Metamorphosis Monday - Sprinkles, Jimmies and other Confections

Since we're having such a rainy fall I decided to get a jump on my closet organizing which I usually do in the dead of winter.

When we were remodeling the basement many times we had to build soffits or closets to hide heat ducts and other unsightly necessities. And right at the bottom of our basement stairs we had a heat duct and some electrical cable connections that needed to disappear so I had the closet built with double doors and very deep, wide shelves. The closet was one of the last things built which means I was construction weary, facing surgery and to make things even more hectic I was called for jury duty! So when the shelves were finally installed I just piled stuff in with no organization at all. And what starts out with no organization just gets worse...and worse...and worse.

In half the closet I keep light bulbs, candles, lanterns and flashlights and this side is actually pretty well organized. But the other half of the closet is where I keep all my confections for cookies and cupcakes, infrequently used small appliances, candy making equipment and large tupperware-like containers for storage and it was a horrible mess.

I mean really look at these shelves!







So I totally emptied the confection/baking side of the closet and put it all in the middle of the basement floor.






I know I have a lot of confections but I do bake quite a bit and I love to sprinkle. So I organized all the confections, sanding sugars, nonpareils and jimmies per holiday or season and then by color.

This is about half of my stash of confections. It was nice to organize them because now I know I'm low on 4th of July and St. Patrick's Day sprinkles and almost completely out of orange jimmies!

Sugar Confections will fade if exposed to light. So make sure to store them in a dark closet or in a lidded box.








I'm going to blame my bulk store for feeding my obsession because they have the most wonderful assortment of decorations for every season and holiday imaginable. There's easily 100+ bins of different colored sugars and decorations.







After I organized all the confections, it really did not take me long at all to put the closet in order. And look at all the room I have!






I feel so much better now!


Next on the list is the other large basement closet which now contains all our wine and my hiking gear plus all the dogs hiking gear. Should be interesting..LOL!







Metamorphosis Monday is hosted by Between Naps on the Porch. Please visit Susan's site and you'll find some fabulous ideas freely shared by many gracious and highly creative people.



All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

Metamorphosis Monday - Kitchen Details Part 2

Over the past two weeks for Metamorphosis Monday I've posted the construction of my kitchen and last week Kitchen Details Part 1. And this week is my final post on my Kitchen...whew! When I look back at all the work that was done, no wonder I'm still sleeping in every morning!


I know I've had several questions on the material I used for my kitchen ceiling and I'm happy to announce I FOUND IT! After going through all our receipts for 2007 and coming up empty handed I started calling my suppliers and thankfully Greg at Alexander Lumber tracked down the ceiling material!!!! Please click on Moulding and Millwork Catalog and scroll down to Page 43, under Wainscot, M&M# 5834M; 5/8"by3"by16' Ultralite.


Although I have a Recipe Program, Home Cookin, I have many cookbooks and handwritten recipe files. So I needed bookshelves and some kind of cabinet space for all my files. Since I have three large breed dogs that shed, open lower shelves were out to the question. Can you imagine the dust and dog hair problem I'd have with low, open shelves!

So I designed 2 cabinets with bookshelves and to keep the books upright and neat I also had fixed wooden book dividers custom made to support the books. All my handwritten recipes files store neatly in the lower cabinet with doors.

I love to listen to the radio when I'm in the kitchen so I have a narrow, fixed top shelf for my radio which has a remote.








I also had a TV cabinet installed above the double ovens. My husband did not want a TV in the kitchen but actually he uses it more then I do!






The Communication center also have bookshelves and landline phone. Lower storage is for phone books and other odds and ends. I had electrical outlets installed in the lower cabinet so I could charge my cell phone and label maker inside the cabinet and this solves the draped electrical cords. Finally, all my recharging can be done out of sight!





In the drawer you can see my cell phone recharging.








