60. That was then, this is now…

April 16, 2013January 20, 2016 / Apple Hill Cottage / 21 Comments

Things are looking pretty in the Apple Hill Cottage Kitchen. Amazing, but true. Excitement abounds. We can actually see over the mountain top — we might even be descending through the slippery slope of final details and finish carpentry! This past weekend not only did I do a load of dishes in my new sink, the next evening we did a load of dishes in the newly installed dishwasher. Life is good.

In the last post I promised some pictures. The tarps are still on the floor, protecting its new beauteousness, and some cabinet doors aren’t yet in place. The tile backsplash isn’t in yet, and neither is the stove. That is actually the next project. We are trading stoves and bringing the electric stove to Pittsburgh and taking my much-beloved gas convection oven to Apple Hill. Also I want to preface some of these photos with this: You will see a lot of green. That is because we painted the whole wall to the left of the sink. But once the tile backsplash goes in (small subway tile — American Olean in Biscuit) the only visible green on that side will be above the cabinet.

So for your entertainment, I’m also including some pictures (of the same spaces) that were taken in August of 2011, right after the cottage became ours.

This…

Cabinets and woodwork are Sherwin Williams Steamed Milk semi-gloss

is now this!

Yes, we took out the little room that was the pantry, so half the wall you see in the first photo is now gone.

This…

is now this.

The cabinet at the far left will eventually be put on the wall and used as part of floor to ceiling bookcase for cookbooks, bowls, tins, etc.

This…

is now this.

We had several landmark events this past week, but one of the best was water in the new faucet coming out beautifully into the new sink…
First water from a new faucet
And another was actually installing some cabinets that have been sitting around everywhere since last summer! In fact, here are just some random shots.

That Was Then, This Is Now

Not Just Spray Paint: a DIY Oil Rubbed Bronze Finish

ceiling is painted Sherwin Williams Steamed Milk.

Hardware, $250, from House of Antique Hardware. This also includes the hardware on the built-in cabinet.

And my favorite —

No plumber’s butt here.
No plumber’s gut either!
It’s a good thing too, or he wouldn’t have fit.

59. Road Trip for Soapstone

April 1, 2013January 20, 2016 / Apple Hill Cottage / 8 Comments

We spent weeks, months, selecting a kitchen counter top.

I looked online at Countertops 101; I looked at the big box stores; I read articles about all the different materials we could use for our countertop — the pros and cons of each. While I was considering this, Consumer Reports came out with a timely article on what was the best, and I read the article five times. I even took a quiz — what kind of countertop should YOU have in your kitchen?

I’m not sure that this is normal…

Soapstone was my pick early on — I just needed to convince Mr. H. C. of its amazing and beautiful qualities. There’s nothing like a firsthand look at the gorgeous stuff, so last fall we visited Bucks County Soapstone in Perkasie, PA.

Bucks County Soapstone

Everything in their showroom highlights soapstone — even the floor at the entrance is soapstone tile.

Perhaps you would like one of these cute little basin sinks?

Or a wonderful soapstone laundry tub?

Mr. H. C. fell in love. And once we saw their hand crafted sinks we knew we were going to give away our already purchased $30 ivory porcelain sink and buy one of these:

Well, maybe not quite that fancy…but I suggest that a visit here — and a short talk with the owner, Scott Seuren — will convince you of the beauty of a soapstone countertop and sink. Just sayin’…

Road Trip

From the time they received our plans to when it was ready for pickup was three weeks. I had this week off from work, so we planned a road trip across Pennsylvania.

We left Henry looking out the window — six hours in the truck was almost too much for us, let alone Henry, whose vehicular limit seems to be about 60 minutes.

Truthfully, it was a long boring ride across the PA turnpike. The landscape is still brown and ugly from winter and the road went on and on…

We perked up when we landed at our B&B — The Fox and Hound. The innkeepers were perky, the room was nice, and the breakfast was good — all for a hundred bucks — which is about what you would pay for an impersonal, adequate hotel room. We try to stay in B&Bs whenever we can.

