The Old Kitchen

Elyzabeth reporting.

Mum and I have been working on the kitchen, slowly but steadily, for the last six months.  We have finally just about finished out an awesome DIY remodel. I thought I might devote a few blogs to the before, during and after.

Kitchen View Front to Back

The kitchen was a miserable mess when we bought the house. The cabinets were solid oak in good shape, but the tired white wash finish was badly dated. The counter tops were a blah brown laminate, except for the island, which had a crumbling tile job. The faux wood laminate flooring didn't add much to the ambiance either.

AC Vent and Ugly Shelves

Worst of all was the bizarre placement of the refrigerator. It was sitting right across from the island, leaving a narrow space between them that left barely room to open the fridge door. The awkward placement was due to the location of the air conditioning/heatpump unit.  That was in a closet space at the back left side of the kitchen. There was a giant air intake panel situated low on the wall. This meant that nothing could be in that space, leaving a large chunk of the kitchen floor space completely wasted. The area wasn't made any lovelier by the ugly shelves stuck between the fridge and the intake wall.

Sink and Corner Cabinet

The other bit of wasted space was the area on the right in the back of the kitchen. There was a good four feet of wall space completely unused. In one of the pictures of the house that was in the real estate listing, I saw they had a bakers rack on that wall. I wish I had saved the picture, just to show how junked up it made the kitchen look.

Bay Window Dining Nook

We were not fond of the odd quarter round shelf unit in the corner by the sink either. Before the remodel, we were using it as a spice rack, but it just looked cluttered and awful. It definitely needed to go away.

What did we like about the kitchen? Lots of things really. It is a large space with plenty of natural light.  At the front of the kitchen is a large bay windowed dining nook. The island is a nice size. The layout, aside from the air conditioner and refrigerator placement was really very good. The appliances that came with the house, black and stainless, were good quality and in good shape. All in all, the bones were there and worth a redo.

Tune in next time, and I will share with you some of our updates and refinishes.

Regards,
Elyzabeth