My friend Susan's kitchen makeover
My friend, Susan Warburg, lives in Westport, CT, very close to Compo Beach, located on Long Island Sound. Her home is a charming, but quite small, beach bungalow, built in 1943. She has been renovating and making improvements to it for several years. This year, it was finally time to redo the rather tiny kitchen. I was able to help her a bit because I just happened to have some extra kitchen appliances, which I gifted to her this past spring. Come and take a little tour of Susan’s bright, airy, and very functional new kitchen, it should be on apartment therapy!
Every conceivable design idea was used to maximize the use of this very small space. The insert storage area will have shelves just as soon as Susan measures all her containers that will 'reside' there.
All the cabinets were purchased at Home Depot. I was amazed at the fabulous workmanship and clever combinations that the homemaker can put together to create a very 'custom designed' looking kitchen. The shelving, however, was made by Susan's carpenter, with fancy brackets and pretty edging moldings.
The Wolf stove top and oven were placed on the back wall with a good vent above to extract heat and cooking odors. Susan even has lots of counter tops - white marble, custom cut by Fairfield County Granite, located in Bridgeport, CT. 
This oven was purchased from Gaggenau. Notice that the cooking gadgets and spices are within easy reach.
Wonderful glass doors, almost floor to ceiling, create spacious cupboards for all of Susan's beautiful china, platters, and glassware. She found the doors at United House Wrecking in Stamford, CT.
The island is where she has her sink and dishwasher and also more open shelving.
Susan's everyday dishes on the left are lovely ones from France. The dishes on the right are beautiful English china passed down through generations. Susan stained the oak floor herself in a bold diamond pattern.
The island meets the wall where more shelves hold books and kitchen antiques collected over the years by Susan on her extensive travels. She also found a wonderful bracketed Toshiba TV that even has a DVD player. The under-shelf lighting is xenon, the new cool version of the old halogen.
Both Susan and I love open shelves, which make everything used on a daily basis very accessible. Notice the beautiful, curvaceous brackets and the carefully measured shelves which hold her pretty collection of glassware.
The large, white door and drawers on the right is a Sub-Zero refrigerator and freezer. Susan had a matching door made on the left to house a stacking washer and dryer.
The Bosch washer and dryer are nicely tucked away. 
The seeds of spring lead to the weeds of summer
Harvesting garlic in my garden recently
Computer problems? Help desk to the rescue!
Let's hop on the MSLO shuttle bus!
The customer relations department behind the scenes!
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
