Gracious Gambrel: Kitchen Design

Now for the fun stuff!!!  This is the largest kitchen we've ever had to work with and it's been a blast!  

For overall style, this is a rather formal, traditional house.  So we wanted something a bit elegant - with lots of beautiful details.  I've poured over Pinterest and Houzz and lots of magazines to come up with some ideas.  My favorite inspirations:

Photo by Andrew Howard Interior Design - Look for beach style kitchen design inspiration

I love the white cabinets, light palette on backsplash and counters and the dark island.  Gorgeous!

Photo by New England Design Works - More transitional kitchen ideas

This kitchen echoes the long lines of our kitchen.  Again, the light palette and the dramatic pendants and range hood are beautiful.

And from Maine Home & Design, I loved this Kennebunkport kitchen.  The stove and hood centered on the back wall is a dramatic focal point.  And I swoon over that black island!

So after thinking through different ideas, I came up with 3 concepts and tested them at the 'before' Open House that we held in July.  

Option 1 - an updated version of the previous kitchen.  Stay with the previous layout - but replace the peninsula with a freestanding island.  And leave room for a kitchen table and chairs.

Option 2 - Modify the layout and include a built-in banquette in the corner, to provide room for family meals.  I was inspired by this photo from a Better Homes & Gardens Dream Kitchens magazine and have been carrying it around with me for months.

Option 3 - Maximize the cabinets and include a giant island.  This would provide lots of room for casual dining, surrounding the cook.

And the winner is?  Option 2.  While there was interest in the other two options, most people liked the idea of a built in seating space and the seating at the island.  One woman fondly recalled her childhood, when the whole family would sit together at the banquette and talk about their day.  Doesn't that sound wonderful?  With that and the island, it provides a nice combination of seating that works for families and guests.

Just ignore the giant pile of debris in the middle of the room!

With that decided, I had to nail down the rest of the selections.  Kitchen cabinets are a very long lead item and I had to have them defined early.  So while all the crazy demolition was going on, I was in the kitchen looking at cabinet and color samples!









I'm using Thomasville painted cabinets, that were ordered in a Pearl finish, with a center island in Black (yup, I loved those inspiration photos!).  For countertops, I'm using a quartz that looks like granite, with flecks of black, blue/gray and bits of mica.  The backsplash focal point that will go over the stove is this gorgeous Walker Zanger tile called Tilt.  The banquette will be upholstered in the beautiful taupe and khaki geometric and the paisley will be valances on the windows.

And to really give the stove wall focal point status, I've ordered a custom stove hood in an antique bronze.  It has a 7 week lead time and I can't wait to see what it will look like!  Here's a similar hood that the folks at Copper Kitchen Specialists will be making for us.










Of course it's always hard to tell how it's going to look until everything comes together.  But here are a few illustrations.



I can't wait to see how it all comes together!  We've still got a lot of work to do, before the finished product.  But we're pretty happy with the design!

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Project Update - Rebuilding is Complicated

We’ve made lots of progress in the last few weeks, as the talented teams from Waterhouse Builders and Elldee Electric started putting the place back together.  And as usual, there's been good news and bad news.

View across foyer to kitchen - before

Let's start with the first floor and some good news - there are lots of changes!  As you enter the foyer, you see the newly opened floor plan.  We expanded the kitchen doorway, and now you can see across the entire first floor.   What a difference!

View now - open floor plan with clear sight lines from kitchen to living room

Looking from kitchen to dining and living room - before

You don't feel like you're isolated in the kitchen anymore!

1980's kitchen

And the kitchen has gotten a lot of updates.   We eliminated the old kitchen peninsula with the space stealing upper cabinets and the room feels twice as big. 

But we ran into some complications.  As we opened up some of the walls, we discovered why the floor slanted down towards the old refrigerator.  The beam across the ceiling was held up with a 2x4 that landed on a wimpy 1x6 in the basement - no place to transfer the load, hence the sagging floor.  






The guys put new load bearing joists in the basement, to support the load.   And to hide that big beam, we opened up the floor above and inset the new LVL so it will be hidden in the ceiling.  A big job that required tearing out the ceiling and floors – but worth it!

New recessed support LVL 

But structure is just part of the kitchen story.  We’ve completely rewired the kitchen,  putting in all new lighting and outlets as we prepare for the new kitchen design.  Now we’ll have recessed lights, island lights and undercounter lights.  Those 3 layers of lighting will make a big difference!  And knob and tube wiring is a thing of the past, throughout the entire house.

To the left of the foyer, the dining room feels dramatically different.  We opened up the interior 'window' to create a new opening to the living room, which gives the space a much more cohesive feel.  Plus we have a circular flow that will make this a fabulous party house!

Circular floor plan!

And do you see the difference the new exterior door makes?  It helps link everything to the outdoors!

