Kim's Hutch

Thursday was a good day for an hour's drive over the ridges and along the rivers to my sister's home. A perfect day above and not so great below. It had, in fact, snowed at her place. No snow at mine. 

As I entered Kim's kitchen, the heavenly aroma of banana bread greeted me. Two loaves were cooling on the rack and soon the aroma of coffee also filled the air. The fire was crackling and hot and I sank into one of those chairs beside it. A fireplace in the kitchen is a tremendously pleasant thing. I am officially jealous.

We chatted along for a good hour before we ever turned our thoughts to the dining room. When we did, it was to unpack dishes that Kim hadn't seen for nearly ten years. That was fun. She found a few that are heading for her daughter's home and a few more that are headed for Goodwill. 

Thank goodness for dishwashers. Kim used hers even though some of the dishes were vintage stemware. She used the gentle cycle and none were lost. She did not wash anything with gold or handpainting.

Then we cleaned the hutch itself more thoroughly. It has been in storage for a while and needed the attention.

Soon, we had it gleaming and ready for some decorating. Course by that time, weary of our labors, we turned our attention to some tv while we took a break. An hour of that and we were hungry and took off for a late lunch at Olive Garden in Augusta. 

Oh I want to show you a close-up of the wallpaper because it has much more color interest than I first supposed.

Gosh I hope that you weren't expecting the final reveal. We didn't get much further than this...

Looking in from the living room...love that Penobscot Wall where reclaimed wood was used for the wall application. The wood doesn't rot because of the low level of oxidization while the logs were submerged for over a hundred years. Do you have wood reclaiming industries in your corner? You can't go wrong to purchase some of that wood for decor purposes, though it is certainly pricey. What I love about this is that the hutch blends in perfectly with the overall look of what is going on. The table set doesn't match, but that doesn't matter with all the wood tones going on.

That's a wrap for now. If Kim sends me a photo of the finished styling, I'll share. She's still looking for the rest of her dishes somewhere in the basement. I hope that she finds them because, until then, I've got nothing. Blog fodder is becoming so rare around here. 

A blessed and happy weekend to you!