This is a pre-New Mexico reno post inspired by a blog pal's recent acquisition of her very own home. Along with an outrageously enviable original claw-foot tub and massive farm sink, she also got a set of metal cabinets. They were vintage enough, much like rounded corner refrigerators and Buicks of the day, but don't quite have that warming comfort factor of grandma's old wooden cabinets so I will show you what I did on a very limited budget to make over steel cabinets.
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I remember watching the first edition of 'This Old House' back in the late 70s. Their first project was nearly identical to the 1880s Second Empire Mansardic rehab nightmare which I was working on so I was initially enthralled with the program. It didn't take me long to realize that the producers lived in a very different reality than I; for them, money and budget was not the same priority and I soon became disillusioned with their "Hey, this is old, it has to go! Let's order a fancy replacement through an expensive custom shop." Sigh, here I was salvaging every 2x4 and scrounging through junk stores and clearance sales for my materials ... we soon parted ways on our obviously very different circumstances and missions.
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Above: Here is the kitchen in the last pre-New Mexico home that we bought. It was nearly twice the size of the kitchen in the ranch Rat or the one I have now so it was glorious, even 'as is'. The owners in the late 60s through the late 80s had reworked the entire house with multiple good salaries on tap but very little taste for what might survive the ensuing years with a more timeless dignity. They did keep the very sturdy metal cabinets and Don had a specialist come in later to faux paint them in his favorite flavor of the moment - barn board. Eeeks ... why don't ya just scream tie-dye and polyester bellbottoms?The soffits over the cabinets also made the room seem at least two foot more narrow as they imposed themselves like drooling gargoyles from the ceiling - they HAD to go away ASAP. The problem with removing soffits is often that someone ran soffits to hide wires, heating vents and gawd-knows what else. I managed to find ALL of these hidden monsters, of course. I discovered all sorts of odd and disturbing things during that project, including a ghost stair case in the adjoining wall. Peering through the lathe at those hidden stairs was like looking into the gullet of the Titanic for the first time - all festooned with dusty hanging webs which swayed eerily in the new breaths of fresh air. I think I might have seen it all in the last thirty five years of restoring old houses. You just have to take the surprises as they come and sort of enjoy the adventure or you would never attempt anything. It all makes for great tales later on so never shy away from crowbar adventures.
The best thing they did for that kitchen was install an electric Jennair grill/range in a new center island and that would stay. All I would had to do with the Jennair was eventually find extra plug-in accessories cheap at the recycling place and then install a supercharger on the vent ducting later. I did usurp the lunch counter overhang which had REAL barn board on it and make a new facade which has two bins built-in around the size of paper grocery bags, one for pure garbage and one for recycling or burnables. Paper grocery bags are free if you ask so why not?
Mind you, with only two standard electric cooking elements, I longed for my gas stove. What I did was close in the second doorway to the dining room (as seen on the far right) and put my gas stove and spice racks in that reclaimed space. Having access to both gas and electric cook elements was divine since they both have their own very different glories and low spots.
The metal cabinets were of incredibly good gauge and quality (much better quality and strength than even mid-range new and mostly particle board cabinets) so I chose to veneer over them with the 3/8ths inch pine bead board that you can buy 14 square feet to a pack. These pine planks were incredibly affordable at the time but I recently noticed that they had nearly doubled in price since then. But they remain a relatively affordable material which you can even pare away at with an exacto knife if need be.
Being the fastidious perfectionist, I would measure, go out to the barn where my shop was, cut maybe two or three pieces and then return to install them and start measuring the next pieces. It would get down to as low as five degrees below outside (and in the shop) during this project. I finally put a lit incandescent bulb under the table saw motor to stop throwing breakers in the main house panel when the saw motor would lurch and draw too many amps on start up. I used to have a lot of patience for tedium and nonsense back then.
I also replaced the poopy brown ceramic tile splash back with pine while I was at it. You have to be pretty slovenly to need a water-proof back-splash and the pine held up just fine for our daily use.
Later, we hung a heavily embossed wallpaper on the ceiling and then I stenciled around the room in barn red and did the same for the ceiling fan blades.
We eventually replaced the dated vinyl flooring with solid oak which we installed ourselves very slowly with screws rather than nails. This floor was never going to squeak or shift after we were done with it!
I kept the greenish agate formica counters since they no longer fought with the conflicting green hue in the faux barn-board paint on the cabinets. It was in great shape, well, maybe except for that little drill hole from when Big Don and I had been working on a carb jet. I will never forget Big Don's 'bad boy' thrill when we did that; he got one of his wonderful big kid grins and said "WOW! This is really cool! Ya know, my wife would have killed me if I had ever done this in 'her' kitchen!". Aw, heck, that was one mess-up that I could fill in perfectly with a little model car paint later, no big deal.
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So here is the later 'after' photo. Maybe it doesn't look like a big-buck kitchen but, for the materials price and labor, we loved the results. And we enjoyed the many memories, both good and bad, that we gathered in the process. Don't ever hesitate with your own living space - some of the best rehabbers I knew had started out with not much more than a dream and ambition. Now, with the internet, the world of information, inspiration and advice is even closer. Just start it ...the answers and solutions will come. And, hey, I am here when you need moral support and more..
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I disabled comments again since I am now on my third inexcusably irresponsible accounting type and probably won't get back to posting often or visiting my blogs friends until this mess is cleared up. I have been tormented with this moronic buffoonery until I go to bed and then first thing upon waking up for over a year and a half now. All new house projects are on severe lock down until these bozos do their work..
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