Kitchenplasty



My corrections of the first sketch by Rachel  Stietzel
of Our House, LLC  (all rights are owned by Our House, LLC)



My corrections of the first sketch by Rachel Stietzel
of Our House, LLC (all rights are owned by Our House, LLC)

Second sketch  of  the sink wall by Rachel  Stietzel of Our House, LLC
(all rights are owned by Our House, LLC)

Second sketch  of stove wall by Rachel  Stietzel of Our House, LLC 
(all rights are owned by Our House, LLC)

         For months I was editing sketches and I was trying to save money for the huge overhaul of my 1985 kitchen.. As I said in my March 30th post you never can save enough money for a kitchen remodel. There is much more than cabinets, paint, stainless shelves, granite counters, upper lighting, underneath cabinet lighting, contractors, plumbers and what is going to be your new kitchen. You need to remember to: always calculate a remodel of 0 to 15% of your house or condo's value, to budget for unexpected expenses, to have a place to store all of your items to be installed, and what you are going to do for food and refrigeration while your kitchen is a big money pit without a sink!

        Living in a 600 square foot condo and then having to store all of my kitchen items/ kitchen appliances/cabinets/doors. and two month kitchen remodel while being on night shifts was hard. But my contractor and designer Rachel and Drew Stietzel were great in the process. Rachel found space and nooks while transforming my kitchen beyond my wildest dreams. She also though outside the box and with cost saving ways as well. For an instance she put a bottom cabinet above my fridge because she knew I wanted a cabinet that stuck out as much as the fridge so that it would be used. She also suggested heavily IKEA and after looking at the competition IKEA was the best bet. Thomasville was beautiful wood cabinetry but I would have been 40% of my condo's value just on cabinets alone. I think because of her and Drew's team I was able to be a better cook and baker inspired by my new kitchen. I have room for pantry items that roll out and above my cabinets!

      There were a lot of bump and bruises on the way during our kitchenplasty. Like a Nose job or any plastic surgery before there was improvement it got ugly. Please enjoy the pictures of the updated kitchen that were mostly taken by my camera phone so I could get more of the kitchen in the shot.

Above the fridge storage for platters, baking sheets,
and cutting boards

Up close of the platters, etc above the fridge

Fridge with too many magnets! 

Yeah I have been waiting for my new fridge so
I can put up all my pretty magnets.

Door to the slide out pantry

The slide out pantry. Why yes we have dog and
a huge box of milk bones!

Finishing up on  the cook book nook
before the peg board came in.

The cook book nook while we were waiting to gain
back our living room but still had no sink so we could
not really use our kitchen yet because the dishwasher was not
hooked up and it is not clean if you wash it i the bath tub!



Still at one point no sink. We then got the sink and it was
too large for the original plumbing. This was
everything BUT the kitchen sink and Alanis Morissette
singing"isn't it ironic" in the background for two weeks
after the rest of the kitchen was done.



My IKEA Hjuvik faucet

My stainless steel dishwasher that actually works!

The magnet that is on my dishwasher
"Why do dishes when you can do daiquiris?"
I am so glad I no longer have to do dishes!

My Fancy glasses cabinet

Cabinet above the microwave just for pasta!

The cabinet above the coffee station

The coffee station without the coffee maker, yet.

The stove wall with the upper cabinets and microwave

The Microwave with pasta stock above it in it's own special cubby.

Before the sink came in I slowly put my kitchen stuff in the kitchen.

Welcoming the new kitchen via chalkboard... Still no sink.

Breakfast bar with the drawers open.

Right hand side of the stove wall's glass cabinets.

left hand side of the stove wall's glass cabinets.

In the rough stage the electrical strip for the kitchen. There are
more on this one strip than the number of electrical plugs in the original kitchen!

Glamour shots of the breakfast bar after completion!

This is my beautiful kitchen that might be small
but it has tons of storage and my pastry/breakfast bar!

My Sink side of the kitchen with a kitchen sink!

Inspired by Julia Child I have peg board
which soon will hang all of my cake pans!

Now that is a pretty kitchen with a spot for everything!