It seems like half the work here and in the house in San Antonio has been with planning. From moving walls to doing things I've never done before, it all involves research to make sure the end result turns out well and the kitchen design is no exception. I've relied most heavily upon two sources. One is my aunt, the other is Houzz. Both were able to help turn what I thought at first would be a layout where there no possible changes that could make it any better into something 10x more useful.
To do all that I had to make a model, and to build that I had to learn how to make a model. Sketchup makes that easy. Within a couple of hours I was hard at work building the kitchen the way it looks now. Over the next couple of weeks of proposing changes and reviewing input from others I have a finished product.
This is an overview from above the living room. The gray area on the floor is the sectional where it currently sits. You can see the columns that used to be drawn on the wall with tape, the missing wall and how the cabinets will finally be. The arched door in the kitchen will have to move over, but it frees up so much space along the long wall. At the right end there's space for a built in refrigerator. We currently have one around 36 inches wide, but we'll be ready for the next one in the future when it goes out someday. The countertop on the peninsula will wrap down to the floor.
It took a long time to figure out flooring but we'll go with a lighter color of wood. There was no natural dividing line between the family room and kitchen anymore due to the peninsula expanding out to take a bit of space from the eat in area and the only thing that made sense anymore was to have the flooring all the same. that means that this project will force this project to carry into the family room rework so it looks like I won't have a break for a LONG time.
Here you can see how the arched doorway has been moved to the right. I'm not sure if I'll relocate the light switch in the dining room or not. You can also see the pantry at the end of the kitchen that's currently unused. It may have three doors - that is yet to be determined.
This is the view from the entry hall. It'll be great to be able to see past the wall that makes the kitchen so dark now.
I've been hard at work on joists, just like the bedroom. It's been pretty slow going because the tile is harder to remove than the wood was, and also because the room is in the middle of everything and I can't just turn it into a giant hole.
More to come soon...
