My Very First Kitchen Remodel
If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen my post saying that we are under contract for a new (to us) house!
I’m over the moon excited about this house for a lot of reasons. One of them being that it will be one floor living for us.
Pookie and I have been looking at houses for a quite a while, waiting for the right time and the right house to come along.
We’ve prayed a lot about it too and this house is a perfect example of when God answers prayer, He does so down to the most minute detail. I stand in awe that every single desire of my heart, when it comes to a house, is here.
If all goes according to plan (we’re trusting God for that), we will be closing on this house at the end of July. Some of you may think that I’m “jinxing” myself by posting about this before we’ve actually closed. But I don’t believe in jinxes. If this is God’s plan for us, then it will be so.
This is one of those houses that has awesome bones, but needs updates in every single room.
One of those rooms is the kitchen. Making updates in there will be a priority for us.
We’ve debated about completely gutting the kitchen or working with what we have. For now, I think we’ve settled on working with what we have with changes here and there. I have many ideas, but would love your input and advice!
The kitchen is a humongous room. The breakfast area is in the turret area that you see next to the screen porch in the picture above.
The basic layout is good and the cabinets are in fine shape.
We plan to either add small cabinets on top of the existing ones or else build a soffit going up to the ceiling. Storage isn’t an issue, so whatever we decide on will be purely for aesthetic reasons.
Adding a soffit above the cabinets would look something like this.
HGTV
Stacking small cabinets above the existing ones would look something like this.
Dering Hall
Which solution do you like the best?
I’m in a bit of a quandary over this wall though.
All of the appliances will be replaced and I want to add a decorative hood above the cooktop. My dilemma is whether to keep the appliances where they are and replace the cabinets above the cooktop with a hood or replace the cooktop with a range centered on this wall with a hood above it?
Keeping the appliances in their current locations and adding a hood would look something like this (minus the refrigerator).
Source unknown
Taking out the wall oven and cooktop and replacing it with a range would look something like this.
Houzz
I think that I favor the centered hood design, but I keep thinking budget, budget! Which look to you prefer?
On this side of the kitchen, the refrigerator will be replaced with a stainless one and the desk will be removed and probably replaced with a bank of pantry cabinets. (Ignore the open pantry doors. I wanted to be able to look back at my photos and remember the size of it.)
Something like this.
Houzz
I think the existing island will go – it’s too dinky and there isn’t room for a much larger one. I’ve debated about replacing the peninsula with an island moved to the center of the room, but after giving it a lot of thought, I think it would be too crowded looking.
I would like to add some trim to the peninsula to dress it up a bit though.
We plan to replace the floors with hardwood, replace the counters and add a backsplash, but what colors to use are up in the air at the moment. I just know that it will be done in some sort of neutral colors – grays or tans.
Here’s a look at the huge breakfast area. I have no clue what I’m going to do in here yet!
That’s it in a nutshell. Please share your thoughts and ideas with me! I’m pretty overwhelmed at the moment.
Hi Suzy,
We are in the middle of a complete kitchen remodel-cabinets in, waiting for the counter-tops, week 3 of no sink, but hopefully that will end this Thursday ! My suggestion would be to talk to a kitchen designer , we did and he gave us lots of ideas that I never would have thought of, they can also draw up your exact kitchen with different suggestions using a CAD program. Good Luck !!!
Hi there…congratulations on your beautiful new home. To keep an eye on the budget I would remove the peninsula and create a large longer island in the center where the sink could go…I would use Quartz countertops (white with gray and blue flecks and sparkles. I would do a backsplash in gray glass subway tiles and new flooring in a warmer wood to keep the white kitchen from feeling cold. Adding the soffit would make the room look finished. Good luck on your project!
Congrats on the new house! This is a great kitchen. I am planning on covering my current range hood in a similar fashion. I hate my stainless hood, it looks like an alien ship but it is new so I am just going to build around it. I have a wall oven and I have to say that I like not bending over every time I get into the oven but the range you picked is gorgeous. I like your new layout but I would consider moving the frig. We recently bought a counter depth frig and it made a huge difference in the way the kitchen feels. The frig in your current layout seems to interrupt the flow. Have you considered moving it? Next to the pantry might be a better location.
I love renovations so I will be watching for your updates.
Thanks for sharing.
Traci
Thank you for the suggestions, Traci. I’m glad to hear your thoughts on a stainless hood. My hubby was trying to push me in that direction at first, but I was afraid that I would wind up feeling exactly like you do about it. I’ve decided that I do want to move the fridge down next to the pantry closet. I would love it to be a counter depth one! What brand do you have?
We had to replace our frig 21/2 years ago (it was only 7 years old) and we replaced it with a GE Profile since it matched our other appliances. We not only got the counter depth but the french door type with the freezer on the bottom. It has two drawers for the freezer which I love. The think that I don’t like about it is that the cheese/meat drawer will only open if both doors are open. This really bugged me at first but I am used to it now but there are models where that drawer is two smaller drawers.
I should have realized that the counter depth frig was going to be smaller but my father had just died and I was not thinking that clearly. I just wanted to buy a frig and leave and I only realized it would hold less when it was delivered. Not a problem for us but something to definitely consider.
I can’t wait to see what you do.
Traci
Thank you so much, Traci. Good points for me to remember!
Your home has such charm Suzy! Oh that back patio area & screen porch so lovely. Looks like you have a lot of decorating fun to look forward too!
For better flow, rather than have the fridge in the middle of the wall, how about relocating your new low profile refrigerator into the pantry closet space? Then you could re-purpose that with your pantry cabinets.
I’d go with the soffits & range. Would remove island, probably keep peninsula, put some wainscoting on the back of the peninsula & bottom cabinets facing breakfast nook
In the nook area, without being there to see the space it’s kind of difficult, but I was thinking perhaps a drop leaf the table up against the wall, a couch on the opposite wall & some chairs or ottoman in front of windows. An are rug to pull it together. You have exquisite taste & skills, so it will all be beautiful I’m sure, looking forward to the progression! May God continue to bless you in the sale of your home & all your endeavors!
Would love to see your after pics! I’m in the middle of a remodel and really anxious about my decision to add the soffit on top of the existing crown!
Would love to see your after pics! I’m in the middle of a remodel and really anxious about my decision to add the soffit on top of the existing crown!
Hi Kerry. You can see all of the before and after’s of my kitchen remodel in this post: https://www.worthingcourtblog.com/farmhouse-kitchen-remodel/