Vintage kitchen love

After much hunting around through 'real' photos and my very first digital ones I've cobbled together a post that will hopefully explain my excitement at the 1940's kitchen.

You see many moons ago kitchenalia was my thing. Not just a passing fad, a full on addiction!

So for starters here's a collage of our kitchen a couple of houses back. We lived here for seven years I think until eight years ago. I wish I'd got 'before' photos to show.

As you can see I had a bit of a 1940s cream and green thing going on...

I loved this kitchen. It was the original cottage kitchen complete with a Rayburn number 1 then you went up two steps into the 1980s extension. Gopping if I remember rightly but we ripped it out the first night. It then stayed in a state of disrepair for a few years before we had the money to lay a slate floor, install a gas Rayburn and put in a stunning pair of chapel doors. I bought these on a whim at auction for £50, as you do!

Whilst all the cream and green was happening in my own kitchen I was collecting and selling like mad at my stall in the antique centre. I must explain that at this point I had a proper job (and still do) but with jammer number 1 on the way we needed more space at home. A major declutter was needed and Mr Jam got me my unit as a maternity leave 'project'...

So here it is at the beginning, that's 12 years ago now. A long maternity leave for two children!

It's a hobby that perhaps got a bit out of control.

then maybe a bit more than a bit...

I could spot a Tala from a Worcesterware tin a mile off.

Ebay had just started and the spare room was a often a photo shoot for Saturday night auctions. We'd wake up in the morning and find they'd all been snapped up with Buy it Nows and were on their way to Japan if they were white and the USA if they were coloured.

 Strange but true! It amazed me that they $100 for a bread and flour bin and then nearly the same again for airmail shipping. The Post Office must have wondered what on earth we were up to.

It was a funny old life living in a vintage kitchen with stuff coming and going. In between we raised a baby in a vintage highchair. No wonder she loved the museum kitchen, it probably brought back memories!

The fridge was a bit of a one off. A cream beauty we stumbled on by chance. Often I would get phone calls from people wanting to sell kitchenalia and more often that not it was a load of old tat. When a chap rang about an old fridge I quietly ignored it but he was persistent. He called back and insisted I would love it and it would be great in my unit. I didn't even know if I was allowed to sell electrical things and probably not antique ones.

Anyway he won and we went to see it. One look inside and there was no way it was for the unit it had to be mine! He'd had it resprayed and it was stunning and the pink surprise inside never failed to delight.

 Eventually growing numbers meant we had to get something more practical with a freezer so old fridge was collected by a lovely couple from Falmouth who were opening an oyster bar. I hope it's still going strong.

Now I've got all nostalgic for my old old house. I might have to show you around the rest of it another time.