1. What’s the room and who uses it?
Kitchen/dining nook. Everyone, naturally, although I do most of the cooking.

2. What do you do  for a crust?
I am an interior designer/decorator at Pleased to Bijou, in between being a mum of two kids.

3. What goes on in the room?
The usual kitcheny/eating stuff. I do a reasonable amount of cake baking in the 1950s cooker and the occasional roast chook. The dining nook is kind of the heart of the house and where we mostly congregate in general. The kids love to sit there and do craft after milkshakes at the breakfast bar.

4. Favourite piece in the room and why?
I think probably Betty Sue, our 1956 New World cooker. We bought it on Ebay not long after we moved in, and it took quite a bit of expense to get it safe for modern use and to relocate the gas pipes. I feel very old fashioned and reminded of my grandmothers when I cook with it. I love the griddle plate in the middle, although it heats a little unevenly. A close second would be all the open shelving that we keep all our vintage kitchenalia and china displayed on.

5. Anything on your wish list that you would love to add to the space?
Properly installing the range-hood and attaching the seat cushions in the dining nook are the main things left to be done. We have already done a lot to this part of the house since moving in 11 years ago. There used to be four doors into the kitchen, which left little room for storage or a dishwasher. We blocked off two of the doorways and had open shelving and a microwave space built in. We also changed the flooring, benchtops, added the vintage peninsula bench (from my grandparent’s house) and replaced the handles and painted the cupboards baby blue for some mid-century cheer.

5. Describe the room in three words.
Welcoming . Nostalgic. Cheery

6. Why do you love this room?
This space is unashamedly mid-century style and very personal. The space has taken a long time to take shape. It really defines the feel of the whole house. When the kitchen/dining area is tidy, it is irrepressibly cheerful and cosy and ready for the next party.

7. What’s one lovely memory you have whilst being in the room?
Although the space has changed a lot since her passing, I have fond memories of my grandmother showing me how to make perfect custard for the Christmas pud in this kitchen.

 

 

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13 Jul This entry was published on July 13, 2017 at 8:00 am. It’s filed under Uncategorized and tagged 1950s, Breakfast bar, Colour, Dining nook, Interior designer, Melbourne, Mid-century design, Mid-century furniture, New World Cooker, Pleased to Bjou, Pottery, Real homes, Retro, Stripes, Vintage map of the world. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.