Who says a small house can’t have a big kitchen? This old house kitchen has ad a couple remodels over the years, but all with the same cabinetry. The cabinets are 80+ years had been moved, repainted, repositioned, and had been well worn. It was time for this cute house to get a new kitchen. This family was about to have their third child and their small house was feeling a little bit more small…. so the decision was to make it feel bigger by opening it up. Let’s take a look at what the kitchen looked like before.
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Blog posts are where I list the before and afters, renovation details and sources. My portfolio pages just gives the finished pictures. Want more details… keep reading.
The kitchen was completely in its own room, only open to the next room by the pass through. As you can see the cabinets were old and well worn. The doors would not even shut anymore.
The other side of the wall was the dining room. It was just asking to be opened up. If we did this the dining room and kitchen could be one large space.
There was a weird window solution from a remodel in the 80s. The kitchen window originally was bigger. They used this weird window block solution to fill the hole when they moved around the cabinets.
This wall was where the fridge and a storage cabinet used as the pantry once was housed. It basically didn’t change in function but it became so much more efficient… and pretty.
We found out demo was really needed on this wall. No insulation, all sorts of weird patches, old wall paper, and two birds nests. But that was not all we found…
We found out the plumbing vent was completely cut in half. The homeowners had been smelling a bad smell and now we knew why..80 year old plumbing completely eroded away. It’s always good to gut old houses to see what is going on.
The kitchen itself was too small to have an island so we decided to do a peninsula instead. Here was the plan. In addition to the kitchen we also had a plan to include a window bench in the dining room.
About 6 weeks later the kitchen was transformed. The kitchen cabinets are Ready to Assemble cabinets from RTA Cabinet store. We did not paint the cabinets so I don’t have a color. Although, if you really want to know message me and I can give you the SW color match code.
After fixing all the problems, insulating, and drywalling the pieced together window wall, we used the original window opening and brought in a ton of light
The peninsula allowed the kitchen to be open and have island seating. Because we lost upper cabinetry by opening the wall to the dining room, we replaced it by putting wall cabinets on the back of the island.
Source: Pendants (no longer available) similar; Pillows (similar); stools (similar)
There are two 36″ cabinets and one 18″ wall cabinet that keep the doors looking like a trimmed out island. We place push opening hardware instead of knobs to keep the look clean. It stores all the things you don’t need to get to often.
Source: Refrigerator, ceiling light
Instead of a free standing fridge and a garage cabinet for the pantry, we built in the fridge with a pantry with lots of pullouts.
We used a slide in stove in the island to create the cook top look. If we put the stove on the opposite wall we would not have had room for a pantry. This was the only solution.
Source: Knobs; Rug is vintage (similar rug)
The window and the sconces help make the small kitchen look grand.
Source: kitchen faucet; Sconces
The only appliance that moved was the dishwasher. Its placement makes more sense next to the sink instead of around the corner.
If you are wondering where the outlets are on the sink wall, we used plug molds under the cabinet. There are five outlets hiding under neath the left cabinet and two on the other side. This is how you get the function without breaking up the beautiful backsplash.
This little nook was the perfect place for some extra storage. One door goes to the backyard and the other door in the side door. Its a great place for a coffee pot or even just a drop zone when you walk inside.
We didn’t want it to feel like a kitchen cabinet but more like a piece of furniture.
This room felt dark and disjointed before and now it feels big, bright and cohesive.
Source: Brackets, Open Shelves
I think every kitchen should have some are of open shelves for you to store your pretty dishes.
The open shelves are make from stair treads. This only works for open shelves 48″ and under. We just simply cut the rounded part of the stair tread off with a table saw and stained them. Done. Easy.
Source: Chandelier (no longer available) similar look; rug (similar)
The dining room kitchen area is where this family spends most of their time. The living room is on the other side of the arch and now feels very open to the kitchen and dining area but has a little bit of seperation.
Source: Bench Seating frame and door; Dining Table (similar) Dining Chairs
We added the window seating and it was a debate to if we should do it or not. Now, I can’t imagine the space without it. We built it using Ikea Besta Units.
We built the bench the depth of store-bought out door cushions. There is a little design tip for you because custom cushions are pricey.
Just because you need a closer look right?
My favorite type of project is taking old houses and giving them modern day function for families today while creating a style that fits the character of the home. I really think we were able to help this 80 year old small house last another 80 years.
This is the view of the kitchen and dining room right when you walk into their house from the front door. So inviting and the good news is we finished the remodel 1 month before the baby was born and I am so glad they can enjoy their time at home together as a family.
Beautiful transformation! Would love that SW color code. Thanks!