What We Have in the House
“We’ll use what we have in the house”, my grandmother told me when I asked about wrapping a small birthday present for my mother. A few hours later with her help, I had a pretty gift, wrapped in bright yellow felt with cherry rickrack in place of ribbon and a little posy of geraniums pinned onto it.
I’ve come across “We’ll use what we have in the house” many times since. I found it in a spiritual self-help book a number of years ago when a woman who recently lost her job was trying to create a new life out of ashes. It was a phrase she told herself whenever she needed to provide a little elegant economy under her new circumstances. I tried to live by it in my own frugal times and I know I employed it often when I was raising my daughter and she had regular needs for crafts and school projects. “We’ll use what we have in the house” came to signify creativity and fun as we would both put on our thinking caps to try to devise the very thing that was required at the time.
Have I ever told you that I hate my kitchen? There. I said it. It’s tremendously outdated with a tile floor that shatters to bits anything that falls on it. I have a basketful of what will one day be a mosaic walkway to prove it (that’s a retirement dream and I will definitely be using what I have in the house when I bring it to fruition). But besides the tile floor, I really despise the cabinets. I simply cannot get away from them and I know you’ve seen them. They are cream with a thin line of pale oak on the bottom with a groove to be used as a handle for opening and closing. I can’t seem to get away from them either because they’ve been in every apartment I have ever rented. I did ask for them once, when my husband and I were building our house in 1986. Oh yes, they were in style then and ever since the dear Universe has kept me in cream cabinet clover whether I like it not. They reek of the 80’s and you may be wondering why I haven’t replaced them. Well, the cabinetry I truly want would cost a very pretty penny and it’s been filed in my “Someday” folder which by now should be called, “If I Win the Lottery” folder. My longed-for cabinets were far cheaper a few years ago. Sigh…
I think my unhappiness with my kitchen reached a crescendo when I began to pour over Instagram kitchens. They are gorgeous – matching stainless steel appliances, granite islands with plenty of flat surface for rolling out pie crusts, and rich-looking hardwood floors with colorful Oriental rugs in magenta and blue. Sigh, again…
But I rather like the kitchen in the photo above. It’s ancient with character. And it kind of reminds me of my grandmother’s kitchen where she made lots of pies without a single granite island to be found. Although there is some lovely woodwork, there are no designer kitchen towels or window treatments, just as there were none in my grandmother’s kitchen. Here, there are some simple touches like the fruit bowl, the plain kitchen towel, and something delicious just taken from that great oven which was probably expensive but I imagine it old and persnickety. My grandmother would be shocked today at what William Sonoma deems absolutely necessary for kitchens, such as rubber spatulas in the shape of bunnies for Easter. I’m exaggerating… but my grandmother cooked with plain old aluminum pots and pans and rolled out her pie crusts on top of the kitchen table because she had no counter space at all except for a porcelain dish drain which was attached to her impractially tall kitchen sink.
So not too long ago, I made peace with my cabinets and flooring. For now. Instead, I started to notice how lovely my kitchen looks on late winter afternoons when a certain slant of heavenly light throws golden rays across the wood dining table. That’s a table with matching chairs that my mother gave me and the one from which I fed my daughter countless lovingly-made meals while she was growing up. And once I put a respectable fruit bowl on it, I noticed the light sought that too and the crystal wedding bowl holding the apples and pears answered back with trembling prisms of faint rainbows on the detested tile floor.
Soon I found a pair of old brass candlesticks in the bottom of the hutch and then I went rifling through an old box of doilies that were part of my grandmother’s legacy. Sewn together they made a charming little valance for the kitchen window. And I didn’t stop there – I pulled out an old forlorn Teddy bear my daughter left behind and plopped him in a basket on a ladderback chair, also inherited, that lives in a neglected corner. How could I have known I like Teddy bears until now? His warm presence makes me smile when I shuffle in to make my coffee at 6 am every morning. And if the mournful little thing could speak, he might just tell me that he applauds my efforts to love my kitchen back to life, cabinets be damned. Surely, he has noticed too – I’ve been using what I have in the house.
12 Comments
GrammaGrits
HGTV and decorating blogs have ruined our thinking and gratitude. I've given up the ones that bring discontent, decided I like my formica kitchen countertops, and have much more than I ever dreamed I'd have, none of which I deserve. We are so spoiled compared to our grandparents, and our special memories aren't about their houses but about them and the wonderful food they made for us! Love this post.
