Ladies and Gentlemen, I Present My New Kitchen

New Kitchen
Before Renovations

Ladies and gentlemen, here is our new kitchen. As you can see it was renovated at sometime with fairly nice cabinets, higher end built-ins in their time, ceramic flooring and a breakfast bar. The kitchen is on the lower level with patio doors opening onto the gardens on the waterfront so the view is absolutely gorgeous! Looking at the photo you will notice one arrow and several numbers. The arrow indicates the ground grade. The kitchen is below grade and has one foot deep walls making it very energy efficient in terms of heating and cooling. Although I saw this as a selling feature because I do a lot of cooking and canning, other potential buyers did not like the kitchen placement which worked out rather nicely for us. So when I look out the kitchen window, the bottom sill is at ground level that then slopes to a lower level where the patio doors are. For pictures of the gardens and surrounding area, check out my gardening blog from time to time as those help to explain why this property is worth the effort.

The numbers represent problems and things we have to do in the kitchen.

1. freezer door of the fridge - This door hits the countertop of the breakfast bar preventing a reasonable opening spance. We are debating how to deal with this.
   
2. built-in stovetop - This is being removed tonight and will be replaced with our JennAir slide-in. The downdraft system is presenting a bit of a problem but we think we can go through the above grade wall that isn't so thick. We'll see.
3. range hood - There was a a range hood here but my husband removed it last night. It was nasty! A range hood won't be necessary with the downdraft.
4. corner sink - The sink is in the corner and if you look carefully the one corner is about 3" from the stovetop. The sink will be moved under the window.
5. dishwasher - The dishwasher does need replacing, period. At one time it was top of the line but due to neglect no longer works and is not worth fixing. A new Bosch (?) will take it's place but moved closer to where the oven (6) now is.
6. built-in oven - Again at one time this was an expensive built-in but because of neglect I would not put food in it. The inside looks like it has never been cleaned! It does partially work. Removing the oven will free up about 3 feet for more counter space. We are working on re-designing the microwave compartment to maximize this area.
7. electric plugs - This plug testes as hot/neutral reversed creating brown-out conditions. We are checking, correcting and replacing all plugs and switches throughout the house. So far the two problems we've found are hot/neutral reversed and open ground. If you need to do this check out my homemaking blog where pictures and what we did to correct the problem will be posted shortly. This is a new plug, corrected and working properly. All the plugs and switches in the kitchen have been corrected and replaced. A CFL light replaced the incandescent pot light.
8. backdrop - This is just history! It will be replaced once we move the cabinets and get the appliances in place when we replace the countertop.
9. countertop - It's history!
   
10. cabinets - Unfortunately they too have been neglected. I'm going to clean them good and refinish in wood tones.