This is brilliant I love it all! Very inspired by the curtain covering the washing machine idea. Can I ask what fittings did you use for the curtain? Is it one of those stretchy cord things like my grandma had for her curtains or did you rig up a pole? I basically want to copy this.
And PS ... I LOVE the new kitchen... I had the same experience with kitchen designers ... soulless designs.. I would up doing something much more rustic and found an old skool carpenter (rare as hens teeth) to do my shelving..
Ohhh I had the exact same question as I still haven’t got around to making the curtain for my washing machine ... I bought a vintage French bistro curtain pole for it then realized that it might be tricky to get to the buttons! (Doh!) and I got some 70 year old unused mattress ticking fabric (god bless Etsy for Thoth things) for the curtain that I’m too scared to cut up in case I screw up so I’m going to have a practice run on some cheaper fabric!
Ha! My best kitchen's were designed on the back of an envelope and given to our builder. My mum made those gingham curtains for her dresser (now mine) 45 years ago. A lovely reminder of her. X
My dad made a replica of the tiger who came for tea kitchen for a seven stories exhibition years ago- and got to meet Judith Kerr at the opening. Yellow Formica all the way!
Jul 23, 2023·edited Jul 23, 2023Liked by Helen Stephens
While living in a leased apartment in a sixty year old building, the main bedroom door would open by itself as if someone tugged on the door, and on the same wall there was an embedded closet which all the doors would never stay closed.
I know this doesnt sound calm and relaxing, but for some reason we alway thought it was the old wood and the building putting pressure on it. So we just added some pieces of cardboard to make the doors close tight, and for the main door we would just close it and we would pull ourselves on it so it would lock.
Now, when we left it the apartment, a couple days later an elder gentleman living by himself rented it (the lanlady is a great friend of us) but then after just two weeks, he resigned his contract and left in a rush…
So we wonder… maybe we really should have worried a bit more about the doors opening by itself?
Looks amazing Helen. A central kitchen table really makes it homely. And there's nothing worse than a cold kitchen. I find kitchen design shops soulless and slightly intimidating places. We walked in then out!
Agreed! Kitchen design shops are really disappointing. We had no idea how to design a kitchen and thought we had to hand that job to the experts, but when we saw what they did we realised we had more design skills than we thought! It was good fun designing it ourselves on bits of paper. And yes to central kitchen tables, so nice for working and socialising.
I love your kitchen by he way, I have seen glimpses on your Insta grid. You have a gingham curtain too, I love a gingham curtain.
Thanks so much for sharing your kitchen with us — it looks splendid! We’re planning to build a new kitchen ourselves in the next year or so, so will definitely be taking inspiration from this
I love, love, love this story. Reminds me of a workroom in my grandparent's summer house. That place was cold and dark and dingy. Definitely giving off ghost vibes.
Thanks... it was mostly done by watching 'This Old House' on PBS. The cabinets were all from Home Depot, where the exact measurements were all figured out. I'll have to put up a new post on Substack... where I already did a photo essay of my upstairs bathroom!
I did my kitchen over... it's the real graduate level remodel since it requires carpentry, electrical, plumbing, tile cutting & cementing and great artistry. lol! And I did it all myself... even the 220 volt current for the stove and microwave. Moving all the cooking into the dining room for 2 months was fun too. lol!
Wow! That is impressive! No such skills round here, we handed all that over to the experts, I wouldn’t know where to start! Our new kitchen took 6 months, so luckily we still had our old kitchen for cooking 😮💨
Oh wow! What a gorgeous room. I dream of a decent kitchen, mine is 2m by 3m with the bathroom on the end. I like to think if I had a better kitchen I'd actually cook more!
Ooh your blue work top is the same colour we went for for our kitchen cupboards! I'll have to do a 'my new kitchen" (quite old kitchen now) post so you can see! It's gorgeous Helen. We have a central table too and we all live in there these days...
😂😂😂 Ha! Yes maybe we do have a ghost who was trying to tell us they desperately wanted a new kitchen! Yes hopefully we’ll be using this kitchen for many many years.
This is brilliant I love it all! Very inspired by the curtain covering the washing machine idea. Can I ask what fittings did you use for the curtain? Is it one of those stretchy cord things like my grandma had for her curtains or did you rig up a pole? I basically want to copy this.
Yes it’s one of those glamorous stretchy cords that Grans use 😂 It has a hook and eye fitting at each end, perfect!
Sorry I am aware you won’t necessarily know what my grandma used for her curtains. I jean the things used for net curtains back in the day.
I do! And we use a stretchy cord for a net curtain too because our window looks straight onto the pavement and people walk past the window.
And PS ... I LOVE the new kitchen... I had the same experience with kitchen designers ... soulless designs.. I would up doing something much more rustic and found an old skool carpenter (rare as hens teeth) to do my shelving..