In the living room, we raised the floor and now the room feels so much more connected to the rest of the house.  Plus, now that you're at a higher elevation, you can see out of the windows to enjoy water views from the front window.  We watched a sailboat drift by this afternoon – so lovely! 

Upstairs, we have even more changes.  The new 4 bedroom floorplan is becoming a reality.  Of course we had to take out a lot of the old framing, before we could get started.  Now, it feels like such a big space!

Rewiring in progress!!!

We restructured the landing to add a short hallway to the new bedroom and family bath.  These two bedrooms have a similar layout and at 11 x 11, they’re a nice size.  Bedroom 3 is still the largest of the rooms and we added a nice big closet.

Before

But the room that gets me the most excited is the master bedroom.  You can see the difference as soon as you walk through the door.  The bedroom is a big open space, with plenty of room for a king size bed and more.  The new master bathroom will be amazing - with a large shower, double vanity and the vaulted ceiling. 

During

Look at those high ceilings!!

Master bedroom before

Master suite during

West Wall - Before

West Wall - During 

Ewwwww......

Of course we've had our share of drama.  The plumbing has given us some real challenges (which translates into lots of money).  We had to move the washing machine and dryer, to meet building code requirements.  When my plumber cut into the old waste lines, we got a nasty surprise.  Years of accumulated crud had built up in the pipes.  And while he could have just snaked them clean, the rot had already started and would present a problem for the new homeowners in the future.  So instead, they tore out the old lines and replaced them with shiny new PVC.  Most of this will end up behind walls, but it's important for the integrity of the house!

And we've added some new steam radiators.  The 1980's addition had electric heat.  We want to link it to the boiler for the whole house, so Dominic has been busy laying new steam lines.  This requires some old school techniques, that you don't get to see much anymore!

We just passed inspections (woo hoo!) and it's on to  drywall.  I'll have a lot more progress to share soon!

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Flirting with HGTV

Out of the blue, a few months ago, I got an email from a production company asking if we'd be interested in approaching HGTV for a show.

Seriously??  Of course we would!  What fun!

That set off a series of phone calls, video taped interviews and follow up discussions.  The production company loved the idea that this is our 'Second Act'.  I started SoPo Cottage as an encore career - after having spent decades working for big corporations.  And even though all the other shows feature much younger hosts, they thought this was a unique angle and was worth taking forward.

Ultimately, after many many weeks, they created a 3 minute video to pitch to the HGTV execs.  That let them see how Richard, Mike from Waterhouse Builders and I interact on camera.

It was a bit unclear when the presentation would happen to HGTV, but  I have to admit, I was on pins and needles to find out how it came out.

I finally got the follow up phone call and the feedback was 1) they loved us, 2) they loved Maine and 3) they loved the old cottages and the work we're doing.  But they have way too many husband and wife shows.  They really want more extended family involvement.

Producer:  Do you think Mike could be your son or nephew?
Me:  Uh, no.  I don't think so.  And I'm not sure our daughters would appreciate suddenly having a brother!!
Producer:  Would either of your daughters want to move to Maine and work with the family business?
Me:  Nope, I don't think that's going to happen!  They are very happy with their own careers in different cities. (truth be told, I took the kids on a tour of our latest projects when they visited a few weeks ago.  Despite growing up with constant renovation projects going on,  they couldn't get out of the houses fast enough!)

So we left it at that.  She said if the kids ever come join SoPo Cottage, to be sure and let her know.  But for now, it looks like we won't have a TV career :-)  Ah well, we have enough going on already!

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Decision Overload....or How to Not Go Crazy During a Major Renovation

At this point in a project, it's always a bit stressful.  The house is torn apart, the walls are just starting to be built - and your electrician wants to know where the light fixtures will go, your plumber wants to know where the kitchen sink and gas line will be and your carpenters want to know how big to frame the doors that you haven't picked out yet.  Argh!!!!

My Pinterest Board for the Gambrel

At the same time, you have an overflowing Pinterest board, a Houzz idea board and a dog eared manilla folder with magazine clippings spilling out of it.  There is no shortage of inspiration, but you need to make the selections (without breaking your budget!).

After numerous renovations, where I felt like I didn't have the right answer at my fingertips, I created this spreadsheet to help me make sure I have the right information at the right time.  And no, you don't have to have every single light fixture picked out at the beginning of the project, but you do need to know if you want a wall sconce vs. ceiling light, because the wiring gets completed very early.

This built in medicine cabinet needs framing done before drywall 

And I need to include a note about long lead items.  Some things take a very, very long time to arrive.  For example, I'm in the process of ordering a custom, copper range hood that has a 7 week lead time.  Fancy tile can take even longer.  The same with kitchen cabinets.  So make sure and understand how long it will take to get these things, so you'll have them when you're ready.

Is it foolproof?  Hardly.  When renovating an old house, things don't usually go according to plan.  You need to be ready to make changes and substitutions, depending on the conditions you find in your house.  But it's not a bad place to start!

Hope you find it helpful!

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