Let me back up and tell you a little about our kitchen before the remodel. First, it is a small space and we did not have the luxury (time or money) of being able to remove walls and re-configure. So the same footprint remained but everything else went. We live in a 1950s home and Jennifer (co-owner and general contractor) was concerned we might have some electrical and plumbing challenges. Luckily, when they opened up the walls, there were a few out-of-date issues but nothing that was not manageable (for them – wouldn’t trust an amateur here). They upgraded electrical, water shut-off valves and other stuff I don’t really understand (or want to) to make us feel nice and safe. Our cabinets and drawers were one of our biggest targets. The cabinet doors wouldn’t close and the drawers closed so well that our then four-year-old had a tough time opening the drawers. She is still ecstatic about the soft close (blu motion) that is easy for her to pull out and then push back in without making a sound. Exciting! We had laminate throughout our kitchen and into my office – we decided to replace all of it with the hardwood that was found throughout the house. It plussed up the entire space and we love how rich it makes this area look. We also had wasted space around our cabinetry where the stand-alone stove went and the dishwasher was inserted by our back door. Our remodel has re-claimed these unused spaces and we were able to add some nifty new features (i.e., pull-out spice drawer).

Our other main complaint came in the way of very old appliances (dishwasher, oven and microwave) which all worked at a sub-par level. My husband is a chef and has a new lease on life with our new Bosch gas cooktop, stove and warming drawer unit and I can’t wait to bake Christmas cookies this year – the uneven heating element in our old sad oven made the actual baking of the cookies an Olympic event. So, without further delay…

Before…

And AFTER…