Our kitchen was designed in 1927, and it honestly shows in the character that shines through in the room. At the bottom of the page, you can see the way the kitchen looked when we moved in. I am obsessed with Art Deco and traditional glamour styles and decor. When we first saw the kitchen, it seemed off to me because the floor was hardwood. Now I’m not one to complain about having hardwood floors; in fact, our entire house, besides the bathrooms, is hardwood, and it’s beautiful thanks to the previous owner who had them refurbished. However, hardwood in a kitchen like this didn’t make the most sense to me, and some of the wood was stained. So we decided to go crazy and try to tile the floors ourselves.

“Sometimes good things fall apart so better things could fall together.” — Marilyn Monroe

We found some marble on clearance at Floor and Decor and bought a tile saw. After that, it was trial and error, sometimes more error than trial. However, I feel that for doing it ourselves, it turned out halfway decent. We (my husband) then did all of the molding by hand. It was so crazy to see it all come together. You can see the amount of cabinet space, and it is so beautiful; I love the window cabinets—they add so much charm.

Here is one corner of the kitchen with a few of the appliances I love. This fridge fits perfectly, but it has so much space inside. The dishwasher is Bosch, and it is such a good brand; it washes so well. We also have the toaster oven, which can allegedly fit a turkey. You can see on the wall the candle holder that I believe is original as well. There are little hooks all around the house for what I assume would be convenient places to have a night light. It is so charming.

Outside the window, you can see a gorgeous pink bougainvillea that is overtaking part of my yard. Having plants in and around your kitchen really gives it new life, even on dark and cloudy days like this. I was given the giant basil plant you can see to the right by my mother-in-law. It is doing so well; I highly recommend starting a simple kitchen garden. I have a hard time figuring out how to balance having indoor plants without it becoming too ‘cluttered’ looking. I have moved a few into my pantry, which has a small window that provides just enough light to keep them hanging on.

The table we put in the middle of the kitchen is kind of a temporary island. I love it because we can put wine bottles under it, which I find chic. We literally found the table outside someone’s house on the sidewalk right down the street. It was free, so we took it apart and threw it in the car. We were struggling so hard that the people who put it out came out of their house and helped us!

This is my holiday spread of snacks below the glassware cabinets. I can’t tell what is missing, but I really believe changing out the handles would do wonders for the detail in the room. I am obsessed with gold accents; to me, these handles seem a little too industrial.

The cabinets go up to the ceiling, so I really don’t use the ones at the top often; I forget what is in some of them. I have a small step stool, but once again it is not very aesthetically pleasing. Maybe it’s time I look on Etsy for something special that I won’t mind pulling out to use.

This is an older picture of the kitchen right after we finished the floor. Something I am looking to do is add more art to the room. Everything is really white, and it definitely needs a splash of something. I love the artists Yukiko and Tove Mauritzen. I hope I can add some of their pieces to the kitchen one day.

The oven is the most loved thing by everyone who comes into the room. This oven is so old and stillholds up better than most modern ovens. Here are some cookies my husband made for Christmas. There isn’t anything quite like baking cookies in a vintage oven.

Last but not least, these are some of the pictures of the kitchen when we moved in. The colors were all so different, and I didn’t hate them—but I personally could not make them work. We still want to add new tile to the backsplash and change out the light above the sink. I fear this room will be a never-ending project, but I will count it as a blessing.