The Kitchen 3 of 4

WELL... what happened to this sequence of postings I had prepared earlier in 'good Blue Peter style', WAS THAT I decided I didn't want pics I had previously uploaded because they still showed cardboard on the floor.  Lazy posting and not showing attention to detail, I thought!  Hence, I took this posting OFF published ... well... time has passed...here is one of the offending pics.. but note the turquoise.. See below.

The climate got hot hot hot with highs of 38C in my courtyard and 26C in my darkened house even with opening and closing doors and shutters and letting the warm breeze blow in... and I did not wish to be glued to my computer!  There ARE other tasks to do!

(here,  as I type, I come to wax lyrical, expressing my repetitive daydream ..

all I need for the dream to become true are: white lace curtains wafting in a slight breeze against French windows and white walls, a white baby grand placed before and to one side with me playing something delicately, classically peaceful, whilst summer stills the air with aromas of roses, lemons, rosemary, all against the backdrop of mountains - then I shall be in heaven!)

Wake up woman .. it's the KITCHEN of MY LIFETIME we are supposed to be presenting!

So to end the saga of 15 months in the planning and renovating:

I like to sit on the new window seat with or without the windows open! So does BigFeet the cat! It also appears to be a fly, moth, butterfly graveyard -aways has been. I suppose because of the light!
It's an outdoor garden table and chairs... with my heavy cotton 1970's Liberty fabric, Bauhaus design by Sarah Campbell and Susan Collier used as a tablecloth.

I have come to like the floating curve of the extraction unit against straight lines;  the silver against the white and black.  My friend eventually found the correct height to position it! He did growl at screw holding devices for plasterboard!

I use one of my Sri Lankan fabric prints of frangipane flowers as a cover for the black glass induction hob to remind me not to put anything on it - to protect it!

The oven is superb... the oven door is so welcoming and a joy to use but as aforesaid cakes have been crumbly and roastie casseroles are done to perfection. I tried a tart one time but the pastry wasn't quite cooked.  More trials are necessary!

I like the fact that the horizontal shelf works on the level chosen. It was well thought out and measured and glided along from the level of the top of the oven and suits my short height.  I like the black, white, grey with pops of colour, as in the vases of replica Sweetpeas and Suffolk poppies.   Now, some of my beautiful jugs are along the shelf; influenced by a postcard my daughter sent me but in my attic I have several more jugs!

I have been trying the colour turquoise as a splashback!  Scroll up to look at the first photo.
After much deliberation my mind has altered as it does!  I thought about the multi-coloured tile I found in the style of Mondrian, this one made as a coaster by a young English woman near Limoges..... BUT... it could be too overwhelming...?   The jury is still out!  If they were larger squares and I had some control over the colours and positioning of shapes etc then perhaps... My friend I suggested I learn how to do it. I would but "the attic stuff" requests me to sort and rationalise what to keep and what to lose!

so then... prevarication being my middle name .. started to move back to something neutral, discerning, tasteful, yet artistic which must protect the painted plasterboard!

I had the idea of putting the leftover floor tiles as one row... but not necessarily repeating behind the sink and induction hob with perhaps a sheet of transparent tempered glass above the row of tiles.  No, not that!
So.. until I find something that I feel confident about then the tiles propped up serve as some protection for the wall.   I am looking forward to one day browsing in a FIRED EARTH shop!

The nine tile repeat pattern for the floor ... fun to lay eh? as each tile was orientated exactly and in relation to the others in the rows upon the floor!  Each tile had small 'taches' / stains in the making which helped the process!  Very good meditation now they are laid!

Small digression here: 
A bedspread featuring camels is on the door window as it is long enough to drape both sides of the window for privacy for the next living room, used as a bedroom.  The second of the two same doorways links the middle living room to the end bedroom or study - 'The small room', as I call it, I am led to understand it was the original kitchen.

I don't know how to put a more permanent curtain on these door windows for privacy as the window has a curved top which is what I would like to see! Maybe small decorative panels painted in each of the six windows but how to place them? Any ideas or seamstresses most welcome!

Perhaps next year, the fridge will be replaced with a French larder fridge above a small freezer  and then where does one put the micro-four combi (temporary here).  It was a gift and works perfectly well if not BIG! I like it!  I have come to enjoy using it for some cooking and also it does defrost. However, I DO LIKE a real oven! 

At the moment I have not yet emptied the two IKEA trolleys of cutlery and mugs.. into the drawers. One trolley is to be furbished with breakfast things for when I do B&B!  The other was to have fruit and veg but in this weather fruit and veg are kept in 'le buanderie derriere la cuisine' or in the fridge, if not in a bowl or basket in the house!

In the 'awkward corner' are two stone pots: one for wooden spoons and the other for metal/plastic utensils plus the wood container for SHARP knives. 

My friend made the wine rack with the 15cm space that IKEA and SCHMIDT planning tools would not allow.  Both kept saying that I could not have what I wanted!!!!!! My friend is a true artisan!

        I ABSOLUTELY LOVE:          

MY FRENCH CUISINE

Thank you to one who has been a special friend!