After 13 years, I'm amazed at the popularity of my vintage refrigerator project.
https://diligentdwarves.blogspot.com/2011/10/2011-samsung-fridge-becomes-1930s.html
The first comment (in 2011) was asking about the kitchen restoration. Well, while the restoration of the kitchen was delayed, it was completed a few years ago, but I never seemed to get around to posting about it.
I use Corel Draw for my 2D drawings, so the first step was designing the new kitchen based on dimensions and research I had done on Arts & Crafts kitchens. The house has a simple galley kitchen, with a step down (about 8") to a "nook" where the refrigerator is. So the design was the north wall and south wall.
As I said in my earlier post, the house had been decorated in "1980's Home Depot" style.
So the first task was gutting the kitchen.
I normally would have done this myself, but I thought I should hire a contractor with experience doing such things....... well...without going into details, I was shocked at the errors and mis-judgements the "pros" made.
I learned quickly, to double check their work at the end of the day.
One example: The new window framing, was proud of the interior drywall, by 3/4 of an inch....only on one corner. In the morning, I pointed this out to the contractor, and he just rubbed his head, and said, well we will fix that. I said, I have a sawzall, let me just cut the nails, and we can flush it up, and re-nail it now. 20 minutes later is was as it should be.
Another issue was the built in fume hood. I calculated all the to-be-added surfaces and the off-set to account for the narrow under counter cabinet, to insure the hood would be centered on the stove and tile back splash. As I was marking this out on the wall, the contractor said, "These guys are pros, they can figure that out." That evening, after they framed out the hood, I check the measurements. It was an inch and a half off.
In the morning they ripped it out and built it again in the correct spot.
I have a cabinet maker in the same complex as my shop, so I gave him my plans and he made all my custom cabinets.
The one thing I consistently noted in 1920's kitchen was a "Hoosier cabinet".
These were a specialized baking cabinet with flour storage, baking rack storage and a pull out enameled steel work surface for preparing bread dough. So I left a space at the end of the kitchen, for a custom designed one, with specific dimensions to use as an "appliance garage".
Here is the final kitchen. Without the Hoosier cabinet.
The custom Hoosier cabinet with a under counter refrigerator, magnetic knife storage, and a vintage 1920's paper towel holder. I made more "ice-box" doors for a Perlick mini-fridge.
The top box of our Hoosier cabinet was made deeper than normal, so it could work as an appliance garage to hide the modern appliances.
Another custom designed feature is a set of wood and plastic cutting boards, stored under the pull out work surface.
My wife makes ginger bread houses every Christmas, so I made the pull-out work surface of the Hoosier in imitation stone, instead of the more traditional enameled steel.
Unlike the main refrigerator, with its individual applied doors and hardware, the "doors" on this, are a one piece cover, made in vacuum-formed 1/8" white ABS plastic, attached to the Perlick stainless door with VHB tape.
For the stove we decided on an Ilve , an Italian brand. It had a period look and is a very high quality unit with gas burners and an electric oven.
Like the other custom elements in the kitchen, I made a custom galvanized steel jar rack, to make better use of the small space to the left of the stove. We fitted it with bale wire glass jars for which I made custom period looking labels.
The narrow cabinet below, is a pull out spice rack.
Above the stove, I went with a built in fume hood, with a large remote commercial extraction fan to minimize the noise, while still getting good air flow.
The counters are solid wood, which I finished with a polyurethane satin clear. I used this same finish on the laundry area counters and after 17 years, they still look as good as new.
I also set up the lighting with period style main ceiling fixtures, and independently dimmable cabinet LED's and under cabinet LED strips.
I didn't want modern GFI plugs on the wall, and my electrician was not happy about installing older, more period style plugs, so I found a low profile GFI power strip which we installed under the upper cabinets. It also had USB power outlets.
The main fridge now ties in nicely with the kitchen.
