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I must have grown up some because I am beginning to realise how dangerous it can be to assume. You see I always assumed I would one day play the piano … the musical piano of course, but also the culinary piano.
‘Le Piano’ the crown to any self respecting kitchen, hub of the homestead, pride of the family in all its shining glory.
Strangely these assumptions haven’t been realised, and of course I have survived. I can tinkle out a little tune on the musical piano in our dining room, and I have cooked huge meals for years quite happily on a regular hob and separate ovens, but in a dark, seldom revealed, corner of my heart there is still a little hankering going on!
It’s not only the allure of the sleek steel, and shiny enamel, nor even the brass knobs and buttons. It’s also the huge oven space and the challenge of learning how to tame the beast!
So to console myself and to inspire you to hanker too, here are a few of my favourite piano pics….and a question – please tell me …..
what did you always assume you would achieve or possess one day that simply hasn’t come to pass?
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33 comments
I"ll be honest. These Baby Grands would intimidate the hell out of me. So much is expected when you have a big honker stove parked in your kitchen. I have a small but adequate kitchen now that I"ve downsized. I pretend it's in Paris and I"m very happy! 🙂
V
My DREAM is to have one of those stoves!
I haven't graduated school, had a career etc., so I haven't had the chance to not have a dream item just yet, but I absolutely LOVE muscle cars, really nice… really expensive muscle cars, I have a feeling it will be on the back burner for a really long time! Gorgeous stoves btw! I wouldn't be able to decide between a lacanche or viking..
A little piano would be grand in my kitchen, too! I've always hoped to have a home with a lovely lake view like my grandmother had. I still think the dream could come true – we are 3 blocks from the lake now, so hopefully the next home will be perched just right to take in the view – but if not, there is always my imagination!
I always assumed I would live by the sea.
A fireplace in the kitchen!!!
Wonderful images…
How are you mon amie?
xo
I yearn for my own little place somewhere in the French Countryside…
the culinary piano was much easier to come by…
I will dream on…you neaver know. Colette x
I'd always planned to jump out of a plane…
Sharon !
Je vois que tu rêves aussi d'une belle cuisinière !
Nous avons longtemps rêvé de notre "chère" Lacanche…. Imaginé quelle couleur choisir…
C'est un véritable investissement, mais quand on a une maison de grande qualité esthétique il faut absolument un piano à la hauteur… Après le elle semble toujours avoir été là et on s'y habitue très vite ! Mais tant que le souhait n'est pas réalisé, c'est dur de l'oublier.
À bientôt,
Céline.
I will take the blue and copper stove set up thank you….!!
I've played the musical piano since I was 10 years old, so I can "check" that one off. But oh, the fabulousness of those kitchens!!!!! I love my big, light-filled kitchen but often find myself wishing the cooktop was larger, the sink was deeper, the oven was wider, the cabinets were darker…
Funny you should ask the question about what I assumed I would achieve that simply hasn't come to pass. My answer: children. It's heartbreaking for me to talk about, but has come up for me lately in a poignant way and I think this may be just the right place and time to share it. I thought I had cleared my home and heart and mind of the thought of ever having children until I found a box of stuffed animals and books in the back of my closet – it's been there more than 15 years – waiting for the day I'd have babies. I gave the box to my cousin's daughter, so they have a good home, but the loss of that dream, I'm finding, still stings sharply.
I have come to realize that in life if you want to know what people really want look at what they have…I do not believe that you really desire d'une belle cuisiniere…..otherwise you would have it..
LOL! You're living one of my "assumptions"…to live in Europe somewhere and to be fluent in French. Ah well, I'm happy and I can read about France at your site and others, so it's okay.
xo,
Karen
I am in love with that Navy blue enamel kitchen! wow, Ive never seen anything like that!
Boy do I feel lucky, I have really achieved more than I ever thought I would, and there is really nothing I NEED ( want maybe, but not need!)
Thanks…
Nancy
https://www.powellbrower.com/
I always thought I would have a Wolf range but this year I have begun that FINALLY! kitchen renovation and I decided at 62 after not cooking with gas for 27 years I'd probably give myself a Viking funeral with my high BTU Wolf. I am going with induction. Not sexy like these beauties, but then, alas, neither am I!
I have always wanted to have a Wolf or Viking stove but I just don't have the space in either home. Oh, the fun I would have! As for real dreams, I thought I would have traveled through Europe by now.
XO,
Jane
most of my dreams have come true…a wonderful husband, 3 beautiful and healthy children, 3 beautiful and healthy grand children, a wonderful english bulldog (ethel)and a fabulous house with a (small) gas cooktop. but man, i really wanted to be able to SING !!!!! GUESS YOU CAN'T HAVE IT ALL….but i think i do!