We did need an outlet for the landline cordless phone and my electrician installed an Leviton Out of Sight PowerJack! No more ugly outlet next to the phone! Yea!


The bank of cabinets facing the eating area in the kitchen is narrow but perfect for the liquor cabinet! The end cabinet of drawers is where I keep all my table linens.





Lighting is one of my favorite things to do...LOVE IT! I can never have enough lamps, chandeliers or sconces!

Lighting in a kitchen is extremely important and knowing I was going to be spending hours baking I needed light fixtures that could take, minimum 100w light bulbs. The chandelier over my island has 3-100w bulbs...I love this fixture! And the two pendants over the clean up sink area also take 100w bulbs.









I've always wanted an antler chandelier and since this was probably going to be my last chance at one, I had one installed over my square oak table in the eating area. It is not real antler so the cost was very reasonable and I love it!






Since this was a remodel I did have to contend with existing stairways which was not so much a problem except for the basement stairway. I did not want the entrance to our basement stairs to be in our dining room. So I designed a Butler Pantry which not only gave me much more cabinet space and enclosed the entrance to the basement stairs but allowed me to have a broom closet/pantry too!

The Butler Pantry is where I store all my serving dishes, cake plates, small appliances, dessert dishes and on and on and on. At one end of the Butler Pantry are the basement stairs visible in the first photo. And at the other end is the door to my pantry.
















In the broom closet/pantry I had deep shelves installed for small appliances and my large serving platters. I also have small, narrow shelves for all my home canned goodies. And on two walls I have peg board for all the brooms, dust pans, etc. I also had enough room for the Tub-o-Flour which is on wheels and holds 50 lbs of flour!! Love my flour tub!














When designing my kitchen peninsula with the large, farm sink and the dishwasher I only had room for small cabinets on the ends. I love these small cabinets! One cabinets fits odd shaped baking pans of which I have MANY. And since I have an equal amount of cutting boards, some for serving and some for actual prepping, I can store all the boards together! YEA!

I was not sure just what I was going to use the small cabinet for so did not have dividers installed. But I put small spring rods to divide and support the cutting boards and they are working out very well. I think I saw the spring rod tip on Martha Stewart years ago.





I made some mistakes in my kitchen, most due to my own inexperience and some the fault of my cabinet designer. But what's done is done and there's no changing it now!

Door Spice Rack: First of all it does not save space because in order to accommodate the door spice rack, the cabinet interior shelf is smaller. Plus if the shelf is full of bottles the door is heavy and it does not completely close and we've adjusted it MANY times. I even tried using plastic bottles and the door still does not close properly.





Under Cabinet Lighting: I NEVER use it. I think I've had it on maybe twice in 2 yrs.

Garbage Disposal in Island Prep Sink: Never used.

Canned Ceiling Lighting: I call canned lighting Ceiling Acne! I really don't like canned lighting so chose to get the smaller canned lights which were expensive. Never used.





Pella Windows and Doors: We replaced all our windows with Designer Series Windows, and exterior doors with Pella and we've had nothing but problems. First of all the doors were pre-finished and the finish peeled off within about 2 months and the windows were horribly drafty.

My office in on the east side of our home and in the winter I could feel a steady draft on my back while sitting on at desk. The draft was not coming from the window install but from the actual window. The Pella Representative told me I needed a special mini crowbar to lock the windows because our windows had the old lock design...all 63 new windows had the old lock! An old lock design on new, rather expensive windows??? I could not help it but I just started crying right then and there. Eventually Pella replaced all our window locks with the new lock and I didn't need to use a crowbar to lock the windows any more. But they damaged ever single one of windows during the repairs and I shed more tears.

And to add more problems the screens are not a tight fit leaving a small gab at the bottom. The gap is just big enough for bugs to crawl though and I have wasps flying around my house weekly. We've replaced all the windows and doors in two other homes before this project. We did use Anderson for our other homes and I had no problems what so ever and one of the homes we lived in for 12 more years.

