Permanent sunshine in the kitchen – and can you spot the lemon?
It all started when I paid yet another visit to Monet’s House in Giverny, France.
It is his fault that I am redecorating the kitchen here at Pinks Barn – the dark blue and yellow scheme rattled around in my head until I knew it had to be done. You are permitted to walk through Monet’s old home, in a very well-behaved single file, smiling to yourself that you are passing through the great artist’s studio. I would defy anyone not to gasp as they enter the dining room. Everything in the room is the most glorious shade of yellow. Next comes the kitchen in a deep blue with the most delicious tiles. Combine the two and you have the vision for my kitchen.
You will see from the images that I went for it in a big way, and I must admit that the yellow you see in the images is the third version – perhaps I am not as brave as Claude Monet after all!
Perhaps someone could tell me why I thought all the work would be complete in under a week. After three changes of colour for one end, and a complete repaint the other end, it was nearer two weeks in a muddle.
It took a whole day just to empty the room and wash down the cupboards and walls. I am not going to describe the colour of the water, but sugar soap certainly did the trick. I steam cleaned the tiles and worktops and shuddered to see the effect.
There is another aspect to decorating and I call it ‘styling’ (I refuse to quote what Bill calls it). I’m talking about moving objects from here to there, hanging pictures in new places, finding things elsewhere in the house and relocating them to a kitchen shelf. I even found a lovely larger-than-life lemon in the shop where I bought the paint. It was meant, so it had to accompany me home.
Then you need plants and, in my case, I had to find homes for my chicken collection!
Once the room was reassembled, I realised that I need a new cover for the Magimix – white plastic had no place in my new room. I found a lovely remnant at Just Fabrics in Burford and out came the sewing machine. I will admit it took two attempts to get this perfect, but thankfully the remnant was half metre, very wide and only cost £8.00.
Monet’s kitchen… 
…and dining room!
Working out what should be yellow. 
A pine mirror is transformed with blue. 
The Magimix gets a new hat!
