In 2006 we purchased an old farmhouse in the middle of our Danube, N.Y. property. The first order of business in the renovation of this 1875 home was to open up space, and build a new kitchen. The existing cabinets were poorly made of plywood. There was a wall that cut the kitchen space in half, making it difficult for more than one person to be in there at a time. Our family likes to cook together, and we often have friends and family over. We decided to take down that wall, creating a large spacious area to design our new kitchen in.

Click on this image to see shots of the original kitchen in our 1875 farmhouse,
the renovation,
and the completion!

We wanted to keep with the period and style of the home, and built a custom kitchen in the Early American style. Our kitchen consists of hand crafted furniture, that functions as kitchen cabinetry. In Early America, you wouldn't find long walls filled with uniform cabinets, rather, random pieces were more likely.

An impressive 144" wide x 95" high Early American butternut hutch sets along the back wall. This large sideboard sports 7 pairs of cupboard doors for storage, 6 deep drawers, a soap compartment under the sink, a bread box located in the center of the upper section, adjustable shelves, solid tiger maple counter tops, lights in the open sections, and electrical outlets & light switch in the back of the open section. The custom made kitchen island has a space to sit for a cup of coffee, or visit with the cook! There is a range and oven on the back side of the island, so when cooking you face out towards visitors, and can view through to the adjacent dining room & den. There is an old fashioned deep sink which we built matching legs with the island. Next to the sink is a small cherry cabinet that houses the dish washer, which has a copper lined counter to place wet dishes and glasses on.

On the side wall, under a set of windows sits an 84" wide x 37" high Early American butternut server, with a solid tiger maple counter. This piece is very handy when entertaining. Sunday afternoons often find this server covered with various dishes awaiting to be shared.

A shot of the wormy butternut wood used to build these piece. Butternut has a beautiful warm golden brown color. We used no stains, only catalyzed varnish to achieve these hues. Also, a shot of the hand turned walnut knobs with butternut centers that our son Bobby hand turned for us. The door frames were fastened with square black walnut pegs. All the doors and drawers are fit into the face stiles and rails, as was done years ago. Many manufacturers charge a premium for doors and drawers fit this way. At Delnero Custom Kitchens we don't charge extra, it is our honor to keep these traditions alive.

A close-up of the tiger maple counter tops, and some of the interesting grain patterns found in rustic butternut wood. This wood can also be purchased without these character flaws.