BDA: The Kitchen – Work Area

Before: We had a small porch for the back entry which was on the foundation. Above it was a flat roof balcony, with a door off the back bedroom. Probably had been a sleeping porch, but more about that later. Our least favorite window, above the sink, actually stayed, but had new sashes put in. And you can see how much pink-with-gold-flecks counter top we had.

During: Demo!

This is when the flat roof went missing. The window is still the one over the sink.

Framing for the two new windows facing the back yard. The one on the left is where the booth will go.

Stuffed…

And rocked.

After: This is the corner where the stove used to be, now the “baking center”. I still need to make the stained/ patterned glass inserts for the upper cupboard doors, though it is very convenient to just reach in. The tile backsplash is being planned. The under cabinet lights are great. We have our tray/cutting board storage right next to the sink. It was a small, leftover, space, but was made very useful. In the corner is a “super-susan” – there is another one in the other corner.

The window looks and works much better with the new sashes. The faucet has a spray option, rotates and detaches (NOT for water fights). The boys think the flip-down front on the sink for sponge storage is very cool. Curtains for the windows are on order and should be here in a few weeks.

The dishwasher (yessss!), stove and microwave. The pendant lights, fan light, recessed light, and light over the booth are all on dimmers. It’s wonderful having light where you need it. You can see the other set of cupboard doors awaiting my glass creations. We are still (almost 4 months later) figuring out where to store things! But the kitchen works great – we managed to cook Thanksgiving dinner without getting in each other’s way.

The last remaining things are a movable cart (we have an outlet in the middle of the floor for power), and some shelving for Steve's Squeezebox along the wall next to the dining room door. Currently, we are using one of the bookcases, which works just fine for now.

From one end to the other

Whoops, I forgot a few photos in the last post. Here is the view as you come into the kitchen from the hall. It's the new fridge. A counter-depth Kenmore, with french doors on top and a freezer drawer on the bottom. Cold water is available on the door. The best or worst thing, depending on your point of view, is the black-glass finish. Magnets do not stick to it! Minnebou is admiring her slender reflection (it is shaped to make you appear thinner of course). And this is the view through the hallway, back to the front door of the house (leading onto the porch). The slightly open door on the left is to the basement, which remains open most of the time for access to the litter boxes.

BDA: The Kitchen – Hall/Entry

Before: If you remember, this was the congestion point of the kitchen. The refrigerator was in the hallway, the bathroom across from it. We often had to walk through the dining room if someone was getting something out of the fridge – and inevitably piling it on the stove. Steve has few scars on his head from gouging it on the stove vent hood corner when moving things from the fridge to the stove and visa versa. There also was a false ceiling with the cute beehive lamp.

During: Fridge gone, and walls stripped down to the chimney, which is to the right.

The area was framed to be a pantry. The door to the dining room is on the right (with the Do Not Open sign.

After: It has taken us a while to not “shrink in” when we go through this area (you can see the cat thought I was taking pictures of her). The pantry is filling up of course. The doors are millwork doors from the lumberyard, which was less expensive than kitchen cabinets. We went with sliding doors since we were so tired of the hallway being blocked by open doors. The doors come in standard heights, so we have a shelf above the panty for “decorative storage” – I’m still working on what that should be. There is a small recessed light, in addition to the hall light, to illuminate whatever wonderful items end up there.

BDA: The Kitchen – Breakfast Area

This is it, what you’ve been waiting for, right? The room that started it all. Let’s take it piece by piece, or post by post.


Before: View of breakfast area with table and bookcases. Coats are hanging on wall to the right, next to the microwave on a cart (out of view).


During: Waiting for the sledgehammer…

This is looking through the wall into the mudroom, closet to the left. Pocket door framing is in the wall.

And sheet-rocked...

And remember the booth from Architectural Antiques?

After: Here’s the corner where the booth goes, after wallpaper. The light is very cool, in addition to the six “up lights”, there are 2 small halogen “down lights”. This is where I sit to work. There's a heat vent in the floor, so it's nice and warm too! The wallpaper is a reproduction William Morris Arts & Crafts print called Golden Lily, you'll be seeing more of it.

Boys breakfasting in the booth. Tom Haugen stripped the tabletop, and painted the booth in blue with a bit of “distressed” red. AJ feels Tom should come back and fix it to be all blue. Craft items are in the tubs under the bench. Not exactly elegant, but it's functional for now - and an excuse to get some baskets soon.

Here you can see the morning's mini-muffins and the detail on the booth.

Lastly the view into the mudroom through the pocket door.

BDA: The Main Bath

Before: The main bath, upstairs, which had been remodeled in the 1950s? I gave it new paint and wallpaper in 1990. The tub was short and shallow. The counter was long and had many things piled on it due to the absence of storage space. More junk was stored in the linen closet in the hallway.The roofline cut into one side of the bathroom, making a shower improbable. During: the plumber hadn't been by yet to disconnect the old tub pipes.After: Lights! Heat! The sink stand interfered with the old register - oops. A quick online search brought us this very nice new one that fits perfectly and was paintable. Storage! The sink with stand and towel bar, medicine cabinet and lights.And Splash! Number 1 son taking the first bath in the refinished clawfoot tub.Number 2 son, enjoying his bath last month with a few more amenities.

BDA: The back of the house

The back of the house before the remodel. We added an 8x10 foot crawl space to the foundation in the right corner for the mud room. The old back porch was on the orginal foundation and became part of the new kitchen. And the roof came off...

During the big demo!

Here's the after! The new back entry is great (the detail on the little roof matches the front and sides). Above the mudroom (behind the door) and kitchen, is our master bedroom (big double windows), closet (the small window in the middle) and bathroom (the small window on the left). And the in the spring, we'll get some grass instead of mud and maybe some tulips if I didn't get them in too late.

BDA: Powder Room

Before: The main floor "powder room" as it was - cramped. The boys would hit their heads on the sink when they were toddlers.

During: Gutted to the studs - which were very full. The wall on the right is the only continuous wall from the basement to upstairs, so it carries electric, plumbing and sewer. We could just squeak in a small concealed cabinet in the wall on the left side. The window remained, but was trimmed out to match the rest of the house.

After: New walls, lights, tile floor, trim. New dual-flush toilet (press down for a small flush, up for a large one). The sink is mounted to the wall with a tile "beadboard" backsplash for those sloppy, messy kid hands. This small bath feels almost spacious now with the smaller sink and pocket door. We also tried to keep things flush instead of protruding out from the wall.

Remaining to do in this room: Lace curtain at the window, mirror above the sink, and a lovely picture in the frame (which actually conceals a cabinet containing our fine selection of kiddie bandaids).

Living with Boxes

Our blog has been silent for a long time. To catch you up, we DID move back in early September, just a few days after school started. Our house is lovely, but it's hard to see because of all the boxes and unpacking yet to be done! So I want to show you wonderful pictures, but have to carefully take them to keep the boxes, bags and piles of junk out of view. The last few things are wrapping up (who knew towel bars had 6 week leadtimes?). I'm trying to get bulbs in the ground before the snow and find our winter wear. In between, I'll try to show you some pictures of our fabulous new spaces.

No Drips Allowed

This is a long sequence of photos, and it was a long process. This is how the shower in the master bath was built up over almost 4 weeks, layer by layer. The window is non-operable due to the close proximity of the incoming power lines. (There is another, operable, window in the bathroom.)

Some of the features of the shower are shown below...

The control, adjustable handheld, and 3 body jets (before grout)...

The "grottos" for shampoo bottles and other necessities...

And the footrest for saving my legs!

Grouted and done

The view from the shower!