Thursday, March 31, 2011

The Kitchen Remodel - Non Stamping Post

Many of you may remember me talking about remodeling our kitchen last spring/summer. I had quite a few request to share pictures and am finally getting around to it. The photo above is after it was completed, but I'll start with some before and during pictures before I show the rest of the after photos.
Here is a look at the old kitchen.  It wasn't horrible, but it lacked storage in a big way. You can see I had cereal boxes on top of the fridge, bread in the corner, not to mention clutter (and this was on a good day). The ceramic tile counters, aside from being dated with those wide, dark grout lines, were starting to fall out and some were cracked or broken. The counters were the driving force in deciding to do the remodel. They needed to be addressed, so we had to decide whether to put new counters on a kitchen we weren't happy with or invest in a whole new one.

Here is another view, this time from the family room looking into the kitchen. Another issue was the style of the cabinets didn't suit the style of the house. They were short and stubby and country looking, but the house has angular, modern lines and tall ceilings.

Our family room is very narrow and the only place to put the TV was up against that counter/bar/pony wall, which looked terrible. There was always a tangle of cords and wires for the misc. equipment. The refigerator was right on the other side of that wall and there was just barely enough room to open it and nobody could walk by if you were standing there.

Well, those are just a few of my complaints, I could go on and on, but you get the picture.

Here is a look after we tore out the center counter area and put in studs for the new wall. Mike did most of that part. I just added the cross pieces and did some electrical. We added a lot of cross pieces to provide extra support because of the cabinet configuration on the kitchen side.

This one is with most of the cabinets ripped out and patching the wall. You can see we kept the sink cabinet in as long as possible. Once that goes, the clock really starts ticking to get it done. Hard to live without a kitchen sink.

Now for the after photos. I got a longer counter. The sink used to be offset to the right and now it is centered in front of the window. I love the corner cabinet with the swivel shelves inside.


The upper cabinets used to be 33 inches high, now they are 39 inches and seem to fit the design of the house better. The counter tops are Silestone and darker in person than they are looking in the photos.

Another angle. The stove is moved over to the right about 20 inches and over laps where the refrigerator used to be. I now have plenty of elbow room on either side of the stove and you can walk by even if the oven door is open.

Where that lone counter/bar/pony wall was, now sits the refrigerator with a pantry on one side. With the refrigerator moved, I now have a work triangle. I never realized how important that was until I had it. It really does make a difference.  

A different angle of the sink. I love having the large single sink. This was something I had been contemplating for some time and nearly forgot when we were looking at sinks! I've never been one to fill up two sinks, one for washing and one for rinsing. Most stuff goes in the dishwasher and for the few things that get hand washed, I just squirt a dab of dish soap and wash it with a bit of running water. The great thing about the single sink is practically anything fits in it. My oven racks, largest roasting pan, even my big cookie sheet fits flat in there.

Another view from the family room. This used to be a really dark area of the kitchen. The tile backsplash was one of the last things we finished. Mike did the cutting for me, while I measured and then laid the tiles after he cut them.

Another view from the family room. Here you can see the new finished wall along with the TV area. We built in conduit for the cords, so they get run inside the wall to the TV. Got that new TV just in time for the NBA finals last year. Mike is a Laker fan, so that was timely.

Another view of the TV wall and the cabinets on the other side.

Same cabinets, slightly different perspective.

And here is the cabinet that is the reason it took us so long to complet the remodel. I really love having this tambour corner cabinet for the toaster and bread and such, but we came close to giving up on it. When it first came, the sides were unfinished, so we had to send it back. Since it was the designer that ordered it wrong, the manfacurer wasn't in a big hurry to get it to us, so it took three months! In the meantime, we coudn't complete the trim work or tile that had to go around this cabinet (at least the rest of the kitchen was done). It finally got here and I when I took it out of the box, it was damaged! Yikes! Back it went. This time it was the manufacurers fault, so it only took three weeks to get a replacement. It was delivered to Home Depot. They called us to come pick it up. They lost it! Yup, they really did. They did eventually find it and we got to take it home. By then it was early fall and Mike was too busy with work to take time off to finish everything.

I had the designer bump out the sink a bit so I would have a little extra room behind the sink. Really glad we did that! We also had them make us a matching windowsil from the same Silestone as our counter. That is really cool since it was wood before and I do a lot of splashing.

Well that was probably a lot more than you wanted to know. Thanks for letting me ramble on about non-stamping stuff. I hope you have a great day!

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

Mary Ann Juarez

Patti J said...

Am SO happy you shared! What a gorgeous job you two did! We share the work here too, and it's always a proud feeling when a job is finished! Beautiful, my friend!

Tina said...

LOVE my corner cabinet, Theresa! It know it took forever but I'm sure you are happy it's FINALLY all done!! Looks beautiful!!

Judy said...

Looks great Theresa, I have a Silestone countertop too in our log home, too bad you didn't have this done before ours was installed that window sill out of Silestone sounds like a great idea.

Cat Tidwell said...

This is sooooo awesome T! I love that cabinet top...I just hate tile tops with the grout...impossible to clean! It needed that wall where you have the refridge! Fantastic design! I know you have to be sooo tickled!

