My dye kitchen is my favorite place to be

I am thrilled to have my dye kitchen completed! Here is my new and improved stove top area. I had my son build a counter with a bead board back splash. The stove top itself was a thrifted appliance and it was a gold color. I bought some enamel appliance paint and gave it several coats of white. Will it make it through all the heat and wear and tear of dragging heavy pots on it? Who knows! The Home Depot paint guy said that it should be good for high heat. The worse that can happen is that it will look very distressed. Maybe even industrial! We shall see. It will still be better than what it was.

There was an aluminum label stuck to the top. I removed it before painting the stove top, and decided to hammer some lettering into it: PRIMITIVE SPIRIT. Now it adds a fun touch to the piece.

Underneath I needed lots of room for my many large dye pots, so I had Nate leave it open and install a dowel to hold a curtain. I found the perfect piece of old bark cloth from my collection. It needed minimal cutting (as I hate cutting up old pieces if I can help it. They are so precious!) and sewing to make it into my cabinet curtain.

I am taking my time with decorating the walls. But one item that I have been planning to have in the dye kitchen is this vintage metal and wood towel rack. It is perfect here over the sink. Today it is drying two new skeins of yarn that I spun.

I realized that there is something very familiar about this dye kitchen set up. With the old sink in front of the two windows and covered porch beyond, it is very reminiscent of my grandmother’s kitchen. I can feel that space here.

She loved to look out her windows to the tree-lined pond in the backyard, where turtles liked to sun themselves on the fallen tree trunks. I can hear her whistling a song, and imagine her pulling out her binoculars to get a closer look at a tiny creature.

Nostalgia overtakes me! How interesting that I have created this space!

Have a creative day ~ Karen

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