Of course Pella guarantees their products but with window repairs and replacing doors SEVERAL times, it has been a total inconvenience to me. And our heat costs due to the drafty windows were ridiculous. I would never buy anything from Pella again.


Microwave: Advantium
Built-in Oven: GE
Range: Wolf 6-burner, double oven with griddle
Dishwasher: KitchenAid
Faucets: Brand: Perrin & Rowe; Finish: Polished Chrome
Main Sink: Herbeau Luberon
Island Sink: Extra deep copper bought on Ebay
Garbage Disposals: Insinkerator
Refrigerator: Sub-Zero Built-in
Tile: Ceramic 12"
Countertop: Soapstone
Cabinets: Brand: Monarch; Style: Shaker; Stain: Colony; Wood: Hickory


Metamorphosis Monday is hosted by Between Naps on the Porch. Please visit Susan's site and you'll find some fabulous ideas freely shared by many gracious and highly creative people.


Links of Interest:
My Kitchen-The Beginning
Kitchen Details Part 1





All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

Metamorphosis Monday - Kitchen Details Part 1

Last week for Metamorphosis Monday I posted the construction of my kitchen. But the fun part of any kitchen construction is deciding the details. The cabinet hardware, trim, backsplash and all the other little things that bring out the personality of the owner...that's me! And did I have fun or what!

First of all I am not a matchy/matchy person. I've seen people agonize over making sure that the finish of their faucets matches the finish on their cabinet hardware and the finish on their appliances. Well I like to mix it up, including mixing up hardware on the same cabinet!



Larder; A cool area for storing food prior to use. Larders were commonplace in houses before the widespread use of the refrigerator.

I've always wanted a larder in my kitchen. And since I tried to design my kitchen around our Craftsman Architecture, I knew this was the perfect time for a larder!






Here's the hardware on my larder. You see I really did mix it up! I used a fancy brass and wooden Victorian Teardrop pull with a heavy, cast iron pull! I also have a fancy glass knob on the small door which was difficult to photograph.







And here's the hardware on my kitchen cabinets, again totally a mix of this and that and what I liked! All the cabinets and drawers have either a plain square wooden knob or a reproduction cast iron pull.





I wanted a cast iron fireback installed above my range. I love cast iron and I found this wonderful reproduction of an original 17 century pineapple design. The pineapple is a symbol for welcome and hospitality and it is a very important symbol in our family. So to find my fireback and a pineapple at the same time..well I was thrilled. The fireback is the very first thing I bought for my new kitchen and it was finally installed two years later!


Here's Steve installing my Pineapple Fireback.





Since I was trying to design my kitchen to look as old as possible I wanted the backsplash behind the stove to look like a chimney. So I had my mason install rock as the backsplash. I love how the rock looks with the cast iron fireback and the big Wolf.





Here's my Wolf in work mode, I was canning and making dinner at the time and it's the same photo I used for my blog header picture. NOTE: On the right side of the photo you can see my latte which is never far from my reach!








We use our toaster daily but I really do not like looking at small appliances on my countertops and frankly I did not have the room. So I had a special cabinet installed in the island for the toaster. And since the toaster does get hot, it is on a sliding shelf so when we need to use it we just pull out the toaster, toast our bread, let the toaster cool down which just takes a minute and then slide it back into the cabinet and shut the door. I love my toaster cabinet! NOTE: You must have a power source inside the cabinet to plug in the toaster!






We also have a restaurant style Bun Coffee Maker which is tall and required a custom cabinet. Since we have to add the water from the top, I again designed a sliding shelf for the Bun. Just pull out the shelf, pour in the water, close the shelf and viola...it's coffee time!





I have oodles of kitchen towels, every color and design imaginable including designs for each holiday. I swap out my kitchen towel daily and so designed my sink cabinet to have a hook for my kitchen towel.





