Kitchen Remodel - Function and Layout
As my home is in a bit of shambles right now (drywall patching now done, island in place, plumbing in place in the island), I thought now would be a good time to talk about my kitchen remodel that is taking place.
Kitchen Remodel - Why?
If you were to ask my hubby, there really wasn't anything wrong with our old kitchen. I mean, we moved in twelve years ago (will be thirteen this July), we picked out the lot and the house. So why a kitchen remodel?
Layout
Although we had our home built by a home builder, there were not very many 'custom' changes we could make to the house plan we chose. That was all part of the package with where we bought and who we built with. It was also part of our own financial plan. There were only so many things we could afford to upgrade at the time we purchased our new home. We did not want to overextend ourselves and be house poor. The one thing we were able to do was redesign our kitchen island. In the house plan, the island was originally going to butt-up against the carpet in the family room. I knew full well that to get around that island and into the main area of the kitchen, we would have to walk on the carpet every single time. No way! We did have our island redesigned however, I was never in love with it. A funny shaped island with great useable counter space, but horrible storage!We also had a corner walk-in pantry. I never liked that pantry and loved every minute of it when it was ripped out. The pantry had wire shelving (which is just crap) and in the corner was a stack so no useable space whatsoever!
The island and the pantry are getting a major facelift in our kitchen redesign.
Function
When it comes to a functioning kitchen, our kitchen remodel is all about function (for today and down the road). If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times, "function first - pretty second."
Pull Out Drawers
In our new kitchen remodel, there are only 2 base cabinets with doors - all of the others pull out. Why pull outs? Because we are lazy. Pure and simple. It is far easier to pull out a cabinet than actually bend down to put something away. It sounds totally ridiculous but it's absolutely true. I'm really looking forward to having this cabinet (see below) that will pull out for the garbage and recycling. And yes....I'm excited about garbage and recycling!
Pantry
Bye bye corner pantry - hello tall ones! Out of the entire kitchen remodel, my pantries are what excites me the most! Gone are the days of tossing things on a wire shelf only to hear crackers or whatever slip through and tumble to the ground. Gone are the days where the broom and dustpan share the same space as food!In my new kitchen remodel, I designed 3 tall pantries. One pantry is 30" wide that will be for food (and yes - there are more pullouts).
There will also be a 24" wide tall pantry - also for food as well as baking tins and pans.
The third 24" tall pantry will be my broom closet. We do not have any broom closet on our main floor in our home and I can't wait to be able to put all of our cleaning supplies in one space (a place for everything and everything in it's place). I'm getting goose-bumps just thinking about it.
Pretty
If you've followed my blog and my projects, you will know my style is timeless. I look at all of the hard finishes (flooring, counters, cabinets, backsplash) and choose items that I believe will stand the test of time (and trends). I'm a firm believer in adding colour and style with accessories and paint. Those can easily be changed out without breaking the bank and having to go through another renovation.
Cabinet Colour
It will be no shock that I went with a white kitchen. To be specific, it's actually an off-white (there are actually 4 different types of white: blue-white, true white, off-white and cream/ivory). Houzz recently released the results of their survey and found that white kitchens were the most popular. And - I'm not shocked. Clean and fresh is what I think of when I hear the words 'white kitchen'.
Counters
While white and black are timeless, I was able to massage my budget and get my beloved quartz. The quartz I chose was Caesarstone Nougat. Again - it's not bright and splashy. It's timeless. There are a multitude of accessories and colours I can use by going with this counter choice.
Flooring
With our kitchen remodel we are changing the flooring in the entire house. On our main floor, we have gone with a medium brown, hand-scraped, engineered hardwood floor. The hardwood has already been installed in the bedrooms and I'm so in love with it (except seeing the dust from the rest of the reno)! Medium brown hardwood is like a pair of jeans - anything will go with it!
Kitchen Remodel Update
Here's the design plan for our kitchen remodel. We have chosen to go with an Ikea Kitchen. In an upcoming post I'll explain the reasons I went with Ikea as well as the low-down of the pros and cons of working with Ikea for a kitchen remodel project.
Now that the kitchen is installed, we are at a little bit of a stand still this week. Counters have been templated and we are waiting for the quartz. My painter will be finishing off the kitchen and family room area today, the main floor hardwood gets installed on Friday and the little bit of carpet is going to be installed the following Monday (June 1st). When we started this reno I had a June 6th deadline to work towards and I'm hoping that all the trim and finishing work can be done by that date.Until next week....
When it comes to renovations and work done in your home, you just can not afford to make a mistake! Send me an email to discuss your home.
One of the biggest investments one can make is the investment of a home and I believe you should LOVE coming home.
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