by Guest

My husband and I have been in the process of remodeling our home for many years now. This past year, we decided on a kitchen renovation focusing on the kitchen cabinets and countertops.

The kitchen remodeling went as planned and we couldn’t be happier with the result. Our goal was to streamline the kitchen while matching its design to the rest of the changes we’ve made in the house.

One area we wanted to improve was movement through the kitchen. Our old kitchen had a huge island with very little space between it and the kitchen cabinets, countertops and appliances. To fix this problem, we installed narrow-depth cabinets and countertops, as the island is the most used area of the kitchen, and a new island the same size as the old one, but with additional cabinet space.

My husband’s tall, but stocky and I’m short, but thin. The new design made our home life a thousand times better because he’s always had difficulty with the island and space and I’ve always had problems reaching for dishes at the back of cabinets. Since we moved into this house, we haven’t been able to cook together and I’ve had to ask him for help or use a step ladder. Now, there’s plenty of space and all of the items we need are on hand in the island or at the front of the cabinets.

In addition to new kitchen countertops and cabinets, we added an extra pantry away from our appliances. My husband loves to cook and the pantry location has always frustrated him because it was near the oven and heat can ruin dried herbs and flour. The pantry added during the kitchen renovation is larger and no longer near heat.

Another area we changed during the kitchen remodeling was the style and color of the kitchen countertops and cabinetry. We’ve added a lot of natural, rustic changes to our home in other rooms and wanted the kitchen to have a warm atmosphere. The old kitchen cabinetry was blue-painted fiberboard with plastic hardware. We ripped out the old cabinetry and installed natural oak cabinets with natural green and black granite countertops. It’s beautiful.

I really can’t express how happy we are with the changes. In the past, our kitchen wasn’t an easy place for two people to navigate at the same time or well-suited for guests. Now, we’re cooking together more and using our kitchen completely.

before

after