Better Homes and Gardens article

BH&G Kitchen and Bath Makeovers - Winter Edition 2010

My Coronado, CA, kitchen article.

Dining room area off the kitchen.

The copper faucet was one of my great investments and the black cabinetry one of my smartest choices with (at the time) three black Labs. The countertop is marble.  I was cautioned against it because it is not as hard as granite but I figured people in Europe have been walking on it for hundreds of years so it was an easy choice.  I had it honed to remove the shine and paid extra for the finish - a double ogee.

Somehow the editor has me living in Atlanta but that's not correct. I am in Georgia, however, but on the coast on Saint Simons Island (South of Savannah).  I've never even been to Atlanta...

I opted for deep drawers instead of cabinets.  I like the look and, frankly, think it's easier to find things in drawers than cabinets. Tamerie Shriver, my dear friend, made the roman shade.  I think that's even how we met.  Take a look at the standing room only class she just taught on Saturday on how to make a slipcover for a chair at 

A Little of This, That, and the Other

"Cucina" translates to Kitchen in Italian.

My favorite photo (along with the dining room and broken twig chandelier photo).  The concrete floors were original to the house. I acid washed them and painted them a deep red.  I pulled up the flooring in the dining and kitchen so it would match when I opened the rooms in to one another by creating the expanded arch barely visible at the top of this photo. I enclosed an alley door and a back window to allow for maximum use of the corner and back wall area since I was opening one up - see below. The house is small - 900 square feet - so the kitchen is proportionate.  I was not sure then about putting the large butcher block in the middle of the kitchen but it completely worked. 

This makeover spared little expense quite unlike the current remodel I am doing here on Saint Simons Island.  Beginning this week, I will post photos of that process with a sneak preview below.  Stay tuned...

"Bella Cottage" remodel

Saint Simons Island, GA.

More to come... when pulling the plaster inside we discovered this gorgeous brink.