Renovation Progress {Kitchen}

Oh, man. If I could choose one thing I am most excited about in our renovation project, it would be the kitchen. I left y'all hanging at the end of the last post with this teaser photo...

The kitchen is just on the other side of that wall, and about three-quarters into our month-long reno blitz, we decided to prioritize taking that wall down and rearranging the kitchen. We are planning to do a full remodel in the near future, but realized for the time being it sure would be nice to go ahead and make the whole first floor open concept. This "Phase One" reno involved removing a bunch of cabinets, moving the sink to where the wall used to be to make a peninsula, and putting the refrigerator in the back left corner. Except for adding a new dishwasher (there wasn't one previously), we didn't replace anything. Talk about working with what you've got!

Enough explanations though. Ready for the after?!

Quite a difference, huh? It feels so much more spacious and open now. Our new peninsula is fantastic and I can't wait to get a few barstools to pull up to the counter.

Just for fun, before I show the rest of the "afters," I thought it would be fun to share a couple of progress shots from when we took down the wall:

We ended up rebuilding the section of wall in front of the peninsula and added a 2x10 piece of wood as a temporary countertop to give the back edge of the existing laminate countertop a finished look. There's a slight overhang that's perfect for a couple of barstools.

Here's what it looks like now:

It may not be perfect, but it's exactly what we needed for this "phase one" part of the kitchen reno. Thanks to my father-in-law for this genius idea!

The range wall stayed pretty much exactly the same except for the fact that we switched out the corner end cabinet for a regular one.

Now that the wall is gone, I can see straight through the house from the dining room to the living room. We had some friends over this past weekend and I can't tell you how much I enjoyed being able to interact with everyone while I was at the kitchen sink!

I still can't believe we were able to reuse the existing cabinets, countertops and appliances to create this new open floor plan. While it's not perfect, it's perfectly functional and that was the biggest goal of this phase one kitchen remodel. I can't say I'm not excited about eventually ditching those green laminate countertops, the hodgepodge of cracked floor tiles and the cabinetry that's mounted too high though :). One thing I am grateful for though? White cabinets. They may have been absolutely filthy when we bought the house, but after a thorough cleaning, they shine!

Let's take one more look at the before and after of that wall coming down, shall we?

That's some awesome kitchen progress, folks! I can't wait to finish it off with some great light fixtures. After the photo above was taken, I installed some pendants over the peninsula that are so, so pretty. I can't wait to show you!

To all of my U.S. friends, I hope you have wonderful Thanksgivings tomorrow! We'll be spending ours here in the new house with a few friends. I can't wait to try my hand at cooking my first turkey!


Want to follow our renovation story? Check out these posts!

• We bought a house!
• The real estate photos
• Second floor progress
• First floor progress

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