My East Coast House: Kitchen Before & After Plans

Before - the dining area of the old kitchen

The Kitchen in my new old house on the East Coast is the second last room in the house to be renovated, today its near completion except for a ceiling light fixture and some furniture for the eating area. Renovating this kitchen was a long and painful process that has taken more than a year to complete thus far. This is what the kitchen looked like when we bought the house and how it remained until the ktichen reno started last year. (Dining area seen above, kitchen area below)

The kitchen was ugly to say the least. It came with no appliances other than an old electric stove. The exhaust hood was not vented nor recirculating (thus useless), the dishwasher didn’t work, the water was not drinkable and the sink leaked out the bottom of the cabinet when the faucet was turned on. The plastic coating on the cabinets was peeling off in large sections held in place in some spots with shipping tape. The floor was covered in peel and stick vinyl tiles which were broken in places and mis-matched patched in others. The ceiling like the rest of the main floor was acoustical tile, complete with stains. 

Before & After Floor Plans

When we purchased the house I had re-designed the kitchen as part of an overall master plan that we would implement in 2 phases. The kitchen would be in the second phase about a year after phase 1. Over the course of that year while the second floor and front part of the house were being renovated I continued to re-think the new kitchen. The biggest challenge is the space itself, I really hated the old placement of it in the centre of the house.  Like most old houses the kitchen had so many doorways it was like being in a hallway.  One thing I knew for certain is I wanted to flip the kitchen to the other side of the room so it would be on an exterior wall with windows.  

My first kitchen design plan involved moving windows and adding double french doors to the deck and incorporating a wood stove. More than a year later, far behind schedule and already over budget before phase 2 started,,,,,the priority became to re-work the kitchen without changing any of the window locations or putting in new patio doors. There were a lot of unexpected but necessary ‘blow-outs” in phase one so minimizing the work and costs for phase two was critical but I was ok with that because i felt ‘the simpler the better’ approach suited my vision for the kitchen anyway.   A week before the new wood stove was to be delivered I decided to have it installed in the back sun room (family room) which would make that room useable all year and still provide heat for the kitchen.  Without the wood stove in the kitchen I was left with ample room for a seating area which currently is planned as a built-in banquette. 

Looking at the rest of the ground floor, the other change I made was creating separate dining and living rooms.  I intentionally wanted to keep individual rooms, having lived in an open concept space once before I definitely prefer not having my living or dining room open to the kitchen, however, I do love an eat-in kitchen and open concept family rooms.  I intentionally didn't build any cabinetry on the wall between the kitchen and dining room so that it could easily be opened up should any future owner want an open concept.  As it is the separate dining room maintains the flexibility of becoming an office, or a bedroom if not used for dining.  Figuring out what to do with the existing laundry and bathroom was key in determining my new kitchen layout.  In the end moving the laundry or bathroom was not an option for many reasons besides budget, so those rooms will stay where they are and will be the next room(s) to be renovated after the kitchen.

The old combined laundry and bathroom will be divided into separate rooms, the laundry room will get a new exterior glass door to what will be a patio on the sunny west lawn of the house with views over a meadow to the beach beyond.  The washer and dryer will be under counter and behind a fabric skirt, with a sink and wall cabinets this area will also function as a servery/pantry which will be convenient between the kitchen and patio area (future screened in porch).  Being able to come directly into the laundry and bathroom from the yard is also a great bonus feature when you have more than an acre of lawn to mow each week - tick control means stripping down and showering after yard work.  : /

The family room at the back is a single story addition to the original house, its concrete foundation has no insulation and even with ducted heating in the space it was an extremely cold room, unbearable in winter.  The new wood stove keeps it toasty warm and was the best addition ever because this is not only the biggest room in the house but it also has the best views and the most sunlight - now its useable all year long.  

Despite the numerous kitchen layouts I came up with none of them were ideally what I wanted and it became a very frustrating cycle of trying to decide which layout I hated the least rather than loved the most. Very. frustrating.  I have piles of scrapped plans like this one.

