My Beach Kitchen
Hello from my dream beach kitchen! I can’t believe I haven’t written anything since last June. That’s when our move from the mountain town of North Bend, Washington to an even smaller town on the Oregon Coast got intense. My days were spent packing and purging rather than baking and cooking. Our new home build kept getting delayed and the real estate market turned right when we put our house on the market. I’ll spare you the nitty gritty and summarize by telling you that after two weeks in the Silver Sands Hotel in Rockaway, we finally moved into our new home in beautiful Manzanita. And we haven’t looked back.
I’m so excited to share some photos of my kitchen!
My fun kitchen at the beach!
The morning sun shining into my kitchen, and yes the sand collects along the bottom of the navy island. My shiplap hood ties in with the other side of the room.
Here are a few more photos (not of my kitchen) just because I can’t resist.
The great room with a peek into the entry. My entry chandelier is made of abaca beads!
The Great Room has 11-foot ceilings, is wrapped in shiplap and has a territorial view with gorgeous sunrises. The blue pine mantle and benchtop is custom made by Ranchero Provisions in Portland. I have my eye on a piece of artwork for the mantel; I just need to decide!
For those of you who have followed me, you know that I’ve always dreamt of a white kitchen. I’m here to say ignore the designers who predict that white kitchens are out of style. Do what makes you happy. I love my light, bright and mostly white home. It makes me happy every morning when I walk into my living space and kitchen. It took me awhile to figure out how to navigate and cook in my new kitchen. My husband repeatedly threatened soap-on-a-rope when he heard my language coming from the kitchen, but I’m happy to say that has improved! At this point, I’ve broken in all the appliances and every nook of my kitchen. I hosted a girls cookie-baking weekend in December and a neighborhood New Year’s Day brunch, both of which tested my kitchen’s capacity and my sanity.
Even though our home was a semi-custom build, it felt like I made a kzillion-and-one decisions. I spent way too much time googling “rules” and in the end, did whatever I wanted anyhow. I mixed metals throughout my house. I went with a lot of shiplap and an all-white backdrop. After spending way too much time stressing over the right white paint, I ended up with Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace and Sherwin Williams Pure White. Picking the “jewelry” for my house – the lighting fixtures, hardware and tile – was the most fun!
Keep scrolling for more details and pics.
Lighting
I knew I wanted oversized pendants above my island and kept coming back to the Cambria rattan pendants from Pottery Barn. I love them! (Oh and my vase is from my buddy Robert Redford aka the Sundance Catalog.)
The fixture over my dining table is a warmer color that picks up the stitching in the island pendants and mimics the shape of waves. I’m still trying to decide how to style the buffet and the wall. My painting by Chabela is my splash of color and the first real piece of art I ever bought; I’ve had it since I lived in Arizona.
Quartz, appliances, backsplash, cabinets, sink & faucet
My countertops are Premium Pure White quartz from MSI Surfaces. I debated over marbling, but since I had two different back splashes going on I ended up sticking with white. I’m happy I kept it simple but yes, I’ve been a little OCD over keeping it clean and sparkly.
I was enamored with the Café Appliances by General Electric and ordered them way in advance for fear that they wouldn’t be available during the pandemic. These are the matte white appliances that come with brushed bronze handles, or what I like to call rose gold because they match my MacBook of the same shade. The induction range has a double oven that has proven to be useful many times over already, but I’m going to say … the lower oven is really low low to the ground.
The backsplash is from Arizona Tile. The style is called Flash and I chose light blue in 3”x12” tiles. The variance in blues is more than the photos depicted, but I’ve embraced it! I’m loving all the blues of the ocean that it represents.
My cabinets are Huntwood in Colonial White with black hardware for the perimeter and Atlantic (navy) with gold hardware for the island. I carried the cabinets to the ceiling and went with almost all drawers for ease of getting items in and out. I love the little details like the 3-inch wide trim around the cabinet fronts.
I debated doing open shelves and finally nixed them and went with one glass cabinet where I chose to showcase my Mexican glassware (the Arizona side of me) in cobalt and turquoise with some of my mom’s milk glass pieces.
A beautiful sink and faucet make doing dishes fun! Well at least for awhile.
I’ve always wanted an apron or farm sink. At the last minute I decided to go for it and I’m so glad I did. However, the sink ended up being the source of a multi-week delay. The first one they installed had a crack in it, which meant that the countertop and backsplash couldn’t be installed. My kitchen faucet (more jewelry) is Align by Moen in brushed gold. I liked that the black pulls in the hardware.
Voila. My Baking Bar.
I saved my favorite for last. My baking station. Or what a friend laughingly called my “baking wet bar.” But since there’s no sink, I think my new name shall be “the Baking Bar.” After all, that’s my kind of bar. This area was originally designed to be a desk. At first I was going to do a coffee bar, but because I’m a baker I really wanted the perfect home for my aqua KitchenAid. Also, I fell completely in love with the Ping tile that Portland interior designer Max Humphrey has in his own kitchen.
Isn’t she lovely? The handmade tile is called Temparto from Tempest Tile Works in Portland. The style is Ping and color is Arctic on Blonde clay.
I’ve been obsessed with this tile for two years and knew I had to incorporate it somewhere in my house. It turned out to be so wonderful and brings me joy every time I look at it! The dots are goldish in color, but the texture is more of a cork or terracotta feel. I’m continually re-styling these shelves, but my Mason Cash batter bowl matches the dots so well and my aqua vintage Joy of Cooking book will stay.
My Office
Last but not least, I can’t forget my office … which is almost an extension of my kitchen. This is where I put most of my cookbooks … and my Happy Cow. Famous to all Zoom call recipients over the last few years.
After a two-year journey, we finally made it to the beach and it’s better than I even imagined. We try to slow down and at least go look at the waves every day. We still have a lot to do with the house. This week I’ve been reorganizing the pantry. I went from a walk-in pantry to a much smaller pantry, so decided to transition from glass jars to the popular OXO stackable POP containers.
I will start sharing food and recipes again soon! In the meantime, I’m happy to answer any questions on the decorating and will take suggestions on what to bake/cook in my new kitchen. That is — unless I Am Busy. At the beach.