Anyway, as promised, I'm posting images of the updated kitchen. Thankfully, my cabinets are in remarkably good shape for as old as they are getting. 22 years ago, we completely gutted this room and started from scratch. Little did I know that I would be updating this room, 22 years later. Back then, I thought it would last forever....
The first image here is the reason behind the major update. A year before, we had put down new flooring and updated the refrigerator and dishwasher and added a new faucet. Fast forward a year and my oven on my drop in cook store started on its decline. I could use it as long as I only baked at 350 degrees for 30 minutes...anything higher or longer and it would shut off, turn itself back on, shut off...etc. etc. etc. The first time I noticed it was when Gavin and I were trying to bake a double batch of brownies...an hour after putting them in the oven, they were still half raw. Since I 'feel' like this will be my last time purchasing a stove, I knew I wanted to go big and buy exactly what I wanted...a double oven with convection and smooth top range. Here is where I ran into the snag....I could not find a double oven in a drop in...only in a slide in and the slide ins were made to slide into the cabinet and push up against the wall. I was sliding mine into an island where the back would be visible. My island cabinet was not big enough to do this with so I had to contact my cabinet maker and he added 3 inches to the back side of the island so the range would slide in and not stick out in the front. Since the cabinet was 'added' onto, my counter top would no longer fit the cabinet. Thus, the reason for the new counter tops. I was in the market for granite tops as they are the cheapest of the solid tops...Granite, Quartz and then Corian, in that order. Unfortunately, at the top store, they had absolutely no Granite that I really liked....black was the only thing and my daughter in law had black and spent most of her days cleaning it....and the rest were just too wild and busy to suit me. The agent assigned to my project suggested going with Quartz and using a remnant to save money. I would have two seams at the back side of my range about 4 inches long. Since I was going with the remnants, I saved about $500 dollar from the price of the Granite and I could live with the seams. The following week they sent out a person to template the top and two weeks later, they came and installed it.. we were in LOVE! This is the new range.....
and this is a view to see how my cabinet maker had to add to the back side to fit the range. You will notice at the bar side that I have a slight different color of oak and that is the part that was added on. It's impossible to match stain when the stain has been on for 20 years but it came pretty darn close.
We only did the island at first....figured we would just get by with quartz on the island and Formica on the sink top....the Formica was cream colored and matched the color of the quartz OK. But, we both liked the new stone top so well that when Bill got his bonus check, he hands it to me and tells me to order the rest. Then, because my daughter in law thought my knobs needed updating, I decided to go with Antique Copper. The bin knobs were the hardest for me to install because I had to drill a 'set in' hole for them. They had this little cup on the back side that went 'into' the wood but not all the way through, about 1/4 of an inch. Usually, I just leave this stuff to Bill but he wasn't real excited about my decision to update the knobs, so I decided to do them all myself. They might not have been done exactly perfect or exactly right but I got them done and they fit tight against the wood, which I think is the idea! LOL....I had to order from two different companies...the company with the Antique Bin knobs did not have the 3 inch door knobs or the hinges. I was afraid they would not match but they matched perfectly. The door knobs were a piece of cake, the holes matched exactly but the hinges were another story....in fact, after putting on three doors, I was sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor crying...this was AFTER I had returned the first box of hinges cause I ordered the wrong kind. I could not get the doors to line up and the little doors over lapped each other! I just knew I'd ordered the wrong ones again! After my pity party, I called my cabinet man to see if he could stop by and when he did, he informed me that I had the correct hinges but there was a trick to installing them. I had to get a yard stick to place between the gap in the doors before I screwed them tight...then I had to use a rubber mallet on the hinges to make sure the doors were lined up on the tops and bottoms. He informed me that I would be reaching for a pint of hard stuff by the time I got done. I guess these types of hinges are 'old school' and they have no adjustments on them. They don't use this kind any more but the newer kind would not have matched my holes. Whew....I did get them all done and no liquor was consumed! I painted the backsplash a light gray and my plans are to remove the border above the cabinets and paint there and the rest of the great room, a darker gray.
So, after a couple years, a few thousand bucks and some sweat and tears, the kitchen is now updated. Well, until the microwave quits...LOL....I do need to replace that white toaster with a stainless one. Here is a picture of the whole setup..
Hope you are having a great day!