Here's my main clean up sink for the kitchen. I love having a nice big sink and because it's a little bit lower then a top mount sink, it's so much easier for me to use. I love this sink and my faucet.









If you're wondering about plumbing access for the kitchen cabinet. I designed access from the back of the cabinet and it's hidden inside this row of cabinets which face the kitchen eating area.





In live in an area with very hard water and so for my island sink I wanted something I did not have to worry about iron stains. I found this wonderful, extra deep, heavy copper sink on Ebay for $50! I love this copper sink!









Since I am a baker and bake almost daily I designed a small hanging shelf for my rather large variety of flours. And you can see it is packed with jars of flour. Some of the jars are vintage jars that I've collected over the years.











One of my favorite jars in this old Crisco Jar. I've had this jar forever and I think I picked it up at a garage sale while I was in college. I rarely had a quarter to my name while at school, the jar was probably $.10 at the most.





Here is one of my many blue Mason Jars with a porcelain top. And I bought three of these green jars years ago at a local garage sale, 3@$10. Someone had painted all the tops purple but I sort of like the purple tops!






Another vintage favorite is the old kitchen scale. I did not think I would be able to actually use the scale thinking it would not be true. But I took it to the post office to compare it to the PO scales and it's surprisingly accurate! Cost: $3





Microwave: Advantium
Built-in Oven: GE
Range: Wolf 6-burner, double oven with griddle
Dishwasher: KitchenAid
Faucets: Brand: Perrin & Rowe; Finish: Polished Chrome
Main Sink: Herbeau Luberon
Island Sink: Extra deep copper bought on Ebay
Garbage Disposals: Insinkerator
Refrigerator: Sub-Zero Built-in
Tile: Ceramic 12"
Countertop: Soapstone
Cabinets: Brand: Monarch; Style: Shaker; Stain: Colony; Wood: Hickory


Metamorphosis Monday is hosted by Between Naps on the Porch. Please visit Susan's site and you'll find some fabulous ideas freely shared by many gracious and highly creative people.



I thought I would be able to post my kitchen remodel over two weeks but I think I'm going to have to add a third post for next week. I still have the Butler Pantry, lighting and several custom cabinets to reveal and my list of mistakes I made.

I know some had questions about the material I used for the kitchen ceiling in last week's Metamorphosis Monday. We installed the kitchen ceiling in April '07 and I'm pretty sure we ordered the material in March of that year. But I've gone through every bill for the entire year and I'm sorry to say I can't find the invoice. I am planning on speaking with my carpenter this week and I will ask him if he remembers the ceiling material and if I find out I will post the kitchen ceiling information next week in my final kitchen remodel post.


Links of Interest:
My Kitchen-The Beginning
Kitchen Details Part 2





All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

My Kitchen Metamorphosis

We have lived in many homes but I have never had a good baker's kitchen. Could I bake successfully...sure but it was not easy. In one of our homes the sink was about 12' from the refrigerator and the refrigerator opened on the wrong side. Every time I baked I was exhausted afterwards! In another home I had about 2' of counter space and had to cool cookies on the stove top!

So when my husband decided we were doing a complete renovation and remodel on our home, I so wanted the kitchen of my dreams! But when I started pricing cabinets I knew my baker's kitchen was still going to be a dream, a very distant dream. Cabinets are so expensive! But then I came upon a cabinet that was very reasonably priced and the quality was wonderful! Because the cabinets were so reasonable I could have every single thing in my kitchen I ever wanted and then some. It was like a Fairy Godmother had waved a magic wand. I don't think I need to tell you how much fun designing my kitchen was from this point on!

It took me at least three months to design my kitchen. The over all design I finished in about a month, but the tweaking took forever! This might sound silly but deciding which cabinets for dishes, food, mixing bowls and where to put the trash did take some consideration and hard decisions. Every inch was important and could make a huge difference! But when the design was finalized and the cabinets ordered, I was so happy.

