Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Grand *Beach Cottage Kitchen* Before and After!


Went to the beach in Michigan this weekend with Mr. Grand 
while darling daughter was away on a school trip. 
I have written about our little cottage there in previous posts - 
you can read about it here and here and here.
Today I thought I would share the Before and After pictures of the kitchen.
The weather was actually pretty darn nice for February in Michigan!  
I wish it had been a little sunnier, because then my pictures would have been a little better, 
but again, February.  Michigan.  
Happy to get there at all.

Here's a picture of the renovated kitchen.  It is very, very small, 
so it's hard to get far enough away to take decent pictures...




This is a Before picture of the kitchen.
Tiny space but still a big job.

We loved the charming little window and wanted to save it
but it had to move, to make way for a closet
for desperately needed storage.



 Here is the same wall, after.  


 Mr. Grand stripped and refinished the little window and we relocated it to our bedroom.
It is the only original window we were able to keep.  
 It's here now, up in the eave of our bedroom:


 All of the original window were casement style, with the most charming little screen doors- 
totally charming and completely impractical. 
The screens opened in and the casements opened out.  
So that meant no furniture could be placed in front of the windows inside, 
and the casements, when open outside, took up too much space on the deck. 
Not insulated either.  
Initially, our intention was to refinish and reuse them 
but after Mr. Grand spent an entire weekend stripping and refinishing just this one little window, 
we knew we had to spring for new windows.

I really didn't want the old windows to end up in the dumpster, 
so I headed to the Kane County Flea Market and searched until I found 
a wonderfully talented couple who buy up old barn wood and windows and other things 
for salvage and then they make fabulous furniture using the salvaged wood. 
They came and took all of the old windows, reserving one for me for some future project. 
We have several pieces of furniture in our cottage that they made for us, 
using salvaged barn wood.  That's a great topic for another day...

Here is another Before picture of the old kitchen.  
I loved the old arched entry to the kitchen, 
but it was another casualty of the redo.
Mr. Grand has promised to recreate an arch for me just outside of the kitchen.
It's on the "some day" list.



Another Before picture- just plain nasty.




I love the new cabinets, below... They were made for me by the one and only Ed Dolan.
Faithful readers will recognize Ed from earlier projects, here and here and here.
Ed made each of these cabinets by hand 
and we brought them up to the cottage, one at a time and set them in place,
 just waiting for the day when Ed would come and install them.
This center cabinet over the sink is my absolute favorite.  
I had torn a picture out of an English Home Magazine many years ago
 of a kitchen with scalloppy cabinets like this 
and I knew just what I wanted to do when it came time to design this little kitchen.


This kitchen may be short on space, but it's packed with plenty of the little details that I love-
 scallops and pegs and bead board.  What could be better in a cottage?
And working with Ed made it all sing.  Good Karma kitchen!



Love the apron style farm sink, from IKEA! 
Very reasonable, and I really enjoy having one great big sink.
The wine glasses are kept handy for a reason...
Same for the coffee mugs!



There is a nice big open top shelf-  
a great place for display since I can't reach it anyway!



I couldn't resist this little Beach sign, in my cottage colors...




More scalloppy trim and a little shelf for display, right above what my brother Paul calls
the Easy Bake Oven - it's so tiny, but it works!
We roasted a 14 pound turkey in this oven and it turned out very well.




This sweet little print hung in my mother's kitchen for years...
The light in the photo is bad, but the colors really all do work together- please believe me.
I must come by my love for all things cottage from her... 
I've given it a place of honor.

 


These little creamers are just the right size to fill the space on this shelf over the stove.  
I suppose real cooks might put spices there, but I had more fun hunting for these than cooking...



Here you can see the vintage chandelier that I bought years ago- 
 I had no idea where it would go at the time (Mr. Grand just loves it when I do that...) 
but it was a bargain and I loved it.
I'm going to toot my own horn here (Toot!) 
and brag about how I was ahead of the lantern style chandelier trend 
way before there was a lantern style chandelier trend.
I am rarely ahead of any trends, so I 'm just going to be a little smug here.
All it needed was a little dusting (and rewiring) and it was ready to hang.


It seemed like a grand idea to have a chandelier in a cottage kitchen...



Oh, and one more thing-
this was the sunset on Saturday night... 
Absolutely Glorious.



