I've been looking at kitchen layouts from 1900-1930s . I found the following pictures at kitchen apartment therapy. https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ I love this site.
1929 apartment ... looks like yellow and green are common kitchen colors through the decades.
1920s kitchen. yellow and blue. Love the china cupboard.
the bump outs remind me of 209, it's the reverse of ours but still... Some green and orange in this one.
Being frugal with dealing this house (even if we didn't have the money going out for electric, heat, plumbing etc we would be frugal) is time consuming at times. I research for the best deals from my need to buy list, get used or on sales or with rebates. Tracking what we buy is necessary for when we sell it (or the kids do after we die) to lower the capital gains tax. We are pretty much at the point of having to wait to we can start working on the house (after closing). We also look at this as a 30 yr investment and already had set the payment with taxes, ins etc to be BELOW what social security would pay if we took it early at age 62 so we wouldn't be stressed about paying medical ins and the house or having to go back to work like several we know.Some are thinking we are nuts with what is going on with the stock market and being retired and then spending a small fortune on a home but we planned for this expense 10 years ago and still are remaing under budget (shock there). A close friend said something about being on a fixed income and I reminded them that they were working and on a fixed income as they are on salary AND could be laid off tomorrow without benefits. Nothing is certain ever except we live and die.He went home and told his wife he was retiring out and they needed to figure out what to do to stay in the home when they got older.
The home inspector has went through and the HUD appraiser also has, so now it's wait for the paperwork and the final amount we need for down payment and closing costs.
Sometimes it is overwhelming with appointments and shopping and decision making, other times it just drags forever.
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I loved those pictures of vintage kitchens, but they all (especially the photograph) look huge. Since you love to cook, you probably love all that space and room to move around. Personally, in my retirement, I like just a couple of steps between the refrigerator and the microwave. :D But I still like my kitchen to LOOK like someone loves to cook from scratch.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on that "fixed income" phrase. Most people ARE. We are now retired and 80% of our income is from the government, plus another pension. We've never felt financially safer in our lives. I have heard people say, "but the social security system could collapse". Seriously? If the government collapses we have bigger problems than a monthly check.
around 50 yrs ago kitchens were 70 sq ft to 150 sq ft...that's an 8 x9 to a 10 x 15. They didn't hang out in the kitchen... it was cook the food and clean the dishes. I always thought Grandpas was small even though it was a 10x10. He had wall to wall furniture since they had no plumbing and the cookstove was also the heat stove.
ReplyDeleteI think you are absolutely right on the size of kitchens, but a lot of those large ones would be in farm/country homes. I grew up in a tiny (2 bedroom) city lot house that was built in the 1920s. The kitchen was maybe 10 feet long but only about five feet wide. My poor mother had one TINY counter for all food prep.
ReplyDeleteMy husband is the guy who loves to figure out all those things like where to buy the cheapest, but good, ..... like in the last house we remodeled, he got flooring off of Craig's List and a warehouse that was closing. Our hardwood floors were done in many kinds of wood, with a border around some of the rooms. It was so beautiful, and all done for much, much less than if we had just bought flooring for the entire thing. But, I agree--it's a LOT of work:). Good luck on your quest for good, inexpensive items!
ReplyDeleteMy sister has had a Hoosier cabinet for at least 30 years. I have to admit to coveting it many times.
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