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Beauty, Comfort and Utility
The homeowners love antiques and the quaint style of a country kitchen, but their 35-year old cabinets did not reflect the cheerful occupants of this rural home. They also own a cabin in Wyoming, outfitted with a Hoosier cabinet built by their grandfather. They wanted to replicate the feel of the cabin, complete with antiques, in their existing home.
While the overall space was laid out well, Keener's designer felt there could be more than one focal point. The storage areas could become a part of the space, using custom cabinets. In keeping with the cabin feel of the rural surroundings, Keener decided to go with an authentic period look, using inset knotty pine cabinets stained with straw stain on the wall cabinets, and custom "Bayou Green" paint on the base cabinets. The base cabinets were painted, and then sanded and distressed, to allow the golden color stain color beneath the paint to show as realistic wear. Exposed hinges and white porcelain knobs were used to compliment the porcelain undermount apron front sink. Linen colored Corian provides a clean compliment to the cabinetry, and supplies a sharp contrast with the deep blue green painted bead board backsplash and base cabinets.
 Complete with a tambour door front, custom sized enameled porcelain countertop and brightly polished period hardware, the reproduction Hoosier cabinet adds an exclamation point to the custom cabinets.
 On the long wall across from the Hoosier cabinet is a neatly designed wall unit. From floor to ceiling these cabinets extend up to cove crown molding. The "freezer on the bottom refrigerator" is concealed by pine-fitted door and drawer panels. Built in to the wall unit is a Heartland wall oven and warming drawer that coordinate with the cookstove. Accented by black and stainless trim, the burgundy red wall oven features an on-the-door circular temperature gauge, just like the ranges built in the early 1900´s. A tall pantry is to the left of the oven, and provides ample storage for all dry goods. Rounding out the kitchen is a freestanding cabinet in the Bayou Green color, with a microwave sitting atop the Corain countertop.
While the look is pure vintage 1900´s American culture, right down to the last hinge, the modern conveniences of custom cabinets, solid surface countertops, and indoor plumbing and refrigeration make living in the past a bit more comfortable in the present.
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