Hope you enjoyed this *Before and After* tour...

Pin It!

27 comments:

  1. So darling! Love all the beautiful moulding details. It may be a small space ... but it's big on style!

    :)

    Linda

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  2. Oh, and how far is this lovely little kitchen from Chicago? And do you rent it out during the summer?

    :)

    Linda

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  3. Oh, Just so lovely! Great details... all of your small touches really make it work,
    & your builder does amazing work. Looks exactly like a cottage kitchen should.
    Nicely, nicely done.

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  4. Hi Erin, That is a darling little cottage kitchen! So much charm packed into one tiny space, you obviously put a lot of time and thought into it. I adore the colors,
    the beadboard and the wonderful lantern! Good for you to have such foresight! Every detail is superb!
    Cindy

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  5. What a beautiful cottage kitchen! I love all the colors you used. Do you mind sharing the wall color? It is a beautiful shade of green. Your cabinet maker does outstanding work, by the way.

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  6. I have always loved your amazing renovation. Just beautiful.

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  7. What a charming kitchen! I love that you were able to use that window in your bedroom.

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  8. What a beautiful placde you have. Lucky you!

    S
    xo

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  9. That kitchen is scrumptious! Love all that you did, just proof that small can be just as stunning as big! Love the lake view, that is God's exterior decorating! You are blessed!

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  10. Hi Erin, One of my favorite kitchens that you have done over the years! I would like to award you the Liebster Award. It is given to Bloggers who have a lovely Blog and under 200 followers. And there is no doubt, that this is a LOVELY Blog!

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  11. Just lovely - restful colors and feel of contentment....best of all - the gift of creative writing - how 'bout a book???.."The little cottage on the lake"....cw

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  12. It is so pretty! I love the chandelier.
    Katie @ Let's Add Sprinkles.

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  13. You made it over in my favorite color! Can't go wrong there. It really has turned out gorgeous. The cabinet details are superb and add so much character to the space. I can't get enough...I had to stop commenting to go back and look some more. What a wonderful makeover. Must feel good :)

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  14. Beautiful cottage kitchen! Love it! I go to Kane County Flea Market rather frequently. So much good stuff there.

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  15. totally charming little kitchen. So very sweet!

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  16. This kitchen is pure perfection. I haven't read about the cottage yet but I'm going to asap.

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  17. Holy cow! The little link at the bottom of the page was just calling to me and I had to come check out this kitchen. It is just beautiful and I love all the cabinet details! My mom just redid her little kitchen with similar colors and I'm going to be showing her this for additional inspiration. (She used green glass tile for her backsplash and white cabinets and it is gorgeous too.)

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  18. Amazing Erin! LOVE the details!! ohmygosh!

    New follower!

    Lou Cinda

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  19. I adore cottage kitchens too - love the details you added.

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  20. I love it. We have a farmhouse and a great kitchen and are getting ready to paint the cabinets to look more cottagey. Love your look and I'm saving pictures to show my hubby later to give him ideas. What you did with that open dish shelf is exactly something that I wanted. Great job on the kitchen. Beautiful blog...I'm a new follower!
    Blessings,
    Debbie

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  21. My heart is racing...I am in love. What a beautiful kitchen. It's so clean and bright and airy. What an unbelievable transformation. Stunning.

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  22. I love your cottage kitchen. That lantern is gorgeous and I just love all the details of your light and bright kitchen!

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  23. Oh your redo is amazing. Just love everything you did. What is the brand of frig you have? The wall color is so calming, which can be a great idea in a kitchen depending on how well one cooks, lol. You think you have a tiny cottage kitchen,, well I have one a wee bit smaller. I have a tiny cottage just 8 feet wide and 24 feet long including the 6 x 8 front porch. I am inspired by your wonderful eye for design and decorating such a small space. Thanks.
    Tonita @ www.ShabbyChicTinyRetreat.blogspot.com

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  24. I am redoing a small beach cottage that belonged to my parents. While looking for ideas to redo the small kitchen I came across your blog. I love how you renovated your small kitchen! I want to create a beachy look and was wondering how I can fit everything into a small space. I have a stove like yours that my husband says to throw out. I saved it and now I am glad:) I'm going to clean it up, hope it still works and reinstall. It's a 24" which is hard to find and will give me more counter space. Thanks for sharing your home:)

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