The Little Kitchen That Could - Part III

Cloth off, J-Boxes in.

With work underway, and the Kitchen cleaned of minor debris (how many whisk brooms does one person need, anyway?), we really started to see what we had to work with (see it came from inside the wall to see what we did not have to work with).  You will notice a change in wall texture.  We went from old dirty gloss paint to mat plaster.  This is because homes built within the first half of the 20th Century would often have their utility rooms and wet rooms skinned in a canvas oil cloth and then they would paint them with 7 layers of gloss oil based enamel so that 50 years later, when you peel off the cloth, all the layers of paint shatter and blow off like Confetti and get stuck in your hair.

The cloth also served as a protective barrier so that the plaster would not be damaged while in use in high traffic areas.  It blocked water and oil, prevented stains and dings and also hid any minor cosmetic issues that could come to light over time (cracks).  There is the double edge sword in this brilliant concept.  The canvas not only hid small cracks, it hid big ones too.  So, after peeling the canvas, we had to chip out the major cracks caused by settling and re-plaster.

You can also see a color change in the drywall, going from white plasterboard to green board, as well as a strong patched line in the ceiling.  To me, this would indicate that there was once a wall separating the once even smaller kitchen from what used to be a Laundry Room or Service Porch.

You will also notice that the 8 foot shop light is gone, the hole patched, and 3 new j-boxes installed.  These will be the new home to some great period lights I found at www.rejuvenation.com.  They have with porcelain bases with milk glass shades and are a perfect match for the period of the home.  This Kitchen is going to be so wonderful, and so useful when we're finished.  It's going to be amazing.

- Ian

These vintage fixtures from Rejuvenation are going to be perfection.