before
& after
AFTER: Tearing out the ceiling light box and installing recessed can lights, new tile backsplash, dark quartz countertops, new shelf design over the window and new painted Shaker door fronts really updated this kitchen. Recovering the chair seats and creating a workspace freshened up the breakfast room area.
BEFORE: A dated florescent ceiling light box, wallpaper, plastic laminate cove countertop and backsplash and golden-oak-stained cabinets were spoiling this room’s potential.
Above & Beyond A dated kitchen sheds its flaws to achieve its full potential Debby and Bob Coffman wanted to refresh their tired ‘80s kitchen. Their friends Luanne and Charlie Burton, whose dining room was featured in Houston House & Home, January 2006, “Room Management”, referred them. When they additionally saw Paula Murphy’s kitchen in the May 2006, issue, "Clean Sweep", they called. 22
BEFORE
Although the kitchen had adequate space potential, the layout was not efficient and the cabinet above the peninsula made the kitchen feel dark and cramped. The ’80s-style golden oak cabinets, wallpaper, dated ovens and florescent ceiling light box had to go. “Once our sons married and the grandkids arrived, it was time to remodel and create more space in the room for ‘extra helpers,’” Bob said. I recommended cutting back the peninsula eight inches, removing the upper cabinet and replacing the wall ovens with a sleek new Bosch dualfuel, stainless range underneath the existing vent hood. Moving the fridge to the right created room for a larger coffee bar, and a microwave cubby was
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AFTER: Removing the upper “brow” cabinet and cutting back the peninsula, building in the fridge, re-grouting the floor, adding custom floating shelves to the blank wall for storage and matching the woven wood window treatment transformed the room. BEFORE: An ample skylight was virtually hidden behind the old furdown and cabinet above the peninsula, and the side of the refrigerator jutted into the room. Dark tile grout made the floor seem dingy.
BEFORE
created. By removing the light box and adding recessed can lights, the existing ample skylight suddenly became visible. Double glass sliding doors installed on both sides of the pass through cabinet allowed the couple to display their glassware. I advised the couple to use glazed DalTile “Biscuit” subway tile for their backsplash, which worked well with the maintenance free CaesarStone “Amazon Green” quartz countertops from The Great Indoors. Eddie Stone, owner of Sugar Land Paint & Décor, matched their second subway tile color choice, DalTile “Urban Putty”, in Pratt & Lambert Accolade latex velvet for the walls and custom matched the living room blinds for the cabinets and trim in Pratt & Lambert RedSeal alkyd satin enamel paint. They searched tirelessly for the perfect drawer pulls, finding them at 24
www.HouseOfAntiqueHardware.com, knobs from Bering’s Hardware and hinges from Custom Lighting & Hardware. The stainless dual-fuel Bosch slide in range and Kitchen Aid stainless microwave are both from The Great Indoors. Their perfectionism and determination paid off in spades. The couple explained that even though they did not gain that much floor space, the kitchen is now much more efficient. “You made sure that we did not lose storage space when the upper cabinet over the peninsula was removed,” Debby explained. “By adding floating open shelving in the breakfast room which functions for storing pitchers, appetizer dishes and cheese trays, installing inset drawers in the peninsula’s dead space by the wall and opening the furdown over the refrigerator, we actually gained useful space,” Debby explained.
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TRADE SECRETS • Paint consistently gives the most “bang for your buck”. • Keeping the old cabinet boxes and refacing the doors and hardware is much less costly than buying new cabinets. • Lighting can make or break a space. • Sometimes the most effective strategy is not to add square footage to your house, but to first rethink the space under roof that is already paid for.
resources Contractor: MEL SOTO, 281.787.9843 Tile: DALTILE, 713.344.8742 Paint: SUGAR LAND PAINT & DÉCOR, 281.265.3125 CaesarStone countertops and appliances: THE GREAT INDOORS, 832.476.8000 Drawer pulls: WWW.HOUSEOFANTIQUEHARDWARE.COM Knobs: BERING’S HARDWARE, 800.237.4647 Hinges: CUSTOM LIGHTING & HARDWARE, 281.556.6500 Joetta Moulden offers home makeovers using your own home furnishings. See more makeovers on her Web site at www.shelterstyle.com, e-mail her at joetta@shelterstyle.com or call 713.461.2063. Appointments or referrals booked by September 30 will receive a 15 percent first meeting discount. Shelterstyle.com holds a "Pages of Happiness" rating and, for the fifth consecutive year, a “Super Service Award” presented to 5 percent of companies that achieve and maintain a superior rating on www.angieslist.com. 26
AFTER: By cutting back the peninsula eight inches, removing the upper cabinet, replacing the wall ovens with a sleek new range and moving the fridge to the right, room for a new coffee bar/microwave cubby was created. Glass sliding doors were installed on both sides of the upper cabinet over the old bar sink to display glassware. BEFORE: A too long peninsula with a “brow” cabinet over it, outdated, mismatched appliances and dated cabinet doors and hardware were adding years to this kitchen.
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The couple chose contractor Mel Soto to do their remodeling. In addition to the items already mentioned, he replaced both sinks with new Blanco 18-guage stainless models and Hans Grohe faucets, relocated the existing dishwasher to the left of the sink and installed the DalTile “Biscuit” subway backsplash tile. Mel replaced the old floor grout with sanded Custom Building Products "Quartz" No. 101, a lighter color, which lightened and unified the kitchen. The hardest thing for them to visualize was how sinking their existing refrigerator into the wall three inches in a wall pocket would further “open up” the kitchen, “Your idea turned out great and provided the illusion of a counter-depth refrigerator,” Debby said. “Mel was able to reroute the plumbing for the icemaker in the side cabinet so we could push it back. It has really changed the kitchen!” Instead of building fixed shelves in the lower cabinets, they had Mel install Elfa pull-out drawers, which increased the functionality of the entire kitchen. They love how it turned out. “We are very patient and we’re careful to make choices that will last. We don’t redecorate often so we spent years collecting photos. As we set up the kitchen, we discovered to our delight that almost all of our dishes and glass accent pieces (some are wedding gifts over 40 years old) work as if we had specifically purchased them for the new kitchen,” Debby explained. “In reality, they were hidden inside dark cabinets for years, just waiting for this kitchen!”