A Beach Side Cottage Kitchen

Hiya!!!!! 

From up here in Massachusetts!!!!!

Who needs palm trees when you can have dirty snow?????

Well, campers, I flew back up yesterday, and I'm now here at the beck and call of my family.....

(I love my family, I love my family, I love my family....)

I'm not great with winter, snow and cold.....

Soooooo

to offset this grey feeling, 

lets return to my friend Connie's Florida beach house.

We left off in her den,

So let's go into the kitchen area!!!!

Traditional Home Magazine 2007

That's the shot from the Magazine....

Now....here's my shot....

Now, let me crop it, for more of a magazine look.....

I'm  not going to quit my day job.....

I didn't even bother to prop it.

anyway.....

back to the decorating......

I inherited the color of the cabinets.

They were already painted by the time I was pulled in to save the day.

Connie loves the color coral.

Half the time she's even wearing it.

We used a variation of this hue in the toile of the living room I did for her in Vermont.....

Traditional Home Magazine 2004

It was a little more subdued.....

More New England.

(I'll be writing about this house soon....)

BUT THIS BE FLERIDA!!!!!

So the colors get to be more vibrant.

Stronger.....

Eye popping.

OY, OY, OY.....

To cut into the power of the pink....coral....

we wanted a white counter top.

Connie claims this solution was her idea.....

she may be right.....

she sometimes is.....

anyway....

The idea was batted around about doing a painted wood countertop.

She MAY have suggested it.

There isn't any nice white granite.

(granite doesn't come in a real white....)

Marble was too formal......

Sooooo.....Connie threw out the idea of wood!!!!!

Anyway....

I didn't see any reason not to try it!!!!!

People have painted kitchen tables.

What's the difference between a kitchen table work surface, and a kitchen counter work surface?????

There weren't young kids living in this house.

There wasn't a clueless husband living in this house....

(Chris is the one who's always cleaning up......)

(While Connie is cooking.....

he's coming along behind her.....

cleaning up.....

drives her out of her #$% mind!!!!!)

We had to beat into the builder's head, that we 

WANTED

to see the cracks between the boards.....

They've gotten bigger as time goes by.

We be lovin' the cracks!!!!!

We used a plain travertine around the sink area due to the moisture issue with wood.

Connie and I figured, if the surface got worn, it could just be repainted.

It's been over 10 years, and she hasn't had to have it touched up yet!!!!!

Rather than under cabinet lighting.....

I like to use little lamps that sit on the countertop.

These give a really nice glow at night, and are fine to work by.

The Previous Designer (TPD) had designed this kitchen with open shelves on either side of the range hood.

Connie didn't want her collection of pots to sit out.

A nice look would have been piled up copper pots on either side of the hood.

But she doesn't cook with those.

They would have just been dust catchers.

sooooooo.......

If we were going to have dust catchers.....

Let's do a collection of

FLAMINGOS!!!!!!

Let's look at some close ups...

I found these all on ebay.

They're from the 40's...

I took pity on you and didn't show all of them up close.

I'm nice that way......

I love this kitchen.

When you stand at the sink, you can look out at the beach and ocean....

Ain't life grand???!!!

Latah, Gatah