Kitchen Renovation--An On Going Affair

Our kitchen renovation has been a work in progress for several years, well, ever since we actually moved in more than four years ago.  We knew six years ago when we purchased the house, the kitchen would need renovation, but I wanted to live in it awhile to make sure how it would best serve us.

Sadly, we started right off the bat with a big plumbing fix at the kitchen sink and new electrical panel, so nothing pretty was in sight for a long time.  The addition of my lovely range went a long way to making my life easier in the kitchen after trying to keep going with the “vintage” O’Keefe and Merritt range that was left in the house.

Once we got the range and dishwasher (a package deal), the peninsula was removed and farm table moved in, which gave me some counter space finally to work with.  

This was the kitchen when we bought the house.

More years passed and as other projects were completed, the kitchen countertops made it to the top of the list…finally.  But, nothing is as simple as ripping out the old and installing the new, like on TV.  There is still electrical stuff to deal with.

My husband likes to refer to some of the electrical work done in our 81 year old home, as Hillbilly Handyman work.  He has traced electrical work from the kitchen to outlets and lights all over the house; so he’s been sorting and separating all of that which takes t-i-m-e.  I am so grateful for his expertise and willingness to do this work that I do not spend time tapping my toes, waiting impatiently any longer— I was much younger then.

After the peninsula was removed and dishwasher moved.

As I look back on the old pictures of the evolution of this remodel I can appreciate all the baby steps we took to improve the kitchen a little at a time.  

Plumbing and some electrical, then wait.  Refinish cabinets, again wait.  Purchase range and dishwasher, yup, wait.  Take out peninsula and move dishwasher, bring in farm table, you get the picture— wait.  Removing the 1” thick cement and wire mesh and tile from backsplash took much longer than even my husband expected.  Trace electrical wires and separate, get them into new conduit, two weeks—there was a lot of pushing and pulling and finally separating into smaller bundles.  Connecting electrical wires from under the house to outlets etc. is now complete.

The goal will be to extend the counter top beyond where it currently ends at the dishwasher, to an additional two feet which will enable us to enclose the trash and recycling into a closed cabinet. 

Removing the backsplash for extension of counter tops.

Plumbing will be next, again nothing pretty quite yet, but the new faucet did arrive today and it is handsome!

The current state of affairs.

Wine Country Kitchen Remodel

My daughter and I have just returned from a short vacation in wine country.  Friends have a lovely home there and hope to retire there—someday.  In the meantime, they decided to do a fairly extensive remodel while they were not living there; there were some advantages and disadvantages in their decision.  Not being present during such a huge undertaking proved to lengthen the process quite a bit, not to mention there were several things they would have chosen to change had they been on-site during the remodel; but I’m sure their marriage was saved by not being there in the midst of such chaos.  There is nothing easy about living through construction, so consider this before such an undertaking.

The house was built in the late 1920s and has had a number of remodels throughout the decades, not all of them good.  While the kitchen had been updated sometime in the past 10-15 years, the previous owners did not make very good use of the available space and views.  As I have said before, nothing trumps a view, and now the kitchen has a view worthy of the expense and frustration of construction; the view now features rolling hills, great sunsets, and wonderful light all day long.  The removal of some upper cabinets allowed for a corner window to be added to a full bank of windows along the back of the house.  The double patio doors along this same side was the only thing that did not change; these doors were the best of the previous remodel.

Prior to this most recent remodel, there were cabinets in the way of the view, and not much in the way of continuous counter space.  One of my favorite changes was the addition of a coffee bar across the room.  It was a bottle neck; and early in the morning it was difficult to get around, especially when everyone was caffeine deprived.

There are decks on all sides of the house, which allows one to take advantage of the beautiful outdoors at anytime of the day.   One door bisected the flow of the kitchen and was never used.  This door was closed off and French doors were added around the corner in the dining room, allowing for semi-al fresco when the doors are open. 

Removing a peninsula allowed for a large island that offers substantial counter area casual dining space on stools; one side holds not only a microwave drawer, but loads of storage too.   Without the peninsula, there is a greater sense of open space which allows for a better traffic pattern.  The island feels a bit large at first, but only because those of us who knew the space before, not used to having all that space.  As is often the case, the island allows the kitchen to feel larger than it is; the footprint is exactly as it had been.

The beautiful, original fir floors were simply sanded down and refinished and will serve the family well for decades to come.  The floors add the warmth of history to the beauty of the new kitchen.