Monica said...

Beuatiful! I love your countertops! I'm hoping to remodel my kitchen soon and love what you did! Thanks for sharing with us!!

Cindy said...

LOL - I have those same old cabinets you had. And the countertop was the reason we decided to remodel our kitchen. Our remodel starts 4/6 so we're pretty excited. You've done a wonderful job.

buggin2stamp said...

Love the new kitchen and all the great pictures. I enjoyed reading every word. We know there is more to life than stamping. ;o) Thanks for sharing.

Maureen Vollaro, LCSW-R, P.C. said...

OMG! All I could think about was how you took pics of your kitchen like you take pics of your cards.... we got too see the whole progression! I LOVE IT! Beautiful Kitchen ! I believe the kitchen is the soul of the home!
Enjoy!
~Maureen

Becky Jo said...

Love your new kitchen! Just beautiful - TFS! I read every word and found it very interesting. You did a great job. Hugs!!

Sharon in Arizona said...

Oh gosh, Theresa, thanks for sharing these pictures. I love to look at changes that others have made. What a beautiful kitchen - lots of room to move and work. I hate a cramped kitchen. Your cabinets are beautiful and I love your counter tops and the thingy in the corner. Can't remember what you called it, but it's soooo convenient. Hugs and have a wonderful day. Sharon :o)

Jan Castle said...

Wonderful transformation...from okay to useable and jazzy! Congrats! (It's all that artistic design ability...right-on!)
Jan Castle

Unknown said...

Your kitchen looks wonderful. I love the upgrade. My husband noticed you upgraded your TV as well, men. Thanks for sharing.

Vicki Dutcher said...

I hear kitchen remodels are the worse - but the end results are the vest -- seems to me this fits here! Gorgeous new kitchen and I love your tv! :)

Karen (TLgirl353) said...

Theresa- your kitchen is gorgeous! Looks like you were able to solve all the issues that were driving you crazy! I am so happy for you!

Julie S. said...

I just love seeing this -- I am saving it so I can refer to it again. I doubt we will do such an extensive remodel (we live in a manufactured home, and it kinda doesn't make sense...) but you did so many smart things... what a feeling of pride to have done it yourselves, too.

Thanks for sharing -- every bit as wonderful as seeing your stamping!

Carol Melton said...

Gorgeous!! I had my kitchen remodeled a few years back, I know about living with all the kitchen stuff in the middle of the living room! Great job - all that wonderful counterspace, and I love what you did with the TV wall. Thanks for sharing!

Valerie said...

I loved reading all about your kitchen;you did a really great job on the design, I bet you really enjoy it now!

Baukje said...

I loved seeing all the pictures of your lovely new kitchen Teresa, it must give you so much satisfaction to know you did it all yourselves. enjoy your beautiful new kitchen.

Cindy said...

Awesome Theresa!!! It is just beautiful!! You have a great view out that window too!

Donna Hanley said...

Theresa, This came out absolutely beautiful. I did a total remodel about 15 years ago and I am still very pleased with it. I hope you will love yours for years to come also. How can you not? It looks great and is nice workable space with great flow which is so important. Thank you for sharing with us. I love to look at remodels.

Sue said...

Thank you soooo much for opening your kitchen to us, both before and after. You took fantastic pictures, and did a wonderful job of explaining what was wrong, and how you improved each point. Your new kitchen looks so nice --- all modern and totally fitting the rest of your home. You put a LOT of thought into everything you did, and I thank you for letting us pick your brain! I need a remodel, too, and your post gives me lots of points to address in my own kitchen. Thank you so much for taking your time to post pictures and your fantastic write-up. I appreciate it!

Patzee said...

What a thoughtful kitchen remodel. Your patience waiting for the appliance garage was well worth the wait. Your photos are wonderful. I have a tiny kitchen in a cramped city apartment, so I can only dream of how glorious it must be to prepare meals in your palace. Congrats!

Gladys R. said...

Your new kitchen is beautiful.
Love how you did the sink and
window sill. I just love it all.
Thanks for sharing the pictures.

KVencel said...

Beautiful kitchen remodel! Bet it will be awhile before you do another one. Once it is done though, WELL worth it! You have done a wonderful layout! Enjoy!

Cowgirlscrapper said...

Looks really good. I didnt think it looked bad before, but I see what you mean about the space. Amazing !!! They did a nice job !!

Cowgirlscrapper said...

Looks really good. I didnt think it looked bad before, but I see what you mean about the space. Amazing !!! They did a nice job !!

Lagene said...

Congrats on the finished job! Beautiful!

Betty Neville said...

Beautiful kitchen Theresa! You and your DH did a fabulous job with the re-modelling!

DebbieM said...

Beautiful kitchen Theresa. I really love your corner closet, that's something i would like in my kitchen. :)

Debbie Meijer

kellyisascrapdiva said...

It's gorgeous, congratulations!

Judy McMullen said...

Awesome kitchen remodel, Theresa! You and your DH did a fantastic job!! Great use of space, materials, etc.