When we bought this house 5 years ago we loved the location, but the interior left much to be desired. The house is fairly new (built in 1997) but the finishes were straight from 1980. They were cheap and in many instances falling apart. So fixing them was ultimately for cosmetic reasons, but the longer we lived here it turned more into a necessity as well.
I really have to hand it to my husband who single handedly (alright, I may have leant a helping hand once or twice) completed this entire project. (except for the granite - that is the one thing we hired out) He stayed up late, came home from work early, googled plumbing issues and basically did whatever he had to do to get the old kitchen out and the new kitchen up and running asap.
Here are quick and dirty before (shield your eyes on the befores... it's BAD!) and afters... and if you are the house-nerd type that likes WAY to many details (like me) follow after the jump for more pictures and details and my thoughts on living (well! very well!) in a very small kitchen!
ugghhh! (I don't even like showing these pictures!)
Ta da...
Okay... click "read more" for lots more details!
Our first move with the kitchen was to take out the island (seen in the befores) and breakfast bar. We knew we would be foregoing storage space but with such a small area for the kitchen and eating area in our home, the island just took up too much square footage to stay.
This opened up the kitchen so nicely and gave us one long stretch of countertop to work on and we were immediately happy that we made that decision. The downside was that we did lose storage space so our first priority was to seriously slim down our belongings in the kitchen. In the end, this was the best decision. Our kitchen is super streamlined and free of clutter and unused items. I even got rid of every sign of "kiddy" stuff too. The kids always eat on the same plates we do and drink out of the same glasses we do also. Some parents may think this is crazy, but I can honestly say that I think I have broken more dishes (clumsy!) than the kids have. :)
All of the cabinets are IKEA and I can honestly say that I couldn't be MORE thrilled with their quality. We live about three hours from an IKEA so we visited the store to order them and then had them delivered (IKEA delivers from the store to our area for only $149 - a steal in my book!) and then my husband assembled them all. Really, it went without a hitch. Plus the IKEA cabinets use up every inch of space (IKEA specializes in small spaces - so it's perfect for our set up) and these cabinets store MORE than the old cabinets. So that was a win-win for sure!
The open shelves are simple Lack shelves from IKEA. I love the idea of some open shelves, especially in a small home - it seems to give more visual space to a room. The countertops are granite. We went around and around deciding on a style of counter top. Butcher block was a strong option and so was concrete. But in the end we wanted to preserve the investment of the whole kitchen with a strong and durable option. The granite is "moon night" and I think it is quite rare, as I have never seen it before. We loved it for it's "marble-esque" quality as marble is a big no-no in kitchens (not very durable and stains easy) so it wasn't a viable installation option.
The floors will be re-done in the future... currently there is just a laminate wood flooring in about half of the first floor. Since we have an open floor plan we are going to do all the floors at the same time, so this is the one unfinished piece of the puzzle. We are still deciding a good wood option for the entire first floor.
As you can see... the kitchen flows right into the eating area - here you can see the whole area. Some day in the future I would love to put a small wet bar where the mirror is now. But that is a ways off! I also have my eye on a new light for above the table... but again for the future. (wink, wink!)
In every room of my home I work to incorporate three styles: (it's my mantra!) modern, vintage & glamorous. It helps guide my decisions in decorating and for me personally brings a good balance to each room. In the kitchen the cabinets and tile are what I consider 'modern', my countertops and the hardware on the cabinets are 'glamorous' and lastly the vintage scale and my milk glass collection are 'vintage' touches.
These little open shelves are perfect for my collection of Everyday Food magazines. My absolute favorite!
I recently picked up this vintage scale for only $12. It's the perfect vintage touch to the kitchen. I scrubbed it super hard to get it clean(er) and then put felt pads on the bottom to protect the counters. I'm kind of smitten with it!
The "integrated" dishwasher from IKEA makes the dishwasher disappear in the kitchen. It's one of my favorite features of the new kitchen, especially since it's a small room! See it peeking open below?
I also love how DEEP the IKEA drawers are. Look, my whole entire rolling pin fits in this drawer!
The "flip up" cabinets are so fun and included a really pretty glass shelf. This is our coffee and tea cabinet, everything I need in one spot and I can see it all too. I'm an organization freak.
Then above that in another "flip up" cabinet is all the entertaining dishes. My heart pitter patters when I open this cabinet.
Above the microwave is the mini bar and serving pitchers. My goal in each cabinet is to have some empty space. It gives a feeling of abundance (open space = extra space) and it gives us room to grow.
This pull-out pantry that IKEA makes rocks my world. Each drawer goes in and out on it's own. And this cabinet can carry a lot of goods. (the only part of the kitchen where we don't usually have extra room is here - I really pack this thing!)
Above the fridge is such a huge cabinet that my cookbooks and other large serving items seem dwarfed here. More room to grow!
