We're Nuts for Walnut!

Can you believe it's October already?! We've been busy bees here at the shop; getting ready for Christmas, stocking up on antique treasures, and as always we've been working away on a variety of custom pieces.

Lately we've had a lot of requests for pieces built in walnut. Walnut is a great choice for furniture or cabinetry because it's very durable and has an attractive grain. With proper care, walnut pieces can last many lifetimes.

This entertainment armoire is made of a birch surround with plywood walnut doors (we always always trim our plywood with real solid wood for longevity). The birch is painted a creamy white, the doors were left natural and have been treated with oil. This piece really showcases the beauty of walnut. The simple contemporary lines draw attention to the textures and colour of the natural wood doors and drawers. To keep with the linear and contemporary feel of the design, the vertical wood grain of the doors continues into the drawers.

Because of its durability, walnut is a great choice for any high-usage piece of furniture. We made this custom walnut island and gave it a dark walnut coloured stain. The perimeter of the surface has been embellished with a subtle hand-painted design.

Down below there is a slatted shelf for open storage and "hidden" drawers just underneath the top surface for place-mats and napkins. In collaboration with our customer, the legs were reproduced from an antique newel post, and were hand-turned on a lathe by our amazing woodworker. We feel this design and choice of rich wood perfectly suit the William Morris aesthetic of this Halifax kitchen. What do you think?

Kentville Kitchen

Recently, we had the pleasure of working with the young couple who own this beautiful home in Kentville N.S. The house is a charmer- built in the late 1800's, it is filled with character! We love the look and feel of older homes, but often they need some updating. In this case it was the awkward and dark 70's kitchen remodel that needed to be completely gutted. As always, henhouse was up to the challenge!

click on any of the images to see them in full-size

A challenge indeed! Before the reno the kitchen had very limited storage and work space, not a lot of natural light, and it had five doorways and two large windows to reckon with. Our designer Sappho worked with the family to come up with some great storage solutions, lighting and colour schemes and a flooring option that would blend in well with the history of this house.

To provide more light, flow and to modernize the space, the wall between the kitchen and dining room was removed. The custom henhouse peninsula helps to define the kitchen from the dining space and adds storage and seating. Having the microwave tucked into the lower cabinetry frees up counter space and looks clean and contemporary. The apron sink from Nova Tile and glass hutch from henhouse add touches of the past and speak to the character of the house.

To create more storage, Sappho created a tall pantry unit and placed it where the old stove once lived. A window and a doorway were closed up to accommodate the new placement of the fridge, stove, and surrounding cabinetry.

The door that you see in the before photo was covering up a cute little staircase that leads to the second floor. The doorway was opened up in order to showcase this unique historical feature. The desk space remained tucked away in this perfect little nook in front of the window.

The island was created from the family's old dining table. The henhouse team added shelves and castors and re-finished it at the shop. It's now a moveable work surface and storage area with loads of character and history.

This kitchen is a great success. It's now a fresh, family space that is functional and fits in with the 19th century home. We wish this happy Kentville family many years of joy in their beautiful home!

Hi! It's September already, can you believe it?! I sure can't.

Today we're sharing some photos sent in by one of our customers. We don't always get to see things in situ, so it's really exciting for us to receive photos! There's a really big difference between seeing a piece in the store or in the workshop and seeing it in someone's home.

This customer needed a dining table, chairs, and stools for her beautiful summer home on the Northumberland Strait.

Above is an 11ft (!) Harvest Table from our Oxford Collection. This piece was built with a cherry tabletop and a birch base that has been hand-painted and antiqued. The clean and simple lines make reference to Shaker style furniture. The ladder back chairs, from our supplier in Toronto, are a perfect match and are available through henhouse.

These stools were ordered though henhouse and work really well as seating at the island. They carry elements of Shaker style and help to tie the eating area to the kitchen workspace.

Here are some elegant swivel stools from the same supplier. They look great and they're really comfy too!

Thank you S for sending in these photos :)

If you have furniture or decor items from henhouse take a photo and share it on our facebook page! We'd love to see how you made our products a part of your home!

Enjoy the rest of the week!

THE CUSTOM DETAILS....

Its all in the details isn't it?! Above and below, custom inserts for cutlery and spices, garbage and recycling and a concealed dishwasher panel next to the sink.

THE CUSTOM DETAILS...

A detail photo of a pull out next to the cooktop for baking sheets, oils and vinegars...
Dovetailed baltic birch drawer boxes...
A pop-up for their Kitchen -Aid for their drop down baking centre...
Double sided glass cabinets to help bring in the light from their entry way. A gorgeous Liebherr double fridge/freezer with a built in wine fridge 48"w. All cabinetry was inset in the traditional way. The glass we used is a reproduction "seedy" glass that mimics the little seed air bubbles found in turn-of-the-century glass.
A small message centre with a magnetic chalkboard sits next to our own custom hutch with a gray painted and distressed finish.

INSTALLED TO PERFECTION

The standout cooktop with custom turned posts awaits the tiled back splash to set it off just right.

This show stopper will prove that country living is at its best. Located just outside of Amherst, Nova Scotia, our latest kitchen has come to fruition after many months of hard work by our own staff at Henhouse and all the trades that came together to complete this beautiful and unique home. Thank you to the homeowners for making this project as fun and unique as we hoped it would be and we were honoured to be a part of it.

DOESN'T LOOK LIKE MUCH AT THIS POINT

We often have customers ask to see their kitchen in progress but we usually shy away from this as it doesn't look like much at this point!!! But a lot of work and consideration have brought this stage to its point; Here is our Amherst kitchen at about half way completed and in our finishing shop located in Halifax.

