Kitchen Renovation: Before and After

After 14 years of waiting for my ugly kitchen to give out our renovation of it is finally complete! The blinds are hung, decoration in place and everything is new and clean. It wasn�t without some tears, the husbands not mine, think cost, but it was a hard fought battle and I wouldn�t go back for anything. The dust left a bit to be desired along with the noise and I don�t mind saying the shock of seeing my kitchen gutted down to dirt took my breath away!

My wish list was mostly met, wish list, but with a room only 16� x 14�, six openings with doors and windows, and a wood stove that had to stay for warmth my grandeur ideas of clean open spaces was bumped off immediately. But that�s OK I was happy to work within my limitations. 

Those aren�t the same cabinets just the same simple shaker style. We thought we would be able to keep the old cabinets since they were nice but when our contractors started taking them down they completely fell apart. Nice fronts but the rest were cheaply put together obviously to save on cost along the way.

Before

After

With such a small kitchen we wanted to keep everything simple so as not to overwhelm the space such as using clear pendent lights so the eye travels through. We went with the wolf stove /sub zero refrigerator package because we liked that the refrigerator is in the same line as the cabinets, it doesn�t bump out into the room by a couple of inches like most refrigerators. This is where the husbands� tears came into play since showrooms don�t place price tags on these appliances for a reason!

While I would have preferred an antique tiered console/table as my kitchen island I hate seeing microwave ovens and all the things that go with cooking out in the open let alone they get dusty. This island is perfect to hide all those things and gives me more working counter space. 

We went with soapstone tile since it�s durable enough for an eighty pound bouncing golden retriever. The slightest scratch is simply sanded out with a piece of fine sandpaper but so far that hasn�t been needed. Laying the floor tiles in a long straight stretch helped to make the room look more elongated to the eye. The floor couldn�t be sealed since it changes the color from shades of gray to black but it cleans up beautifully. We put radiant heat underneath that I love but the dog, not so much!

Before

After

Since our kitchen has the lowest ceiling in our home of 8� 2� we wanted to make the room seem taller. We did that by playing with perspectives and tricking the eye into thinking the ceiling was higher so we played with the different height of cabinets to make the room seem more expansive. We were able to do that because the refrigerator was so tall, the sink window sash goes right to the ceiling and the small pantry on the other end is tall. We had to keep the same configuration because of all the openings but hey it works.

I absolutely love my new bridge faucet from American Standard here since it reaches into the middle of the sink unlike the one that originally came with this kitchen and it has a sprayer!

Before

After

Our kitchen really came down to the use of materials to give it a new look. Since we had enough of the black soapstone, used on the counters, we used a slab for the hearth under the wood stove. We pile wood in an antique copper bin during the winter and used to ding the old walls so we thought it would be a great idea to pull the flooring tiles up on the lower part of the wall around the wood stove giving it a European flavor. That�s a 16th century Italian wine vessel hanging over in that corner that I purchased from Michael Trapp here. I love green and tried to use touches of it throughout our kitchen.

After table and chairs

Gone are the antique table and chairs and in its place a small more solid table from restoration hardware that unfortunately they no longer sell. This table was actually sold as a hall table and is only 30� in diameter, plenty of room for two people to have dinner. The chairs from pottery barn here were kept open to let light pass through. Thankfully gone are the fabric roman shades from the windows and in their place custom made bamboo blinds from Smith and Noble here that are much easier to keep clean.

Before

After

I love this dishwasher from Fisher Paykel that has two drawers! It simply makes sense for us since we�re a two people family, dog bowls don�t go in there. I don�t like dirty dishes hanging about for a week and since the drawers run independently from one another that is no longer an issue.

I�ve added a few antique pieces, a cappuccino machine and voile, new kitchen! Gone is the clutter and somebody else�s design ideas. Absolutely everything in our kitchen is new right down to the wood stove. After all these years I�ve made my kitchen my own and the ride has been so worth it!

Kitchen Renovation: Part 1, Ideas

When we bought our 18th century home fourteen years ago never in my wildest imagination did I think it would take so long to remodel my kitchen. Being both a Yankee and a New Englander we don�t believe in waste and using things until they literally fall apart. I hated my kitchen and nearly dropped to my knees in thanks when my stove finally became a fire hazard. So when the husband said lets remodel the kitchen images of grandeur floated through my head��..

I dreamed of high ceilings and clean open spaces��.image via Bill Litchfield

I dreamed of tons of cabinet space and seating area....image via Steve Giannetti, Brooke's husband, from Velvet & Linen (I'm in love with this kitchen just move it into my house please!)

I dreamed of large windows with lots of natural light.......image via Belgian Pearls

Lots and lots of light!...........image via Bill Litchfield

I dreamed of using natural materials.......image via Chateau Domingue

I dreamed of using stone........image via Cote de Texas

Image via Chateau Domingue

I dreamed of clean lines...........image via A Life's Design

I dreamed of stainless steel appliances........image via Darryl Carter, love, LOVE this kitchen!

But then reality crept into my world and my dream bubble popped and I was faced with the kitchen from my nightmares! The reality is I have a kitchen that�s only 16� x 14�, a whole 224 square feet with 8� 2� ceilings, the lowest ceiling height that could be found in my house. It�s one of those quirks of an 18th century house.

The kitchen did have semi custom built cabinets and corian counters but it had a lot of issues. White counter tops are not my thing, neither is an electric stove with only two burners. No back splash around the sink or the stove. The microwave above the stove would get really hot when I cooked, it being digital you can imagine how well it worked after a few shots of heat. That refrigerator couldn�t hold the makings for a Thanksgiving meal. The faucet had this annoying drip for years on end let alone it didn't reach into the middle of the sink just that one little corner and no sprayer!

The floors were badly worn, wood floors should never be allowed in a hard working kitchen. We made the mistake of using our kitchen as a giant crate for our brand new puppy and he choose to do a little decorating himself�..look at the wall�nice huh? Sheet rock paper ripped off and the sheet rock and baseboards chewed. DO NOT USE YOUR KITCHEN AS A PUPPY CRATE! And I hated the country look but felt tied to it for some reason. Probably because of the elements in the kitchen felt so country.

I had a few restrictions when it came to designing my new kitchen��.I wasn�t allowed to bump walls out in hopes of gaining space, the kitchen is not as wide as my house and I could have gained ten feet in width had I moved those walls. Since we have harsh cold winters we had to have a wood stove for warmth. I wasn�t allowed to change the windows out since they were original to the house and not drafty believe it or not. And our Golden Dylan needed his area. Other then that I had a free hand and boy was I excited!