I'm happy with the plan I decided on and know that a new layout wasn't worth making drastic or extensive changes for.  I struggled with the fridge placement the most, debating over putting it to the right of the dishwasher but I just didn't want the large bulkiness of a fridge blocking the openness of the kitchen directly as you entered it.  The back door is the main in/out entrance where everyone enters the house (no one uses the front door here).  The compromise was to put the fridge away from the cooking/prep area but add under counter fridge drawers to the island.  

With those agonizing decisions over with we moved forward in clearing out the old kitchen and putting in all new finishes.  The ceiling, like the dining and living room had the original wood beams which we  uncovered from under layers of tile and plaster.  The floor is another story which I'll post about next…...

Kitchen reno progress.

The kitchen really is the heart of the home,  I have to say that renovating this one has given me a new perspective on renovating and the reality of what is truly necessary, what matters and what doesn't matter, what brings you joy in its day to day use.  A make-shift kitchen with no running water and no large appliances for months on end while endlessly waiting for trades to show up (like waiting 3 months for the electrician and 6 weeks for a plumber) was enough to make me never want to renovate again, ever. At least this house. ; ) But it also was truly revealing in many ways.  For the most part, when we were here we ate as well as we did with a full functioning kitchen, and even had lots of house guests and visitors - I just had to shop very selectively and plan meals more creatively.  Having survived all of that, I'll confess I'm finding the new kitchen to have an excessive amount of space compared to what I'd become use to, but for now that's one problem I'll happily enjoy living with.

For more post on my East Coast house Reno progress:

Dining Room Before & After

Staircase Before & After

Framing Pressed Leaves

All Photos & Drawings by:   Carol Reed

The Australia Project - The Evolution of a Space Plan

Design Plans and Kitchen Concept for the Australia Project, by Carol Reed Interior Design

While its not out of the ordinary for me to travel a few hours drive to a clients weekend retreat or summer cottage, or even have the opportunity to fly back and forth to work on a project in Manhattan… being asked to design a whole home renovation on the other side of the world is not a request I get every day.  In addition to my full-service projects I've always oferred a selection of limited e-design services for homeowners across North America but I limit this type of consulting to single rooms only.  Last year I made an exception when I took on the whole home re-design of a residence in Australia, as a hybrid full-scope/e-design.

One of the homeowners whom I knew from Toronto is an expat now living in North South Wales, Australia.  She’s a newlywed (married an Aussie!) they're first time homeowners of an older style bungalow in need of a modern overhaul. They both travel a great deal for work so embarking on a home renovation would require the ability to do much of the consulting virtually - and this is where I came.  We knew each other when she lived in Toronto and she has been in some homes that I had designed, there was the comfort level of working with someone from home, and knowing I had experience in long distance projects.  They reached out and a couple of skype meetings later we began the process of re-designing their forever home.

Kitchen and Dining Before.

Before we could delve into new finish materials, design details or furniture, we had to start with reworking the floor plan.  Here’s a look at the floor plan I started with. Its single storey, with no basement, and an attached garage (to the left side of the house), the back of the house and balcony overlook a beautiful green conservation area.  The windows across the front and sides of the house are partial height, the windows across the back extend to the floor.  Lengthways from one end of the house to the other, the ceiling slopes up to a centre peak.

The house was very divided with lots of interior doors and there is no basement or attic space.  The main objective was to update all the fixtures and finishes as well as create a more open concept  living, dining, cooking space. A dedicated storage room had to remain as well as a home office large enough to accommodate two workspaces.  Lastly a new master suite was on the must have list.  As for finishes, they wanted sleek, modern, all white, and natural wood floors with the addition of colourful artwork and accessories.  

When I first reviewed the plan and the exterior photos, my instinct was to move the kitchen and dining areas to the back part of the house so they could enjoy the view and direct indoor/outdoor access.  Below is a look at the final layout we arrived at….

