The one with the... Kitchen Makeover (Part 1- The Grand Plan)

Right before Thanksgiving, we started (and finished) giving our kitchen a makeover. Because the kitchen makeover consisted of multiple major projects, we'll be splitting it up into multiple blog posts. This is Part 1, which will give the background on how we arrived at the decision to give the kitchen a makeover.    

Although we usually plan out our projects ahead of time, as any homeowner knows, things don't always happen as you plan it.  We had not planned to redo our kitchen for some time.  Dave and I had discussed renovating our whole kitchen some time in the future because kitchen renovations (new cabinets, counter top, appliances, etc.) are very expensive.  Our kitchen was still functional and according to a recent appraisal we had done for the house, the appraiser estimated the cabinets and counter tops to be about 5-7 years old.  So we figured we had another good 5-10 years before we had to renovate.  Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it... the kitchen appliances had a different agenda.       

The story of how our kitchen makeover came to be reminds me of the children's book If You Give A Mouse A Cookie (minus the mouse and the cookie).  It all started with a broken burner on our electric cooktop. One day the front right burner just stopped heating up and unfortunately that was also the burner that we used the most.  :(  As you can see, it was a pretty old cooktop anyway. I never liked the cooktop because of the raised rusty burners-- it was old and very difficult to keep clean!  With the large burner in the front out, we had to resort to using the larger one in the back.  This wouldn't have been that big of a deal if we didn't have a clearance issue with the microwave/hood that was installed only 13 inches above the cooktop.  Now I'm no professional but I knew there was a problem the first time I tried using the back burners and could barely stir the pot with a spoon because I didn't have enough clearance. And if I'm boiling pasta or something in my tall pot, I could barely see what I was cooking!  

So... we decided that while we were replacing the cooktop, we might as well replace the microwave/hood so that we could fix the clearance issue.  However, because we couldn't replace the cabinet that was above the microwave-- there is an air duct that vents to the outside behind the cabinet-- our only option was to get a regular range hood that doesn't hang down as far as a microwave/hood combo would.  But that means we'd have to put  the microwave somewhere else.  

   

There isn't really room in our kitchen to install a built in microwave anywhere, and getting a regular microwave that sits on the countertop was a no-go for me because I am a fan of clean, decluttered countertops.  One possible solution that we considered was to replace our double wall oven with a microwave and just a single wall oven.  However, I really liked having the double ovens especially for holidays so I could have twice the space in the oven to cook yummy dishes!  As spoiled as it sounds, I didn't want to lose the second oven... 

I was telling my friend Katie in Oklahoma about my microwave dilemma because she and her husband Aaron had recently renovated their kitchen.  Then Katie told me about the wonders of the magical GE Profile Advantium Oven, which doubles as an oven AND a microwave!  She had just put in an Advantium in their kitchen and she LOVED it!!  So off to the internet I went to find and read everything that I could about the Advantium.  After a little bit of research I learned that this was a very versatile appliance, but the downside is that it is not cheap.  Thanks to my amazing sales pitch skillz, Dave was sold on the Advantium, even with its pricey price tag!! :)    

Of course if we replace the double oven with the Advantium, we'd have to get a new single wall oven too.  So now we're up to 4 new appliances!  

While we're on the topic of appliances, we didn't blog about this so some of you may not know that in the past year, we had already replaced the dishwasher AND the refrigerator because both decided to die within 2 years of us moving into the house.  Unfortunately the home warranty that the sellers so nicely bought us did not cover the repairs/replacement.  With the replacement of the 4 appliances (cooktop, range hood, Advantium, wall oven), we would have all new appliances in the kitchen. 

This is what the kitchen looked like when we bought the house: 

The other side of the kitchen with the wall ovens and the old refrigerator. 

I also switched out the hardware from the ugly gold/brass ones:

We had to find new pulls online because we couldn't find any hardware at a brick and mortar store that would fit the existing holes in the cabinets.  I searched far and wide and ended up with these brushed nickel pulls that cost $6 a piece!! (I apologize I don't have a better picture): 

In an attempt to spruce up the kitchen when we moved in, I painted the walls red.  This is what the kitchen looked like right before the makeover began: 

A shot of the double wall ovens:  

Oh!  One thing I almost forgot!  Notice the really old looking trash compactor?  Here's a closer picture: 

That's definitely gotta go!  I don't know anyone who uses a trash compactor anymore!  We used it to store trashbags and other plastic bags, but other than for storage it was pretty much useless.  The trash compactor is one appliance that's NOT getting replaced.  What's going in there instead?  A new base cabinet and an awesome KitchenAid Mixer stand!   See in the picture below how it pulls out from underneath and sits on its own shelf? 

Isn't that the coolest thing you've ever seen?  It creates a special cubbie for the KitchenAid stand mixer so it doesn't take up counter space! Anyone who has a KitchenAid stand mixer knows that 1) it's the best mixer EVER, and 2) it weighs A TON!!  So having this shelf that can be pulled up and down without having to pick it up will be awesome!!   

So that's it!  Those are our plans for the appliances in the kitchen!  Stay tuned to see our trials and errors of installing the four appliances and see what other plans we came up with for the kitchen makeover!