MY KITCHEN REMODEL

OR HOW THREE FEET CHANGED MY LIFE...

There have been changes at the Barnett house..

Exciting changes, brought on by not so exciting events.

A kitchen slab leak, gave us the nudge we needed to take the remodeling plunge.  We figured if we were going to have to replace flooring, wall board, paint and repair cabinets, we may as well just remodel the whole kitchen.

Right?

I actually love my little house.  

But I hated that cramped kitchen
A remodel had been on my wish list for a long, long time.

There is no getting around it.... a kitchen remodel is HELL, but we seemed to manage to take it to a whole new level.
We started the repair and renovation and then 

just about everything else happened -

I traveled to Texas on business and landed in a hospital with a blood clot in my leg -
My sweet 97 year old mother passed away...
We had another slab leak.
We had to redo the plans because of new building code changes.

Because of the delays caused by the above life events,
our contractor had to take another job in the interim, and we had to wait again...
My oldest sister became seriously ill.
Life events - both good and bad...
We had them all.

In spite of having our entire downstairs torn up,
we decided to try to relax, and be grateful for the life we have.
We ate out a lot, ignored the dust and counted our blessings:
We have lovely memories of my Mother.
I survived the blood clot.
My sister is getting the care she needs.

and FINALLY - it was complete...

These are the BEFORE and AFTER views of my kitchen...

(Before)

A peninsula separating the kitchen from the family room created a tight U-shaped space

on one side of the kitchen. (Just try to get more than one person in there preparing meals..)

The peninsula made the area too tight to have any sort of island or prep area...
and I REALLY wanted an island.

(Before)

So, we removed the peninsula, pushed out a wall in the family room,
 and added an island

And found slightly industrial style pendants with cute Edison style bulbs.

The old cabinets were solid wood
but that was about the only thing going for them...
yellow oak
ugly
cramped
showing their age...
Usable counter space? - don't get me started...
30 inches over the dishwasher next to the sink, then a tight corner next to the range,
followed by an even tighter corner between the range and the refrigerator.

(Before)

Oh, and OAK.
Did I already say that?

Yes, we were long overdue for a change...

We'd never changed the previous owner's choices in this room,
not even the paint,
because we planned to remodel and didn't want to do everything twice.

We chose black honed granite counters (Zimbabwe) 

and on the island, beautiful walnut butcher block.

It reminds me of furniture.

Breaking up the range/oven/microwave into a cook top and wall oven/microwave combo

made cooking much easier - especially with more than one person in the kitchen

Beneath the counter were small, narrow drawers and equally small cupboards 
that were accessible only if I wanted to get down on my hands and knees.  
Which I really didn't. 

There were things lost in there...
waaaay back in the corners.

Instead of bottom cupboards, we opted for deep drawers wherever possible.   

They open effortlessly and close softly.  

I'm in kitchen heaven.  

No more digging in cabinets on my hands and knees...
We chose bronze toned pulls for the drawer hardware and knobs
in a clean lined style that compliments the dark granite and the simplicity of the cabinets.

We wanted to have a beautiful back splash without the eyesore of ugly outlets dotting the wall, so we had the electrician install outlet strips under the upper cabinets along with led lighting.  

A white kitchen can look cold and stark if you aren't careful -

To counteract all the whiteness we chose subway shaped (3"x 6") marble for the back splash.  

It was still light in color, but had creams, grays and beige.  

We had it installed super close together - no grout lines!

(Before)

Before, there was nothing on the other side of the room, but a small pantry cabinet.

I hated that there were only cabinets on one side of the room.
I really only had half a kitchen...

(Before)

(Pardon the clutter, these photos were taken after the slab leak -
so stuff everywhere as we emptied cabinets......)

We moved the sink  (formerly in the peninsula) to the window.  We installed a 16 gauge stainless steel sink - single bowl - which I love.  Most common gauge for sinks is 18 - 22 gauge - the smaller the gauge, the thicker the steel.  16 gauge will be stronger and thicker than the 18-22 gauge. 

We added lower cabinets and wall ovens to that side of the room. For the kitchen faucet I chose streamlined stainless by Hansgrohe.

Not a large house here, folks... which is why the available space needs to be put to good use!
The architect for this home must have been
MAD, NUTS, BONKERS!
But we fixed all that....

No more 1/2 kitchen!

None of this would have been possible without the remodel.
Our kitchen's outer wall actually extended 5 feet beyond the adjacent family room outer wall.
We decided to bump out the family room wall a little in order to open up the floor space in the kitchen.  

So we pushed it out 3 feet because the second story overhang came out that far.

That seems small, doesn't it?
Hardly worth the effort.

But those 3 feet changed our lives.

It opened up the entry to the kitchen, creating more usable floor space,
and made this whole renovation possible.

Its amazing how three feet can change a room.

New windows and french doors in place of the sliders were also added.

Going from the tired yellow oak cabinets to soft white was like night and day.  

I cannot describe how just that change made the entire space feel.  

My kitchen isn't huge, but I feel we made the most of the space, and the change is dramatic.  We had our first party here shortly after it was finished and I was delighted that there was room for everyone that wanted to help or just hang out and talk.

After waiting so long for the remodel, we wanted to make sure the cabinets we chose were good quality. A Plus Kitchens created my custom cabinets. They are simply the best.  They manufacture their own cabinets with full 1 inch thick doors and drawer fronts, wonderful finishes and impeccable craftsmanship.  I chose a soft white finish to make my space feel light filled and spacious. They helped me to design my cook-top hood and worked with me on all the little details... 

