One Room Challenge {Guest}: Carriage House Kitchen - Week 2

Week 2 already!  For those of you new to HGL, I'm participating in the One Room Challenge and recreating the kitchen of my historic carriage house in Newport, Rhode Island. If you've been following HGL on Instagram (@seasaltinterieurs) you'll know we're making progress!

Here's the plan:

• Remove upper cabinets
• Eliminate bulky beam, bad boxing, and moulding along back wall - replace with steel supporting brackets, low-profile box, and add new moulding around top of french door
• Swap multi-colored granite countertops for classic, honed carrara
  
• Run glossy white subway tile / white grout backsplash from counter to ceiling
  
• Add open shelving with wood brackets + under-mount LED lighting
  
• Remove beadboard from lower cabinets, add new shaker fronts + porcelain knobs
• Recycle fat, deep fridge - replace with new 24" bottom freezer model (ice maker!)
• Build 2 new pantry cabinets on either side of fridge
  
• Source 1 comfortable new bar stool
• Keep dual-fuel range, install new black door fronts
• Add sleek new microwave drawer to island, eliminate island bar at front to improve flow
• Pull farmhouse sink a bit forward, adjust plumbing, add new bridge faucet + ultra-quiet disposal
• Add new space for cocktail & coffee creation with open shelving, new wine fridge + storage
• Ditch 3 ugly pendants over island in favor of a single industrial fixture
• Paint everything white
• Hardwoods & hood remain as-is

Quick reminder of how everything looked when I purchased the carriage house in August,

and progress to date:

initial demo of kitchen, including built-ins/soffit to left, wrought iron railing/beadboard above

demo of back wall, weird beam revealed under ugly boxing

fussy beadboard fronts gone, beam replaced with steel brackets, new plywood base ready for tile

borrowed existing, too-skinny cabinet for new cocktail zone; building wider cabinet to replace

new twin pantries will surround new counter-depth fridge

new wider cabinet installed just right of the range, electrical work for under-mount lighting complete

new brackets installed and, together with cabinets, ready for matte lacquer (6-layer process!)

Fingers crossed marble and tile will be installed next week.  Big question remaining - will the new lacquered cabinet fronts be completed as well?

Stay tuned.

Going Dutch

Everyone loves a dutch door.  Everyone.

But they do complicate matters, especially in cold climes like New England.  There's hardware confusion, heat loss, style decisions, installation issues - the list goes on.  But despite everything, their charm is undeniable.

My house came with 2 dutch doors - at the front and (somewhat inexplicably) off a bedroom - both saddled with horribly ugly storms.  Unfortunately, the front door had been badly installed and poorly made.  It was a mess of mismatched hardware and hot glue (?), draped with an unremarkable textile and requiring asap replacement.  But where to go from here?

These - a bit like mine with lights - appear to be very popular (notice all the lovely hardware - not at all like mine)

 

And no lights, lovely too...

 

Decisions, decisions.

One Room Challenge {Guest}: Carriage House Kitchen - Week 1

If this is your 1st visit to HGL, welcome!  I started blogging in 2008, and HOLLY GOES LIGHTLY survived loads of change in my life - much backing and forthing over the Atlantic and upping and downing of the east coast.  But during that time, I became more and more enamored of the immediacy of Instagram (@seasaltinterieurs) and other forms of social media.  HOLLY GOES LIGHTLY went on sabbatical.

Recently, though, I bought a 19th c. carriage house in Newport, Rhode Island, that needed some work to make it my own.  Wanting a means to document the changes, I remembered my old blog. Today's kick-off of the Fall 2016 One Room Challenge (ORC) was just the push I needed to bring it back. (In case you're unfamiliar, ORC is the biannual design-fest / brainchild of Linda from Calling it Home that challenges design junkies to make over a space in 6 weeks.)

For my first go, I've decided on the kitchen.  The before is just below - exactly as it looked when i first viewed it with my r/e agent.  Perfectly respectable and a decent layout, but definitely not living up to its full potential.

{photo courtesy of Sotheby's International - Gustave White}

{photo courtesy of Sotheby's International - Gustave White}

 And after the initial demo day...

 

Over the next six weeks, I'll tweak various aspects to create a lighter, brighter, more open space.  My new kitchen will (hopefully) optimize the existing footprint, better reflect the historic aspects of the carriage house, and blend more coherently with the adjoining living areas.  Wish me luck!

Whaling City Cottage

A quick note of thanks to the amazing Erin over at Whaling City Cottage for featuring my newest endeavor, seasalt interieurs, on her fabulous blog.

 

{photos courtesy of Whaling City Cottage}

Our shop features a curated blend of antique and vintage pieces from England, France & America, custom overstuffed pillows sewn from vintage textiles & French ticking, hand-painted work from Mary Maguire and Margot Lar, plus a select group of wonderful items from Faribault, Found My Animal, Hedgehouse, Kolene Spicher, Tinsel Trading, & Thomas Paul, among others.

We're now open at 35 Franklin Street in Newport, Rhode Island, and have a large space at Armory Antique Markeplace at 365 Thames Street as well.  If you're on the island, we'd love to see you!

hunting & gathering

Brought home wonderful finds today ~ all eventually will appear shortly after at The Armory.  Here's the first 3, unpacked and tidied up...  a set of 10 perfect 1920's French champagne coupes, a wonderful book on the people who forged the way West, and a pair of simple ceramic flower frogs with beautiful hand-painted detail. So much more to come.

#fridayfind

G. S. Sprague & Co., Boston, Massachusetts, was an esteemed supplier to New England outdoorsmen at the turn of the century.  The shop was located (according to a mention in the November 1921 issue of Outing Magazine) at 138 Federal Street.  Crafted in the United States of rawhide, leather, and ash (and originally purveyed by Sprague & Co. in the early 20th c.), this pair of snowshoes is an enduring piece of Americana and tribute to New England's outdoor sporting tradition.

happy christmas

#fridayfind

Amazing vintage pond boat from Newport, Rhode Island estate, in as-found condition with original paint, mast & beam. 

Christmas in Newport

 

If you've been spending the last few weekends laying by the fire watching football, wrapping presents & drinking eggnog lattes / whiskey sours until afternoon nap-time, this is a a much needed wake up call to put on your boots and enjoy the ridiculously full calendar that is Christmas in Newport. Strolling carolers, candlelit house tours, Nutcracker in a Mansion, Craft Fairs, and the only Messiah I'm aware of followed by a "festive Wassail Bowl reception" are all yours for the taking.

So get out there - only 7 shopping days left!

Smitten

One mitten for two hands, they come in awfully handy when walking down a snowy lane.  Hand-knit in red, hot pink, or charcoal, a wonderful gift for your favorite pair.

old beach journal

OBJ is a sassy little publication that keeps chic natives & tourists alike up-to-date on the most witty happenings and clever retailers in town. Grab one at the Clarke Cooke House and give it a read over cocktails. We think you'll like.

simple holiday chic

Enough said.

seasalt @ The Armory

Stop by seasalt interieurs @ Armory Antique Marketplace this weekend for some holiday cheer.  Find wonderful items to feather your nest or put under the tree - we're open late with live music Friday through Sunday.