When we bought our new house, we fell in love with its “craftsman colonial” character and wanted to preserve it, while recognizing it needed a lot of updates if we wanted all the modern amenities. Especially the kitchen. This is in April 2006.
The gumwood trim and built-in china cabinet in the dining room were just the sort of character we wanted to preserve.
The 1960-ish kitchen was not. The back door opening onto the stove both felt and actually was cramped.
Our goal was to make a functional space for a busy family, blending our contemporary taste with the Craftsman character of a 1920 house. The simple lines of the natural maple cabinets satisfy all these needs. A punch of color in the countertop is balanced by a conservative floor tile (that hides dirt really well, too).
Most food prep takes place at the area between the sink and the range. The sink is “off center” so the work area gets natural light and a view, too; there is also undercabinet lighting. The countertop is Caesarstone, a quartz-based material manufactured in Israel with properties of granite but does not need to be sealed and has a more uniform appearance.
Retro, but...yuck. We didn't cook with an oven for a whole year; for 6 months before the renovation we just didn't want to use this one
The Bosch gas convection range and Zephyr hood are at the higher end of residential models, offering excellent performance while saving thousands over commercial-sized models used in many kitchen renovations. The cabinet pulls are a style that's currently popular and we thought the arched variation was a little more subtle, and they tie the whole kitchen together.
The patterned stainless behind the sink was a splurge that was worth it.
Note that there was not enough space for the dishrack next to the sink, probably the most frustrating thing of the old kitchen
Careful planning keeps the kitchen functioning smoothly (and keeps us from eating out to avoid the hassle). Space for the dish rack and coffee maker lets them be used while keeping the main work area clear. An oversize sink with pull-down spray holds lots of dirty dishes. A dispenser keeps soap at hand without clutter.
I hope our kitchen never looks at dated as this! Though to be fair, if our dishwasher keeps running as long as this one did (we used it right up until they unhooked the plumbing) we'll have nothing to complain about.
Another countertop provides space for larger cooking projects, and cabinets to keep supplies. We weighed the pros (not needing to sacrifice valuable eye-level cabinet or window space, kids can reach it) and cons (not at eye-level, kids can reach it :) a lot of putting the microwave here.
Originally this space was not very usable; I guess you could put a table there but not one everyone could comfortably eat at.
It looks like there was once a coal stove, based on when the house was built and this closed-up stovepipe connection behind the chimney.
The cabinets in this wall were customized to match the depth of the refrigerator (easier than buying a special "cabinet-depth" appliance), and continue the line of the upper cabinet doors over the pantry.
Sliding shelves: another built-in that was worth it.
The wall between the house and the back porch would come out. The old plaster lath did reveal some old-world craftsmanship.
An early mock up the bar and pendant lights. (Yes, she's sitting on the trash can. Despite how it looks, we are closer to her than she is to anything dangerous, that bit of blue in the bottom-right corner is Cheryl just off camera.) Also shows a little bit of how the old and new framing ties together.
In progress: you can see the structure taking place.
A winter day when the plaster was done and we started to get a feel of the space.
By March 2007 it actually felt like a room (albeit not a kitchen). As a software developer I live by the motto that you can have it done on time, done cheaply, or done right -- good luck getting even two of those. I think our kitchen was done right, and while not cheap, it only went a fairly expected 10% over budget for things that we honestly couldn't predict (like finding carpenter ant damage in the walls). On time was out the (beautiful, real wood, divided-light) window by this point.
We didn't feel the need for a kitchen where the whole family could eat dinner (we actually eat in the dining room, I know that is a strange concept in modern America), but needed some seating in the kitchen to make it a comfortable place to stay. Thus, the bar. It's a great place to get away from the living/dining rooms to work with your laptop, have a quick snack, or a conversation without disturbing people in the rest of the house. (Like having our own coffee shop.)
Opening up the kitchen into the three-season porch involved installing a beam where there had been a smaller opening in the house's original back wall, and dealing with the sloping, lower roofline of the porch behind the beam and top of the stairs above in front of the beam in architecturally-interesting ways that almost look intentional. While filling in the pantry/refrigerator area with cabinets actually makes that part narrower, opening up the back wall makes everyone swear it's larger.
Blending the old and new: the window on the left and basement door on right are original; the back window and door to the porch are brand new. You would be suprised how much discussion led to the 8-over-1 back window, echoing another large window on the back of the house. Note the trim with “five quarter stock“ headers and real window sills, all of which are new yet matching what was there before. I am skeptical whether crackled subway tiles where really used in 1920's kitchens as much as they are in renovations (and the small window turned out not to be original but a product of an earlier alteration anyway) but I really like the way the tile around the window looks.
Whimsical, yet a functional built-in, too.
The old brass chandelier had some character too, but had seen better days. Note the original door to the kitchen is closed here.
Here are some of the mechanical issues that prevents us from opening the kitchen to the dining room, found on day 1 of demolition on December 2006.
From the dining room. Original plan was to widen this opening; mechanical and structural issues prohibited it but removing the door that was here and reworking the painted trim made a difference. It's not open like a kitchen built today, but the pendants lights and view through to the yard draw you in. We preserved the gumwood-trimmed china cabinet that people always commented on until we installed a funky modern chandelier that they notice now instead. Note one of the recessed lights we added here as well to add a modern amenity.
As you can see we are already putting the kitchen to good use!
