Tour My Kitchen Through Photos

When we moved into our town home seven years ago, there were a lot of little things that I wanted to change. The kitchen was on the top of my list. It was a small eat-in kitchen that I wanted to convert into one large kitchen. We had many people come and give estimates and consults on how to make the kitchen better, but they all failed miserably.

So, I took it upon myself to measure everything and design the remodel myself. My husband and I then ordered the cabinets I had specified, ripped out the old kitchen, and placed the new ones in four weekends.

We had unexpected things arise along the way: The back of the sink was all moldy, and I had to replace lots of drywall. The dropped ceiling that I wanted to keep almost fell out when we removed the cabinets that were supporting it. We had to support the ceiling with car jacks on the refrigerator until we got the new cabinets in to support the heavy dome light in the ceiling. It was all worth it, though. I love our redesigned kitchen. It is much more functional for our needs.

This is the massive, old dome light that I insisted on keeping. It may not be in fashion, but it certainly is functional. I also did not want to get rid of my ceiling fan; living in Florida, I think it is essential to have a fan in every room of the house. I like having lots of landing room on either side of my cook top. I also love having a big hood and exhaust fan. I do lots of cooking and frying, and even with the big exhaust fan, my house usually smells like a restaurant.

The back splash you see in the photo? I did that all myself. I wanted something simple but still interesting. I bought colored glass tiles to match our bar lights. I cut every piece of tile, laid them, grouted them, and sealed them. All the other work in the kitchen was done by both my husband and myself.

You can see our bar in this picture. Before, this opening was half the size. We ripped off all the drywall to expose the studs and header. We then raised the header and I, because of my artistic tendencies, was put in charge of re-drywalling. I was covered in mud and tape—fun!

The patterned tile you see on the floor was a part of the original home. The previous owners had used that tile in the living and dining areas, but then stopped short of carrying it into the kitchen and breakfast nook. I looked everywhere for that tile for months. I would carry a sample of it into every tile store I came across. Finally, I was in a tile store, and the sales guy came up to me and said, “Oh my gosh, I have that same tile in my kitchen. I love it, too!” I said, “You are familiar with this tile?” He said, “Yes, they discontinued that tile more than five years ago, but we have a several boxes in our warehouse we couldn’t get rid of.” It was such a find, I couldn’t believe it! I quickly bought all they had, and we went to work removing the old mismatched tile from our home, and replacing it with this tile.

This is a picture of our breakfast area. I have the coffee pot, the coffee bean grinder, and the container for the coffee beans. I also have the toaster and my trusty kitchen scale. I don’t have a sugar bowl because my husband is the one who drinks coffee, and he prefers it black. I like my iced tea in the morning—it’s a Southern thing!

On the left of this photo, you can see my little closet. It used to be a broom closet. I redesigned it by adding lots of deep shelves to make it a good-sized pantry. (I moved my broom closet to a corner of the garage.) I have my microwave here out of the way. I don’t like microwaves above the stove. Those all-in-one microwaves with the exhaust fans don’t have a strong enough fan for me. And, I hardly use the microwave, so it was better for us to have a very small microwave out of the way. My cookbooks are in the cabinet above the microwave. I always have my Kitchen Aid out because I use it at least once a week; it’s so heavy it gets its own place on the counter.

This picture hangs on the door that leads out to the garage. I have no space in my kitchen for any artwork. I found this piece at a yard sale a few years back for a couple of dollars. It was just someone’s art project on a stretched canvas; nothing fancy. I just screwed it into the door so it wouldn’t move when you opened it. I liked the colors because they are similar to my kitchen.

I also like the imperfections of this painting: It’s a little off-center, but pretty. This kitchen we created is like this picture: not perfect, but cute and practical. It is in no way my dream kitchen, but it serves its purpose for us. It’s a place for me to cook comfortably and make many memories with my family.

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