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Kitchen before and after photos


Laura Corin
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Thanks to everyone who gave kitchen advice some months ago.  I persuaded (over the course of a year) an insurance company to refund a lot of premiums, and we put the money towards a new kitchen, the old one having some worrying damp problems.  

 

The old kitchen was a rather tired country-kitchen style, with lots of open shelves and quite a lot of cupboards unusable due to damp.  There was an adjoining utility/boot room that collected junk, and in which one of the cupboards hid a sidelight.  We had the non-supporting wall between the kitchen and utility room taken down, moved the washer and dryer to a large under-used cupboard near the bedrooms, and moved the coats/boots to the front porch.  The kitchen now has a glass door with sidelight to the outdoors, and two good-sized windows.

 

Broken window due to be fixed shortly....

 

The 'before' photos are not very clear because it was hard to get back far enough to take the photos.

 

South Side

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5lVGv27cM2CQ1ZJdlA0NzM1ZU0/edit?usp=sharing

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5lVGv27cM2COGUzLWQ4Y2Nla3M/edit?usp=sharing

 

West Side

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5lVGv27cM2CYXhGbV9OMVRLZWc/edit?usp=sharing

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5lVGv27cM2COFVPakhnbU4tUlU/edit?usp=sharing

 

North Side

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5lVGv27cM2CYVdUYnJod3h5WUU/edit?usp=sharing

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5lVGv27cM2CUUFvVWFxTkhYczQ/edit?usp=sharing

 

ETA: the new cupboards look light blue in one of the pictures - it's just bad photography, they are all white.

 

L

 

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Laura, I love it! We are finishing up a kitchen renovation right now and I wish I could figure out how to post photos. I will if I can do it.

 

What are your counters?

 

It's just an Ikea laminate.  Many of them looked quite cheap, so we were really glad to find this one.  It's from their new thinner-profile range.

 

All the cupboards are Ikea, but a local joiner built them and did some customising for us.

 

L

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It's really lovely! I'm jealous of how spacious it is!

 

Thanks.  We don't have a separate dining room so my design aim was to give enough space for dining (five at the table in its current orientation, or up to eight if the table is turned and another added); making good use of the window by the table, which has views across our front garden to the sea; creating a separate cooking area, to protect the rest of the family from my bad temper when I cook.

 

L

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Very nice! I love the dark paint for the window trim. I would never have thought to do something like that, and it is so dramatic.

Here's hoping mine comes out as nice. Right now I'm still stuck in my living room, cooking with a gluten-contaminated microwave and getting sick of it all.

Tile next week, and paint. Cannot wait to have my stove back.

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Very nice! I love the dark paint for the window trim. I would never have thought to do something like that, and it is so dramatic.

Here's hoping mine comes out as nice. Right now I'm still stuck in my living room, cooking with a gluten-contaminated microwave and getting sick of it all.

Tile next week, and paint. Cannot wait to have my stove back.

 

Windows and cills are the original colour.  We opted not to change them because they are uniform throughout the public areas of the house, as is the use of brass window latches.  We actually prefer chrome, but brass is what we have, and we definitely can't afford to replace it throughout.  One day I'll build my own house....

 

L

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Very beautiful! Just curious what dose "damp" mean when you say the cabinets can't be used because of damp. For me, damp means to be slightly wet. Maybe I'm dense and it's the same meaning. I would say the cupboards are damp. Sincerely curious if it's just another distinction between British English and American English.

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Very beautiful! Just curious what dose "damp" mean when you say the cabinets can't be used because of damp. For me, damp means to be slightly wet. Maybe I'm dense and it's the same meaning. I would say the cupboards are damp. Sincerely curious if it's just another distinction between British English and American English.

 

Damp (noun) in this case covers two situations: on one wall (around the sink) there seemed to be some kind of unidentified seepage that required taking out the cupboards to diagnose.  On the east wall (near the microwave in the original kitchen) the cupboards smelled bad for no identifiable reason (perhaps poor ventilation, but we thought there was a problem with the wall).  In both cases, if you put a plate in there for storage, it came out smelling musty and needed washing before use.

 

L

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It looks beautiful! Congratulations on getting it done. I've lived through two remodels, though we've never done the kitchen. I'm hoping we can redo our home's kitchen in a few years, but I'm dreading the mess and upheaval.

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Love it!  If you'd told me fifteen years ago that I would prefer sleek, modern design, I would never have believed it, but my kitchen is similar in style to yours, and I adore it.  A friend of mine with a high-end, very ornate Country French design kitchen walked in right after we finished and said, "Ooooooh, this is. . . interesting!"  Umm, thanks.  But anyway, after lots of going back and forth with different countertops, we also went with laminate.  I have custom-made cabinets, made by an actual carpenter, and cheap laminate counters.  I actually ripped out granite to put in laminate, and I love the laminate.  Can not imagine going back to cold, hard, in-your-face granite.

 

Congratulations on being finished!  

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Very nice!

 

I love the sleek design (I spend hours in those kitchens at IKEA), and all that light makes me envious!

 

 I live in a townhouse, so one whole side of my house has no light, which is stupid because I live in the end unit, so I really could have windows if I wanted.  Anyway, my kitchen is sort of small, galley style, but at least I have a window on one side.  I'd kill for all that light you have now.  

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Very nice!

 

I love the sleek design (I spend hours in those kitchens at IKEA), and all that light makes me envious!

 

 I live in a townhouse, so one whole side of my house has no light, which is stupid because I live in the end unit, so I really could have windows if I wanted.  Anyway, my kitchen is sort of small, galley style, but at least I have a window on one side.  I'd kill for all that light you have now.  

 

Light is really important here.  In winter, it's dark pretty much from 4pm to 8.30am, so any light you can invite in is welcome.  The windows are double-glazed, so it shouldn't be too chilly.  At some point we will have to replace the (flat) roof, and we can get it properly insulated then.

 

L

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Ok...British kitchen question: what is that below the cooktop (or is it a hob?)  in the "after" picture? and to the right of it?

 

Below the hob are two big drawers that contain all my pans and lids. To the right is the boiler that runs the heating and hot water for the entire house - it's a tankless 'combi' boiler.

 

L

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It looks amazing! You're quite the designer, Laura!!! :hurray:

 

Thanks.  I had the basic idea in my head, then I checked it through with one of my colleagues, who used to work for a kitchen supply company, and finally Ikea made sure that their cupboards would fit with my ideas.  My favourite bits are the tall larder cupboard to the right of the ovens, the two pull out skinny cupboards that hold our Western and Chinese oils and sauces, the enormous drawers that hold our pans and storage boxes, and our recycling sorting units under the sink.

 

L

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