My kitchen has an eating area in a 7-window bay so I wanted something that would accentuate the entire kitchen and eating area which meant I had to do something special with the ceiling. After looking and researching for months I finally found a tongue and groove foam board to put on the ceiling. It was not expensive and light weight and worked out perfectly.

Here's my carpenter, Steve, and his son Josh putting in the ceiling.




Here's the completed ceiling. You can see how the tongue and groove ceiling accentuates the expanse of the kitchen and eating area bay.






Because I have large breed dogs, Rottweilers, and my kitchen has heavy traffic I chose ceramic tile for the flooring. Love the checkerboard pattern! In the eating area and almost throughout the entire house we have oak hardwood.





Then came my hickory cabinets with shaker door style. My cabinets are Monarch, a small family owned cabinet maker in Illinois. These cabinets were so reasonable about half the cost of Omega, a well known brand, and I think Monarch Cabinets are far superior. I loved my cabinets when I bought them and I love them even more today!





And finally my cabinets were being installed. It was a wonderful day because I could see my dream kitchen, bit by bit, coming to life.

And so it began with Steve studying the kitchen layout and obviously deep in thought!












I've wanted soapstone countertops forever. Of course my husband let me make all the decisions for the house until he found out that soapstone was black. He was not happy about black countertops. So on a Saturday we drove down to Humming Bird Soapstone so he could see soapstone up close and personal and he loved it. In fact I think he liked it more then I did!

The first step for countertops is templating and it took two days to template my kitchen and bathroom. They made cardboard cut outs of every inch of counter space and they were so precise it was amazing. I love hiring people that are pickier then I am, it makes my job so much easier. I am so happy I hired Humming Bird Soapstone!





And next is really, REALLY exciting, the installation of my soapstone! I can't tell you how excited I was when the day arrived for my soapstone installation. OH MY GOSH..it was one of the best days of my life!

Soapstone is so heavy they had four men to deliver all the soapstone. Here are the guys bringing in the soapstone for my island.





Okay guys 1...2...3...groan!





Sanding the soapstone was a real mess but I did not care, my kitchen was coming to life right before my eyes!





And then the soapstone was completely installed!





And Walt started applying the Soapstone Oil to bring out the true beauty of the stone.





And then for the main event came the beast, my Wolf Range. I designed my entire kitchen around the Wolf. It dominated the kitchen with it's big red knobs and that's exactly what I wanted!





Okay now I just need to complete the electric including installing the light fixtures, install the cabinet hardware, finish kitchen plumbing and install faucets, garbage disposals, dishwasher and a few other things that I can't remember now.

And then we were done and this is how it looks today!











Microwave: Advantium
Built-in Oven: GE
Range: Wolf 6-burner, double oven with griddle
Dishwasher: KitchenAid
Faucets: Brand: Perrin & Rowe; Finish: Polished Chrome
Main Sink: Herbeau Luberon
Island Sink: Extra deep copper bought on Ebay
Garbage Disposals: Insinkerator
Refrigerator: Sub-Zero Built-in
Tile: Ceramic 12"
Countertop: Soapstone
Cabinets: Brand: Monarch; Style: Shaker; Stain: Colony; Wood: Hickory


Next week I will post all the kitchen details: Lighting, Cabinet Hardware, Faucets, Specialized Cabinets and Stations.


I was looking for a kitchen youth chair for my new kitchen and I just happened upon the right garage sale at the right moment and found this beauty. The owner told me it was made especially for her husband when he was born in 1926. It is stamped on the bottom Schmidt Wood Products in Barrington, IL. I live in the Barrington area and Schmidt Wood Products is still in business today!

Cost: $20






Metamorphosis Monday is hosted by Between Naps on the Porch. Please visit Susan's site and you'll find some fabulous ideas freely shared by many gracious and highly creative people.


Links of Interest:
Kitchen Details Part 1
Kitchen Details Part 2



All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog