Remodeling Kitchen

For years I have wanted to redo my kitchen.  I have over the years updated to stainless steel appliances, all by the over the stove microwave.  The original kitchen did not have one, only a range hood.  Did not have a dishwasher, we could tell where previous owners had cut out a cabinet and chipped out a little counter top to install one.  Refrigerators were  not so big back then either.  The house was built in 1985, which for house is not that old, not even vintage yet really.  But...for today's time and today's technology and the way I cook, the kitchen just didn't flow.  Dead space that could be utilized for storage, a big bar that while it gave counter space and storage, made the kitchen even smaller.  So, I came up with a design that gives me way more storage, larger counter top areas for working and opens up the kitchen more.

Here is the kitchen as it is now, we bought the house in August of 2000.

The cabinets under the bar are the only ones wide enough to hold pots and pans.  I have to literally sit down on the floor, crawl half way in to find a pan most times.  There is a door on the other side to get in to the space by the wall.  I also hate the old porcelain sink.  It is hard to keep clean as well.

 As you see, not a lot of counter top by the stove to use while cooking.  The bottom cabinet to the left of the stove goes all the way back, but they put a 9 inch door on it so you can not get anything much in there.  The dishwasher door will not open all the way down because of the handle on the stove.  And, the over the stove microwave is the last of the almond appliances that came with the house.  Notice the dinosaur  of a toaster attached to the bottom of the cabinet to the right of the stove?  It is literally a B@$#% to clean.

This is my pantry.  Big, but once again, to get to the bottom two shelves I have to sit down on the floor and do a little crawling.  I have to use a step ladder to get to the top two shelves. 

The one thing I do like about the bar is the pull out cutting board.  Have that covered in the new kitchen design.

This is the short wall the fridge is located on.  That little bit of counter space to the right ends up catching clutter.  Bags of chips, snacks, bottles of soda.  It is too small for much of anything else.

 

 

This is a view of the whole kitchen from the open end.  It looks like a lot of cabinets...until you start trying to put things away.  Also, we have this weird shelf above the kitchen.  Thankfully it gives the kitchen an extra three feet.  The kitchen measures 10 x 12 feet.

 

This also shows you the "china hutch".  I hate the thing.  It is small, hard to work in, the doors have to be taped shut because they won't close. Notice the big square ceiling light?  I hate it. 

Now you see the original kitchen.  Probably the cleanest it has ever been as well.  It does make you think 80's.  I also absolutely hate the tile counter top.  Even with my pastry rolling sheet, the grout still leaves marks and the tile is textured so is uneven. 

So, with much thought and the help of a wonderful design lady at Home Depot, I came up with a totally new design.  The fridge is moving to a different wall, the dishwasher is moving to the opposite side of the sink, a big lazy susan is going in the corner and the bar is history.  The pantry is also moving to a different spot to allow for counter top and cabinets by the stove.  Which, is moving a few inches over to make room for the lazy susan and a large set of drawers on the left side.

Now to get it started.