Hell's Kitchen

It was late fall... we stood in the backyard of our new house, surrounded by debris and broken glass, all of which had already come with the lot. The air was brisk, just a foreshadowing of the bitter winter on the verge of breaking in Kentucky, but we were sweating under our shirts. One by one we drug a cabinet to the dumpster in our driveway, and with one swing at a time we smashed the kitchen to pieces. It was our first night with our new home and the first step on a long journey of remodeling and rediscovering our neglected old house.

Had we kept our original kitchen we would have required an apartment sized refrigerator, and due to the presence of an exterior door and a double hinged door to the dining room, we would have had approximately 2.5 linear feet of counter space. There was a microwave hanging over a boarded up window, the original vent, linoleum, and, of course... a ceiling fan.

Realtors always claim that "the kitchen sells the house". If that were the case in our house, our kitchen couldn't have sold fire to an Eskimo. For free.

The ladder somehow makes a cameo in every kitchen picture...

Obviously, that all had to go. We knew we were going to want a whole new kitchen and this was our third time designing, planning and decorating one. We're basically pros (brushes shoulder off...). But this one was a mess. At least with the other kitchens we have done, we were able to have a good footprint of cabinets, at least. Here, we were starting from scratch.

Post-cabinet removal.

So we gutted and smashed and peeled and pulled and down it all came. The cabinets, the doors, the walls, the linoleum, er'rythang.. until all we were left with was a big wooden box.

Yes, that is the kitchen in there...

We worked with our designer, Stephanie, at Home Depot through their free kitchen design program, and she did a great job of cramming all of our ideas, designs, and needs into our tiny space. We had a few requirements: We wanted all stainless appliances, had to have a convection gas oven, white or cream cabinets, a wine rack, a display cabinet, and *angels singing* a farmhouse sink with a beautiful bridge faucet. I also wanted some cup drawer pulls but that was a debate (which I won) but are yet to be installed.

Since the ceilings in our house are over 8ft. we also needed some taller than average cabinets. We went with 42 inch tall... let me clarify that... I am only 60 inches tall (yes... i know... so tiny!) and we definitely tested it... I can fit in one of them with room to spare. Come one... you would have done the same! I can only reach the first two shelves, but we wanted as much storage space as possible! They are also soft-close cabinets... which means I now walk around slamming things or leaving doors halfway open every where else I go. You mean this cabinet does not shut itself? *ugh*

So we stood, in our wooden box, and slowly, a kitchen appeared around us (we wish! It actually required quite a bit of work...) the linoleum floors were removed and new hardwood was laid in its place. It was stained to match the rest of the house. Wiring was connected like a spaghetti monster in the walls. Can lights went in (a lot easier than in the living room...). The back door was covered and then bricked up by brickmasons, and a window was uncovered and framed out. Our cabinets arrived, some time later, and were eventually installed. The granite... well...

We had picked out our granite based on a 2x2 inch sample. We were in love with it... it had copper veining throughout, and large sections of beautiful white stone showing through. We were so excited. Then we went and saw our slab. Im sure there was a 2x2 inch square of something similar to what we had seen somewhere in that giant hunk of rock... but I couldn't find it. We had 20 minutes to verify our order that morning. Within 20 minutes we came, we saw, we changed our minds and we fell in love! Love is an awfully strong word for a rock, I know. But this rock is soooo pretty! The stone is called "white springs" and we used KBR Granite. They have warehouses in Louisville and Cincinnati.  The granite we ended up choosing is a mostly neutral stone, with black, maroon, grey and cream veining. It even has some spots of the rust and charcoal color I liked about the original slab, but they are much more contained. I had so many concerns when we were deciding - I like the top half but not the bottom half, they are so different! I don't want it to look like two different kinds! The cut they made was miraculous to say the least. It incorporates every aspect of the stone that we liked, in every section we wanted it. Our counters only have two seams, which run along the back sides of the farmhouse sink, and are invisible to the naked eye. Seriously. I cried a little the first time I saw it installed.

Our appliances came and sat, unplugged, for quite some time... even after we had moved in. We didn't get a kitchen faucet until about a month in to living there (we're still working on cable...), but when we did get a faucet I was seriously concerned that I had overdecorated on my budget. Bridge faucets are expensive, yo! I had already dropped some cash on the sink, which was from the same retailer that provided our tub! They are amazing, by the way... and gave us a discount since we had already bought something from them. I was even able to call and talk to a real person about my sink and where it was. So, I did a lot of research and finally found a four-hole bridge faucet in oil rubbed bronze from Home Depot. All together everything looks amazing. The brown glaze on our cabinets perfectly matches the oil rubbed bronze finish of the faucet and the drawer pulls. The counters tie everything together and are unbelievable (just don't set down a bread tie on it... you'll never find it again) and the dark walnut stain on the floor balances everything out.

All in all we... removed an exterior door and closed it off with brick, removed a double swing door to the dining room and widened the entry way, uncovered a window, removed linoleum and laid new matching hardwood, stained the hardwood floors, removed all cabinetry and a soffit above the sink, ran all new wiring and and lighting throughout, insulated (of course...), installed new cabinets, new appliances, new counters, new walls, new ceilings, painted, plumbed, installed a farmhouse sink and a bridge faucet.

I could not be happier with how the kitchen turned out. It was such a small, sad place. When we viewed it for the first time, we stood: James, Ashley (our realtor) and I, crammed in to this space, the three of us could barely fit. Now, it has already hosted it's first brunch, it has had friends come over and sit on the counters, wine poured from the wine racks, our sink is filled with dirty dishes, and James and I run circles around each other during dinner prep, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

My baby sister and I during the Derby Brunch!