Kitchen Redesign Part 1

We moved into our house about 5 years ago, and although it was essentially turn key there were a few things that we did not like. The kitchen was one area that needed a little updating or perhaps uplifting. Don’t get me wrong, there was nothing wrong with the “bones” of the kitchen; the layout and the quality of the cabinets were great.

Kitchen before

For instance, although we have granite counters, and we like the color, the granite is very thin and is flush with the cabinets. That could have been intentional, but my guess is that someone measured wrong. Consequently, the prior occupants and their children did some serious damage to the fronts of the cabinets, especially by the island and in front of the sink.

Another strange thing in the kitchen is that there was wood counters on the top part of the island and over by the book shelves. Several contractors told us that the material is plywood. Yes, shellacked plywood. Honestly, it really does not look bad and until they told us it was plywood we had not idea.



Plywood top

Our main reason for an update is that last year our house suffered some severe water damage from a Nor’easter that blew through our area. Because of that the floors were damaged and needed to be refinished. So we decided that while the entire house was in disarray we would have the cabinets updated at the same time.

We also did not like the fact that everything was the same color, the floor and the cabinets seem to merge together.



Additional before photo

After gathering all of my inspiration photos, and making a budget, doing my research and making a few compromises with my husband, I decided to enlist the help of a kitchen designer. Although I had already decided what I was going to do I really wanted to have my ideas validated and to make sure that I was not making a mistake. As I have blogged in the past, I am not in my forever house and although I want to put my stamp on the house and enjoy it while I live here I do not want to make some horrible mistakes that will cost us when we try to sell.

I have been a fan of Susan Serra and her blog The Kitchen Designer for a long time and so I decided to send an email to Susan Serra for some advice. For those of you who do not know her she is an nationally recognized kitchen designer and her kitchens have been in many magazines, in addition she writes a column for the Kohler website. She also had/has a design consultation service by phone. ( I consulted with her about 8 months ago) I will tell you more about that in another post.

As I have mentioned before, I love Christopher Peacock, and I love the classic look of a white kitchen. So that is really the look I am after. With a little of my own stamp on the project.

Ina Garten Barn From House Beautiful

What do you think? Do you like white kitchens?

Image House Beautiful

Image House Beautiful