Countertops Are Done!

Just in time for Christmas cooking we have working countertops! Brian cut & fabricated all of the countertops, then applied the formica and finally installed the post to support the new peninsula.

He still needs to finish the backsplash on the mudroom wall, but everything else is in place and working well. I especially like the wine glass hangers!

I've filled the cabinets and re-organized the kitchen and loving it!

The new dark formica we chose doesn't match the existing light formica. A lot of the old is stained, so we will have to replace it down the road, but this is good for now.

The next big thing will be floors. It will probably wait until late January or early February.

Countertops Have Been Cut.

Once Brian starts a project, he doesn't seem to sleep - he's like the energizer bunny!

Cabinet doors are on, refrigerator panels installed, dining room peninsula installed and countertops cut for dining room peninsula and for mudroom wall.

He also has started on the bar height peninsula. Base cabinet is in place and it's time to sleep...

Finally We Are Installing Cabinets!

We celebrated Thanksgiving last weekend, and then spent the week prepping for the cabinets. Brian removed the baseboard & moved the electrical outlet and light switch so they would not be hidden behind cabinets. He spackled and sanded and got us ready for paint. Saturday morning, while Brian went to pick up the cabinets, Kym painted the backsplash area.

Brian started the cabinet installation, and realized that our floor was not level and the wall was not straight, so he spent most of the day working on getting everything straight. He had to cut into the wall, kerf cut the problem stud and put in a 2x4 perpendicular to pull the stud straight.
He worked the afternoon installing the base cabinets.

Then later the wall cabinets. By the end of Saturday, we had the cabinets along the mudroom wall installed!

The Kitchen Design

Now that we have a doorway in place, it is time for a design. We talked about several ideas, but we were having trouble visualizing how the space can be filled, so Kym did some rough 3D modeling in AutoCAD to help us visualize our ideas. The image to the left shows existing kitchen at the bottom of the image, living room & entrance to basement stairs to the right, dining room to the left and mudroom entrance at the top.

We started with looking at the alignment and location of existing walls and doorways so we could determine the best size cabinets. We decided to go with 12" deep cabinets along the mudroom wall because of the location of the opening to the dining room.

Then, to match the existing tall cabinets in the kitchen, we decided to move the temporary peninsula we had in place, and replace it with a 12" deep, barstool height base cabinet with an extended peninsula countertop. We really want to have some barstools in the kitchen for entertaining and an easy breakfast or dinner spot.

Since the dining room entrance is so large, we also decided a second peninsula would be a great addition to the kitchen - it would act as a great serving area. We decided to move the temporary peninsula next to the refrigerator permanently to add just a little more counter top space. We also thought it would help to enclose the refrigerator with panels so the new peninsula would connect.

After finalizing the peninsulas, we went back to planning the mudroom wall. After much thought and several variations (as you see in the images above), we finally settled on a simple but elegant layout that will allow for extra counter and storage space and add a little interest to the kitchen.

The above and this image are the final plans. Now we go shopping for cabinets :o)

Adding The Door From The Kitchen

With the new mudroom almost built, the existing window off the kitchen needs to be converted into a doorway.

Luckily, it was once a door, before it was a window, so all of the framing is already in place.

Doorway opening ready for a door!

Installing the door frame.

And finally, we have a door!

The Beginning of Renovations....

We have been slowly working on our kitchen & dining room area since we moved into the house. The previous owners installed all new cabinets in the kitchen nook just before we bought the house. Although the kitchen nook is very efficient, it is very small and doesn't allow for much counter or storage space. There is also a large area where the photographer is standing that is completely bare and open. Our long-term goal is to extend the kitchen into this odd space.




We added some backsplash paint and our own decorative touches during the first year.




We replaced the built in drawer unit next to the sink with a dishwasher and moved the drawer unit across from the refrigerator and created a temporary peninsula.

We ripped up the carpet throughout the first floor. We found hardwood everywhere except in the large void area.



Because we knew we were going to add a garage down the road, we painted the unfinished floor and have lived that way since. Flooring will be the last thing we install so we don't harm the new flooring.