Kitchen

The kitchen is the biggest project in the house. It needs to be totally gutted. A drop ceiling was installed, covering up the original plaster ceiling. The cabinets are 50s metal cabinets with a one piece sink and drainboard counter top. The cabinets have been painted an orange color. The only light switch is in the middle of the kitchen (not at either entry way). There is only one counter-level electrical socket, which is by the sink. None on the other L-shaped counter, where you would have your small appliances. There was about an inch of flooring, piled up over the past 100 years. The room is very small.

This is going to be the most expensive part of my home renovation. I will be sticking with more of a squared off, mission style cabinet design to not stray too far from the rest of the house's style. I will be removing the wall between the kitchen and the back porch and combining the two for a bigger space. I will remove the 3 existing windows in the back porch and put 2 smaller double hung windows in, and a door on one side to lead to a deck that will one day be along the back of the house. I will be moving the sink to the back porch area, as well as the stove. I'm going to buy all my cabinets from the Kraftmaid warehouse in Lordstown, OH where you can get them at basically 75% off what you would pay at Lowe's. I am putting slate flooring in and granite counter tops.

My plans for this room include:

• removing the drop ceiling
• stripping the plaster ceiling and replacing w/ drywall
• installing a new light fixture
• installing more electrical outlets
• moving the existing light switch to an entryway, and installing another at the other entryway
• removing the soffets above the existing cabinets
• removing the cabinets/counters/sink
• stripping all the flooring to the subfloor
• installing silver-gray quartzite slate tile
• installing kraftmaid cabinetry in a square door style with stainless steel pulls
  
• installing black granite countertops
• installing a single basin stainless steel sink with disposal
• installing a stainless steel dishwasher
• installing a new faucet
• installing a new gas line for a gas range
  
• installing a new stainless steel gas range with stainless steel microwave/fan combo above

There is also a small back porch coming off the back of the kitchen. It is around 6' x 6'. There is no door on this room, just 3 windows. It was originally an exterior porch, much like the front porch. But was later enclosed. The basement extends under this porch. My intentions for this room is to combine it with the kitchen, install a door on the side of it running out to small deck I'd like to build along the back of the house.

---I have been to the Kraftmaid Outlet in Lordstown. My first visit was to just see how it worked. The second visit I purchased my first cabinet. I am going with the "Putnam" style square door in solid cherry (no veneer) and I want all plywood boxes (no particle board). When shopping at the Outlet you can't worry about what doors the cabinets have, as your selection is quite limited. You have to just find the cabinets you want, based on size, species, and color. You can replace the doors later by either finding them at the Kraftmaid Outlet (they have a whole section of them) or purchasing through Lowe's or Home Depot for like $80 each. You still make out. This first cabinet I bought will be going above my refridgerator. It is a solid plywood box and is the Honey Spice Cherry, which is what I want. It does not have the door style I want (altho very similar but with narrower stiles and a veneer center panel). I paid $90 for it. I immediately went to Lowe's and asked how much the same exact cabinet would have cost me there - about $300.



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Kitchen Demo:

I began kitchen demo already. I started with just wanting to remove the kitchen flooring. From bottom to top: sub flooring (wide planked, diagonal across), strips of hardwood flooring (about 2.5" wide), OLD linoleum (probably original) thick backing of mesh string mat, on top of that is a glittery patterned yellow linoleum, then a sheet of plywood, then a stone patterned linoleum, another sheet of plywood, then white ceramic tile, covered with black and white peel and stick tiles, covered with the peel and stick blue/gray tiles on top.

I began tearing down the drop ceiling. There was already a hole in the plaster ceiling that someone used to do the plumbing for the bathroom above. So I decided to go ahead and start removing the rest of the plaster (to later be replaced with drywall).



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Back Porch Demo:

I have stripped all the wood paneling off the interior walls of the back porch. Under the drop ceiling I found the original wood exterior ceiling from when it was an outdoor porch. The floor still slopes outward and will need to be leveled. The subfloor does not extend under this flooring, so I will have to put in a subfloor to make it level with the rest of the kitchen. There is a double switch, I could never figure out what the left one was for, now I realize why, it has no wires attached to it! What the heck is that all about? When I removed the wood paneling on the back wall of the house, I noticed there used to be a window there, right over where the kitchen sink is. That was obviously removed when they enclosed the back porch (wish I still had it).