The Historic District

you might check the distance from the floor to that strip that should go right under the sill. It is present on one woindow and you are drywalling where the other goes.

think of your backsplash, is there room for that piece? in my kitchen I put it back. It did not leave a lot of room above the counter top for a back splash but I decided as long as I have a small strip like even a small dimension quarter round to stop any water from spilling behind the counter , maybe a back splash isn't really a necessary item. it seems to be a trending feature in new kitchens to put those ones with little blocks of glass or some sort of tile but that's more for decoration. another simple way is just a strip of formica along the wall.

my opinion is the wood looks nice, but in some cases you may find it harder to wipe behind the kitchen taps if that's where they go. extending my counter-top gave me more room behind the taps and in front of the window. Some may depend on the type of sink you choose.

Quarantine diary: Day 70

Happy to report everyone here is healthy and otherwise okay.

Thought I'd post an update on the progress. I just passed the three-year mark from when I purchased the house last month. Looking more and more like a summer move-in! I just finished up the Vitrolite glass backsplash and countertop and now we're futzing with the sink cabinet. It's a circa late 1930s-early 1940s Murphy Cabranette (NOS, refrigerator bottom left, compressor bottom right, under-sink on the top right, and enamel-coated cast iron drainboard top). I couldn't find the original sink brackets but managed to source a pair on amazon from a company that makes universal iron brackets for this very application. So far, so good--knock on wood. Getting the cabinet just right before mounting the sink is challenging. Lots of heavy lifting and shimming.

I'm including a couple "as-bought" and "in-progress" photos of the kitchen. It's a pretty dramatic change and I have to say, I'm pretty thrilled. The greens are bold but I think it's just right since the walls are a more subdued butter yellow, floors are natural, and woodwork is chestnut. It was the fun pop of period color I was looking for.

Right now, I'm trying to source washers and nuts for the faucet. Hoping to update with photos of the stove and sink set soon--pray for me!

Hope everyone is well!

**BONUS: Scored that huge cabinet free on marketplace. I believe it may have been a humidor cabinet since it was tin lined but I'm not sure. Having a piece of beveled glass made and will use it in my basement for extra storage. Ober also scored a big work cabinet and lower workbench--both are over 100-years-old!

Matt, it's smashing! No wonder you're thrilled. I hope to see it in person someday.

Matt, once again great work, that vitrolite will be the envy of the mid century owners. Were did you find it? How easy is it to work with, do you treat it as glass when cutting? The combination sink fridge, I don’t recall you mentioning that before. Nice it was brought back to life.

Manalto wrote:Matt, it's smashing! No wonder you're thrilled. I hope to see it in person someday.

Thanks, James--hope you can stop by one day this summer!

Gothichome wrote:Matt, once again great work, that Vitrolite will be the envy of the mid-century owners. Where did you find it? How easy is it to work with, do you treat it as glass when cutting? The combination sink fridge, I don’t recall you mentioning that before. Nice, it was brought back to life.

Thanks! So, the kitchen was essentially devoid of anything and everything that would have been there. It was your classic working-class 20s kitchen in the sense that it had no built-in cabinetry, no original appliances, flooring, finishes, etc. Along with the bathroom, it is a space that allowed for some creative interpretation (a term I just learned from the Old House Journal webinar I attended, virtually, last week). I knew from the get-go that I was not going to adhere strictly to the 1920s. I wanted it to be a mix of 1920s through WW2--just prior to Midcentury. Gothic, Vitrolite was conceived back in the 19-teens but became very prominent in the 30s. The Jade green color field tiles are part of their original color line. I'm not certain when the Tropic Green (stripe) color came into existence. Check out this cool link: https://www.decopix.com/the-vitrolite-story/

Between the appliances (sink-c1939, stove-1947, current main fridge-1946) and finishes, it will fit nicely into that timeframe. Don't get me wrong, I love Midcentury, but I was aiming for the evolution to end just before. Ross at the Cross House interestingly discussed the time period between Deco and Midcentury on his lighting page. I think he refers to it as WW2 or post-WW2. Of course, there's always some overlap and inspiration that influences the next period, right?

I actually scored the sink/cabinet along with matching storage cabinets. A long, two-door broom closet, shorter two-door over-fridge two-door cabinet, a tiny stove (whose scale would have been right for my space but whose functionality would not work for my huge family), and a larger two-door cabinet (pics below). A HUGE local antique store lost its lease and had a really great sale before they moved. It was one of those stores that was PILED high with stuff. As things sold other things emerged that had been buried. According to the long-time owner, he got the set at an estate cleanout of a man who sold these kitchen sets. It was wrapped in blankets in the garage--unused. All the porcelain is virtually unscathed and lustrous--a miracle. I scored it back in November and it had been sitting in the middle of the main room over since.

re: the Vitrolite, I found it listed in a craigslist ad in Peekskill, NY. The guy was nice but a shrewd negotiator. We both knew what he had. It was salvaged out of a late 1920s house in MA. I cut it on a wet saw. It cut pretty easily with very minimal loss. I bought much more than I needed (which I didn't necessarily realize) and have happily stored the rest under my basement stairs. I also have lots of ivory-colored tiles, too. Not sure if I'll sell or just squirrel away for emergency replacements. I used mastic that is formulated for glass mosaic tile. I putzed around lots of tile forums and many suggested treating it like glass tiles. It's a bit heavy, but I think it should be fine (famous last words) I also used an online merchant called Grout360 to get a perfect color match based on the residual on the tiles before I cleaned them. $50 got me 5lbs shipped from GA to NJ--and it arrived in three days!

Wow, that was a lot--I feel like Phil! Hopefully, this generates some conversation

Matt, I am quite envious. Wonderous finds!

The bit about, "The guy was nice but a shrewd negotiator. We both knew what he had." That put a broad grin on my face, imaging the exchange.

Thanks for the updates. It's really coming together.

Matt, something I really like about your description is the concept of a cut-off, i.e., a date after which you try not to include objects in your house that would be in violation. One of these days I'm going to start a thread asking people to share their philosophies of interior decoration. I think it would be a helpful exchange of ideas.

Manalto wrote:Matt, something I really like about your description is the concept of a cut-off, i.e., a date after which you try not to include objects in your house that would be in violation. One of these days I'm going to start a thread asking people to share their philosophies of interior decoration. I think it would be a helpful exchange of ideas.

I look forward to that thread. We have our own notion about time periods for various rooms here with Beebe. Should be a fun thread!

2020 has certainly redefined "home for the holidays."

Your holly day decor looks lovely!

Meanwhile, I was lucky to drag out the decorations from storage today and wonder where the wreath we usually hang in the middle window upstairs got off to...