Not the best pictures here but you can see how new tile, a tub and improved lighting make a big difference. My husband did all the work himself (except for carrying the new tub upstairs).
Before and After (below)
Here was our original traditional Washington, DC rowhouse kitchen. The original room had one small window and one tiny door. It had very little storage space and there was very little counter space to prep food.
BEFORE:
ALMOST AFTER:
To maximize the light and space to make our rowhouse kitchen modern (yet warm and natural) we removed the small window and door and put in this huge telescoping door that stacks as it slides totally open to what will be a new deck. Everything is new new new and I can barely recognize the old room. Thank goodness!
Finally, we found some modern cabinets that are stylish that we can actually afford. Both options are great Ikea alternatives.
1. Firuze located just outside of DC in Virginia has a few great contemporary lines. See below. They are about half of the price of all the other cabinets we’ve shown so far. Yay for price and style!
Yay for price and style! The materials are better than Ikea but not by much. These were not nearly as nice as the other cabinets I’ve shown thus far. So after MUCH deliberation and thought we ended up going with our now FAVORITE cost effective, modern cabinets which we bought from Porcelenosa.
2. Porcelenosa is located just outside of Washington DC in Maryland. It has a small but great showroom. They carry a line called Gammadecor which is made in Spain. The selection is huge, the colors are great and the materials still feel very high end.
G680 Roble verde caqui / Roble nature
G680 Roble cacao / Roble blanco cal
G680 Roble cacao / Roble blanco cal
G680 Nogal pardo / Yeso brillo
So glad we don’t have to spend any more weekends cabinet shopping!
We went to The Design Center in Washington, DC and really liked the Poliform Showroom and their talented design staff. They had a strong point of view and were open with their creative ideas. They are used to working with narrow row house kitchens and had great suggestions regarding the design and how to use space efficiently.
In the end, the cabinets we wanted were still too expensive for us but the quality was high and it was almost doable compared to everything we saw in New York. The search continues.
We’ve remodeled our basement kitchen (will post one day) with Ikea cabinets and it turned out well but we are hoping for something more sophisticated and unique for our upstairs kitchen. We want the space to be contemporary but still feel warm with a modern yet natural look. Here were our two favorites from a recent NYC trip:
1. Eggersman Kitchens www.eggersmannusa.com:
We started by going to the Design Center in New York for inspiration. Our favorite Cabinets there were made by Eggersman. They capture the modern yet warm aesthetic and we appreciated the organic and natural materials they use. This was our favorite model in their showroom but they were all gorgeous.
2. HenryBuilt www.henrybuilt.com
We were just walking down the street and stumbled upon the Henrybuilt showroom.
Everything is super customized, unique and thoughtfully done.
Henrybuilt materials we loved:
Colors:
Corda, Argento, Grigio, Giallo Isabella, Rosso Arancio
High Pressure Laminates:
Gun Metal, Ash, Stonedust, Neutral Gray, Shadow and Slate
Wood:
Bamboo and Walnut are both great but could be convinced to consider others.
Countertops:
Not sure that we want Corian but I like: Bone, Cargo and Pewter colors
The service and designers were great at both showrooms and we would have loved to work with either but both estimated that a kitchen our size would start at $40,000 (way over our budget) so the search continues. We don’t want to pay that price but we don’t want to settle for the standard Home Depot and Ikea cabinets. So we set out to find the middle ground. More info on cost effective creative kitchens soon.
It was officially the hottest month ever on record in DC. Not the best time to be remodeling with open walls and no air conditioning… all while being 8 months pregnant. That said, we are thrilled to report that we finally have new windows and doors!
We pushed back our garden wall to make a space for a little front patio. We also removed the brick patio, the basement AC unit, and relocated that electrical panel.
We used to be paranoid that our basement would flood because we didn’t have a drain in that basement area at all. Fortunately, the guys found an already working drain for us to tap into while they excavated the patio. Apparently, it used to be there but a previous owner had burried it years ago. It is so nice and rare to find a construction surprise that saves money rather than costs more.
The framing is almost done. Next we’ll get to the brick and the windows.
I actually did sing the below while posting this. Hope my little nieces and nephews will too.
When the wall board came down we realized we have two old chimneys taking up lots of space in our living area and kitchen.
We had to have a structural engineer tell us how we could remove all the bricks on this floor while leaving them in place on the top two floors. These intimidating HUGE steel beams are going to now how have to be installed at the top.
Hopefully, these big boys will be installed by about 15 guys this week. Notice the ceiling had to be removed. Bye, bye stairs too.
Cher-oo!
After months of work with the Historic Preservation Department in DC, we’ve finally received approval to add french doors and a balcony above our (soon to be built) Bay window. It was looking unlikely that it would be approved until I had to present our plans to the neighborhood conservancy and they finally sent their evaluation (below).
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“The Conservancy supports the replacement of the original bay and bay window above with the addition of doors open to a balcony situated above the bay with no mullions and no transoms in the doors. We recommend the Italianate railing. We commend the design to keep the rail low by lowering the level of the balcony.” Passed unanimously.
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My favorite part was that the large and very serious group passed it unanimously. 🙂
Here are some inspiration DC bay window pics.
We will have a balcony above our bay window so we may need to have a dipped ceiling like this one.
I like the colors below and the minimalist window treatments that give you light but privacy too. We’re hoping to find a mini loveseat that will fit in the window like this one.
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