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Home / Kitchen / Readers and Their Kitchens

Erica’s thrifty jadeite kitchen remodel – 18 photos

pam kueber - August 8, 2011, Updated: June 1, 2013

vintage jadeite porcelain drainboard sink and metal sink cabineterica, mastermind of the jadeite kitchen renovationErica credits her parents for her love of old things — and for her thrifty ingenuity. They were “restorers and keepers of many … beautiful Victorian buildings,” she says. “Memories of late night trash picking … learning to wallpaper a room at the age of 7, and rescuing tin ceilings from abandoned buildings are all things that have made me the salvager I am today.” So, it’s not surprising (to us) when she also declares, “When looking for a home I was praying not to fall in love with one that had a newly marbleized, stainless steel kitchen that I would have had a hard time tearing out.”

In fact, an 1888 house found its way to Erica… and one of her first major projects was replacing a failing and nondescript particle-board kitchen. Taking a vintage jadeite color drainboard sink and cabinet as her cue, she created a happy kitchen that seems right at home in its 123-year-old skin. Read on for her story, resources, a bathroom renovation too, barkcloth dresses and 17 more photos –>

Erica writes:

jadeite kitchenCome On Into My Kitchen!

vintage chic living room in 1888 rhode island houseWell, I finally did it! I purchased an 1888 home in historic Peace Dale, Rhode Island, after a year of looking and a lifetime of being a bit of a nomad.

dining room in 1888 rhode island houseAfter of renting and doing work on other people’s buildings, I could finally feel like all of my efforts would be towards something I didn’t have to walk away from.

vintage red utensils in jadeite color kitchenMy parents were restorers and keepers of many of the beautiful Victorian buildings in the heart of Providence, Rhode Island. Ingenuity, the love of old things and hard work are something I was brought up with. Memories of late night trash picking in our old stake bed pickup truck, learning to wallpaper a room at the age of 7, and rescuing tin ceilings from abandoned buildings are all things that have made me the salvager I am today.

vintage linen dish towelWhen looking for a home I was praying not to fall in love with one that had a newly marbleized, stainless steal kitchen that I would have had a hard time tearing out. As luck would have it the house that turned out to be just the right one had no kitchen to speak of. When I moved it it consisted of a broken stove, a leaking sink and a few of the most horrible partial board cabinets barely attached to the wall. Perfect! It took less than a day to empty the room with no more than a hammer and a good friend.

wood kitchen cabinets painted jadeiteI had been collecting pieces of this dream kitchen for over 3 years prior to owning the house and I am proud to say everything but the toaster, the blender and the Formica used for the counters has been salvaged or was second hand.

vintage jadeite sink cabinet with porcelain drainboard sinkThe metal cabinet with the enameled Jadite sink, which is my absolute favorite part of the kitchen, was inspired by love of the one that I washed the dishes of up to 30 guests in a week-end in our summer home on Hog Island in Rhode Island. Needless to say I spent a lot of time at that sink. The joy that I felt, and I’m sure most will think this is odd, at finding a Jadite colored sink for sale by a lovely girl in Maine (only 200 miles away!) was over the top! The jadeite sink came that way! It’s original. Lucky girl I am! I really love my sink!

vintage ge stove in robins egg blueThe appliances started with an old aqua GE that I fell in love with and bought on ebay. It was the real deal and was kept in the home of an older gent who hardly cooked so it was like new.

vintage ge stove in robins egg blueWhat a beauty! The wonderful push button controls, lights and bells and whistles all worked.

northstar stove in blueAs it sat in my basement waiting for a home I began to search craigslist for a refrigerator and then there they were…a Northstar stove and refrigerator.

northstar refrigeratorIn robin’s egg blue, like new. Wow! Now this was getting exciting. I called and sent the money off (they were an amazingly good deal!) to complete strangers with no guarantee or idea how I was going to get them to me. It all worked out great, and there is now a very happy lady in Florida cooking on the aqua GE.

solid wood vintage kitchen cabinets painted greenThe solid wood keystone cabinets with their fabulous original hardware came from a kitchen that was being torn out in Pennsylvania, the state in which they were made…and they are dreamy. They work like a charm and fit perfectly into the layout, having to only have one built using a left over door and a custom one made to fit to go over the stove.

whatnot shelf detail in vintage wood kitchenThe cabinet color, like a lot of the colors I have in my house is something I made up myself and had the awesome and very patient guy at Sherwin Williams make up for me. I believe it’s a darkened version of actual jadite dishware. I actually took the hood of the stove to the store so they could color match it to do some of the trim in the kitchen. I’m really crazy persnickety about color!

vintage glass spice canisters with jadeite lidsThe cabinets and boom-a-rang counter top were made and installed by a musician friend of mine with a lovely voice who sang beautifully while he worked making the experience a delight. I am still amazed at the ease in which all of the components fit into the space and how wonderfully workable the kitchen is. I love to cook and I couldn’t be happier cooking in it! 🙂

vintage style black and white bathroomI put in the black and white bathroom as well …

vintage style medicine cabinet black porcelain sconce

… from a section of one of the bedrooms.

dress made from barkcloth by rabbit rabbitI noticed the post on barkcloth you put up (my favorite). I’m a seamstress and thought you might enjoy seeing a picture of the dresses I’ve been making. No, the girl in the dress isn’t me. That’s  just a little side business I have.

Enjoying the reader stories as always. There are so many of us out there! And it’s always great to see what people are doing!

Thanks, Erica

Thank you for sharing, Erica. Your kitchen is adorable and by my count, at least four shades of green: (1) Jadeite in color, (2) Salvaged and recycled = Better for the environment than manufacturing something anew, (3) Salvaged and recycled = Thrifty — I’ve heard the new “American Dream Home” is one that’s paid for — sounds about right to me, and (3) Well, making us green with envy, of course!

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Readers and Their Kitchens

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Reader Interactions

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74 comments

Comments

  1. Joann says

    November 16, 2017 at 4:56 am

    Help! I need drawer pulls like you have on your green sink. Where would I find these at?? Thanks

  2. Lisa says

    September 22, 2017 at 10:02 am

    Where did you get the faucet for that sink?

  3. Alma says

    August 7, 2017 at 10:35 am

    I absolutely love your kitchen. Kudos to you for not giving in to trendy!

  4. Beth says

    August 6, 2017 at 4:48 pm

    I LOVE that barkcloth dress! I dont see any others on your etsy site but would love to see more!

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