Client Project: Kitchen Update

Between a trip to London, another to Germany, two good size projects in a crunch to get done before Thanksgiving and everything else going on I've done nothing but think about the blog posts I'd like to write.  Hopefully some of the stuff I have to share will make up for it!

I've been so excited about this project.  The client is amazing, I adore her personally and she was so much fun to work with.  I have to give her so much credit in that even though she couldn't necessarily see my 'vision' on a couple of the components we used, she was willing to trust me and go with it.  I think that leap of faith outside of our comfort zone can be really hard for a lot of people.

It seems that the vast majority of the calls that I'm getting lately are from people facing the same issue that we dealt with here.  The kitchen is 'fine', fairly new, but already feels dated and very builder basic.

It's no secret that I want to paint everything, but living in the Mid-West this can be a very unpopular opinion.  My carpenter rolls his eyes at me, the old guys doing other work mutter under their breath, everyone has an opinion.  I try to remind people that not all wood is good wood and sometimes your best option short of tearing it out and starting over, is to paint it.  This client was resistant to the idea of painting all the cabinets at our first meeting but warmed up to it quickly (thankfully!), but even then, her parents and family were horrified at what she was about to do.

So this is what the kitchen looked like at our first meeting:

My plan included the following:

• Miscellaneous Carpentry Items:
• Removing the planing desk and sorter over it, replace it with a new base cabinet with full extension wood box deep drawers for baking supplies
• Removing the wine rack and retrofitting that cabinet
• Retrofitting the cubbie that was housing the microwave, it was sized for microwaves that are no longer available
• Add a shelf in the TV cubbie to match the shelf over the refrigerator
• Have the cabinets professionally painted (doors and drawer fronts were sprayed in their shop, boxes were done in place)
• Granite countertops
• Backsplash
• Lighting
• Pull in some color and pattern with new window treatments, rugs, and hopefully chair seats.
• Replace the clear glass in the cabinet doors with a patterned glass
• Paint and accessories

In a little over 5 weeks we have this:

There are still some items to be finished up (outlet covers, roman shade for over the sink, new table & chairs, etc) but we really are 99% done and I couldn't be happier with the results.  I think it looks amazing and best of all the client is thrilled with the results.  It makes me happy just to think about how happy she is with it all!

The Bungalow: Kitchen

When I switched gears from thinking of the bungalow as my future home to strictly as an investment the vast majority of my finish selections changed as well.  In addition to trying to set aside my personal preferences I was also faced with the reality that for the first time in my life I had more time than money and was going to need to do whatever I could to limit my costs.

I didn't take a ton of photos during the in progress phases of a lot of these rooms so you'll have to use your imagination some.

A recap of what the kitchen looked like with it's yucky mouse poop filled cabinets.  Doing all the demo work in this kitchen was my first real DIY experience.  I had guys working in another part of the house and decided just to be done with it.

Recap of what it looked like to start

And after

The kitchen is TINY.  Like 10'x11' or something close to that.  I went really neutral and pretty bare bones on it.  Keeping my bottom line in sight as well as the price point and area didn't really leave me a ton of room.

The flooring was replaced with a thru-body porcelain tile.  I had maple cabinets with a few upgrades (solid wood boxes, glass front doors) installed.  Brand new appliances and granite countertops rounded everything out.  I know that kitchens are trending away from granite but it's still the preferred material in our area and the one that I could get the very best deal on.

I left off the cabinet hardware and backsplash intentionally, not only for cost purposes but also to allow the buyer some ability to personalize the space after the fact.