If you’re following me on Instagram you’ve seen my stress over the kitchen renovation and layout. If you’re not following me, go do so now and check out my kitchen highlight.
To recap, our kitchen was a dated nightmare that had not been updated since the 70s. Just look at the before pics: wood paneling everywhere, a drop ceiling with fluorescent lighting, a small quarter bath in the corner (we call it a quarter bath because it only had a toilet so I’m not sure it even qualified as a half bath), basically no counter top space and was closed off from the dining room.
When we bought the house in July we said the entire kitchen had to be gutted and haven’t been cooking in it since. We made substantial changes:
1 – Connectivity. We opened up the kitchen to the dining room. When we removed the giant closet in the dining room (like cmon, I can’t make this stuff up), we found the original opening between the kitchen and DR which the previous owner covered. This saved us having to pay an engineer and do any structural work. It literally only involved removing the wood paneling layers and a little drywall removal. Opening up the space has been a game changer. It allows us to close off the kitchen from the hallway.
2 – L shaped kitchen. Since we can close off the kitchen from the hallway, we’re able to have an L shaped kitchen with an island. The kitchen and hallway entrance was poorly planned and lacked function anyway – the opening wasn’t large enough so you had to squeeze between the counter and wall to get in. It was ridiculous. Now we can add in much needed corner storage and extend the counter space for prep and cooking zones.
3 – Remove the kitchen bath. Do you remember that toilet in the corner? Okay, the “quarter bath.” We had the entire bathroom removed. It was not legal (to code) and it interrupted potential countertop space and the placement of the appliances. It was really important to me that the range become a statement and the bathroom was distracting from where the range could go.
There was a small (14”w x 20”h) window in the bathroom that we didn’t know what to do with. We thought about keeping it and enlarging it but it’s only 30” away from a much larger window so it seemed obsolete. We removed the window allowing us to play around even more with the kitchen layout.
Once the window had been sealed and drywall was up on the walls, the kitchen felt so much larger! It may not look like it but this section of the kitchen is 12.5′ x 14′ – a pretty good size.
4 – Increased Functionality. No more recessed fridge. Originally the fridge was recessed in this niche along Wall A. Mike and I were having a hard time making a centrally located recessed refrigerator work in our kitchen. We finally agreed to move the fridge allowing us to really be creative and find a more functional layout. We purchased our appliances last year during Labor Day and got a fridge that was sadly not counter depth (because we thought it would be recessed). Since we changed the layout that means the fridge will be sticking out 9” past the counters. I’m not thrilled about it but also don’t think it’s going to be a problem.
The recessed niche for the refrigerator is behind that wood. You can see it popping out. To the far right is the original entry to the kitchen when we purchased the house. It was a long dark hallway that led directly into the sink.
You can see, above, the view that used to exist into the kitchen.
5 – Maximize every SF. What are we doing with that extra sq ft from the recessed refrigerator niche? Adding that square footage to the bathroom. What bathroom you ask?? Well – we need a bathroom on the first floor for guests. A full bath is ideal but a true powder room at least and at minimum. Since we’re closing off the entrance from the hallway to the kitchen we have a long hallway stretch (8.5’ long). So we decided to add a bathroom there. The bathroom dimensions will be 8.5′ x4′ which is comfortable and the former fridge niche adds an additional 5-6 sf. Think of a narrow L-shaped bathroom: the niche can house the toilet (and keep it out of sight) or we will make it a linen closet. We’ll see which is more practical but either way we are THRILLED to gain additional sf for the bathroom.
This view, above, was the POV from the kitchen down the hallway. Now this is sealed off so that there is no access to the kitchen from the hallway, only from the dining room. The brown slab door you see leads to our basement. And our front door is in the background with the glass panel.
And now we get to the pipe. THIS PIPE. It is the primary venting stack for our house and is centered on an exterior wall in our kitchen. It is absolutely critical to our plumbing system and would have cost thousands of dollars to move (breaking up flooring, jack hammering, opening 2 floors and the roof, patching the current roof and then installing a new vent stack, plumbing fees, etc).
If we had the money I probably would have done it but spending that right now wasn’t possible for us.
So.. what are we going to do?
I received tons of suggestions and considered this one the most: build out a wall in front of the pipe about 5”. At first it seemed reasonable but we were concerned about a few things:
A) Wasted / empty space. Building out the wall 5-6″ would result in over 10 sf of dead space. I’m also fearful that rodents would start living in there and make a home
B) The kitchen ceiling is an original tin and don’t want to risk damaging it. It has beautiful molding (that I can’t find online) and we want to keep this special detail of the house especially as only 3 rooms in the house have real tin ceilings.
C) The new wall would have to carry substantial weight – cabinets to the ceiling. So it couldn’t just be a dummy wall. In order to build it right, it was going to be a lot more work than we are prepared to take on and we are not experienced framers.
We decided to hide the pipe in cabinets. It’s not an ideal scenario in a kitchen renovation but was the only option for us right now.
A) We don’t lose any floor space
B) Least expensive option by far. Although I’m not thrilled about ordering custom cabinetry and then notching them, I understand it is necessary. Again, no one will know it’s there and it will be 100% hidden
C) We can still use the cabinets. We’re going to build a soffit around the pipe or insulate it but still keep it. The cabinets will still be functional.
The kitchen will have an L shape with the range framed on the wall furthest from the kitchen entry – I want this to be the first thing you see when you walk in and immediately catch your eye.
I’ll go into detail next week with all of my selections for the kitchen renovation, textures, what kind of tile I’m thinking of and what we will be doing with that extra room.. pantry or mudroom?? Still so much to consider and weigh!
Let me know what you think! Inspiration and lots of prettier things to look at coming soon!
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