44 |ARTS & CRAFTS HOMES Winter 2017
LEFT The kitchen behind the dining room got a facelift
with cheery yellow countertop tiles and a commercial
YLQ\OFKHFNHUERDUGƮRRU7KH+HQUL&DVVLHUVSULQWLQ
WKHGLQLQJURRPLVYLQWDJHBELOW A plate rail was
added to the far end of the kitchen to showcase vintage
Italian pottery, which is also displayed on the open
VKHOYHV7KHRYHUKHDGƬ[WXUHLVIURP5HMXYHQDWLRQreplacement to match the original outline. A pool-table light
was replaced with a more period-appropriate, antique brass
dual pendant fixture from Rejuvenation.
The previous owners had awkwardly remodeled the
kitchen with dark-stained oak cabinets, a faux-brick vinyl floor,
and somber grey tiled counters. To keep costs down, Brenda
and Rick kept the cabinets but refreshed them with a coat of
‘Devonshire Cream’ (Sears paint), and installed basic white
porcelain Amerock knobs. The Plexi panels and weatherbeaten
windows were removed, replaced with Milgard double-glazed
casements. Countertop tiles in butterscotch yellow completed
the kitchen’s sympathetic update, complete with new plumb-
ing and electrical service. A breakfast nook already had been
created from a former laundry at the far end of the room. Nowit has a plate rail displaying Brenda’s collection of hand-painted
Italian plates.
As the family grew, the two-bedroom bungalow felt in-
creasingly cramped, so a second-floor addition with a loft mas-
ter bedroom and bath was added to the rear in 2001. The ad-
dition was designed to carefully complement the original lines
of the façade and gables. Brenda and Rick admit it took two
tries to get it right: Initially, they installed MDF plywood trim,
painted white, and carpeted the floors. But as their knowledge
of Arts & Crafts design evolved they realized their mistakes. A
decade later, they upgraded the wood trim with flat-grain fir,
matching that in the old house. They hung solid wood doors
with period knobs, and laid white-oak flooring. It was worth
sleeping in the dining room for a month. aFOR SOURCES, see p. 71.