Designing my Reclaimed Kitchen – Practical Vs Pretty

23 July 2017 | Conscious Home, Reclaimed Renovations

Ever practical, I chose a glazed 1940s staff noticeboard reclaimed from London’s Kings Cross station from SalvoWEB to style as my kitchen cabinet.   Not that I was intending to consume as many tubes of tortilla chip Pringles as the decorators, but soon only pretty foods fitting my colour scheme will be allowed in my kitchen cabinet. Ha. Don’t you just love the unrealistic goals one sets oneself in the middle of a renovation.

When I started designing my kitchen, I envisaged a glamorous throwback, a bit of Disco Deco and pretty brass accents.  I bought glass Art Deco lampshades from The Architectural Forum and had my eye on these Jazz Moderne glass panels salvaged from a French apothecary to finish the sides of my noticeboard cabinet.  I lost them to another bidder, but in hindsight it was a good thing as it forced me into more practical open shelves that show off the reclaimed wood from Pine Supplies and my ’40s noticeboard in full glory.

Art Deco lampshades in The Architectural Forum

Jazz Moderne glass panels

my kitchen (before)

It breaks my heart to see kitchens ripped out with no regard for materials that could have been saved, so I challenged myself to reuse as much of my original kitchen as possible – starting with the white appliances.

Sadly mine didn’t come as cool as the above, but this could be considered another tick in the practical box compared with stainless steel, which is hard to keep finger smudge free.  But white appliances are fashioning an impressive come-back.  When designing a kitchen, you rarely go wrong with classic white.  It is clean and cleverly works with both modern and period interiors and can look more retro according to the style of appliances you choose.  White also tends to change with the light from other colours around it.   I am aiming for warm white, surrounded by reclaimed wood cabinetry.  But avoiding rustic country vibes with black and primary coloured markings that come with choosing floorboards salvaged from a school gymnasium.

I may have diverted from my disco Art Deco design, but I’m feeling the ’80s school disco I ended up at.

Reclaimed gymnasium floorboards from Historischen Bauelemente designed as doors to refresh my original kitchen carcasses.

©Photographs Reclaimed Woman

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