Donna Macdonald
Thank you GrammaGrits! I am embracing my much-used and loved, flawed kitchen!
Ann
Great post! Our kitchen growing up was in a "company home" because my father worked in the coal mines. The kitchen was installed in maybe the late 1890's…two painted wall cabinets, a smidge of counter under those, then drawers below…and a sink with a curtain to hide the pipes. The hardware was old boxy turn handles. My mother hated it…painted the cabinets often, tried to make it nice with window curtains and matching sink curtain, and always with the scraps of fabric and coffee grinds a pin cushion ( I still have one!) But, just like your grandmother, the BEST meals, pies, cakes, cookies, breads, etc. came out of that kitchen and the old Prizer combination coal/gas stove. In the early 1990's when I was lucky enough to build a home and pick a kitchen we chose white painted cabinets. My mother was horrified…to her painted cabinets were OLD…why was I not choosing cherry or oak ??? I don't know if she ever grew to love my kitchen, but now I see her style of painted cabinets and that old fashioned hardware all over Pinterest and in magazines…VINTAGE! I wish she was alive so I could show her that her kitchen is now in style. Love that you are loving your kitchen as it is and living in the moment. As my mom used to say "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without." Thank you for the great posts! http://www.ournewvista.com
Donna Macdonald
Thank you so much Ann! Love what you wrote here which was beautifully written.
Karen
So, what maybe no one else knows who reads this is that I've been to your kitchen, several times, and if your readers saw your kitchen, they would rise up in a body and scream–'ARE YOU KIDDING? THIS IS GORGEOUS???!!!" It's charming, nourishing, adorable, warm, cozy, welcoming. There are little nooks of whimsy (Mr. Teddy), along with glorious combinations of color from stacks of pretty books, napkins, candles, fruit, and I don't know what-all. Everything gleams and everything smells good. I never noticed the floors OR the cabinets, honestly, until you just mentioned them and then I though…oh, yeah, she does have those. So, dear readers, don't you believe a word of this! Donna's kitchen is just like her–wonderful, feminine, mellow, sweet, and lovely. And I ought to know! You've never seen a prettier, most Instagram-worthy place and she did it all on her own…no high-priced decorator needed. Her own cleverness and supremely tasteful eye has wrought it all out of "what she has in the house." What Donna has in the house is..love.
Ann
I liked your "I never noticed the floors OR the cabinets, honestly, until you just mentioned them and then I though…oh, yeah, she does have those."…a good lesson for all of us to enjoy our homes and not point out what we think are flaws. And, yes…love.
Dana L.
Love this lovely post. I have many ideas how to update and "beautify" my 130 year old home. My kitchen is so outdated, however, like you, I have started to look at it as unique and charming. Keeping it spotless helps a great deal- as does fresh flowers and colorful fruits in a crystal bowl. Thanks for reminding me to see the beauty all around me and "to use what is around the house!"
Donna Macdonald
Thank you Dana! I'm so glad my kitchen and I are not alone!
Fran M.
Those cabinets. I’ve had them twice!
Donna Macdonald
Your comment made me laugh out loud Fran!
Laura Jeanne
Well done in finding a way to cheer up your kitchen with "what you had in the house." Don't feel too bad about your cupboards – mine are far worse. When we moved into this old farmhouse almost 6 years ago, it was with the clear understanding that the kitchen was going to be redone immediately – yet, there it is still in all of its 1960s glory, and we still don't have the funds to replace any of it.
Just to give you a picture – my cupboards were homemade in the early 1960s. They have very old fashioned looking chrome hardware and have been painted so many times. The last time was dark grey, but the paint is chipping off everywhere so you can see bits of cream and even orange! here and there. The countertop is an ugly, stained formica, and the drawers are the odd kind that slant upward at the front. Underneath are more drawers instead of cupboard doors. These drawers are so large and heavy that I regularly strain my back opening and closing them. I don't have an island either, except for a makeshift one with a piece of finished plywood on top of a dishwasher, and standing next to it a wine cart we got for free. The floor is very old and soft linoleum which has chunks missing here and there. Our table has most of the stain rubbed off (so I use tablecloths a lot) and most of our wooden chairs have broken spindles. I'm not sharing all this to complain, but to help you feel better about your kitchen. I haven't seen your kitchen but I am positive it looks loads better than mine. 🙂
Donna Macdonald
Thank you Laura Jeanne! I loved your comment and read it with relish! I'm so glad I am not alone…You've definitely made me feel better 😉