Remodeling 5: Kitchen Before and After

Consider today your virtual invitation into my new kitchen.

It's not "decorated" yet -- no artwork or photos on the walls, no curtains in the windows, no stools at the counter. But I'm so excited that most of the work is done (we're still waiting on the replacement window and a groovy chandelier for the dining room) and I just want to share the view.

All of today's photos have the "before" picture on the left or above, then the "after" photo is on the right or below. And if you couldn't see that without my telling you, then we've done something wrong. Or maybe I'm just a bad photographer.

1. Room with a view: The old kitchen was closed off from the dining room, with just a single doorway connecting the two rooms. We basically piled stuff in the dining room (notice the toys all over the floor) and almost never ate in there. Now the rooms are divided only by the counter behind the stove, allowing both greater access and a lot more light in both rooms. Also, I actually have a cabinet and some counter to the left of the cooktop now.

2. Open expanse: Looking the other way, the dining room seems so much larger now. It's also a lot less junky, although it remains to be seen if we can keep it that way -- I'm hoping that the new visibility and the fact that we're eating at the dining room table every day will inspire us to stick with the plan. We can now see from the family room on one end of the house all the way through to the dining room on the other end, with one beautifully lit, smooth, continuous ceiling above. 

3. Pantry: Before, most of our food was crammed into a pantry that was too small, yet too deep to be useful. Now I have empty shelves, there's so much floor-to-ceiling space -- and at a 16" depth, everything is accessible (credit to my smart architect for that one). I even have room for a bulk package of paper towels in the new pantry, so I don't have to store them upstairs in the linen closet anymore.

4. Cabinets and desk: In the old kitchen, we had only lower cabinets on the one long wall in the room -- a previous homeowner's DIY project left a mess of plumbing that stuck out from the wall and big gap where cabinets could have gone. And until we moved that desk down from Pippi's room (it had been her changing table), there was no place to work. Now I've got cabinets up to the ceiling, a built-in desk area for files and my laptop, a shelf for the microwave and cabinetry built around and above the fridge.

5. Clean and shiny: I realize that part of why the new kitchen is so clean and shiny compared to the old one is that it's, well, new. But more than that -- now there are places to put everything. I can put my crockpot, George Foreman cooker (aka our grilled cheese/panini maker), the electric frying pan, the big turkey roasting pan and every other pan I own INSIDE an easy-to-access cabinet. Amazing. And the sparkly factor is greatly increased by the stainless steel appliances and the glittering granite counters.

The only great flaw with the new kitchen is that it's not a self-cooking one. So which one of you people will be coming over to fix dinner tonight?

Remodeling Week in Review:

Hire People You Trust

Eating Without a Kitchen

Tips for Prospective Remodelers

Things He Left Behind