The new plan provides them with a long open concept great room, with slope cathedral ceiling and views overlooking the conservation area.  New retractable doors will allow them to have an expansive opening to the exterior and new sliding doors directly off the kitchen so they can access the bar-b.   The den has ample room for both of them, an oversize sliding glass pocket door allows them to close it off when they have company.   The laundry is combined with the storage room and will have a futon for overflow guests who need a place to crash (beyond the two spare bedrooms).   The main hall bath gains a vanity with storage and a tub shower combo, the master ensuite gets a sleek walkin shower with trough drain and floating vanity and the 4th bedroom was converted into a maser walk-in closet.

I know from experience often the first reaction people have when they see floor plan is to critique it, and often wonder "why is that so big, or why is that so small" or think "what if we move this here and that there?".  I think that's natural and expected, especially if you weren't part of the planning process in getting from a to b.  Its the reason I don't ever present a client with just one layout - because even if they love it, they'll wonder if they are overlooking any other possibilities. There are some Designers who believe its best to present one solution only, but this method never served well for me despite how confident I might be with any given plan, I believe clients have expectations of being offered choices.  I like to present only the best options and let them be involved in making choices from there.  There is never just one way to slice up a space and the possibilities can vary greatly in budget and personal preference.  Below is a glimpse of where I started reviewing layouts with them and where we ended up at the final new layout. 

_ _ _

The first concepts were based on their idea of moving the laundry out of the kitchen and into the main hall bathroom (stacked units) in lieu of the existing shower stall.  Besides the obvious disadvantages to this placement, it had some benefits worth considering.  (At this point we weren't exploring the master bedroom changes until the living areas were determined.)

This concept was the least amount of change, but still offered lots of improvement with a new centre island kitchen opened up to the living room.  Initially this was the extent of the renovation they had envisioned before contacting me - a new kitchen with a bigger opening to the living room.

Some more walls came down in this layout to further open up the kitchen, dining and living rooms and get more exposure to exterior views and light.

Next even more walls came down.  Sections of the centre wall needed to remain as its the main supporting wall.  Although not noted in this sketch the laundry would again be in the bathroom. What was lacking at this point was a larger home office (Study) and the laundry situation was still being debated.

The next three concepts explored the idea of placing a stacked washer dryer to replace the hallway linen closet, allowing us to add a larger vanity with storage into the main hall bathroom with the tub/shower combo. 

This one was getting there but the main concern was still the Study was too small, and ideally I wanted to explore the idea of putting the kitchen along the back of the house instead of the storage room….

This was getting really close to where we finally ended up but the need for a larger laundry area was being realized. 

And this was the almost final layout.  The laundry was combined with the storage room, and also a futon for the occasional overflow of guests. When we began the space planning the intent was that all the windows and exterior doors in the house were being replaced and the exterior re-clad in a new finish.  We intended to work with all the existing window locations as is but the homeowners were also investigating if they could increase the amount of windows across the back living room wall.  But because of the bush fire hazards in their area, their local by-laws (and property insurance) restricted them from changing their window configurations/sizes at all.  Which meant this kitchen plan, requiring modifying a window to work with the fridge,,,was out.    

So one more round of tweaks led to this final layout below (also shown earlier in the post)…...  

 The final kitchen layout ended up being a U shape with centre island.  After the engineer's review, we had to also incorporate a supporting stud wall immediately to the left of the sliding doors beside the fridge so this area got squeezed a bit smaller.  This new plan gives them one large living and entertaining space with cathedral ceiling, direct access to the balcony and wonderful views.  The double office has lots of natural light, and its wide entrance flows off the main room, and their bathrooms and closet space were upsized and enhanced. 

