Kitchen (AKA Deepest, Darkest Cave) When We Bought the House. Even though the kitchen is a decent size at around 12x12, it looked cramped, dark, cluttered and definitely outdated:
After moving in we immediately peeled off the flowery border on top of the wallpaper. Soon after I took down the wallpaper in the kitchen and dining room. These would be the first rooms where I had to soak the paper and scrape it off the walls and I definitely hacked up the drywall a bit as I figured out the process. Still, the result was much better and I painted both rooms an earthy green that we had used at 47 William Street. We also replaced the refrigerator almost immediately, and my Dad helped us run propane to the stove and switch out the beat up electric Corning stove for an updated gas model.
The next step was the tackle the dying double oven and brick backsplash. We got a good replacement deal on eBay and ended up demoing the brick wall surrounding the oven and building a new frame for the updated oven and cabinet. The remaining backsplash was whitewashed and eventually painted an off white.
These changes certainly updated the room and lightened it a bit, and we've lived with the kitchen like this for several years. But after realizing it would be a long while until we can afford a full demolition with new backsplash and cabinet replacement, we decided to work with what we had and REALLY update and modernize the kitchen.
So in February of 2015 we pulled down the dark and awkwardly low hanging cabinets over the breakfast bar separating the kitchen and dining room to really open up the space and let more light into the kitchen. The next task was to update the counters without replacing them. For that we used a concrete overlay product called Ardex topped with Richard James TK6 Nanocoat sealer. That was finished off with Cheng concrete countertop wax and I can't tell you how pleased we are with the results. We have brand new, lighter, updated countertops without ever having to remove the nasty old brown laminate counters we got with the house. The counter update was a BIG project with lots of hard work and and time involved, but it was well worth it in my opinion.
You can see the new counters and removed cabinets over the breakfast bar below (note: these photos are before waxing):
We also took the opportunity to replace the old brown ceramic kitchen sink with a black granite composite like the one we had installed at 47 William. And we had an extra faucet from that same house that had been replaced and fixed so we updated that as well. The finishing touch was a brand new garbage disposal - twice the power of our old one and a very welcome addition to the kitchen!
The next step, of course, was to pull apart the cabinets for sanding and painting. That project is still in progress although almost finished. In the meantime, we've also updated the light fixture over the kitchen island as well as the one in the dining room, and installed drywall and can lights over the breakfast bar where the cabinets once were. What a difference these changes have made! (Note: countertops are waxed and about 2 months old in these photos and holding up beautifully to plenty of abuse from us and our boys, who do their homework here each afternoon.)
A new light will also be installed over the kitchen sink, along with new brushed nickel cabinet hinges to match the pulls we updated several years ago. The final touches will be some new accessories, light painted trim and door to the basement and a lighter shade of gray-green on the walls of the kitchen and dining room (which are being majorly patched for a much smoother look this go around). The backsplash will also be repainted yet again to a light gray. I'll also be refinishing and updating the bay window in the dining room. Oh and a new dishwasher will be my joint birthday and Mother's Day gift next month - the last major appliance in the house to be replaced! These changes will hopefully be posted soon.
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