Reader Laura [also a mom of 4] is working on her own kitchen renovation and has been a big fan of DARBY's great posts about her personal home renovation. Darby's is a must see renovation! Since Laura is looking for kitchen ideas, she asked me to share my kitchen.
THE DEAL WITH MY KITCHEN...
It's strange to say, but we re-designed a brand new kitchen. When looking at buying our house, I walked in and walked right out - without even going up the stairs. I disliked the kitchen and that was a deal breaker because I practically live in that room. But husband loved the house and its potential. So he made me a deal...if we bought the house, I could change the kitchen.
THE PROCESS...
By month three of renovating a kitchen that should have only taken four weeks, I began to feel like
* MOMMY DEAREST * PSYCHO WIFE * STRUNG-OUT DESIGNER * all at once
Our life had turned into the movie, "The Money Pit" with Tom Hanks. Only we were living at the beach.
I was juggling too much and we were simultaneously having horizontal boarding put on all the walls on the main floor. Yep, we had carpenters, plumbers, painters and the like in our home every day for months. And we were living in the house during the process. I don't recommend this to anyone with children. It got so bad at one point that we packed up and moved out to a rental house for the last month.
THE BEFORE...
Our kitchen after gutting it. [to save funds, I kept the existing appliances]
THE AFTER...
A light and bright kitchen which became functional for our fam.
Since the kitchen is small, I chose seeded glass cabinet doors to
give the illusion of depth.
The [cheap] barstools are where the offspring eat most of their
meals. I'll get prettier ones when we they get a little older. Technically there should only be three barstools, but hey
there's four kids. I took down the two-yr-old's ugly plastic booster seat
for the pic,
but he's usually in that.
The bar situation is a good scene for the offspring, as husband and I are usually behind it serving away. Anyone relate?
Since we face the West, we get this beautiful warm sunlight in the late afternoons [pictured above]
The pics below shows our morning light so the kitchen looks a little different in these shots...
Off in the corner is my Mac-Daddy coffee maker. Notice it's next to the knife set in case anyone messes with me before I get my morning dose. It brews one cup at a time in an instant and is the reason I get out of bed most mornings.
LOOKING BACK, WHAT WOULD I HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY?
- Used marble! I love white on white. But I knew the limitations of marble and just chickened out.
- My instinct was to go with polished chrome faucets, but shied away out of fear of it always looking dirty. Really regret that one too.
- Painted the cabinets our trim color for continuity versus having them glazed.
HANDY ADDITIONS:
- Cabinet + drawer units flanking the sink [helps with storage since we have a pantry the size of a shoebox]
- Monster trash can hidden under counter and slides out like a drawer
- Dish Drawers versus dishwasher [I scooted them down two feet from original position]
- Microwave was moved to under counter to save cabinet and counter space
- Changed to a farm sink + also added a veggie sink on the long bar
to the left. That has been so great in making the kitchen super
functional. Two sinks are far better than one!
- Added foot controlled disposals on both sinks.
Love.
THE FABRIC ON THE WINDOWS [Adeliza by Groundworks]
THE FAUCETS [Rohl in satin Nickel]
ADVICE TO ANYONE RENOVATING...
- Make room in your budget to hire a professional to help keep you objective and advise on technical details. Certified Kitchen Planners + Interior Designers are well worth the investment before you take on a small or large project in your home. If all you can afford is an initial meeting, then make all of your selections and review them with the professional to make sure you are right on track.
- Always get estimates from at least two contractors. Be sure to speak with recent clients when they provide references.
- Go with your gut on what you love. If you have a strong reaction to something, then follow your heart because you'll probably go right back to that very look.
Tomorrow I'll show you the dining area...it's not really "done" but still a work in progress
