Kitchen Remodel… Phase 1

In September, with the addition of our 9+ foot salvaged pine cupboard, we began Phase 1 of our kitchen remodel.  In Phase 1 we plan to accomplish:

1. More storage in the form of kitchen cabinets and open shelving
2. New paint on the walls
3. New paint in the butler’s pantry
4. Remove toilet from the butler’s pantry
5. Remove door separating the kitchen from the butler’s pantry
6. Strip the wooden countertop in the butler’s pantry and possibly strip at least the upper cabinets as well.
7. Add a little “work space” in the butler’s pantry (room for a laptop and notepad)
8. Create a powder room out of the old laundry room

Phase 2 will most likely take place next winter, and will involve new floors in the kitchen and possibly the removal of a wall, which would completely free up configuration of an island, the stove, fridge, etc.

 

So, we are mostly done with Step 1.  As I mentioned, we brought home a 9 foot tall unit from the Twin Cities in September.  But long before that, I had been stowing a cabinet away in our garage that I had found on a Facebook swap site.  I don’t think I have a before picture (DARN!) but it was a rusting pine cupboard out of a farmhouse in Iowa.  It was painted barn red; perhaps even originally.  We stripped and sanded and coated it with poly and wa-laa!

The perfect little spot for all of my pretty bowls and vases.  The lower, covered shelf is the perfect spot for my spices.

Step 2 is also complete!  I have no regrets about painting the trim and beadboard teal.

And now we jump ahead to step 8… powder room! I have been waiting with bated breath for 2 years for this project!  This is going to be fun!

 

PS- here is another preservation-based article I wrote for the paper.

http://www.argusleader.com/story/opinion/2016/01/09/writers-group-pendar-lane-neighborhood-worth-preserving/78502568/