Kitchen Renovations Preview

After much debate and consideration, we have decided to renovate the kitchen. While the old one has lived a good life, it is time to update with new cabinets, appliances and flooring (I need a dishwasher)! We met with Barb at Home Depot last night to go over our design options. She was really great to work with - definitely knew her stuff which is helpful given that we, well, don't!

What we are hoping to do is:

1. Knock down a wall between the kitchen and dining room to open up the space on the main level. Counter and cabinet space is essential given that the kitchen is already small so rather than leave it totally open, we'll place cabinets on the base and have the countertop stretch around to create a breakfast bar area where we can place two stools.
   
2. Move the stove from its current location in the corner (it drew red flags as being a fire hazard becuase (a) its right next to a wall and (b) its only a few inches from the window) to its previous location along the basement door wall. That gives us the capability of having countertop space on both sides of the stove. To free up even more counterspace, we will be getting rid of the standard microwave and getting one that installs above the stove.
   
3. Get new appliances. Space being a concern, we like LG's line of appliances because they are sleek and compact. They have the stainless steel, french door, freezer on bottom refrigerators and a dishwasher that hides all the buttons. The refrigerator was important because we like that particular style but wanted a more compact one (i.e. less than 33 inches wide and not ridiculously deep). The dishwasher sold us on the brand. While we most likely will not be buying our appliances from Home Depot because better deals are to be had elsewhere (P.C. Richards) - it definitely helped to narrow down what we want and didn't want.
   
4. Get new cabinets (#1 priority). As for the cabinets, apparently the "standard" Kraft Maid cabinets came with particle-board construction for the boxes. We needed to "upgrade" to get all maple but it was an expense we were willing to swallow with the hope that they would stay together longer. We opted for a cheaper and simpler style door to make up for the upgraded cost. Our color is Canvas with Cocoa Glaze (former Vanilla Bean Glaze) and our door style is Bradenton.
   
5. Get new flooring. Ultimately, I would like the entire main floor of the house to be hardwood flooring. The rooms are small and I think the monotone flooring would enlargen the space. As of right now, the dining room is hardwood flooring (which is old and can not be sanded down or refinished), the kitchen is ceramic tile and the living room is brown carpeting (that has seen better days but Brian doesn't seem to think it needs replacing just yet). Hopefully there's some room in the budget to do the entire main floor. Otherwise, I think the kitchen and dining room will suffice for right now.
   
6. Get new windows. Luckily, the general contractor told Brian he'd be better off replacing the windows. Hopefully we can find some that are relatively inexpensive.

Here is an aerial view of what the kitchen will look like (click for enlarged view):

Here is corner shot number one where the refrigerator will be. Disregard the style presented here. As mentioned above, we are leaning towards the french door top with pull-out freezer on the bottom in stainless steel:

Here is the sink/dishwasher area with extended countertop. Currently, on the left hand side is where the sink is placed (not centered with the window) and all the way on the right, hugging the wall, is where the stove is. With the renovation, the sink will be centered so there will be ample counter space on either side and the dishwasher to the right. The stove will be moved so the countertops will extend all the way to the wall with a full size cabinet above. See picture for details:

Here is where the new stove and breakfast bar areas will be. Currently, there is a wall up in the kitchen where the breakfast bar is. That will be knocked down. The stove has been moved from the corner along this wall. The door leading downstairs presented a bit of a challenge given that the cabinets had to allow adequate space for the door to open and for one to get through to the door in the first place. The diagonal countertop and cabinet help widen the passing while maintaining cabinet and storage space. See pictures for details:

This is our cabinet color:

We are waiting for the estimate from the general contractor and hope to get the project moving along shortly!