Oh my gosh – that one with the lights stung across! My heart is beating so fast!!!
And the first two, and the concrete counter tops… these kitchens are GORGEOUS!
Ok, something I thought I would have found an outlet for my singing by now. Aside from church I haven't pursued it too hard – I actually wanted something to just fall in my lap. You know, a little band that I could sing with on occasion. Sigh.
Lovely post Sharon!
You have hit the nail right on the head here. I always wanted an Aga and I always wanted to be able to play the piano. I have had a few lessons (but really need to practice more!) and my kitchen ended up with a cream look alike Falcon (much more practical in Australia).
I would love a French Country House!
The piano is lovely, but I've always had a thing for the Agas. I'm sure I'll never have one, but one can always dream.
Oh, my goodness – the photo with the blue and white tiles and the copper pots – just beautiful! I've always wanted an Aga but I live in the south with no air conditioning and it just wouldn't fit. But I do love my year-old NXR stainless stove, and I do have my copper pots hanging above it. Life is pretty good. Now to get that screen porch I've been wanting….
Boy, this really strikes a chord with me! I have had the blessed pleasure to build a couple of wonderful homes and remodel many others. When push came to shove, I always chose the practical over the 'in' appliances. I was careful to keep within my budget and just figured that they all accomplished the same purpose; practical or large and gorgeous. Your images are fabulous…if could turn back the clock…
On the musical note, everyone in my family played piano and/or other instruments, mais moi! My mom said my 'gifts' were in other areas! lol! I always knew I would be an oil painter. But I thought of it as something I would do when I got really OLD. I have been an oil painter for many years, now. It is what I was meant to do…but it took a back injury to nudge me into it when I was still YOUNG!
A farm by the ocean with horses for me. But what I've got is pretty good…family and home.
Funny about all those kitchens, truthfully I would rather clean toilets than cook! I guess what I always assumed I would have when I reached this point in life is a lot of free time. Now with 12 grandchildren and still working a full time job I have none of that. I still have some free time, but I had dreams of spending my days painting or knitting or reading books instead of still working 9-5. Can't say I don't love my life though, have six wonderful children and the best husband on the planet.
The third picture with that heart stopping navy blue range is gorgeous..
l always thought l would be married forever, alas this is not the case..
Baffle baffle baffle sob: my poor little cousin of theirs a tiny 'Rayburn' can't compete with neither of them – sighsighsigh!
YET it's still doing marvellous roasts, whilst I'm chopping timber outdoors or other time-claiming works in winter – Yumm!
cheers,
Gerlinde
i like you always have had a hankering for playing th piano but I need to start at the top. I wanted to just walk into a room, somebody give the tune and I would immediatey tinkle the ivories . Alas NO it didn't happen, so when I conned a son into learning when he was young i tried to double up – that didn't work either! I have resigned myself to buying CDs and dreaming in my mind.. Thats's not bad is it?
I always assumed that I would live in the country with a lot of acreage around me. I DO live in a small town, but right in the middle of town. I DO have a nice sized lot to garden in. That's as close as it's going to get and that's fine.
Oh thank you Sharon for such lovely pics and inspiration. I LOVE those kitchens.. I have always wanted a big 2 oven gas stove.. I love that black one.. I know this is a bit late but just had to let you know how I love those kitchens.. The copper, too..
Blessings..
That's a good question, Sharon. My whole life was about acting until I met Remi. I always just assumed that I would spend my life in the theatre but it didn't come to pass. And like Amy, I didn't have children and am still dealing with that as well.
A friend of mine has an Aga and says that it is a pain in the *ss! Very tempermental and demanding.
I'm about to order an ivory Lacanche for my new kitchen.
I'm so excited…now I need to learn how to cook!
xo
Brooke
I count my blessings because I have a wonderful husband and son and two delightful grandchildren.
But my unfulfilled wish was to be one of those lucky ones who spend half the year in France and half the year in their home country, in my case Australia. At my age now and in the age of the global financial crisis/uncertainty, it isn't going to happen. But at least I get to travel there and spend around a month or so every couple of years.
Also, always wanted to write a book. Have now just finished writing my first, and will send out to agents, but alas, it will probably never be published in these days of bookshops closing down.
I took piano lessons from the age 10 or so for many years. I remember having no asperations as a child. I don’t remember thinking about the future as a kid. Having said that, I had a 20 year career as a legal secreary and towards the end a paralegal, went to design school and did some of that and finally got a finance degree and was a financial analyst for a bit. Now I have a lovely home in Solana Beach (wolf range – piano) and a home in France (LaCanche) and a 1918 Steinway — couldn’t remember the name; had to look. Life is funny. Had 3 husbands (3rd one finally a keeper), always worked hard and put a premium on integrity and somehow it worked out. Blessed and Thankful.