pine cabin!

Marian said...

I see it is currently on the market, complete with current photos if you are interested. The description does call you, "RENOWNED DESIGNER BETSY SPEERT DESIGNER TO THE STARS"

Connie@Connie Nikiforoff Designs said...

I love your "all smoke and mirrors" comment. Coming from a theatre and music background, I too learned a lot of smoke and mirrors tricks ;-) They do come in handy in my decorating world now :-)

Nice cabin! I can only imagine how dark it was...it's very lovely now with your ideas to add in more light.

Cheri said...

We are lucky, thanks for sharing!

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...