Haven to be on Kitchen Tour

Harry and I are honored to have been asked to put our house on the local Kitchen and Garden tour this spring. A local photography duo, GiammarinoDworkin Photography and Styling came by on Tuesday to take some shots for the publicity. They generously give of their time to the Fan's Woman's club and were kind enough to forward some of the shots to me. Now that the kitchen is complete and I have some decent shots, I can give you the complete tour.

Above is a shot taken toward the east. Lovely morning light comes in and floods the sink area while I make coffee for Harry and myself. The dishwasher is hidden behind a panel to the right of the sink. It is a Bosch and is so so quiet. To the left of the sink is a double trash bin, again hidden behind a panel.

The counter tops are Carrera marble, honed. This choice was made despite several warnings but I just love the way it looks. It is not for the faint of heart, though - it is showing some wear and tear already.
Here is the "before" shot facing in the same direction. The configuration of the kitchen pretty much remains the same - sink, range and dishwasher are in the same locations. We added a window in the northeast corner to add light and for balance. The wall to the right was removed.
The shot above is taken facing north toward the back yard. The range is a duel fuel Wolf and I have gotten used to the convection feature. On either side of the range are drawers - so much easier to use than cabinets! The island is made out of alder to coordinate with my Welsh dresser.
I purchased this Welsh dresser at Urban Country in Bethesda years ago for the Living Room in northern Virginia mainly for books. When we moved to Haven I made finding a place for this in the kitchen a priority. Now it is home to my Portmerion collection and hides all other bits that I need at my fingertips. The table is a gate leg that was the first antique that Harry and I purchased together in Seattle at an antique shop right at the ferry landing. The set of eight chairs were purchased at a flea market at the Meadows race track south of Pittsburgh many moons ago. The chandelier has followed us around since we lived in Alexandria, Virginia - it has sentimental attachment and helped to set the color palette for the other light fixtures in the room and the wall tile behind the range.
And speaking of wall tiles, they are glass subway tiles, purchased from my brother-in-law's company, Villi USA. In the original kitchen, to the right of the refrigerator was a powder room/laundry room.
The door above led into that space. All of that was removed (laundry moved upstairs and powder room moved to under front stairs) to open up the space and eliminate bathroom activity right next to the eating area. Here is a "before" shot of the wall where the back stairs are. That gas heater was a sign that things were probably pretty chilly back in this part of the house. Luckily, with insulation and our new heating system, we are always comfortable. That light fixture mysteriously disappeared before closing - it was supposed to convey. I was sure I could make a bundle on ebay. Now that wall houses a double row of shallow shelving where I keep all the kitchen staples and dog paraphenalia. The back stair railing was changed to open it up more to the room.

Here is a shot taken toward the family room.

The original heart pine floors could not be salvaged from under layers of asbestos and carpet. I've blogged about that here and here.

And lastly credit and thanks go to the awesome team at Reveal Build, LLC for helping me to design and build the kitchen and family room of our dreams. They were in my house every day for about 5 months and they and all of their subs were extremely hard working, professional and fun to be around. I miss having them here. Strange, I know--but true.

The kitchen and garden tour is in May. I'll send further information about it as time nears. In the meantime I have a lot to do to get ready. The foyer and upstairs hallways and stair case have yet to be painted. I counted the pickets the other day - 77. We're expecting snow this weekend so I'll have a project to keep me busy. The back yard has great bones but needs a spruce up. I love a project and having a deadline.
This shot was taken from my office window last April. It is truly a haven and I'm so lucky to be the current caretaker.