Country Cupboards To City Slickers

It is handy to have spares.
In our cellar, just sitting around and doing nothing,
we had two base kitchen cabinets, pulled out when
we re-jiggered our kitchen in 2010.

This summer, they got their chance to get back to work and be useful.

In July, Howard and I went to Washington, D.C., to find an apartment for our daughter Anne.

Anne was working all summer in Maine, had accepted a job in DC that started

a week after she finished her Maine gig, and had no place to live, and no chance to apartment-hunt.

Yeah.  Eeeek.

Anne had to trust us to find an apartment, as she could not do it for herself.

This is more nerve-wracking than it sounds.  For all of us!  But ... we did it.  Whew.

Here's Howard on the apartment house's rooftop terrace:

The Washington National Cathedral is there, rearing up in the near distance.

That's where Anne walks, to her job.  Half a mile.  Brilliant.

The apartment is a one-bedroom, with a Pullman style kitchen.

As soon as I saw it, I thought, "Kitchen Island!"

The kitchen definitely needed definition, and more counter space and storage.

When we got home, we (if by "we," I mean "Howard") bumped

those two spare base cabinets up from the cellar into our kitchen,

and they were ready for their makeover, Mr. DeMille.

I treated myself to a new Purdy.

As for paint ... Ralph Lauren, Amalfi Navy.

A gorgeous color, chosen in consultation with Anne in Maine.

....... in progress ....... first coat of color .......

 And ... in the apartment!

(Sorry, phone picture!)

Two spare kitchen cabinets, and an inexpensive butcher block

countertop from IKEA, turned this:

into this:

This is move-in weekend.  Not fully unpacked or settled.

Anne also had the maintenance man take down the awful wood accordian door that could 

stretch over the kitchen, turning the apartment into a motel room.

Looks much better without it, and it's cleaner, too!

I am not a hoarder (shut up, Howard) but some things

are worth hanging on to, just in case.

Like those base cabinets, once part of what we called 

"The Isthmus" in our kitchen.  

Anne's happy in her new job, and happy in her apartment.

I'm happy to have helped out by making an island/peninsula

that is practical, and practically free.  -- Cass

Hooking up with some Blog Parties (aren't I naughty?):

Inspire Me Tuesday, at Marty's A Stroll Thru Life... click here.

At The Dedicated House, Make It Pretty Monday... click here.

Linda at Coastal Charm shares Show and Share Tuesdays ... click here.

And at Between Naps On The Porch, it's Susan's Metamorphosis Monday... click here.