Kitchen Renovation Part 1: The Layout
When we started looking for a house in Tillsonburg, early in 2019, we were on a timeline (baby due in September). Knowing now where the world was headed six months following our move in August of 2019, I am so relieved to have had that urgency that forced us to make a decision and buy a home closer to family. At the time we knew we were looking for a home for now and not a ‘forever’ home so we decided to look for the must haves, which for us were: at least 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, home office, area for a ‘playroom’ or kids space, backyard and little to no renovations required. We were able to find all of our must haves…. except the no renovations required item but who am I kidding? I was stoked at the potential I saw in this home and with a whole year of mat leave ahead of me I was looking forward to the opportunity to make this house a home I loved for as long as we lived here. Although the kitchen wasn’t the first job we tackled it was the most anticipated. The existing kitchen was definitely dated, but it was also not functional for how we use our kitchen and dining space. Take a look at the listing photos below (apologies for the quality):
We lived in this space for two years before hiring a contractor to renovate our kitchen. I think we would have acted earlier had we not been thrown a loop with the pandemic, but in a way it was helpful to live in the home long enough to know what I wanted to change and envision how it would look. I would be lying if I said that I knew exactly what I wanted off the top. It took a lot of consideration to determine not only what I wanted but what this kitchen was able to achieve. Every space, especially when you are working with some existing elements, will have its limitations. Some of our limitations were:
the existing perimeter walls of the rooms which gave us a 12 x 22 feet area;
8 ft ceilings and bulkhead over the sink (pipes from upstairs bathroom);
existing entrances to back hallway, front hallway, living room and doorway to basement stairs which meant that 1/4 of the room would actually act as a hallway;
oh yea… budget!
Below is the layout we landed on. I worked with Carver Cabinetry, a local cabinetry maker, for the kitchen cabinets. They were the ones to take my kitchen sketch and create this AutoCAD layout that I’ve marked up for you below.
Kitchen Layout above was drafted by Carver Cabinetry
Compared to choosing the finishes and fixtures, the floor plan was relatively easy because our budget led us to keep the location of existing doorways, windows and the appliances (apart from the stove/range). The most impactful change was opening the wall between the kitchen and dining room and the added patio door. Not only did the wall removal increase our square footage and flow of the space, but by removing that wall, the light from these windows now stream into the rest of the main floor, which was always too dark for my liking.
Can’t wait to take you along the process of designing my kitchen. Even though I was confident in my vision, I experienced some decision fatigue and self doubt throughout. Luckily my experience meant I had a few tips and tricks up my sleeve to keep my design goals on track and I can’t wait to share these with you in future posts.