Ohhh I had the exact same question as I still haven’t got around to making the curtain for my washing machine ... I bought a vintage French bistro curtain pole for it then realized that it might be tricky to get to the buttons! (Doh!) and I got some 70 year old unused mattress ticking fabric (god bless Etsy for Thoth things) for the curtain that I’m too scared to cut up in case I screw up so I’m going to have a practice run on some cheaper fabric!
Ha! My best kitchen's were designed on the back of an envelope and given to our builder. My mum made those gingham curtains for her dresser (now mine) 45 years ago. A lovely reminder of her. X
My dad made a replica of the tiger who came for tea kitchen for a seven stories exhibition years ago- and got to meet Judith Kerr at the opening. Yellow Formica all the way!
I saw that kitchen, your Dad made that! Wow, it was brilliant!
While living in a leased apartment in a sixty year old building, the main bedroom door would open by itself as if someone tugged on the door, and on the same wall there was an embedded closet which all the doors would never stay closed.
I know this doesnt sound calm and relaxing, but for some reason we alway thought it was the old wood and the building putting pressure on it. So we just added some pieces of cardboard to make the doors close tight, and for the main door we would just close it and we would pull ourselves on it so it would lock.
Now, when we left it the apartment, a couple days later an elder gentleman living by himself rented it (the lanlady is a great friend of us) but then after just two weeks, he resigned his contract and left in a rush…
So we wonder… maybe we really should have worried a bit more about the doors opening by itself?
thank you for sharing!
Oh blimey! That is spooky. Perhaps the ghost didn’t take kindly to the elder gentleman! 👻
Looks amazing Helen. A central kitchen table really makes it homely. And there's nothing worse than a cold kitchen. I find kitchen design shops soulless and slightly intimidating places. We walked in then out!
Love the pop of arsenic green!
Agreed! Kitchen design shops are really disappointing. We had no idea how to design a kitchen and thought we had to hand that job to the experts, but when we saw what they did we realised we had more design skills than we thought! It was good fun designing it ourselves on bits of paper. And yes to central kitchen tables, so nice for working and socialising.
I love your kitchen by he way, I have seen glimpses on your Insta grid. You have a gingham curtain too, I love a gingham curtain.
Thanks so much for sharing your kitchen with us — it looks splendid! We’re planning to build a new kitchen ourselves in the next year or so, so will definitely be taking inspiration from this
Ah good luck! This took 6 months because of the sink hole, I hope yours doesn’t take so long!
Thanks! It was lots of work... but well worth it.
I love, love, love this story. Reminds me of a workroom in my grandparent's summer house. That place was cold and dark and dingy. Definitely giving off ghost vibes.
Some places are just spooooky! 👻
Thanks... it was mostly done by watching 'This Old House' on PBS. The cabinets were all from Home Depot, where the exact measurements were all figured out. I'll have to put up a new post on Substack... where I already did a photo essay of my upstairs bathroom!
https://open.substack.com/pub/johnnez/p/freelancing-and-home-improvement?r=fcf9w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
I had a nosy around your substack and I am impressed! So much skill involved in that!
I did my kitchen over... it's the real graduate level remodel since it requires carpentry, electrical, plumbing, tile cutting & cementing and great artistry. lol! And I did it all myself... even the 220 volt current for the stove and microwave. Moving all the cooking into the dining room for 2 months was fun too. lol!
Wow! That is impressive! No such skills round here, we handed all that over to the experts, I wouldn’t know where to start! Our new kitchen took 6 months, so luckily we still had our old kitchen for cooking 😮💨
Amazing transformation from cold and spooky to warm and welcoming. Regret not going with the computer designs?😉
Ha! No regrets 😂
I also based my yellow kitchen on the tiger who came to tea 😂
Good choice! I wonder how many Tiger Who Came to Tea fans copied that iconic kitchen!
Oh wow! What a gorgeous room. I dream of a decent kitchen, mine is 2m by 3m with the bathroom on the end. I like to think if I had a better kitchen I'd actually cook more!
I have started bing tidy in the kitchen! The old kitchen looked awful whether it was tidy or not, so I didn't bother!
Can't imagine being tidy will happen to me, in the kitchen or studio!
Ooh your blue work top is the same colour we went for for our kitchen cupboards! I'll have to do a 'my new kitchen" (quite old kitchen now) post so you can see! It's gorgeous Helen. We have a central table too and we all live in there these days...
I yes please, I need to see pics! Illustrators always have the best kitchens. Agreed about the central table, good for working and socialising.
What do you mean, it’s not haunted ! You still found « A BOooone in the wAaaalls » ( to be read in a shivering voice and your lovely accent.)
There you go ! Years and years of fun to be had for when Pie’s kids will come and stay for holidays !
😂😂😂 Ha! Yes maybe we do have a ghost who was trying to tell us they desperately wanted a new kitchen! Yes hopefully we’ll be using this kitchen for many many years.
And don’t forget the « Mysteriouuuus Magic Spring » !
😱
Wow! Such a beautiful kitchen! 🙌🙌🙌