Finished Kitchen in Rare Form
Jul 2nd, 2008 by Marilyn
It took a year to build the house and a little extra to finish this, but much like Neutrogena, the kitchen certainly got an energizing boost from copper.
The range hood and bar counter were made by a local metal artist who does incredible work. For him the actual fabrication was child’s play - dealing with people rabidly ready to finish a house was another matter.
We used copper for its traditional restaurant feel, its durability and ease of maintenance - as in, I won’t clean the hood unless it’s covered in bio-hazard. And if that happens, I’ll have fled the house anyway.
We emphatically said no to a chemically enhanced patina, but now we’re impatient to dull the mirror finish. I’m just going to import a bunch of elderly French cafe dwellers to smoke, drink and age the thing.
Ron the Metal Artist said that every time you touch copper you create patina - and since we’re not so big on shiny, there was a lot of palming and rubbing after that. He also mentioned we could alter the texture ourselves with all kinds of tools - swell idea, Ron! Now you can pretty regularly drive by and see three nutjobs attacking a range hood with, respectively, a whisk, a lemon zester and a Scotch Brite.
Why is the finished kitchen in rare form?
Well, everything had been cleared out for the installation, and the photos were taken right after that. It’s rare to see nothing in the kitchen - no peaches rolling off the counter, no dog treats in the corner, not even a blue teapot on the stove. All I left out was the holy trinity of two rolling pins and Bluey, my long German knife.
My friend Joel is always accusing me of Martha-ing up by not showing the uglies, but…wait a minute…
There. You’ve got my cell phone cord in this one. Would Martha show you that?
I am in love with the copper! What a great look.
PS: I found your blog when you interviewed April. Which by the way was hysterical.
Ooooh, beautiful kitchen! I love the combination of textures and materials. And it will be fun to watch the copper age over time — you can always stop the process with a fixative when and if it gets to a stage you like. Here’s wishing you many happy years of cooking in this space!
I love the copper! We’ve been seriously thinking about a copper backsplash for our kitchen… it looks so nice.
Beautiful!
Love the copper and you’re way better than Martha!
ALL of my pictures have uglies (cords, scraps of paper, etc.). It’s part of my charm.
I am in love with the copper. It’s gorgeous!!!
Ooohh…bright and shiny. Love it!
I’m liking the copper, too. And hey, if *I* had a copper countertop, I could have taken a picture of the slug without it crawling off the newspaper.
(thinks a minute) You know, now I am *totally* going to bring that up when we get to the kitchen remodel. We’ll be sitting with the… architect? contractor? whoever we hire for the planning stuff, and we’ll be discussion the options for countertops, and when we get to the good and bad features of copper I’ll say “And if we had copper, I could take pictures of slugs more easily!”
Ooookay, yeah, easily amused here. And now I’m envisioning archicontrawhoevers asking up front “Do you blog? Because I charge extra to deal with housebloggers.”
Or maybe just certain housebloggers. (Though my houseblogger cred is probably kind of sagging now, since I’ve devolved into a duck-n-gardenblogger these days. MUST PAINT THE HOUSE.)
Love the copper counter!
If we were to have copper counters somehow, someway it would come in contact with an electrical current and become one huge electrical conductor and shock the @$^#*! out of me, out of the blue, with out warning, before coffee one morning and my hair would really stand on end and smoke would come out of my ears. I know it would because I have luck like that.
oh, girlie, it’s beautiful!! i’m speechless–such a great idea!
and every 6 months or so you’ll have to take pictures as the patina progresses so we can see.
I absolutely love this. My Dad did this at his restaurant and it looks so good (ok better) beat to crap. Enjoy!
whoa, that’s gorgeous
Jean (Jean 1) - welcome and thanks! Glad to have you.
Lydia - Thanks! We’re going to age right along with the copper, and eat a lot of good meals along the way.
Jennifer - Hello! We considered a similar backsplash but put the copper elsewhere. I’ll watch to see what you do!
Carol - Thank you!
Linda - Thanks! Way messier than Martha, that’s for sure.
Jeanmartha (Reno) - Glad you like it. And you make uglies look good.
Joanne - Thanks, dear! Shiny pretty.
Karen- Many thanks! I’ll look for your slug-killing copper.
Jenni - You absolutely slay me. Hope copper never slays you!
Natalie - Thanks! I’ll post updates as we beat it up.
Hallie - Welcome, you! Everyone should go read Holy Hudson for funny house talk and to see Bernie, the hot and adorable pug. Glad to hear another vote for beat-up copper.
Modernemama - Shall we mix martinis on the new bar?
Wow! I am so jealous. That kitchen looks awesome. The Jayhawk sign is a nice touch.
What a beautiful space, very well done. Functional and beautiful. Where do you look for your design inspirations?
What a beautiful cook’s kitchen. Love the copper, love the marble on the island, love the gas range and the farmhouse sink. Oh, and love everything that comes out of that kitchen too
OMG, OMG I love it! The copper is a fabulous touch. We had discussed doing that on our island- but dismissed the idea. Foolish us. It is awesome. The rest of the kitchen is swoon-worthy, too.
Wowza! What a gorgeous kitchen! It looks like there will be some serious cooking going on here. You’ll have to do something about that unsightly cell phone cord, though.
You are so funny–you had me cracking up at the image of the French cafe dwellers and the “three nutjobs” getting that patina going.
Happy 4th! -Julia
Susan - I agree, the old metal sign’s a beauty and is from a long-ago Topeka hotel. We have Jayhawk things everywhere.
Namita - I like a kitchen to feel nearly restaurant-functional, at any size. I like room for speed, durable surfaces, lots of texture and pretending I live in Paris. I also prefer old things - a new kitchen was a challenge!
Wanderluster, thanks! I especially love my sink. It’s such a workhorse, it deserves its own post.
London Calling - you’ve got impeccable kitchen instincts - can’t wait to see that new-old stove of yours!
Julia - thank you! I will remove that phone cord immediately.
LOVE the copper! It’s really beautiful. Now you need to mess it up so you have the cool stories that go along with scuffs and rings on a countertop. Your kitchen is gorgeous!
Marilyn,
I am very jealous of your stove. I miss cooking on gas soooooo much and my pots and pans are too big for the burners on my cooktop. It sucks.
The copper is lovely and such a great element to add to a new/old kitchen.
Now, how about some grease splatters, dog hair and water spots? That would make for a ‘real’ picture.
Jayne & April - thanks both of you! Maybe I’ll just let the dog jump up there and run across it with muddy paws soon. Or not.