living
By Brandon Klein Photos courtesy of the Cleary Company
Back to the Future
Kitchen update involves surprises along the way
W
hen she bought her home in 2019, Ann Stickney knew the flattering house listing photos couldn’t hide the dated look of the house, but there were still some surprises with the kitchen. “Our main concern was that the floors were very uneven,” she says. “You could place a ball down and it would roll all over the place. It gave me the feeling of walking on a ship on the water.” Stickney worked with the Cleary Company to tackle the kitchen remodeling. The project entailed adding a large beam for structural support, because the kitchen ceiling was sagging, and reconfiguring the layout of the half-bath, pantry and wall with the refrigerator. 26 November/December 2021
“At first, to save on cost, we decided to not touch the bathroom at all, but there was a code or vent that needed to be moved and we had to cut into the bathroom,” Stickney says. “So the whole thing was flipped around to better suit the layout.” The surprises kept coming. The owners originally intended to remove the large brick fireplace in the kitchen but, when the remodelers prepared to tear it down, they discovered it was actually the vent and chimney for the heaters. “We had to rethink and pick a way to make it feel less awkward a space,” Stickney says. “I think the small cupboard works pretty well.” In the end, the remodeling was worth it. Stickney says they were attracted to the
Before
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