Look at this design. Who would put the sink, dishwasher, pantry and refrigerator all in one corner? Do you notice the sink has no counterspace to the left of it? Which means there is nowhere to put the dirty dishes and pots and pans. Everything ends up piled in the sink all the time. The 'bar' area isn't a bar area at all. There is no space for anything but a couple of candles up there! Certainly nobody can actually eat there!
So now that we are a family of 9 this kitchen has gotten really crazy. You can imagine how many times a day there are two or three people over in that corner: One opening the fridge, one in the pantry, and one at the sink. When I am cooking I am usually tripping over little ones. I would love to have a bar area where they could watch or help out without getting under my feet or in the way of my cabinets. All my counter space is opposite of the sink....which means that all my messes; the pancake mix, the milkshakes, the cookie dough, gets splattered on the tiles and drips down my black cabinets and on the floor on the way to the sink. Although I love black paint, it is the worst color for kitchen cabinets (in my opinion)...could there be a worse color to show every little drop of milk and greasy fingerprint?
This is the view from the front door. Do you see the little desk space? At one point we had a computer there, but little hands (Ava and Joseph) were constantly banging, and pulling cords, and drinks would spill. Now it is just wasted space used to accumulate our junk.
Anyway, we found a cabinet maker, and are planning to rip out the sink and replace it with an island with actual seating around the sink. Eventually we might want to do something with that desk space to make it more useful, but don't really want to have to re-do the entire kitchen in the process, if we can help it. What do you think? Just wondering if anyone with a big family (or not) has advice about practical kitchen remodeling on a budget.
Right now we just have formica countertops which I don't mind at all. I also wouldn't mind upgrading to something a little more long term, quality, if the price is right. Just curious what features you love or hate about your kitchen. What would you do? (Should I just suck it up? ha)
By the way, on the other side of the kitchen is a hall, 3 bedrooms, and a bathroom. We have considered knocking out the hall to expand the kitchen but that is way out of our budget. Maybe when we win the lottery! :)
4 comments:
Your house is beautiful. I don't even notice the things you do. :)
Countertops. Now I've learned a new word :-) We have 60x60 cms tiles on ours - we were on a low budget when building our kitchen. We've had it this way for 9 years now and I really like them.
Hi Charisa,
Your house IS beautiful, but I certainly understand the inconvenience of the 'all in one corner' layout. It would bug me too. I love the island idea. That would open it up for you. Also, Hann is right, glass countertops are becoming very popular. I checked them out when I had my kitchen counters replaced. But, I opted for a combination of granite mixed with resin...so it's not only extremely durable and half the cost of granite, but also waterproof with the resin components. It gets laid right on top of your current countertops. I love mine, and it's sooo easy to keep up..no water marks. Out here it's called "Granite Transformations" but not sure what it's called in Ok.
Love you guys,
Aunt Sharon
The kitchen is very pretty, I love the glass front cabinets and I think the black is kind of cool. The only thing I can suggest (we just finished a complete kitchen remodel) is if your budget allows, take off your counterops and try reconfiguring what you have. Unless the cabinets are custom made and built right into your walls, they are just boxes that you can unscrew and move and the sizes are pretty basic too (12 inc, 24 inchn 36 inch) Try looking at your kitchen and see if you can move the sink base or other cabinets to a better location. This way, you will only end up replacing the countertops and maybe having to redo some of the tile backsplash. Good luck, I'm still emotionally drained from being without a kitchen for months on end.
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