So I hope you enjoyed this peek into the space planning process and how we arrive at any particular final floor plan with a client.  Taking the client thru this process assures them they have made the best possible decisions and they move forward with confidence, even if the scope of the renovation doubled (!).   Following this space planning we developed the details for the kitchen and baths and selected all the new interior finish materials and fixtures compiled into a set of working drawings (which involved working in metric and learning some new jargon!).  I''ll share more of the design concepts in another post.

 G'day ; )

All drawings and images by:  Carol Reed Interior Design Inc.

My House: Staircase Before & After

My almost complete, newly renovated staircase.

Upon completion of the first phase of our house reno, we wasted no time in moving our things into the new part of the house but we weren't in any rush to plunge into phase 2 of the renovation just yet.  Living in the house throughout the renovations took quite a toll on us and the cats, particularly our older cat who became quite sick during this time.  So we've spent the past 6 months enjoying a break from the construction as we slowly chipped away at completing some of the finishing work that was left to be done, like some trimwork, painting, and installing door hardware etc.,  We recently finished painting the staircase treads and railing and added a new runner.  There's a teeny bit more painting and touch-up to do on the staircase yet but I'm so thrilled to finally have the staircase at least 'looking' like its finished - its been a long transformation.  Here's a look at the staircase we started with.

Staircase before.

The existing staircase was not original to the house and I'd guess probably a 1980's addition.   It had no redeeming features or character, the railing was not to code as the spindles were spaced much too far apart and I felt the staircase itself was overly wide for the size of the house.  On the second level there is a hallway on one side of the staircase which you can see in the above photo.  We didn't demolish the staircase entirely, aside from the railing system, I worked with what was there as much as possible.  I did however rework the entire second floor layout which resulted in the upper hallway and railing being flipped to the opposite side of the staircase. 

Front hallway and staircase in progress

The one good thing about the extra wide staircase is that it makes for a large closet underneath the stairs, you can see a bit of the old closet door in in the photo above (under the stairs).  A glimpse of the new living room framing can be seen on the right.

Staircase in progress

In the above photo you can see the new wall is now installed on the second floor on the left side of the stairs.  The new staircase railing will go up the right side of the stairs continuous from the bottom tread to the top landing and then continue (with a 180 deg turn) back along the right hand side of the staircase opening above.  I wanted to do this without having a jog in the staircase section of the handrail which posed a bit of a challenge.  (If you look back to the photo of the old railing you can see the spindles and handrail actually terminate at the ceiling - or alternately the railing could have continued if it took a jog around the ceiling at this point.)

Railing install in progress

The knotty pine stringers and risers were painted out white.  New shop painted solid wood spindles were installed along with solid wood newel posts and handrail. I loved the simple elegance of the tapered spindles.  I was fortunate to find Eric, of Rise and Run Wood Crafting, he's a skilled and knowledgable staircase installer who with the help of an assistant completed the installation in a day and half. 

Staircase after, view from the top.

In this view you can see the newly configured second floor hallway located opposite to where it was previously.  The upper hallway is now directly above the lower hallway. What you can't see in this photo is that on the second floor directly above the front door, there is a tall peaked dormer with an original gothic arched window which now falls in the centre of the second floor hallway.  It has brought back symmetry to the floor plan and highlights the beautiful gothic window and drama of the peaked dormer.  I swear I could hear the house breathe a sigh of relief "aaagghhhh, that's better".  : ) Ok, i'm sure it was myself I heard saying that out loud but it really feels like the way the hallway was always meant to be. 

You can also see in this photo above how the spindles are positioned quite a bit inside the edge of the treads but this allowed for the handrail to remain straight (no jog) and the spacing on either side of the runner to remain equal from top to bottom.  A detail I debated with myself at length.  Another challenge was working with the antique wood flooring on the second floor which is 1-1/4" thick. Typically your wood flooring would transition flush with a wood nosing selected to match your flooring.  Since we were dealing with antique wood and a non-standard thickness, I opted to go with a paint grade nosing instead, installed on top of the flooring, not flush with it.  This meant I saved on the expense of having a custom nosing made and it would be a less labour intensive install.  Because its painted white it looks integrated with the railing system and other millwork around the stairs, so it works well.  

