Wednesday, March 26, 2014

a 40's ranch kitchen

As progress on the bathroom slowly moseys along (it's usable but not complete) I'll take a moment to introduce you to a new project.  In November I posted some of the inspiration for a remodeling project I am working on in Cincinnati.  And today I'd love to share with you the plans - existing and proposed - for my client's new space.

It has been a long, somewhat circuitous, road to this plan but hey, isn't that what renovation is all about sometimes?

Here is the existing plan:

Pretty typical for an older kitchen, the fridge and range are floating in the space.  What's more, the location of the fridge makes the hallway access very narrow and almost unusable.  I imagine the space was meant to be an eat-in kitchen, however, in a small two bedroom house, who needs a formal dining room these days.  This layout only provides for one prep area to the left of the sink and little to no storage space.  Adjacent to the kitchen to the left is the incredibly steep stair to the back door and basement.  To the right is a small dining room.  The opening near the fridge takes you into the hallway leading to the bedrooms and bath.

Initially, it was decided that a re-work of the very steep stairs to the basement (and laundry) needed to happen for safety purposes and to improve the layout of the new kitchen.  I generated the two options below.  This re-work would have also included the relocation of the door to the back yard to the mud room (not shown).  However, after taking costs and other priorities into consideration, this stair re-work was abandoned and I was back to working within the existing space of this kitchen.  Oh, and the laundry was relocated to the mud room so that the homeowner can avoid the stair all together.



Here is what the client settled on:


The final plan still involves the opening up of the kitchen to the dining room without completely removing the entire wall, as well as relocating the entrance originally located in the hallway to the living room. These moves will allow for a better connection between the main living and dining spaces and the kitchen, and will also provide more usable wall space for cabinets.  In this final plan, the homeowner has a nice "food" nook with refrigerator and tall pantry cabinet adjacent to one another on the left. The range is probably a bit farther from the sink than might be ideal, but it was a necessary compromise to maintain the open peninsula desired between the kitchen and dining room. The refrigerator and sink both remain in their existing locations, helping to simplify the plumbing and electrical work in the space.

The client chose to use IKEA cabinetry, saving approximately $6,000 on cabinetry costs.  Granite countertops, wood flooring, and ceramic tile backsplash with glass accents will finish off the space. 

Construction is well underway already, with new wood flooring being sanded and stained as we speak.  The countertops were templated last week and the appliances are ready and waiting in the garage to be installed.  I can't wait to share the before and after photos with you soon!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...