My Favorite Kitchen

I just realized I have yet to write and show you photos of my absolute favorite room in our fixer upper… my kitchen!

Where to begin? Lets start with some before photos.

When Jason and I first walked through this space, I loved that it was one big open area (18’ x 33’) to work with and a fireplace! I saw the potential from the start but the biggest surprise came 2 months later during electrical demo. That is when this room became my favorite space in our fixer upper.

Let’s talk about kitchen design.

Years ago when I started thinking about mine and Jason’s next house, there were two things I wanted to get rid of from our previous houses. First, a dinning room. This has always been such a wasted space in our homes. We would use that space maybe 2 or 3 times a year and the rest of the time it was a storage space for all of our crap. Second, is a formal living room. I would much rather have a bigger family room then a living room that no one goes in. Luckily, that was exactly what I was able to design in our fixer upper.

I grabbed a piece of graph paper and started sketching placement of cabinets and appliances. This was extremely hard for me. Between a large window, three main walkways and a brick fireplace my mind was spinning. I reached out to two different cabinet company’s and gave them my sketches and my kitchen wish list. I also had them give me their ideas to add to my sketches. One company saw my vision and one did not. Obviously, I went with the company who understood what I was looking for.

Here was my wish list for the kitchen.

1. 3-Dimensional: I love when cabinets are all different sizes and lengths. Additionally, don’t give me little trim. The bigger the better when it comes to trim.

2. Place a farmhouse sink in front of the big window. I want Jason to be able to see our view while he does the dishes 😉.

3. A double oven is a must!

4. I have a serious baking problem. I wanted a designated baking area.

5. Keep the 1950 dutch door. I love it!

Not a huge list but everything had to be checked off.

I mentioned earlier that we ran into a big surprise in the kitchen when we were doing electric. Here was the surprise.

Look up… the fireplace brick goes all the way to the roof!!!! Portions of the attic was located above the kitchen. We knew the ceiling must come down and we had to vault it. The next picture is the original ceiling gone and the vaulted ceiling coming to life.

So pretty already and the beams and skylights aren’t even in yet!

Enough of the before and demo stuff. Here is my finished dream kitchen.

I took those photos a couple of months ago. Here is my kitchen decorated for Christmas.

We ended up white washing the lower brick and kept the brick on top in its original form. I love the texture and color of the upper brick.

I am obsessed with changing the decor on my mantle and I love the antique door trees – especially the green one! They are not from our house but I got them from a local retired man who loves to keep himself busy. The old windows are from our fixer upper. I’m so glad I saved all of them!

Here are some additional photos of my Christmas decor around the kitchen.

I recently got our new farmhouse table that my cousin made for me and of course I had to stick a tree farm on it for the holidays 😂. I love it!

Kitchen pictures overload yet???? I’ll stop now. Can you tell I’m in love with this space? I have no problem cooking and entertaining in it!

Love ya, Lisa