May 19 2009
The No Budget Log Home Kitchen
Today I hid out in the house – doing research for my upcoming book alternating with sweeping up sawdust – and had time to layout the kitchen between tasks.
No doubt Eric would have preferred I helped him outdoors – even just to hold the 40′ ladder or pass TyVek up to him through some secondary hole – but the black flies were so thick I’d just run screaming into the house, basement, truck (whichever was closest) after 3 minutes outdoors.
I did manage to get my snapdragons planted though. After all, this girl knows her priorities!
Speaking of priorities…back to the kitchen layout. This has been something that has eaten away at me since the very first discussions on layout and design of the house. Cathedral ceilings (so beautiful) do not deserve to be chopped off by the eye by a leveled-top bunch of upper cabinets that have no personality. They are there only for function (bah! who cares about function!) and only because that’s what everyone else has!
I tire of that lack of creativity. There is actually a long list of alternatives to upper cupboards, that will meet your needs and look hot to boot. Mostly, they won’t make your log home kitchen look like every other picture in a magazine or neighbor down the road for miles to come.
Back on track – you can tell it is getting late at night, the end of a long weekend, I can’t hold a thought…
With off-cut chunks of sheeting and chipboard and plywood today I laid out my kitchen. This little rectangle is the fridge, this triangle the stove (it will be angled in the corner), and these five pieces stacked haphazardly will be the island…
I then paced back and forth between the three. The island will hold the sink and will also provide a visual stop from the living room. Pretending to cook a meal I walked to the fridge, washed my vegetables in the sink, returned to the stove to cook them, decided that was a pain so designed a counter area between fridge and stove…well you get the drift. Once I had all the pieces and place and cooked and entertained 10 people (in my mind remember) I started taking measurements and layout out the plan on paper.
Then I got hungry…
I’ve decided to start playing house for real with just an island. Later (after we get some other orders of business out of the way), I’ll build my cupboards.
The center area of the island will have a concrete counter top with a sink built in (also concrete). These are awesome, if you don’t believe me I’ll show you the book and the magazines that are coming out with these rugged, innovative and personalized counter tops. Veronica and I are going to embed LED lights in them so they twinkle throughout the depth of the counter top, day or night.
On a higher tier, of wood (perhaps butcherblock, but that’s Eric idea – personally I think it’s too much work for so much normal) there were be a lunch counter on the dining room and on the living room side. Two people on either side if we so choose.
And yes, I did ‘pretend-sit’ in every ’spot’ imagining what the scenery would be from each vantage point as well as whether or not I could see the TV from here. 
(Priorities right?)
I have just come across your site and I have to tell you that I love it. My husband and I were going to purchase a small resort with about 10 cabins on it, but we were outbid by a lower offer. Go figure. We were going to do the cabins in more of a log home decor. Anyway, in the same town, where my family roots are, we bought a house that was built in 1905. So the style we are going for will probably be Country Victorian. Still old but updated with lighter colors, etc. The thing that caught me about your site is the kitchens with no upper cabinets. I have been talking to my husband about no upper cabinets since we were married 11 years ago and I found out that he could build me the house that I have always wanted. But, believe me, I love this house even more than if we had built our own. I have wanted this house since I was in my teens, 30 years ago. Okay, closer to 40 years ago, but who’s counting. I never thought about anyone else preferring this style or I would have done a search on it long ago. By the way, I got to your site via a watermelon pickle recipe. So I would like to say thank you for the pictures.
Sandra
Hi Sandra! Nice to see you here!
If you love looking at photos of kitchens (and multiple ideas of how to create one without upper cupboards), allow me to suggest my favorite resource…
The image links to amazon where the book sells for under $20, but I picked mine up at Chapters for $28 plus tax.
Anyway – at least 1/4 of those kitchens don’t have uppers and many of the wealth of ideas are perfect for the home self-renovator. Sinks, oh my, they’re my next favorite topic. You have to see the sinks in that book!
Your new home sounds lovely and ‘meant to be’. Send me photos sometime or stop back in to drop me a note on how your upgrades and decor are panning out!
Chat soon, Laura
Hi,
I read that you don’t want upper cabinets b/c they halt the flow. But what if you could design them in a way that allowed them to be a transition to the wall space above? You could assemble light fixtures on the top of them that illuminate a large showpiece, such as a tapestry, a collage, a flat mobile, or a painting – maybe something arts and craft style. Don’t put any molding on the top of these cabinets, unless it somehow renders the eye up. Just a midnight idea.
Linda, your ideas are all great, except personally I am a minimalist at heart. Before I had a child I had a Spartan home – only what I needed, nothing more. Knick-nacks and decorations were abolished to boxes in closets. I’m sure, back then, I only kept art on the walls because they were easy to clean – solid surface, a little windex – done! Dusting was not in my vocabulary.
Then, I had a child. With the child came toys, shelves, baskets, stuffies, momentoes, far more books to dust, and special furniture. It was quite a transition for the woman who decorated her living room with one couch, one chair, one rug, one bookshelf, one TV, two plants and a coffee table!
Today, I’m ready to get back to my next-to-nothing style. No extra dusting, laundry, teapots, anything. Nothing more than I need. Everything ‘extra’ goes into the trousseau for Veronica.
However, your words made me ’see’ that if I do add upper cabinets I could build them up to an flush with the ceiling – like a built-in. No matter that I wouldn’t be using the highest space behind the cupboard door – only that this wouldn’t take away from the gorgeous high ceilings!
I’m going to go draw this out for Eric now – get his thoughts. For a rugged timberjack of a man he’s surprisingly creative. Wait ’till you see the front steps he built for the log home – they’re fun and functional.
Chat soon, Laura