Sunday, March 10, 2013

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
Photobucket

15 comments:

Rooms by Ann said...

Great kitchen, love the color. I agree about the little lamps on the countertop.

Kathy@ Gone North said...

Oh My Word! Oh my Word! That is so fabulous, so brave, so Florida... When I 1st looked, I thought it was red, but coral? that is SO fun.
I love whimsy & am dying to paint my custom white kitchen cabinets a fun color. And the flamingos... so fun.
And painted wood countertops.. who would have thought?? perfect!
Nicely, nicely done.

bmayer said...

As much as I love the look, I could NEVER have a white wood counter top. I'm sure it would be the color of spaghetti sauce in no time, because, unfortunately, my husband doesnt clean up after me. By the way, I have a few flamingos too....I live in Florida, but found them in Wisconsin !!

Brenda Pruitt said...

Wow! Gorgeous Betsy!
Brenda

Vikki said...

Love this! As usual!

Cindy said...

I love the kitchen too, and the coral! It's a warm and delightful color. The epic collection of Flamingos is amazing and perfect for the mix... and painting the countertops, well why the heck not! what a great idea...

Cindy

miss flibbertigibbet said...

Such a brave kitchen! And the flamingos are just great! What a perfect Florida touch!

Jaybird said...

This is very pretty, but I can't wait for you to show us the New England house....It looks wonderful!!!
Thank you, and have a great week!
J

Anonymous said...

I LOVE the color of the cabinets...beautiful!

Marilyn

Charlotte Des Fleurs said...

About 30 years ago, on a whim, my cousin and I decided her kitchen needed "something". So, we decided to paint the cabinets red. Her husband nearly had a heart-attack. A few days later, we hosted a birthday party for our 80 year old grandmother. The hubby said we should paint the cabinets back to white so as not to give our dear old Gram a fright. We did not and SHE loved them. All the rest of that summer, family parties were hosted at my cousin's house because of the red kitchen.

I think red is one of the best colors for an eating area - red is the color of passion! What could be better than passion for food, conversation and companionship.

BTW - LOVE your use in coral pink in your home.

Smiles, from my Slice of Provence
Charlotte

Anne Boykin said...

I've seen Connie's living room in Vermont in a magazine and I love this room! You are so talented.

Amy Chalmers said...

Wow that is very cool about painting the island top. I love the color scheme and how it came out, she is lucky to have you. Nice job as always!!!

Cynthia said...

Love, love this color scheme and so brave. I really like this for Florida. Beautiful.

Cynthia

Ann in California said...

Beautiful kitchen. I have a big lamp on my kitchen counter right now because the overhead light blew and I'm past the age where I can climb up a ladder to change the bulb. I like the light from the lamp better anyway. Do you remember what you kind of tile you used for the flooring?

Anonymous said...

Betsy: I've loved your style for Yeeeeears!
from a magazaholic in Oklahoma!

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