Barbara McCann
This early 1970's home is located in a rural seaside village near Lunenburg (a UNESCO heritage site) in Nova Scotia. We have lived in the house part-time for the last 16 years. This winter we renovated the kitchen, and added an indoor shower.
Both my husband and I are avid cooks --I make all my jams from berries handpicked, often on our property, and am really a "Scratch" cook. Given the regular stream of visitors we have in the summer, it became increasingly more difficult to manage without a dishwasher (indeed more water conservative by far than washing by hand), and any real storage space.
I designed with the help of IKEA's online programme this wonderfully useful kitchen. We have a quartz (Zodiac) counter top (a splurge) and have incorporated royal blue tiles from Mexico (we drove there!) as a "pop out" effect against the sleek subway tiles and stainless steel appliances.
The original Nova Scotia pine jam cupboard dates back to around the 1860s and was used as the place on which to "pile" everything -- cook books, microwave, dog food....
I purchased an IKEA beech butcher block and applied four coats of mineral oil. This was then used as a top for the jam cupboard. The cupboard backside had never been refinished, so i applied a liberal coat or two of mineral oil there as well. Interestingly, it matched perfectly the other three sides of the cupboard which had been refinished over thirty years ago. It was meant to be!
It is important to me to always incorporate something old in the house in the new space. It gives a sense of continuity and comfort.
Working with IKEA staff in Ottawa and Montreal (everything had to be shipped since the closest IKEA store is hundreds of kilometers away) had challenges, but overall was extremely positive.
Range hood layout