Kitchen Remodel 2010

“The kitchen is the heart of the home.”  I believe that quote!!  Our kitchen is placed smack dab in the middle of our home- it’s perfect for preparing food, hanging out, eating and even for doing homework.  Here is a picture of our old kitchen….it was spacious, but DARK….notice there are no windows!!  This photo was taken from our Family Room.  (click on the picture to see a close up view)

 

Here are a few more views…..  A close up of our appliances and clutter….ugh!!  Notice the awesome cut out above the sink?  It looked out into our dining room and through the picture window.  I could be entertained by watching the birds at the bird feeder while doing dishes!!

Here is the view from the door just below the light fixture in the first picture….it was our pantry door.

and now veering to the right…..

 

It was a great kitchen…I entertained in it for twelve years!!  One year I even hosted over 90 guests that came for dinner for our church Christmas party- it was a challenge, but this was a hard-working kitchen!!

 

As our family grew from 4 to 6, our needs started to change….and after 19 years, the appliances were wearing out and needing to be replaced too.  When hubby and I started discussing a new “makeover” for the kitchen, little did I know that there were some things that really bothered him and he wanted to change!  (He usually didn’t have much input on kitchen-y type things other than when dinner was going to be ready!)

Needless to say, this little “facelift” had become something much bigger–we were thinking about knocking down walls, etc.  Fast forward to late January, 2010…..we started our BIG remodel, and we needed to figure out how to cook  for 6 people without appliances– and we would have to do this for three months.  With the help of family and friends, we DID it!!   Here is a picture of our “makeshift” kitchen in our basement.. and yes, the kids thought it was fun to “wash dishes” in the basement bathroom shower stall.  I only had to wash dishes once….Am I blessed, or what??

 

Here is our makeshift family room in the basement….it worked out alright….

By April of 2010, our kitchen was finished….the designer and builder did a wonderful job!!

 

With our new kitchen, it just so happens that we flipped the design. and moved the new cabinets and appliances to the other side of the kitchen….no more looking out the window to watch the birds while doing dishes….BUT-  Now, we have 2 french doors there, leading out to the dining room.  Where the columns are located used to be a solid wall, separating a small dining room from the kitchen. Now, it’s open and we can enjoy the beautiful sunshine!!  You will notice that we kept the skylight intact too.

Here is the view from the columns, looking into the family room… I just love having an open concept type home!!

From the family room you can see our new island perfectly!  It seats 5 people comfortably, and about 10 uncomfortably!!  Haha!  You can also see the built in microwave drawer in the island….I had no idea there was such a thing!  My kids especially like that feature in the new kitchen- they can warm up or heat something on their own!!  You can also see the double ovens on the right– with a big family, we can now cook lots of pizzas !!  On the far right side of the picture is my cooktop.  It uses “induction cooking” which uses magnetic energy to produce heat and cook food. Yes, I can verify that it will boil a pan of water in 90 seconds, which is also a plus for me to get dinner on the table as fast as possible!  My hubby thought it would be more energy efficient and wouldn’t heat up the house as much in the summertime!!

This is the view from the hallway as you walk in the front door….

Remember my old pantry door????  Well, my new refrigerator fit perfectly in that space so we had to relocate a pantry….and here it is….because it is a stand alone piece, we tried to make it look as though it was a piece of furniture….I think the cabinetry people did a great job!!

Congratulations on making it this far…I know it was a lengthy post!  Thanks for touring my new kitchen!!  If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comment section below!