Small Kitchen ~ Big Surprises!!

The past two months have been dizzying! Between the store, the shipments, preparations for upcoming Holiday shows, and just in case there might be a spare moment between midnight and 3am......we decided to throw a kitchen renovation into the mix! It's been crazy, but that seems to be where we idle!

I've been dying to share this project with you, but needed time to compile the details so you could appreciate the full depth of the changes. The after photos are "pre-decorating" photos. I wanted you to see it before I add decorative accents.

As you will soon see, we made some dramatic changes, but didn't make any changes to the footprint of the kitchen layout nor did we increase the square footage. This kitchen is a mere 9' x 12', but don't underestimate its' small size. Wait until you see what we did with the existing square footage!

*UPDATE*

By request, I've added a copy of the before and after floorplans.

BEFORE

AFTER

We began by "demo"ing the entire kitchen. Starting at 8am on a Saturday morning we were in high gear and by 3pm.....we were all the way down to the wood walls with original cheesecloth wallpaper. I salvaged some pieces of the wallpaper for a later project.

We said goodbye to the old green particle board cabinets.


This is a long post so I have numbered the sections to give some perspective on the before and after shots.______________________________________________________________

1) BEFORE: The original kitchen layout left much to be desired. With only 2 base cabinets and 2 upper cabinets, there was very little storage. These were the only cabinets in the entire kitchen! The 1980s garden window definitely aged the kitchen, but not quite the aging I was seeking.

1) AFTER: We installed new cabinets with glass doors and interior lighting. Under counter lighting is reflected in the metallic backsplash. I found this at Lowe’s and love the vintage feel of old ceiling tiles that it gives! The new plate glass window was a $40 salvage yard find. The taller window height draws the eye up which enlarges the space and looks great with the taller cabinets. It also showcases the beautiful view of the side yard! The 1930s light fixture was a great find.....I found two of them and both are in the new kitchen!
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2) BEFORE: The original layout had the bathroom door opening right into the center of the kitchen. Isn't that delicious? Below is a “during” photo that shows the doorway becoming a wall.

2) AFTER: By relocating the door to another wall near the laundry room, we gained enough space for new cabinetry and a dishwasher! The new dishwasher has a faux cabinet door so it disappears into the landscape! I love it!

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3) BEFORE: The old green stove was quite unsightly and the fact that the refrigerator would only fit right next to it only magnified the poor design. The only inspiration the old kitchen provided was a desire to memorize telephone numbers for carryout restaurants.

3) AFTER: We kept the sink and stove in essentially the same spots so there was no need to relocate plumbing and electricity. But, electrical outlets were the only thing we didn't change. On the second day into the project I was sitting in the dining room enjoying the sunlight and thought, “this light is exactly what that small kitchen needs”. Then I thought, “why not?“ So, I suggested cutting in a breakfast bar.


Hubby wasn't thrilled at first, namely because we had just finished sheetrocking the walls, but once we cut out the opening he “saw the light” and got on board!


I hung an old architectural piece to give it some character and carried it a step further by supporting the new bar with antique porch corbels.

We opted for a cook top instead of going with a traditional range.
The cook top cabinet offers wonderfully large drawers perfect for pots and pans. So you are probably asking, what happened to the oven and refrigerator? You’ll see…

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4) BEFORE: The doorway for the hall to the laundry room didn't offer much of a view from the kitchen. And, right next to the doorway on the wall was a cubby cabinet good for only tiny knick-knacks. The lower shelf proved to be nothing more than a hip bruiser because of it’s proximity to the bedroom doorway.

4) AFTER: I didn't like the view of the utility hall, so we installed a door that I found at the same salvage yard as the plate glass window. It was a scratch and dent….but, hey we love scratch and dent! That dysfunctional cubby cabinet and shelf were replaced by double ovens. How, you ask? We were fortunate to have a utility closet directly behind that very wall that served little purpose (it opened into the laundry room). So, we closed it off and used the closet space to install the new stoves. How’s that for a trade off? Utility closet for double ovens! By the way, the lower oven is a microwave - I love the design of it!

This was my favorite part of this project! My second favorite….the new home for the refrigerator! Read on…
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5) BEFORE: The original kitchen layout had a wall between the dining room and bedroom doorways that had absolutely no functionality except to hang pictures because the doorway was right up against the wall. So, we decided to move the doorway away from the wall by 3’ so we could capture that space. I've included a “during” photo so you can see the “original” and “new” placement of the doorway. The new sheetrock that has been pieced in shows the space we gained by moving the doorway.

5) AFTER: By moving the doorway down 3’ (the depth of a refrigerator), we were able to capture the entire 7’ wall as a new home for the refrigerator. We framed it in with cabinetry that offers a tremendous amount of storage! Worth every ounce of energy to move the doorway!

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I’m very pleased with the design of our new little kitchen that took us a little less than 3 weeks to complete. It may have taken me longer to write this post! I'm eager to get started decorating it! I promise another post over the next couple weeks with the "real" after photos!

This was completely a family DIY project, we didn’t hire out any portion of it. We’ve learned a lot from our past restorations and renovations. The most important lesson we’ve learned……how to make use of hidden and wasted space!

UPDATE!!

Click here to see tons more photos of our completed kitchen renovation

xoxo

LaurieAnna