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Kitchen of the Week: A Cost-Conscious Cabin Kitchen Puzzled Together from Vintage Finds

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Kitchen of the Week: A Cost-Conscious Cabin Kitchen Puzzled Together from Vintage Finds

March 16, 2023

The cabin dates from 1979, but its newly shored-up kitchen has the sepia warmth of a much earlier era. Located in the Poconos, in Bushkill, Pennsylvania, a hike from the famous Bushkill Falls, the hideaway was purchased by a group of four friends for use as a retreat and word-of-mouth rental.

The new owners include Brooklyn-based designers Lauren Lochry and Jeff Gillway who, on the group’s tight budget, set out to remodel the rooms using found objects and materials from the region. “The structural bones of the house were intact, but the interior had been left abandoned and was uninhabitable,” reports Lochry. “We did the majority of the renovation ourselves—but we called in an electrician and plumber.”

While the dirty work was underway, they also dug around in local salvage yards and were first in line at garage sales. Their finds slowly added up to the “collaged” cabinet wall that’s now the star attraction of the revived kitchen. Come see the time-travel appeal of dark wood, old stone, and chainsaw art.

Photography courtesy of Ridge House ( @_ridgehouse ).

the wall of antique case goods—including an oak ice box, rosewood and gl 9
Above: The wall of antique case goods—including an oak ice box, rosewood and glass shelf, and walnut medicine cabinet—was assembled over time by “searching for pieces that would fit tightly as a single form,” says Lochry. “We carefully sourced items with similar tones. All other wood surfaces were stained dark walnut.” The paneled wood ceiling is original and was “an important factor in the group’s decision to purchase the house.”

When the cabin was being remodeled, Lochry and Gillway jointly ran the Brooklyn design studio Ridge House ; it’s now Lochry’s own business: she specializes in interior design and staging, and offers some vintage finds in the shop on her site.

in addition to being unified by color, the drawers and doors were all given bra 10
Above: In addition to being unified by color, the drawers and doors were all given brass pulls. They’re made from a “Ziploc bag of dated lacquered white pull bars” found at a local tag sale. As is, the pulls didn’t “match our vision for a rustic cabin,” says Lochry, but the disassembled brass mounting hardware, they discovered, works well on its own.

The icebox holds small appliances; its durable lining was retrofitted with electrical outlets. The fridge, not shown, is hidden behind wooden doors.

the oven and induction cooktop were found pre owned in black and selected to vi 11
Above: The oven and induction cooktop were found pre-owned in black and selected to visually tie in with the overall look. “The house is run solely by electrical power, so induction was a functional solution and an aesthetic opportunity to seamlessly blend with the dark wood countertops and drawers,” says Lochry.

The back wall is an easy, effective transformation: it’s 1970s artificial wood paneling painted in Sherwin Williams’s White Flour to creative “a textured wainscoting effect.”

the existing sink wall was given a dramatic makeover: the designers took down t 12
Above: The existing sink wall was given a dramatic makeover: the designers took down the upper cabinetry and refinished the existing millwork. The countertop is their affordable substitute for butcher block: “We stained bamboo fitted panels and added a water-resistant sealant,” says Lochry. The inset sink is cast iron.

The circular table is an antique butcher’s table “made from a single tree trunk raised on three turned legs: it’s used as a work surface and island with a single bar stool.” Meals are eaten in the adjacent dining room and on the outdoor patio.

even the existing stone hearth was tweaked: &#8\2\20;we enlarged the firebo 13
Above: Even the existing stone hearth was tweaked: “We enlarged the firebox to reference Pennsylvania Dutch 19th-century hearth cooking.” The designers were able to uncover and refinish the original wood floor upstairs; here, they used Pergo waterproof engineered oak hardwood in Midnight Raven.
the chainsaw chair was made from a fallen tree by a local hobbyist. note the su 14
Above: The chainsaw chair was made from a fallen tree by a local hobbyist. Note the surprise still life hanging in the hearth.

Here are two past projects by Ridge House:

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