I would love to hear your thoughts on the remodel!

Best,
Claudine

THE AMAZING FLOOR - BEACH HOUSE PART 2

Another installment of
THE BEACH HOUSE
BIG RENOVATION, little budget

If you missed Part 1, check it out here.   

I'm renovating a beach house using as much salvage and green material as possible.

Working on a very tight budget, and this house needs a lot of work

both inside and out -

luckily, my client, Shawna, has a good eye,

(she's an amazing photographer who works with natural light)

a great design sense,

and the ability to think outside the box - 

you can always tell a true artist that way, right?

someone who doesn't just follow trends like a lemming, 

but who can set their own?

I'm sure that she would have preferred to have a house that was already improved,

the budget to install new floors, a custom kitchen, and be able to purchase new furnishings...

but fate and a divorce has dictated that this house and a lot of elbow grease is her future - 

which she has accepted with dignity and a sense of adventure...

This little house is unique

and we definitely want to preserve that

Like these round porthole windows on either side of the fireplace.

I'll admit my first thought was to remove them and use that spot for built-ins - 

but she felt they were part of the old original beach house charm - 

just kind of quirky and fun.

and she's right,

we should preserve some of the details that make this house unique -

so they will stay....

We didn't feel as sentimental about the patched up and smoke stained brick fireplace

or the bare wood paneling that is original to the house - 

so the whole wall got a coat of paint.

There are two entrances to this living area - this one is off the large front deck or patio.

French doors let in lots of yummy natural light

and ocean breezes.

The actual front door at  the front of the house is flanked by two smallish windows.

We will be replacing these for larger versions, which will let in yet more natural light 

as funds permit.  

We are looking for two used or salvage, matching windows.

I have to admire Shawna's determination to get all the improvements done 

before she begins the interior decoration. 
 

I'm chomping at the bit, but she is able to take it all a little at a time.  

Still, she has managed to make it cozy and comfortable in the interim - don't you think?

(She was way ahead of the game on the taxidermy that's so on trend right now.

This was a find years ago she worked on with her Dad - finding the antlers and head separately and putting them together.  He keeps gentle watch over the living room.)

But this post is all about the flooring.

Being a vintage home that started as a little beach cottage and grew over the years as owners added to it - the flooring was a patchwork of several different materials.  

There was very old original 2" hardwood in the living room,

newer 4" oak flooring in the kitchen (with weird buttons),

and some worn and slightly gross carpet in the bedrooms.

The carpet was the first to go - Shawna had to get that out of there even if she had to live on plywood sub flooring for a while!

Then the question became what type of flooring could we put in throughout the house that was affordable - durable - and would still have a beach cottage vibe.  

Shawna really wanted wood, but hardwood flooring was WAY out of the budget..

I have lived in a lot of different countries - including the UK and the South Pacific - and I've been in many an old house, and many a beach house.  I started thinking about the floors I had seen in these places; simple pine plank floors that just took on more character with each scrape and ding and I suggested we look into a wide pine plank floor...

just simple stained pine we could install ourselves 

(I say ourselves, but I'm really meaning HERSELF - :)

She needed to see what I was talking about - 

and no one is actually doing that these days.... 

except for this wonderful shop called Tuvalu in Laguna Beach.  

They have installed pine plank flooring over their entire shop.

We took a little trip to Laguna to check it out - and it was perfect!

The more traffic and distressing it receives, the better it looks.   

Pine is a soft wood - so we can pretty much guarantee the 'distressing' part - 

and this is a beach cottage, people.... 

it's the perfect floor, 

its the perfect look, 

its the perfect budget.

And so she did it.

It took a lot of courage, but Shawna is not one to shrink in the face of a challenge!

and with a little ingenuity, she mixed the perfect stain color

and stained all of those pine planks....

and with a little help from her family

the 'out of the box' floor became a reality.

I install many floors in homes that are more beautiful -

with materials more elegant and costly

from hand-scraped hardwood to breathtaking marble -

but I think in all honesty, 

this floor is my favorite.

This floor was created with love, faith and courage - 

and a lot of elbow grease.

Just needs a top sealer, and they're done!

So proud of you, Shawna.

Ignore anyone out there who has so little talent or ability or human kindness

that they can't see the beauty of what we are creating here:

A home - created with love, determination, strength of character and the need to

make a place where family can gather - on a practically non-existent budget.

Each step we take, each part we create

is a little miracle.

I'm blessed to be included in this endeavor.

Here's a recap of the progress we have made in the living room:

PROGRESS:

Popcorn (acoustic) ceiling removed, plastered and repainted

Wall between living/dining/kitchen areas removed to create an open living area

Installed a salvaged dutch door for the front door

Walls/paneling and brick fireplace - painted Sherwin Williams, Accessible Beige.
(a cool grayed down light beige)

Pine plank flooring installed

Living room furniture: Shawna purchased:
 2 slip-covered love seats,

a chaise, 


and 1 ottoman -  all second hand from Craigslist or Close5.
(this girl finds the most incredible stuff!)

Still to do:

LIVING ROOM:

Replace small windows with larger windows

Faux beam and/or beadboard ceiling treatment

Add baseboard and crown trim

Repaint all doors and trim

Create built-in shelving on both sides of fireplace under porthole windows

Chunky fireplace mantle

Ceiling fan

Light fixtures

Furniture arrangement

Accessories and decorating

Please follow this blog and support Shawna and the beach house project.
Bless you!