Bucks County is beautiful and certainly deserves another trip — or a vacation even — in warmer weather. The little town of New Hope is charming, but by the time we got out on the town on a Tuesday evening, all the little touristy shoppes were closed (which was a good thing for the budget). So we made do with $3 stouts, and burgers and pork tacos at the local brew pub, the Triumph Brewery. Just what truck-weary travelers needed.

The next morning we were at Bucks County Soapstone by 10:15. I wandered around the showroom, snapping photos, and talking to Scott, while Mr. H. C. hung around with the guys in the shop finding out tips for installation and loading the truck.

The guys in the shop built this handy dandy A-frame so we could safely haul our precious cargo.

No road trip is complete without lunch at the local diner, and we found a great one!

The owner made Mr. H. C. a double chocolate milk shake and he was in Milkshake Heaven! With a Delicious Reuben sandwich, he was so full, he left his pickle uneaten. I was astonished. He NEVER leaves a pickle! “There are priorities,” he said. (Long ago when Mr. H. C. was called Mikey, he was also known as the fastest milkshake drinker in the East…)

Aren’t you excited to see photos of the finished product? So are we, but that will have to wait. In the meantime, here are the top ten reasons you would want to buy a soapstone countertop:

Top Ten Reasons to Buy Soapstone

10. It is a naturally occurring material with minimal processing and as little or as much upkeep as you want.

9. Do you want natural gray? Do you want polished black? You can have either. And you can even change your mind.

8. It is very DIY friendly — unlike every other countertop material out there (with the possible exception of tile–but Mr. H.C. said absolutely no tile countertops.)

7. It scratches easily, yes; BUT the scratches can just be sanded out using regular 150 grit sandpaper and a circular motion.

6. It lasts for years and years and years.

5. Most soapstone dealers are smaller, family or individually run places, so you aren’t supporting the Big Box stores. Given this factor, you get personal attention.

4. The stone is heat absorbent — you can set your hot pans right on it; as well as rolling out pastries and kneading bread and generally being a substitute for marble…

3. It is naturally anti-bacterial.

2. There is NO chance of radiation or radon entering your home with soapstone.

1. It is so beautiful!

I promise pictures in the next post…

36. Befores and afters

November 27, 2012January 20, 2016 / Apple Hill Cottage / 9 Comments

We’ve been working nonstop here at the cottage, but sometimes, like life, the actual progress goes in fits and starts. Working on the windows is slow going; we are 3/4 of the way finished, and it seems we’ve been scraping/sanding/repairing/priming/painting them forever. And we’ve been working on the outside of the house (it is a Whole House after all, not just a kitchen…) to protect it from winter. So the BIG kitchen stuff — like walls and floors and doors — has been proceeding on hold. (I had to say that; it’s one of Mr. H.C.’s favorite sayings.) Hence this post is more for me than you. It’s to reassure me

that work IS being done;

that we ARE progressing;

and that we WILL get to the end of this kitchen project.

To that end, here are some before and after pictures:

The front entrance Before — one of 5 pairs of sliding glass doors…(We’re down to 3!

The front entrance After — at the end of the weekend and the sun is setting, but it’s in place!

It took weeks, but those cabinets did get sanded, and their hardware put in place:

One of a whole pile of UGLY kitchen cabinets Before

…and the same cabinet After

Very few doors in the cottage are staying the same:

This was the old door going down to the pantry. This photo doesn’t show that it was actually sawed in half! A homemade Dutch door…

And this is the new door After. It cost $30 at the Restore in Washington. It is primed, but still awaiting the right color of green. (Then the yellow tape will come off as well.)

This cupboard was the one item in the kitchen that I could easily picture as beautiful before it was redone:

The built-in cupboard Before…

And my favorite, the cupboard After with its beautiful paint, new hardware, and new-old wooden top.

And if you squint your eyes just right, you can almost picture the kitchen as it will be someday:

I titled this photo Lovely Kitchen 2 B. (If you look closely, you’ll see the After result of the orange schoolhouse light in one of the earlier photos. We kept the pull chain, though)

Well, I don’t know about you, but after seeing these photos, I feel better! Onward…