PROJECT PROFILE: Childhood Life Lessons in a Kitchen Makeover
PROJECT PROFILE:
Childhood Life Lessons in a Kitchen Makeover
I grew up in a house where "if it works perfectly fine, don't throw it out" was pretty much the motto we lived by. We were taught to use our heads and imaginations to re-think and repurpose what we had--so long as it was in good shape--to make it work for what we needed. Although those days of turning mud and a leaf into the best damn amuse bouche our minds could create are over, I still find this ideal holds true, especially in this Project Profile.
Before
Last year I sat down to a meeting with L + G to discuss their kitchen. Momma was a few months off baby number two and decided the kitchen situation needed to be dealt with ASAP-- I agree, have you seen the befores?? Bursting at the seams this family of 3, soon-to-be 4 needed something that could work for their growing needs now. They had already visited a big box to explore cost effective options but it basically kept the foot print and cabinet style the same....Queue childhood life lessons. Why not repurpose what they had? The cabinets were solid maple, a far better option than the cheap particle board from the big guys. Since they were basically happy with the layout we crafted a plan to tweak what was there to make it work.
We started by assessing what was working, what wasn't and what couldn't change. The cabinets were good so they would stay but the colour had to go. The space was dark and closterphobic so opening it up as much as possible was a no brainer. We removed half a wall creating greater sight lines and allowing significantly more light into the space. Next we popped up into to the bulk head where addition cabinets would soon be added, almost doubling their upper storage. After re-jigging around the fridge and a few others areas were were off to the races.
Sifting through my thousands of pictures to find the before shots I found that I had really truly forgotten the transformation that took place, The space is happy, bright and fresh. It seems the weee resident helper agrees.
How do you think we did? Leave a comment below, we love to hear what you have to say...
OX Crystal
