LISA'S LAUNDRY & KITCHEN REMODEL
What a fun renovation! Lisa's kitchen lay-out worked well with the exception of some oddities along the stove wall. Because of an old chimney that ran up the center of the wall and a bump-out to accommodate for original 4" cast iron piping for the bathroom on the opposite side of the wall, we had three different depths that caused the stove to stick out in the middle of the doorway. So away with the chimney and bump-out!
Unfortunately, like most renovations, once the demo was complete we discovered some major areas or concerned that needed to be addressed. First up was the plumbing. Since her plan is to renovate the bathroom within the next year, it made sense to go ahead and replace the plumbing while the wall was exposed. Little did we know that her pipes were about 80% blocked so while it did cost more now, it will save money down the road and increased her water pressure and drainage tremendously. The second major issue we ran into was the kitchen floor system. The floors had been sanded down to the original staples so refinishing them wasn't an option. We also recognized a substantial slope so made the decision to replace the pine flooring. While discoveries like this do impact the budget, what we found beneath would have created a much bigger problem down the road had we not discovered and corrected it. The entire floor system - subfloor and floor joists were literally hanging on by a thread which meant that had we installed the new cabinets on them, the floor system would have most certainly collapsed at some point. Renovations are not for the faint of heart but as I always try to convey to clients, it's far better to correct major problems like this when we find them rather than having to deal with them down the road and spend twice as much.
So now on to the fun stufff!!! Lisa's kitchen is small so we decided to go with an all white design - cabinets, countertops, walls, and ceilings. While white can sometimes seem cold, I knew we would be infusing color into the kitchen with accessories because Lisa certainly has a funky edge to her and her style. We wrapped things up with the white penny round tile with gray grout which is both timeless and fun at the same time. All of the stainless steel appliances and pendant over the kitchen sink add just enough bling to make the kitchen shine. Overall it turned out great and is a cheerful and highly functional space now.
Thankfully, the laundry room wasn't nearly as complicated! We did choose to remove yet another chimney taking up valuable space which allowed us to turn the lay-out of the washer and dryer along the back wall to allow for wood shelving above. We continued the white wall theme in this space since it's right off the kitchen and tons of light floods in thanks to the window. Be sure to check out some of the before and after pictures and let us kow what you think!
