It All Started With a Stove

This was our kitchen a few years ago - before we updated it  {wait - music first!}





A few years back we decided to redo a few things in our kitchen. New counters and a new stove. I was so excited about picking out new counters. That was easy.

Still white - I think of white as a blank canvas for all of my pretty things - any season - any dishes - any vintage linens - it all goes with white.

Plus white is romantic. I am a romantic, classic, homey, vintage decorator.

So the counters, that was easy. Classic white. But the stove, I had swooned over someday having a 1950's Merrit and O'Keeffe stove. One that would have been in this house when it was built. I loved the stove Susan Branch often showed on her blog.



Oh how I just love it here - early in the morning. Winter I'm sure.



With a little shelf to decorate for each season.



Oh how romantic...

I talked about it in this post back here.

When it was time to find a stove I knew exactly what I wanted.

The problem was that it didn't work with the layout of our kitchen - and we were NOT going to change the layout of our kitchen with this redo. The cabinets were staying. And so the layout was staying. The stove was on an "L" sort of like an island - not against a wall. So there was no way to make it work. Plus Scott wasn't keen on the idea of bringing a 1950's stove into our house - he worried about having to have it repaired over and over through the years.

But he promised that in the second phase of our 'new' kitchen he had an idea that would give me that same vintage 1950's feeling.

And so that first phase gave us new counters, new sink, new hardware...



Even under cabinet lighting.



and yes, a new stove. (it took us months to find a white stove)



Now, see those doors back there?



For the next few years they continued to hold our washer/dryer.

Until this project started.

And with the new mudroom and new screen in porch the washer/dryer moved out to make room for something special.

I showed the new mudroom and new screened in porch in the Christmas video I made. (back here)

So the washer/dryer left what was behind those doors empty for a while.

Until a new project started. A 1950's baking center!

In November I was in an antique store and saw this:



and I loved it! From 1932 - an actual real baking center.

So Scott took the Hoosier Cabinet and built around it - I am so blessed that he can build cabinets and counters, everything!

For a while this was here - a pie cooling window. It has held apple tarts



and Thanksgiving apple crumb pie



and so many in between and since then.

Here I am in the antique store just a few days before Thanksgiving. (I wrote about finding it in a post back here)



Scott started on our April vacation week and worked during weekends in the spring {which is kind of a nutty time for us} and recently he finished.







Moving in was oh so much fun!

It is just the charm I was looking for - just the romantic piece that makes my heart so happy.





Scott picked out just the perfect lighting fixture, one that could have been there all those years ago!



And then I added in things I'd been collecting just for this for a few years. Some are "new" like this pie sign.



and the curtain



But that stove and most everything else is from antique shops.



and I love those things best!















The baking center is the first thing I see when I walk in the back door and am home



It's whimsical, romantic, practical and fun all at the same time. I have all of my supplies there - always ready to bake on a moments notice. This inside the cabinet where I keep whole wheat flour and confectioners sugar.





And there you have it - joy of joy! I love to decorate in a way that makes my heart happy... and this, this new place to bake goodness for my family {and to decorate} rings joy bells in my heart.