Staircase runner install in progress

We added v-groove planks to both side walls of the staircase and coated them in white paint like the risers and spindles.  The same v-groove planks are also used upstairs in the bathroom, master bedroom and closets.  My love for v-groove panelling will never waver....  

Staircase runner install in progress

I chose a durable ready made seagrass runner in a chevron pattern with a black binding, by Safavieh.  I like how the black border adds a crisp contrast against the white risers.  I love how the angle of the chevron echoes the gothic peak dormer on the front of the house and the seagrass suits this casual beachside location.  I ordered 2 separate runners which we butt joined together (bound ends cut), it was installed with a pneumatic gun. This is a thick carpet and very rough to the touch.  I chose this specifically for its durability and practicality for our cats.  One of the reasons I was so anxious to get the runner installed is because bare treads are slippery and dangerous for pets and our older cat in particular was having such a hard time, slipping and falling.   

Staircase After

The treads and handrail were painted a satin finish black.  You can clearly see here how the new spindles are inset quite a bit from the edge of the treads, this is a bit further than where I would typically place them, but I'm not bothered by it at all and I'm happy that I did this rather than jog the railing part way up the stairs.

Staircase after.

This is the view from just inside the living room.  We still have some touch up painting to do on the newel posts and clearly we still need some vent covers for the floor. (!) We're working on some custom wood ones, in the meantime we have to figure out how to retrieve all the cat toys that have fallen down the vent.  

Staircase closet door, after.

 The old closet door was clad in the same v-groove planks to make the door look seamless within the panelling.  I opened the door slightly in this photo to illustrate the baseboard is attached to the door.  Its such a good sized closet you can actually 'walk-in'.

Staircase runner, after.

As you can see Lucy (2 years old) just loves the new runner, as does the older guy who I'm happy to see sprinting up the stairs almost as fast as her. 

I had looked forward to dressing the newly finished staircase with cedar or pine garland this holiday season but a mix up in the shipment meant that we didn't get the correct runners delivered until new years eve.  Sooo,,,,it wasn't meant to be this season but next year I'll be ready with bells on and if all else goes according to plan I'll have a fireplace mantle to dress up too. Knock on wood.

An earlier post on the demo progress can be seen here, and check out this post for a sneak peek at the dining room progress here.

All photos and room design by:  Carol Reed

The Art of Planning: Karen's Kitchen

Photo by Donna Griffith, for Style at Home

You may remember last  year I prepared some design sketches for my cyber friend Karen’s chicken coop gates.   If you’re a fan of the Art of Doing Stuff blog, like I am,,,you know Karen doesn’t often need help with anything because she’s a master at figuring how to do stuff herself.  She has a wonderful character style house and over the years she’s done many home improvements and decor projects inside and out.  Not your average homeowner diy's,,,,Karen has an impressive archive of magazine quality 'afters', in fact the inside of her house and her backyard have both been featured in Style at Home magazine which you can admire here and here.

Clearly Karen doesn't need any help in the decor or handyman departments but one of the few things she hasn’t tackled is the house's original 1940‘s kitchen.  She's pretty attached to the old kitchen and its easy to understand why - it oozes an authentic nostalgic charm that’s hard to replace (top photo).  Even the editors at Style at Home couldn't resist photographing and featuring it just the way it is.  Yah, even the "before" picture of Karen's kitchen is magazine worthy. ; )  Inevitably the time has come to replace it and Karen knows enough to know this in’t something she wanted to tackle on her own because the consequences of making mistakes or oversights are daunting, and expensive.  So this is where I came in.  Karen hired me thru my  e-design services to work on the new kitchen plans.  As far as finishes and appliances went she knew what she wanted but what she was struggling with was how to fit all of the new elements together.  She needed a plan.  

