The Kitchen

Yesterday was spent scraping paint off of windows with a razor blade. It's exactly as much fun as it sounds.

Let's talk about something more exciting, yes? Like the kitchen!

Oh, the kitchen....what started out as the room I was MOST excited to re-do (also requiring the most work, planning, and therefore, $$$), has turned into the most stressful. Renovating a kitchen is a lot like planning a wedding...there are SO MANY OPTIONS. It can be quite overwhelming. Not to mention, our layout is a little tricky. Let me back up a bit...

When Husband first described the space to me, he said something about a shelf above the sink with a plate rack, no upper cabinets (translation: no storage) and a wall with a "serving window" to the breakfast nook. I was thoroughly confused. When I finally saw it in person, here is what I noticed...

There are definitely some pros - the hardwood floors, the large windows (tons of natural light!), and...yup, that just about covers it. The cons? Well, they are a little more numerous.

While the windows are great, they are oddly placed. We have two on either side of the sink (I don't know why it bugs me that the sink is in front of a wall and not a window, but it totally does)...

...and the third window is off-center on the adjacent wall, leaving little room (and an awkward layout) for upper cabinets (that part makes sense now!).

The dishwasher door can't be fully opened without running into the oven. The cabinets and counter are crooked (because the floor is crooked), and we are pretty sure the fridge has to go in the pantry (more on that later).

After a lot of discussion (and indecisiveness), we decided to gut the kitchen and start from scratch. It's not that the kitchen was in terrible shape - we had a lot of great stuff to work with; it just wasn't set up to be functional. And I want my kitchen to be both beautiful AND functional. Otherwise, what's the point? 

So far, we've painted, installed a new sink and cabinets, chosen the granite slab and ordered appliances. I'll cover those details in a separate post.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with one of my very favorite kitchens (and a major source of inspiration!)...



Yup, I could live with this! ;)
*photo from www.traditionalhome.com