The Biggest Project Yet

Yesterday I was feeling particularly cheeky (after around 24 hours of feeling particularly depressed), so I posted the following status and photo on Facebook:

"After months of trying, planning, daydreaming, ups and downs, and consultations with experts, Jeff and I are excited to finally announce that we are expecting a new kitchen this winter! Our first appointment is Saturday and we are beyond thrilled to welcome this new addition to our home! It will truly be life-changing! (We are registered at Lowe's)."

Yes, I am an asshole. But it made me laugh and must have made other people smile as it garnered over 100 "likes" in one day. My motto right now is "If you can't laugh about it, you'll probably cry about it", so I'm choosing to find the fun where I can. An ultrasound photo capturing our soon-to-be new kitchen fit the bill for me. I see on average 3 ultrasound photos pop up in my newsfeed each week, so I thought I'd contribute with one of my own (in my own twisted way).

So YES, we're going to bite the bullet and start the ball rolling on remodeling our kitchen. Ever since our offer was accepted and we moved in back in February, I've said that the kitchen would be the only BIG thing about the house that I would want to change. Here's what the kitchen looked like when we bought the house:

GREAT brand new fridge, but there's just so much beige. I'm not a fan of two-toned cabinetry and the doors are the same color as the walls. And then there's the floor, which although pretty new, is darker and more brown than anything else. That archway leading to the hallway is deceptively narrow (it's my "don't get fat" passage-- as long as I can fit through that opening, I'm not "too fat"). If you look carefully, you'll see that the base cabinets cut in on an angle between the sink and that archway, and that those three drawers are the ONLY drawers in the entire kitchen. You'll also note that the upper cabinets around the sink only have around a 10" clearance above the countertops, which means you can't put anything on them... which is often problematic. Also, no dishwasher means that I am miserable. 

And here we have the other side of the kitchen (from the view of the "don't get fat" archway)-- notice how the oven/stove (which is also beautifully new) sits in the corner all by itself with nary an adjacent surface upon which to rest a ladle? Not very functional. That window is the ONLY window in the entire room and it faces the East, so in general the kitchen is very dark, even with the overhead spaceship light on. From the vantage, you can also see how shallow the upper cabinets are-- a dinner plate cannot fit in them. Also-- who thought blue would be a good idea of the laminate countertops? Again, the ceramic tile floor looks really dirty even though it's perfectly clean. That wall to the right is just a blank wall between the kitchen and the dining room... it's gotta go!

These were my initial observations. After living in the space and trying to prepare meals in it for the last 7 months, I've learned that the layout just plain stinks-- the work triangle is completely skewed with the oven shoved in that random corner and there's a main traffic-way going right through the middle (from the dining room to the back door and basement). There's nowhere to set anything down when you are cooking something on the stove. Counter space is extremely limited given the low clearance of the upper cabinets, and it's impossible to access one of the three upper cabinet doors while dishes are drying in a drying rack (between the sink and the fridge). The cabinets themselves are original to the house and therefore have nothing separating them (so it's all just one big box with many doors on the front... which means that if any stack of pans topples over in there, it creates an insane domino effect and then EVERYTHING is a mess). The cabinet doors also either stick shut or pop open themselves, a charming thing we noticed this summer. The empty wall cuts the kitchen off from the rest of the downstairs living areas, which makes me feel isolated whenever I cook (and I love to cook) and make the kitchen feel small and dark. That one overhead light and east-facing window aren't cutting it.

So here's what I whipped up in MS Paint (my fave):

Biggest change? Blow out that wall between the dining room and kitchen and put a peninsula in its place. This will give us that open floor plan feeling (which means I can SEE Jeff while I cook and he sits on the couch watching VHS tapes with the cats), allow all the light from the dining room windows to brighten up the kitchen, and give me more counter space to work with. Other changes include:

• Relocating the oven/stove to where the sink used to live, and moving the sink to the peninsula. Now there are some who would argue that I shouldn't break up all that glorious peninsula counter space with a sink, but I really think it's the best/only logical spot for it. Plus, it creates a more even work triangle and allows me to talk to people sitting in the dining room as I'm working on dishes or rinsing things off.
• Speaking of dishes, there's a dishwasher on the end of the peninsula. Hallelujah!
• New cabinets that don't stick and create huge messes! Glass fronts on the uppers by the peninsula, for the displaying of the glassware and pretty dishes.
• New countertops that are not blue! Ideally, they are light and neutral in color.
• Some recessed cans in the ceiling to help evenly distribute light, and under-cabinet task lighting.
• Subway tile backsplash! True, our current backsplash is decent, but it doesn't go with the floor and it totally paints us into a corner with what other colors/styles we can select for the cabinets and countertops.
• If budget permits, I would like to build around the fridge so it looks more built-in and less "plopped in", especially as our fridge is pretty deep and juts out a little bit. Plus, it's impossible to get into the cabinets above the fridge when they are located way in the back- I say push 'em to the front and make the whole thing look like it's supposed to go there.
• It would be awesome to put some designated pantry space where the oven used to live. That way, all cabinets can be used for cookware and not for storing my 42 boxes of fusilli pasta.
• It's way fancy and probably super expensive, but I would love love love to have roll-out cabinet shelves so I don't have to dig for things, pull-out trash bins so I don't have to stare at a garbage can, and space-maximizing drawers/cabinets that give designated storage space for things like spices, cookie sheets/platters, and a tip-out tray for sponges in front of the sink (instead of a fake drawer front). It's these smart little things that I think really help to make a kitchen fully-functional and a joy to work in.

Want some inspiration images? Here are a few that I've plucked from my Pinterest board:

Soft white shaker cabinets with simple hardware

Soft white cabinets, light neutral countertops, stainless steel appliances
(which we already have, thankfully), and cozy lighting

Light shaker cabinets, stainless appliances, peninsula with sink, glass-front cabinets with lighting

Light cabinets, white subway tile backsplash, brownish tile floor (already got it!),
light neutral counters, recessed and under-cabinet lighting

I've made an appointment with a designer at the Canandaigua Lowe's (came highly recommended to me by my financial planner, who did an overhaul on his kitchen a few years ago) for Saturday afternoon. The (wrecking) ball is officially rolling!