Kitchen Reveal

The kitchen is now done!  The tile was installed earlier this week and that was the last step in the overhaul which began the end of August.  The plan was to leave the basic footprint of the old kitchen while adding a few conveniences -- such as a place to make espresso and a place to charge cell phones -- as well as giving the overall space an up to date look.  Besides replacing the window, there were no structural changes.

Here's the "before" view... 

...and here's the "after." 

Looking towards the window, here's the "before"...

...and here's the "after." 

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The sink area "before"....

and "after."

The corner...



...now reworked into the perfect spot for making our morning lattes.



The old cooking area...



...and the new.  Check out that tile!  Oh, and I have to tell you that the old pink tile made more sense when we took down the old cupboards and found that the original paint was pink!



Here's a closeup of the cool inset above the stove.



We kept the idea of these clever open shelves....

...but they are so much nicer now.

The old cupboards around the refrigerator ...

....were replaced by ones that give the space a "built in" look.  

Check out the nifty cupboard above the fridge. Finally we have a place for all those large flat cooking pans.

We liked having the open shelves next to the fridge...

...so we put bigger ones there, giving us easy access to most of our pots and pans.  

The window area used to be just for growing plants...

...but now provides much needed drawers, a place for the microwave, and a large counter. 

The old pantry shelves were moved to the dining room where they are quite useful. 

And the cart that held the coffee machine is also now in the dining room where it serves as a place to make cocktails.   

We were so lucky to have the help of our friend Lotus, owner of Interior Motives, doing the design work and acting as our contractor.  She thought of all the little details that make the kitchen so workable, like including a spot for the step stool I need to reach the upper shelves, and found, hired, and oversaw the various workmen.

Now that it's all done we are kicking back and enjoying the result of all our planning.

You should come enjoy it, too!  Family and friends are always welcome! 

Kitchen Tile, Day 1

The kitchen tile was installed today and the transformation was exciting to watch.  I won't show you until the tile is grouted tomorrow, but meanwhile here's a few images to whet your appetite. 

WOW! Thank you Distinctive Kitchens by Truly Custom Homes!

The new window was installed today and all I can say is "WOW!" First off, even thought the contractor hadn't been here for several days, he showed up today, just as promised. That's pretty amazing in and of itself, given how contractors generally seem to be balancing several jobs at once and don't always show up as scheduled. And second, the effect of the new window was even more wonderful than we had expected. The first photo is the view looking out the window towards the left, at the pasture and the bird feeders. The second photo shows the whole window, looking out towards the right, at the holly trees. And last is the "before" photo, showing what was replaced. It's a pretty amazing change, and we are all looking forward to sitting at the counter and looking out at our lovely view.

The idea for changing the window came late in the design process. One day I had the thought that really, if we were going to do this big project, we should just bite the bullet and fix the window problem at the same time. Ben caught the vision immediately, and there was no going back. And then we found a good construction company with reasonable prices, so we could afford to add in this design element.

This is probably a safe time to give out the name of the contractor. I've been nervous about mentioning it before, for fear of jinxing our smooth-flowing process. We hired Distinctive Kitchens by Truly Custom Homes, based in Prince Frederick, Maryland. We couldn't be more pleased.

Kitchen Renovation: One More Day!

One more day and the counter tops will be installed! I can't wait. Not only does that mean we'll have counters...yippee!... but also that the new sink and faucet can be installed, the garbage disposal and dishwasher hooked up, the knobs put on the cabinets, and the cardboard removed from the floor. We'll be back in business and can start unpacking! Since the contractor is starting another job, we aren't scheduled to have the new window installed and the trim reinstalled until next week, but that's ok. It will be enough to have counter tops and a good sink again and to begin getting things into the new space. Too exciting!

Kitchen renovation: What started it all

When we moved into our old farmhouse 24 years ago, we immediately replaced the kitchen tile with linoleum squares of checkerboard blue and white. We loved that tile and it served us well for about 15 years. Then it was too old to keep clean any longer but we couldn't decide what to replace it with so we put off the decision. When Paul came into our lives eight years ago we put our energies into upgrading the second bath and putting in air conditioning, both sorely needed to accommodate a third person in the house. It wasn't until about three years ago, when the floor began to crack, that we got serious about dealing with it.

The problem was that so many other decisions hinged around replacing the floor. If we were going to replace the floor, should we replace the 1940's sink and cabinets? If we were going to replace the floor, we should get a new refrigerator, but new ones were too big for the space. If we were going to replace the floor, should we incorporate some of the old dining room into the kitchen area to make the space more open? If we were going to replace the floor, shouldn't we think about replacing all the floor on the first floor? It all got too complicated and we stalled out in our decision making. But one day this hole appeared in the floor, and we knew it was time to buckle down and make the hard decisions.

And now we're in the thick of the result, packing up the three rooms that will be affected by the kitchen renovation. The past day or two I've been focused on all the work to get ready for the big demolition on Wednesday. But today I went and bought our new floor -- a beautiful natural cherry-- as well as our new refrigerator -- with an extra drawer and an ice and water dispenser!-- and was struck by a surge of pleasurable excitement. After all these years we are going to have a wonderful kitchen and I can't wait!