Our House: The Issues

So, when we first looked at the house, there were two main problems that stuck out to me. The first one was the kitchen. 

Oh, not the aesthetics of it! The previous owner had remodeled the kitchen (and both bathrooms - yay!) and I really liked the shaker cabinets and the clever way they worked around various problems.

Nor was the size an issue - at a whopping 15'x13', there was plenty of elbow room! The problems were the cabinet space and the lack of working space.

Small island included, there were just three counter areas/work stations. Pop a dish drainer up beside the sink and you're down to two. Since both Kyle and I like to cook (sometimes at the same time), this was presented a problem, even if we didn't get the kids in on the action.

Also, while the cabinets look ample, there isn't as much storage as it appears. The appliances eat up a good bit of the main "L" of the kitchen, and that pantry that looks so huge actually hides an old chimney.

A nice pantry, perfect for hiding chimneys, but not as big as it seems.

Now, the kitchen remodel had worked around 4 doorways, 2 tall windows, a heating vent and a chimney, and as I said, I think they did a good job. But to make it work for our growing family we needed more storage space and working area.

Other, smaller issues were the general lack of light (the room faces north and west) few drawers, no place for the trash can and a cute light fixture that nearly brained Kyle whenever he stood at the island and also restricted all the artificial light to the bottom 5 feet of a 91/2 foot tall room.

The second big problem was that, although the kitchen looked out onto a charming mud room, there was no closet on the first floor. That means no place to put coats, jackets, mittens, hats, boots and the general paraphernalia that comes with having a family in winter time. This was a problem.

 Of course, the reason there was no closet in the mud room was probably because it was filled with lovely south and west windows, and had a door and window into the kitchen, plus a door into the dining room, and the door to the outside - there was no place to put a closet.

Well, as you can guess, after some brainstorming and consultations with various folks, we found a way to address these problems without breaking the bank. But we'll get into the creative fixes in another post.

Solutions, coming up!