Kitchen Reno

Meg asked for before/after photos of our kitchen renovation, so here are a few. This is the main view you got entering the kitchen when we moved into the house five years ago:

Why yes, those dark cabinets and fake marble countertops are original to the 58-year-old house! Note how that upper cabinet obscures all views and light from the backyard, requiring adults on one side of the kitchen to bend down over a hot stove to have a face-to-face conversation with anyone on the other side. And I get a facial tick just remembering the old cooktop. It suffered from narcolepsy. You'd boil something and realize that the power had nodded off when the bubbles petered out. Then you had to beat the burner with a wooden spoon to get it to wake back up.

This is what it looks like now, after years of incremental improvements. The fresh paint and built-in bench for the breakfast nook were the final projects:






Obviously we didn't go crazy and break the bank, knocking out walls and upgrading everything to the highest degree. It's still a small kitchen that has a 1950s feel to it. We didn't even put in new cabinets, opting to just paint the old ones and replace the pulls. But the floor is now eco-friendly marmoleum, the counters are silestone, and we went with a tile back splash to add a little bit of color. We also sprang for a new back door to take advantage of the views and light. Then we created a countertop peninsula for another food prep area, and added a small bookcase under that for more storage.

My favorite addition to the kitchen is the corner nook bench. Even though we always had a table and chairs back there, the space was awkward because there was only room for two people to sit. The nook is a real space saver that allows the whole family to eat together.

I still need to unpack my cookbooks and bricabrac, as well as get some curtains and bench cushions so it feels more homey. But overall, I'm really happy with the changes. The kitchen went from a dark and frustrating place to cook to a bright little spot where I savor my coffee while the kids throw food at each other.

Home Makeover

Back when DH and I were house hunting, we were a little shocked at some of the things we saw during realtor open houses. Beyond the homes that seemed to have no discernible foundation left underneath them (never good, but especially not in earthquake country) there were the crazy colors and a generally outdated look to most of the properties in our price range that had enough space for a growing family. I always wondered why people couldn't slap a little new paint on a completely flaky fence or remove some other obvious eyesore. Now, however, I know why things like that happen. Sometimes if you look at something long enough, you simply stop seeing it.

Case in point: my windows and doors. When we bought our house we knew the single-pane, aluminum frame windows that had seen better days. We also commented that the front door looked a wee bit ghetto with its rusty security screen. But in terms of priorities, fixing those things fell far down the list. First we had to do up a nursery for Big A, then we had to redo the floors in the office and kitchen, then we had to get new kitchen counters and wiring, redo some plumbing, etc. Life got so busy with pregnancies and babies and new jobs, too, that we only just got around to working on the windows and doors. But now that the shiny new things are in, I can't believe how shitty the old stuff looked! The before pictures kind of shocked me:

Here's before ....... and after.

Likewise, the kitchen renovations that dragged on and on and drove me insane during Little A's pregnancy have made an enormous difference:

Before (note view-blocking cabinet) ......... After (it's gone)

Before ........................... And after

Of course, home improvement on an older property is like making a clean spot on a dirty face: the more you do, the more you feel compelled to do more. I still want to either build (or have built) a little L-shaped booth for the kitchen corner, because I think it would be lovely to sit right next to the window while drinking coffee and eating toast. Eventually I'd also like to scrape the popcorn texture off the living room ceiling. More pressing is the fact that the main bathroom is looking a ragged and dated with its bright pink tile, discolored grout, and banged-up tub. And don't get me started on the backyard -- too many projects out there to go into here. (Hint: stone stairs, new fence and hot tub -- oh my!)

But, those will have to wait for another day. Right now I'm feeling really satisfied about the new windows and door.