Sledgehammer or Salvage: Classic Modern Kitchen
Sledgehammer or Salvage: Classic Modern Kitchen
By Jennifer Chapman
What do you do when you move into a home that you love, but you hate the kitchen? What if that kitchen was “recently” remodeled? It’s hard for homeowners to justify the hefty cost of a kitchen remodel when there is really nothing about the kitchen that says “This must be completely ripped out! There is no time to waste! Where’s the sledgehammer?” You may loathe the color of the cabinets. You may be repulsed by the countertop. The layout may completely lack the functionality you need for your family. You may say these things to yourself every minute of everyday, but still have difficulty with shelling out the money to redo it if someone has just done that very thing not that long ago. I get it.
Let’s get real, kitchens are expensive. They just are. If we are getting real, though, where do you spend most of your time? Where does your family hang out the most? Where do people congregate when you are entertaining? Overwhelmingly, the answer is the kitchen. It’s a cliche, but the kitchen really is “the heart of the home”. It is also a huge selling point for your house and can help to increase your value. So, why not enjoy the kitchen while you are living there?
Our clients were going through the same thing. They thought “maybe we can save some of these cabinets? Just paint them? We can just change the island? Maybe get some new appliances?” These questions were the first ones they asked when we met. After delving into things a little deeper, we discovered how completely dysfunctional this kitchen really was. It just didn’t work for them! At all. They want this to be their forever home and the kitchen just would not do.
Let’s break down some of the issues we needed to solve.
One
What is up with these weird side by side islands? Don’t get me wrong, I love a kitchen with dual islands, but they have their time and place. This kitchen is long and narrow- these islands seem to be working against the natural flow of the space. In addition, they had sink and dishwasher on one side and the range on the other. This set-up made it nearly impossible for two people two be working in this space at the same time. The islands are just too close! Solution- Re-orient the island and make it large enough to accommodate dining for their family of four.
Two
What do you do with a strange, disconnected octagonal shaped room off the kitchen? (Say that three times fast!) There was one small door to it- that’s it. It made NO sense and it was closed off from the rest of the space. The clients didn’t have a clue what to do with it- they have a family room right off the other side of the kitchen- they did not need another seating area. So, what to do? First of all, we wanted to make it feel like it belonged there and was connected to the rest of the kitchen and living area. We reconfigured their back hallway in order to widen the opening between the kitchen and back room. This allowed us to add office space as well. We decided this room would function as a game room and bar since the clients love to entertain.
Three
When we just got down to it, this space was just not the clients’ style. At all. They are young and cool! They did want the space to feel timeless, but they also didn’t want it to feel so formal and stuffy. We didn’t want it to feel like everyone else’s white kitchen either. We wanted it to feel more specific to them. We used Diamond cabinets and they offer a style that is a bit of a twist on traditional shaker style- it has a bit of a bevel to it. We also broke up the white cabinetry with the large island in Maritime Blue. Instead of using the traditional white subway tile, we went with a soft gray and we broke up the countertops by using Ellipse Stone Olympus on the island and the perimeter and bar in Caesarstone Raven. We changed up the backsplash at the bar and went with a Carrara Hexagon Tile. One of our favorite additions to the space are the rustic, reclaimed wood beams. They are not actual solid wood beams- we framed out he headers for structural purposes and wrapped them in wood that we distressed and made to look like reclaimed wood. They add warmth and texture to this space.
You may have a variety of reasons why you haven’t taken on your kitchen yet! I get it. WE get it. It’s never too soon to start planning, though! How could your kitchen function better for you? What do you hate? What do you love? Start asking yourself those questions and begin to formulate a plan to make it happen. You deserve it!