I’ve written before about mixing countertop surfaces in your 40s 50s or 60s kitchen. But I recently came across these great photos and thought they would be very helpful. The photos show:

1. How to lower cabinetry to create a place to roll out your pie dough (of course). Put a slab of marble here — it’s best to keep dough cold.
2. The addition of a sheet of stainless steel next to the stove on which to set hot pots. I did this — and it really is terrific from a functional standpoint. I use it every single day. The stainless steel is getting scratched up, but that just gives it patina.
3. And, the use of butcher block to break up a long run of laminate. You can actually chop on this, or not. I don’t, it’s all for show – and it looks great.

Finally, considering creating ‘nooks’ of a variety of sorts throughout your kitchen. I put a separate 27″ base and wall cabinet to the right of my fridge. I keep my ‘coffee station’ here.

We also set two 18″ drawer cabinets together near the mudroom to house the telephone and all our family paperwork. We have a 36″ wall cabinets above as well.

In a nut: Create little vignettes throughout the kitchen, there a tons of ideas…I’ll continue to feature more from my vintage kitchen archives.