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Aaron & Melissa’s Kitchen Redo

March 5, 2018

SimpleDecoratingTips.com THE KITCHEN REDO!!

The past few weeks I’ve been sharing with you my son and daughter-in-law’s, Aaron and Melissa’s 1970 redo. So far I’ve shown you how they changed the fireplace to a farmhouse style fireplace, how they changed the main floor to a farmhouse style open concept, and how they created a DIY faux exposed brick chimney in the middle of the main floor.

Today, I’m going to share with you the drastic change the kitchen went through in the kitchen redo!

This is what the kitchen looked like before they started any work:

SimpleDecoratingTips.com kitchen redo

It was a typical 1970’s-something kitchen…

At the time, back in the 70’s, this was a wonderfully modern kitchen…

But as our lifestyles change, our house plans change to accomodate it.

In the 70’s it would not have felt very nice to have a kitchen open to the living room… We liked to keep the ‘kitchen mess’ separate from the entertaining space back then.

Although this ‘modern’ 1970’s kitchen did have a nice breakfast nook and peninsula for stools in the kitchen…

That was a huge improvement for ‘open-ness’ compared to a few years prior when kitchens still had doors completely closing them off for the rest of the house.

SimpleDecoratingTips.com kitchen redo

But for how Aaron and Melissa wanted to use their house, this was not going to work.

Like most people in this current society, at least in the USA, we like our kitchen as part of the overall living space. We like to share the food prep and cooking with our guests now.

Therefore, pretty much all the walls enclosing the kitchen needed to come down!

SimpleDecoratingTips.com kitchen redo

In that picture above, you can see the tiled front entry hall opening up to the living room. That wall behind the stove and the wall separating the living room from the hall both came down. (The one wall was a supporting wall, so the carpenter had to put in a huge laminated beam for support)

And if you look back at the picture of the kitchen looking towards the dining room, that wall came down too.

Once the wall between the kitchen and dining room came down, space from the dining area could be used for a longer cabinet run:

SimpleDecoratingTips.com kitchen redo

Where the fridge sits now, is where the wall used to be. Just a couple extra feet made all the difference to make this kitchen plan work. There still was plenty of room in the dining room for the table and chairs after a couple of feet were used for the kitchen.

This picture below shows the walls that were removed:

SimpleDecoratingTips.com Kitchen Redo

As I explained in last week’s post though, to transform a space that was originally built with lots of walls to a space with none can be a little tricky… support can be fixed with a laminated beam, but the mechanics going up to the 2nd floor were another issue. (you can see that faux exposed brick chimney post here)

That’s where they boxed them up in the middle of the space and created a faux brick chimney, creating a visually unique, character-filled element in the kitchen. (what felt like a problem at first, turned into being a great feature!)

SimpleDecoratingTips.com Kitchen Redo

Their new kitchen has a huge peninsula now and is the center ‘hub’ of the main level!

SimpleDecoratingTips.com Kitchen Redo

The distressed wide plank hickory floors juxtapose the clean white shaker style cabinets beautifully. (here is a link for these cabinets!) affiliate

The flow of the main floor space is so welcoming and inviting now, and the floor plan of the kitchen works great, giving multiple cooks space to prep, cook and set up.

SimpleDecoratingTips.com Kitchen Redo

The only thing that remained where it was from the original floor plan was the kitchen sink placement. The did need to replace the old window, but the plumbing stayed put.

SimpleDecoratingTips.com Kitchen Redo

The large apron front farmhouse style sink is one huge basin and so wonderful to soak large pans in. Here is the link for this sink. (affiliate)

In the picture below, you can see from the front entry how the space feels now, instead of being greeted with a tiled floor and narrow hall, the main floor openly welcomes you into the home.
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Kitchen Redo

There are so many great details on this space I’d like to talk about but this post is getting too long, so I’ll have to go over those details next time.

SimpleDecoratingTips.com Kitchen Redo

Be sure to check back as I continue to share details of their house, and check out this page to read everything I’ve written about it so far: Aaron and Melissa’s 1970 redo.

A little note in case you are new here… I am an interior designer… I did help with the floor plan design for Aaron and Melissa’s house and made a few suggestions, but they really took the ‘bull by the horns’ and made their own decisions with the initial plan of wanting the open concept and choosing all the finishes etc. and did a wonderful job at it too! (I was just there every now and then for moral support and for a little guidance to help them figure out sizing etc.)

One thing I did highly recommend was the cabinet selection.

The cabinets in Aaron and Melissa’s kitchen are the same cabinets I used in my 100 year old kitchen, and the same cabinets my friend used in her Modern Swedish Farmhouse Condo kitchen, and they are the same cabinets I’m installing in our current house project!

Needless to say, I love these cabinets! They are solid wood, quality built, come with a beautiful white finish and classic shaker styling, all at a relatively reasonable price.

Here is the link to ordering these cabinets: Classic Shaker Style Cabinets

Here are more kitchen transformations:

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vintage tin tile simpledecoratingtips.com
Wall Mounted Pot Rack SimpleDecoratingTips.com
Wall Mounted Pot Rack SimpleDecoratingTips.com
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SimpleDecoratingTips.com THE KITCHEN REDO!!
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SimpleDecoratingTips.com Our 100 Year Old House Kitchen Renovation Before & After
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SimpleDecoratingTips.com Custom Kitchen Island Feature
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SimpleDecoratingTips.com Condo Kitchen Renovation
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SIMPLEDECORATINGTIPS.com kitchen transformation before and after
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SIMPLEDECORATINGTIPS.com Antique Brick Cottage Farmhouse Style Kitchen Before and After
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SimpleDecoratingTips.com Repurposing Cabinets
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simpledecoratingtips.com pot rack in 100 year old house
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simpledecoratingtips pot rack
simpledecoratingtips pot rack
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Turning the Kitchen into a Masterpiece on a Budget SimpleDecoratingTips.com

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please feel free to follow and share this blog with your friends, as well as on Facebook, Pinterest, Flipboard, Bloglovin, YouTube and now Instagram!  I appreciate you reading along.

This post was featured on HomeTalk!

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Comments

  1. freeman sylvia says

    November 27, 2018 at 8:15 am

    Love it. I have a small dark kitchen with no counters and only one wall of cabinets. The dining room is cut off and never used. I want to remove the walls and make it one big kitchen. Not sure how to do it with pluming and gas. No windows one patio door open wall to lower level family room

    Reply
    • Liz says

      November 27, 2018 at 8:18 am

      Sounds like it’d be worth it to have a reliable contractor and possibly plumber in to brainstorm a bit of the possibilities for your space. So much depends on what’s going on in the basement and second floor as well.

      Reply
  2. barbara gauthier says

    November 26, 2018 at 10:00 am

    I am totally enthralled with this post. I’ve seen many that I admired but this one – WOW!

    Reply
    • Liz says

      November 26, 2018 at 10:05 am

      Barbara, Thanks so much! It did turn out really beautifully, and was such an amazing transformation. Thank you for stopping by!

      Reply
  3. Phyllis Elsner says

    March 19, 2018 at 6:34 pm

    Well done–Just gorgeous!!! I love everything. The microwave shelf is so cute and seems to fit so well aesthetically into the entire scheme. The countertops are lovely. They look like marble– or are they granite?

    Reply
    • Liz says

      March 19, 2018 at 6:49 pm

      The counters are quartz meant to look like marble. They’re gorgeous!

      Reply

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