STEPS TO A CUSTOM KITCHEN

Have you ever wondered what the steps are for building your dream Henhouse kitchen? Well we'll navigate you through the procedure where every detail is thought out and every thing has its place so your kitchen will be highly organized, efficient and designed to be unique and long lasting.

The first step is to set up a meeting with our kitchen cabinet designer, Sappho Griffin. The initial meeting is to brainstorm and get an idea of the space and requirements you have be it a renovation or a new build. The meeting can take pace in our storefront or in your home (for a nominal fee) where you can bring in magazine clippings for visual reference and measurements of your space. From there she can draw up conceptual sketches and produce an estimate to complete the job. She can work with you to just design and build the cabinetry or can assist you further with desicions in regards to counters, sink/taps, back splash selection, flooring or lighting selections...

After a deposit, the next step is to finalize details of the cabinet design and produce detailed drawings for the cabinet maker, electricians, plumbers and contractors to follow as shown above of our most recent kitchen completed in Amherst New Brunswick.

DETAILS...

One of our signature tricks is, "The Double Pantry". Simple concept, but so convenient.

Small pleasures like this drawer, specifically for tupper ware, really can make a cook happy in the kitchen. And if we achieve that with our great design, attention to detail and our quality cabinetry, then that makes us happy.

WARM ACCOLADES

To say this kitchen and this house was an ugly duckling before the renovation is a vast understatement. Our good friends were very astute in their plan to buy the ugliest house on the block but on a great street on the Halifax Peninsula and then transform it back into the home it once was. Over 100 years old, this home had undergone a 1970s renovation inside and out, with all the original detailing removed. The exterior was a horror and the interior, especially the kitchen, was all smoky mirrors (yes mirrors in the kitchen!) and shag carpets and wrought iron detail.
Our friends had a clean slate once all the '70s horror was removed and their esthetic ran towards the Craftsman and Shaker styles. With a simple galley style layout we devised a palette of warmth typical of that style. Who knew we could convince them that Light Khaki on their cabinets is the new neutral? But we, and they, are so pleased with the results. Tired of cream and white on cabinets we used the soft green and went intense on the walls with a burnt orange and a very soft white on the beadboard to keep the room feeling crisp and modern.
To keep the room warm and organic in feeling, we went with birch wood countertops and cork flooring. The bib sink is from Franke available at Nova Tile and Marble. To keep their counters looking good, all that is required is a wipe down after kitchen clean up - just treat these counters as you would your dining room table and they will look as good as the day they were put in.

THE AAHHH....MOMENT....

The happy family surveying the work completed, they can now relax and enjoy their home.
The island was stained a rich blend of stains on birch to give it depth and personality and coexist with the rough-hewn beams and floors. To the right of the stove features a pull out to house oils/vinegars and baking sheets, left of the stove houses all the spices and cooking utensils allowing the soapstone counter to be clutter free.

At first the lower than counter height windows posed a big problem as we could not run the counter in an L-shape for maximum prep space. However, the solution we came up with, to drop the counter to the window height, has now become a unique, interesting and functional feature - guests and kids alike love hanging out there, plus when you first walk into this kitchen your eye immediately goes to those picture windows framing their awesome view and that was the point all along!

WORK IN PROGRESS

Who wants to look at a kitchen when you've got an incredible view like this?!!! We took our cues from this breath-taking look off near Lawrencetown beach; we felt the kitchen needed to be simple, simple, simple. The focus was to highlight the gorgeous reclaimed beams and flooring and the large picture windows framing these stunning views. BUT and a big but, this kitchen had to have the same calibre of the natural beauty surrounding it and the incredible work this family had done so far in building this home from the ground up.

ANOTHER SATISFIED CUSTOMER!

Happy New Year everyone! Its been awhile since our last post, the holiday season was a busy one indeed. We are just now catching our breath and wanted to share with you this gorgeous kitchen we just finished, literally days before Christmas! Suffice it to say that our dear little customer was glad to have Santa come with a fully stocked pantry while all were nestled into their beds dreaming of sugar plums.

THE SHOUTH SHORE SERIES (part 2)

To build a brand spanking new kitchen (one that has been custom designed no less) is no small task and requires a lot of imagination, detailed thought and mind over matter in order to interpret how everything will come together once it is all finished. Besides creating a functional and savvy space, henhouse kitchens are also unique in their custom hand finishes. This particular kitchen was destined to receive the henhouse specialty, including a fully distressed treatment after which we meticulously applied by hand layers of paint and glaze in order to achieve a truly unique and aged look.

Once our builder installs the kitchen cabinetry the rest of the team is let loose in the space and then the fun really begins! The tools come out, the sanders are in full swing and after a couple of days and some serious elbow grease, the kitchen is prepped and ready to be painted. We chose two tones of grey for this particular space to complement the colours existing right outside the kitchen windows. The romantic landscape of the Atlantic ocean, where the rough waves crash upon staggering rocks and boulders is truly an inspiring sight.

Next step: some painting, sanding and a little more painting. TADA! The kitchen is now ready to undergo the REAL transformation...

THE SOUTH SHORE SERIES (part 1)

Welcome to the first part of our South Shore Series, a collection of posts dedicated to our latest kitchen and home project. This project was no small undertaking; a brand new kitchen outfitted with 'the henhouse treatment' (our signature antique finish), four bathroom vanities, built in bar, window seats, desk,, custom hand finished floor and loads of beautiful antiques which needed some good old fashioned elbow grease and refreshing...needless to say it has been a busy few months for us!

We have been beyond lucky to work on a project such as this...how could you not be inspired by all of the colours and textures along Nova Scotias breathtaking South Shore?! It has been almost a year since we began working on this home and we are ever so excited to share with your our process, from the installation to the transformation and everything in between. Enjoy!