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Cooking and Living
Of all the rooms in the canal house, the kitchen has seen the most change throughout the centuries. A major change came in the 20th century, when gas mains, water mains and electricity were installed. Even though it may not be the latest in kitchen design, the early 20th century kitchen is still beautiful and will not be replaced by a more modern one.
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In the basement of the canal house, facing the garden is the area allocated for the kitchen.
By taking out the back wall I created room for a large window with doors opening onto the garden.
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In the wall next to the hall I made a window and a niche in the same shape as the window. In the future the window will look out onto a small courtyard situated behind the stairs. To make the courtyard I will have to cut and adjust the side wall of the dollshouse, but I won't start that untill the kitchen is at least nearly finished.
'Opa' has come to check whether the cooker is working yet. The cooker is a copy of the beautiful AGA cooker, invented in 1922 by the Swedish Nobel prize-winner Dr Gustaf Dalen. The cast iron cooker works through heat retention. The cooking is done on the two hotplates under the chrome lids on top of the cooker , and in the ovens. The cooker is always warm and also serves as a heater, making the kitchen a favourite place in the house! |
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I based the look of the kitchen on a photograph of the kitchen of castle Twickel (province of Overijssel, the Netherlands). I used a photo (see below) from the book 'Country Houses of Holland' by Barbara and René Stoeltie (ISBN 3-8228-6248-7). It was the combination of the solid wood sink and the copper pots and pans which particularly appealed to me.
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The walls of the kitchen are tiled with the typically Dutch tiles called' witjes' (little whites). Although the name suggests differently, these tiles aren't actually white, but are slightly coloured with green, yellow, blue, pink or gray. These differences in colour originally occurred when the tiles were baked together with highly coloured (and far more expensive) earthenware. Nowadays the glazes are mixed in the colours of the original 'witjes'. In the 17th century these tiles were extremely popular and often used to tile the entire kitchen. For today's kitchen the modern version of the 'witjes' is still a popular choice.
I have made my 'witjes' from cardstock. First coloured some card with acrylics, then cut out lots of squares and glued them to the wall. When dry I put several coats of spray varnish on them to give them that glazed look. I grouted the tiles using DIY filler.
I made the kitchen cabinets using 3 mm plywood, for the drawers and doors I used 2 mm plywood. The paint is the same one I used in the drawing-room and dining-room, a matt paint in the colour 'sandstone'. I used a mix of acrylic hobby paints to age the cabinets a little. |
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Of course I couldn't resist and had to put some of the miniatures I collected in the kitchen.
On display in the niche is part of the collection of porcelain which I painted during Cocky Wildschut's classes. On the worksurface I have put something I really like (no, it's not the wine!) : Dutch crispbread and real chocolate sprinkles....yum yum! |
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The original kitchen countertop and sink at castle Twickel are made of solid wood and have worn beautifully after many years of use. For the countertop in my canal house I have used some cherry wood. I recreated the grooves and wear of the countertop with files, sandpaper and a sharp knife. The water stained but deep, warm colour was achieved with some acrylic paints and furniture wax.
The lamp above the sink is from Heidi Ott, a steel at the Arnhem show (october 2008). The colour wasn't quite to my liking, so I painted the lamp with copper and creme coloured Humbrol paints (special paint for metal and plastics). Now it matches my copper pans perfectly.
At the Arnhem fair I bought six beautiful wineglasses from Gerd Felka. The wine glasses seem like simple, ordinary wine glasses, but are really quite special. The glasses have been made with pulled stems, which means the stems are not glued onto the bowl but the whole glass is made in one piece. Great mastership!
The beautiful wine bottles and the oil and vinegar bottles on the countertop are by Hanneke (Minimini). |
I had planned to put the cupboard I made in 2007 during the Guild School in Castine in the kitchen. But then I realized it would never hold all the kitchen accessories I had acquired over the years. After some deliberation I decided instead to build a large work table along the wall next to the AGA. The style of the work table matches the kitchen cabinets.
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For the work surface again I used cherry wood. Below the work surface I have plenty of room for some of the bigger kitchenware. |
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Some kitchenware I collected over the years: stoneware bottles and jug by Elisabeth Bettler, copper fish pan by Philippe Bordelet, bundt cake mold by Anita Degen (Keukengerei van rond 1900).
The three nested bowls were hand coloured by me during a porcelain painting class. I tried to make the colour of the bowls so that they look like french mixing bowls.
On the right something I like very much: mini-Brosjes (chocolates) here they are in mini, which makes them mini-mini-Brosjes.
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The basket with the large wine bottle is by Waldermar Backert from Germany(bought in 2007? in Arnhem). The aubergine (eggplant) en courgette (zucchini) along with some other vegetables were given to me as a gift with an order from Comptoir de Rouvray in 2006.
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