Our Kitchen Renovation: The Before

I had to commemorate this Saturday with a picture because it’s the last weekend I will be photographed in our old kitchen. We found out last week that we will finally be demoing and giving this space a much-needed update. ⁣
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When we bought our house in 2006, there were only four homes in our price range–in the area–that had four bedrooms and didn’t need a new kitchen or basement. Fast forward 15 years and it’s time to give this vintage 2000s kitchen a facelift. We’ll be repainting the cabinets and switching out the hardware, replacing the countertops and backsplash, updating the lighting, refinishing the floors, and swapping out the fridge and oven for appliances that actually work…wahoo!⁣

This has been a great kitchen for us. The previous owners did its last update in 2001 and thoughtfully created a layout that we are lucky enough just to update. We’re only making one significant change.

This desk area above–even though it’s been the perfect place for Grace to do her remote internship this summer– doesn’t really make sense for us any more. I have a home office in my bedroom and my husband works from a desk in our living room. So when we began to brainstorm ideas for things we wanted to change in the kitchen, I asked our contractor if we could convert this desk area into a panty. Right now, I have our kitchen supplies stuffed everywhere from above our washing machine to on top of the refrigerator in our garage. I got to see drawings of this new pantry this morning and I’m so excited. The only bad part…it’s going to be about 12-15 weeks before it will be ready to be installed. There’s just a huge back log of home improvement projects for most things home-related since the pandemic hit. But if all goes well, it should be here by Christmas.

This Serena and Lily kitchen has been the inspiration for all of the decisions we’ve made for this project. In our recent home projects, I find myself turning to them over and over for ideas to make our home feel lighter and brighter. I’m a huge fan of the coastal look and anything that might closely resemble a set in a Nancy Meyers’ movie. Our kitchen is going to get us a little closer to a home she might consider living in herself. I can’t wait!

As we start to get into this project, I’ll be sure to document it as we go. These “befores” should make the reveal pretty good!

Thanks for coming along for the ride!

xo,

Pictures of me by Jenn Marie Photography