The whole house was built around one room – the kitchen. Now there were other reasons we wanted to leave the condo – mainly for access to a yard. But as far as the interior of the house goes …it was all about the kitchen.
The condo has a galley style kitchen with a 3 foot hallway in between 11 feet of sparse laminate cabinet space and topped with limited lighting tucked into the back of the house – much like a cave. It has been painted 5 times since I moved in – desperately searing for a color that would make it feel bigger, brighter, cleaner…. in the end, I suppose it worked in comparison to what it was. But at the end of the day its still a pig with lipstick, a cramped, dark, and windowless kitchen with no view to the rest of the house. We literally hate being in there – even if we do love to cook.
So anyway – I will stop crying about the condo and move onto happier subjects: our amazing new kitchen! When I started designing the house floor plan, the kitchen came first, and everything else was filled in around it. Every decision was made with function and enjoyment in mind. We wanted to make sure it was built for two cooks who cold easy pass each other while doing independent tasks. And thats why we have 4 foot walkways and two sinks (prep and dish). I also wanted to make sure that when the cook was working, they were not cut off form the rest of the world. Because so much active cooking time is spent on prep and at the cook top, I wanted a way to face the living room while doing these tasks. Well that would have been fine, if I didn’t mind a huge hood looming over my island…. but I do mind that. So we went with a pop-up downdraft – that resides underneath the island counter and rises when you need ventilation. SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS! The combination of the 8 foot island for prep space, and the cook-top facing the living area, will easily allow the cook and talk while working in the kitchen!
Anyway – after meeting with the cabinet maker a few times, we are almost done with our plans. There are a few more tweaks that we might need to take care of, but they are mostly finished. Take a look!!
