Of course this isn't to scale, but it gives you the idea. With three doors in three corners, there's just no room to add or move anything. The area beside the fridge is so tight you have to turn partially sideways to slide past it to get through the door. But we use it all the time. Can't get rid of the one to the back hall, or we'd have to go outside every time we needed to go downstairs! So after years of thinking about it (off and on), we did what one should always do in cases like this: consulted a professional.
We have a friend who's also an architect. He immediately proposed closing off the door by the fridge - and we said we really didn't like that idea. He then proposed closing the door into the dining room, and moving it to the other side of our built in buffet. We'd access it through the door by the fridge - it would be on the wall just past the doorway. We liked that idea better - at first. He laid out a design that put the range butted up against the existing counter, and added counter/cabinets in that little corner space, with a built in pass through to the dining room. I'd seen that idea in the paper and liked it (still do). Not only would it make passing dishes easier, it would let us keep at least a bit of the ability to look out through the dining room windows. More importantly, it allowed a way to pass cool air into the kitchen when we run the window a/c unit in the dining room. We'd also move the fridge and dishwasher to the wall where the dishwasher now resides, with some cabinetry below and more above. It was great. We went to Home Depot, just to see what was there, and ended up working with a kitchen designer for 2 hours. She came up with semi-custom cabinets (they come in a large array of sizes and shapes, but aren't built just for you) that would fit and make the most of what we had.
But then we started thinking more about it. We'd have more counter space, sure, but having 2 feet of it in the little corner and another four along the wall seemed disjointed and inefficient - like we really weren't gaining as much as we'd hoped.
So we thought about what our friend suggested first - closing off this hallway door (seen after wallpaper removal). We actually stuck a piece of tape across it for several days to see what we'd think of losing it, and decided we could live with it. By taking out that door instead, we'd also reduce costs, as no new door had to be cut. Our friend was out of the country when we came decided to go with his first and better idea, so we came up with a basic plan ourselves. The stove will stay almost where it is, and the fridge will move over by the door to the back hall. We'll permanently install the dishwasher (it's portable now) on the same wall, and add cabinets all the way around that L. Off to HD again, for a redesign. Another two hours, but they were well spent. Boy, will that be better. You know, when you work with a pro, you really should just listen to them...
We're keeping our original cabinets. They're (we think) maple, and they just don't build them like that anymore. Tongue and groove backs, and so sturdy. But not so attractive. At some point in time - before we got there - someone had bleached the wood. If you look at one of the pictures in the previous entry, you can see the unbleached inside of a door. It's a lovely, sort of honey toned reddish hue. The designer at HD told us we could get ours refinished to match the inside. We were delighted, especially when she told us it was pretty reasonable. Sigh...
Reality intruded. We had already realized we could in no way afford custom cabinetry. That meant there was no way to match the inset doors of our existing cabinets - we'd have to have overlays. Our current doors sit flush with the front surface. Overlays are mounted on top of the front surface. Fortunately, we could match the style quite easily, so as long as the finish and hardware match, I don't know that it'll be a glaring mismatch, especially since they don't ever sit next to each other. We'd hoped to replace our large radiator with a smaller one and put a bench over it, so there would be a place for someone to sit down. It's nice to put your shoes on in the kitchen, or to have a spot for someone to sit and chat with the cook. But that's out of our budget, too - for now, anyway. We may eventually put in-floor heat in. Wouldn't that be lovely?
I called the refinishing place. Reasonable. Yeah, right. Just redoing the surface of our existing cabinetry was nearly the same price as all the new stuff we were buying. Not happening. So we'll paint. We're getting cabinets in cotton (matches the appliances) and will paint to match. Fortunately for us, painted cabinets may very well have been more common in bungalow kitchens than unpainted ones. We ordered cabinets - they arrived this week!
We then went and picked out a new dishwasher (you can't install our portable as a permanent one - it's too tall) and microwave (this one will mount above the stove and have a vent - a first for us). That was the easiest part.
What to do for counters? We've had our formica for over 25 years, and, while it held up really well, we wanted something nicer. But we just didn't see anything that really struck us in granite or quartz or corian or any of those. We saw some made of recycled glass that were possible, but when you're doing a project like this, you want something you just love, not something you merely like. I did some more digging, and read about soapstone. It's natural stone, and every piece is different. It's totally impervious to heat, and needs almost no care. It's a bit upscale for a bungalow, but was absolutely in use at the time. And it's pretty. It feels great. It starts out gray, and darkens with use from the oils in your hands. You can speed the process along by seasoning with mineral oil, but that's totally optional. There's no required maintenance. It is a softer stone, somewhat prone to scratching and chipping, but we're careful users. If our formica is just starting to show significant wear after 26+ years, it's clear we're not careless! We're used to using cutting boards. If it's a small scratch, you can polish it out. If it's bigger, well, we'll chalk it up to living life! We've purchased our actual slab and it's gorgeous. The veining will go really, really well with the cabinets, and the combination is one that won't ever scream "You decorated during this particular fad!" We're replacing all the hardware - it's taken quite a beating over the decades - except for the hinges. They can be painted. All the knobs and pulls will match on both sets of cabinets, which will help pull things together. And we're getting a new sink. It's an overmount (an undermount would add, believe it or not, about a grand to the cost), but porcelain again. Once more, the flavor of a bungalow instead of an accurate restoration.
I'm about to order a new ceiling fan and over sink light that will work with all this other stuff, too. Once all this is in, Joe and I will finish up. We'll install mini subway tile for a backsplash. We think we'll put up beadboard below our chair rail, with paintable wallpaper above, but that remains to be seen. The plaster walls aren't in great shape, so we can't just paint, but the wallpaper will cover the flaws and give us a good surface. Haven't decided if we'll paint all the remaining wood or not. Probably, but that's a decision for later. Colors are all up in the air as of yet, except I know I want red accents. We figure there's time to decide that when it's all together. We find we tend to agree on what we really like. Usually if one of us doesn't like a choice, it turns out there's a better one to be made and we just need to be patient and find it.
We feel our choices will all tie together so well, and go much better with the rest of the house, and can hardly wait to have it start!
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