Ma Cuisine, Week III ~ Little Missed Soffit

Wasted space drives me batty.

I don't like it.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself...in case you missed the first two weeks of Ma Cuisine...

Ma Cuisine Week I ~ The Little Big Hutch

Ma Cuisine Week II ~ The Little Breakfast Hutch

I know I said I'd be showing you the nitty gritty before pictures of this side of the kitchen...but not yet.

I want to show you something else first.

As I was saying,

"Wasted space drives me batty!"

"I don't like it!"

So, when I first saw this in the untouched (by me) gross ~ previously rented (and renovated) ~ 100 year old kitchen....

and this...

(Note the lumpy bumpy lathe and plaster walls...and layers and layers of equally lovely paint!)

I knew I had to do something about it!!!

So, I did this...

"Hello."

"Helloo."

"Hellooooo!"

Mmm...that's sooo yummy!  Just look at all of that delicious space!!!

Now, before we move on, there's something you should know about me.  I'm a pretty thrifty chick.  I like to use what I have before running off to the store to buy brand new materials.

So...when I did this....

(I'll be talking about the plaster treatments I did to even out the previously mentioned lumpy bumpy 100 year old walls...another day.)

I used the facing board from the old soffit to add depth to my newly exposed space.

Like the walls, the cupboards were a little wonky...but this is the "in-between" kitchen.  I wasn't ready for a full-on overhaul.  So, I just started working my way around the cupboards, organically, with materials from previous family projects....

until it looked like this...

A little patching

and a few coats of prime, paint and wax later...

...and I have a perfect place to store some treasures!

The ruffled cake stand came in a set of two ~ An Easter gift from my mama...via me

The wee milk glass plate stand ~  $1.99 St. Vincents ~ It was stuck in a bright blue chip and dip basket

{I immediately re-donated the basket}

I know it's not perfect.

That's the nice thing about dealing with a Frankenstein of a farmhouse...

....less pressure.

The bowls, pitchers, mugs..etc...are thrifty finds from various treasure hunts.

 The Fenton hobnail cake stand is another purchase from my antique dealer friend Thelma's sweet sister, Penny.

I found the scalloped ironstone pedestal bowl at GW last week for around $5.99

The milk bottles are more rescued loot from the bungalow my mom and I moved.

The plates on the second ruffled Easter cake stand are Myott Meakin and Wedgwood.

The embossed teacup under the cheese dome on my newly acquired, gold rimmed, scalloped glass cake stand is also Wedgwood....Wellesley.  I found the cup at GW a few years ago for $1.99 and than found the matching saucers more recently at a different GW...for under a dollar each.  I may have bought the cake stand at a garage sale around the corner for a couple of dollars.  Love that!

Can you see the wee bit of Christmas light peaking up as if to say, "Hello?"

I had the electrician put an outlet up in my new space...and then I attached the Christmas lights to a remotely controlled plug from Costco.  I did this so I'd have a more varied use of the space then if we'd just installed fixed lights.  

I'm pretty happy with how it illuminates some of my cake stands....

 and frosting.

: )

It makes me happy to work with neutral backdrops in my home, because then...

you can do this...

and this...

....with just a few more hops up and down off of the counter carrying stacks and stacks of heavy dishes!

The flowery valance is from Park Designs and was made in India (the ivory curtains were Simply Shabby Chic)  All were fab thrifty finds.

The Portmeirion "Pomona" salad bowl ~ Value Village ~ $9.99

I used to work in a European Country boutique that carried Portmeirion...so that was a pretty happy thrifty find.

I found the provincial couple music box in an antique shop in Billings, Montana...whilst my mom and I were on a road trip to move my grandma out to Washington State from Nebraska.

A nice elderly man gave me the milk bottle with red details....instead of giving it to GW

and I just can't remember where I found the fluted cake stand and lid.  Hmmm...

My friend Alice scooped up the mis-matching clear glass ruffled cake stand and lid at GW whilst we were treasuring hunting in Seattle...and then offered the $9.99 purchase to me.  

What a good friend!

The fluted red bowl was purchased for $4.00 from the Portland, Oregon Anthropology when my mama and I were in town for The National Trust for Historic Preservation's annual conference in 2005.  

We ended up doing more shopping then lecture listening.

Oh, well....

: )

Doesn't everyone keep dish towels on top of their cupboards?

I thought it was pretty.  It's by Kosas...and was also made in India.

When I saw the wee loungin' cow-lidded butter crock at an annual golf course neighborhood garage sale for a buck a couple of years ago...I scooped it up...just in case its packaged twin in my dish room didn't survive the mooove up the mountain.  

It was in the kitchen of my childhood home.

Isn't that great?

Oh, and yes...I do bake cakes! 

{ : from scratch : }

Thank you for visiting my blog!  You can also see some of my soffit photos on television via Studio 5!

Have a lovely weekend!

: )

Julie M.

Shop for all sorts of cottage garden kitchen goodness at www.thelittleredshop.com!

To see more show photos, etc...please visit my facebook page, where you can also follow The Little Red Shop, or you can visit us via Pinterest and Twitter.

ps  I'm off to join some sweet parties...at  Just a Girl, Room to Inspire, Bobbypins Boardwalk, Somewhat Simple, Domestically Speaking Reinvented, My Frugal Family, It's a Very Cherry World A Soft Place To Land, Between Naps on the Porch, The DIY Show Off, Southern Hospitality, It's So Very Cheri Cottage Instincts, Making the World Cuter, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Funky Junk Interiors, The Shabby Nest, Miss Mustard Seed, It's a Hodgepodge Life, A Few of my Favorite Things, Fingerprints On The Fridge,

pps  Whew!  That's a lot of blog parties!!!  I did NOT make a habit of doing that!  (Julie, 8/9/11)