ASSESSING...

The first step I take is to review the existing space to assess what's working and what isn't.  The whats not working about her current kitchen might be obvious, but its not all bad.  There are aspects of this kitchen layout that Karen enjoys, particularly the huge expanse of uninterrupted counter space between the sink and range....and having a kitchen table and chairs. To be frank the shortcomings of the kitchen were easy to find solutions for but doing so and maintaining those elements that she loved was truly the challenge.  That and accommodating all of the other things on her wish list.

THE DESIGN BRIEF...

- 'not cookie cutter'

- no new construction

- non-custom cabinets

- more storage

- a range hood

- a glass door fridge

- a furniture style pantry

- a stand alone butcher block table

- a place to sit

- a fixed budget

- did I say 'not cookie cutter'..

Knowing that we couldn’t alter the bathroom, laundry room, mudroom or doorways,,,,,I recognized the biggest obstacle in Karen’s kitchen was the counter height window on the end wall.  It’s location was a prime spot for a range and hood, or a fridge,,,or wall cabinets.  Ideally it needed to be moved to best utilize the space. Unfortunately the window was fairly new and had involved re-stucco’ing the exterior of the house.  The option of moving it or changing it now was not in the budget so it was staying.  Had we not been able to find a workable layout that Karen loved, I would have suggested she hold off until her budget allowed to move the window because it would open up so much more layout potential. 

This is an example of how we could have utilized the wall had we moved the window. We quickly eliminated this option (and variations of it) for budget reasons and moved on.

Even though this layout doesn't appear to be drastically different than the existing, the changes are significant enough that with new, more efficient cabinetry and appliances it would be a big improvement.  This option ticked all the boxes including a 36" range.  It was the front runner,,,,,until,,,, Karen came home with an antique butcher block island that she couldn't resist and that meant a change in plans.  But I've seen and completely approved,,,it's a beauty worth changing things up for.

THE AFTER PLAN....

After exploring more than a dozen layout options we arrived at a final plan that Karen loves (shown above).   You can read Karen's first post about her kitchen reno plans here .......and you'll notice she received no shortage of opinions and suggestions from readers too. ; )   I'm confident in saying they can rest assured that the planning process was extremely thorough and not a single possible option was overlooked.  : )  (We are aware the fridge overlaps the window a tad in this layout but this is the worst case scenario and we're prepared for how to deal with it.  The fridge she's hoping to get is narrower than this but we're planning for the larger option just in case).

True to her vision “not cookie cutter” would be the design mandate and concept for Karen’s new kitchen.  This applies to the layout too. There are a LOT of kitchen design standards, rules of thumb and conventional layouts with their regulated work triangles - well this plan doesn’t necessarily follow all those rules.  And that's perfectly ok.  I can say from experience that the clients who do a lot of serious cooking are the ones who's kitchens stray from generic design standards the most because they have much more specific needs, usually simpler.

When I approach a kitchen plan from scratch I use spacing standards only as a starting point (which also is an instant way to gauge if your footprint is considered tight or generous).  From there I determine how and where adjustments can be made to suit the space and the users specific needs.  There's nothing wrong with conventional layout standards but they simply don’t always fit or work for every situation, that doesn't mean you can't still have a kitchen that's functional - it just means you need more adaptable solutions (while maintaining safety and functionality of course).

In addition to the floor plan I also worked out all of the wall elevations which detail Karen's new cabinetry and will facilitate getting it ordered.  The task of pulling this entire plan together is now in her very capable hands and I can't wait to see it all come together.   Karen has done some savvy networking to co-ordinate a few great collaborations and sponsors for this project.  The design layout reflects the products and publication opportunities that are anticipated thru the collaborations as well as some of Karen’s unique finds so it promises to be an interesting and beautiful transformation story for all parties involved.

You can follow the kitchen reno progress over at The Art of Doing Stuff and I'll post updates here as it starts coming together!