Well, the new kitchen is done! It only took about a month, but what a transformation! Without changing the position of the walls (although some of the wall between the kitchen and dining room was removed), the kitchen feels about 3 feet wider and incredibly spacious!

Here’s the kitchen when we first bought the house. The oven and refrigerator are on the wall between the kitchen and dining room. The peninsula is on the opposite wall (the garage is on the other side of the kitchen). Over the peninsula are double-door cabinets that we took down almost immediately after we moved in, to open the space up a little.

This shot shows the oven and refrigerator. The house was built in 1962, and the kitchen is original. French provincial was very popular back then, but I can’t say that the turquoise counters went with the antique finish on the cabinets. Everything was very well made, and the kitchen had a couple neat features, including an electric warming drawer and a special cabinet to the right of the sink base that was ventilated and had wire drawers for storing vegetables. The cabinets have gone to a nice home where they will be enjoyed by someone else.

The new kitchen has two toned cabinets (“Merlot” on the bottom and “Taupe” on the top). The granite counters incorporate both colors, which ties the room together. The arrangement of the appliances has flipped; the fridge and oven are now on the wall next to the garage, and the cooktop is on the wall next to the dining room. Behind the cooktop is a pop-up, downdraft ventilating system, so there was no need for a range hood.

The wall between the kitchen and dining room was shortened about 3 feet, and a cutout in the middle opens up the space even more and connects the kitchen and dining room together beautifully. Granite tops the passthrough, giving the space an elegant feel. The recessed lights and pendant fixtures over the new peninsula adds drama. It is a perfect space to hang out, read the paper, and visit with friends while you’re cooking.

It’s hard to believe that this all happened so quickly, but the results are dazzling! We still have to pinch ourselves to believe that it really is the same kitchen space, but it’s definitely not the same kitchen!