The Lakefront Kitchen Remodel

Hello again:-)

I am spending WAY too much time reading your blog today:-) I wanted to see what your thoughts were on my lakefront house that we are planning a total kitchen renovation in VERY soon. We are planning on painting all the woodwork in the kitchen white, with the island being rebuilt and painted chocolate brown. I want to keep it light and airy as it is a lakefront property and I want to bring in the blues/browns to decorate. I am unsure of the countertops to use. Keeping in mind this is our second home, budget is a huge factor. I really do not like speckled granite/quartz. I have a shiny black quartz countertop in my home now and absolutely hate it. It is so hard to keep clean. I cannot spend a lot of money in this lakefront home as we are renovating the whole thing. I need to remain frugal. :-) Any ideas would be truly wonderful. :-)

thank you so much and I hope I can get all my pics to you. :-)

deb

Dear Deb,

I will tell you exactly what to do.

1. wood countertop


2. beadboard backsplash


3. stained island


4. wood floor
   
   

1. Wood counters are a less commonly used material- but generally speaking- you can get them for a fraction of the price of other solid surfaces. Sure- they require some maintenance- but they are timeless, charming, and inexpensive. You can't get a bigger bang for your buck.

2. Beadboard backsplash. Forget the expense of a tile backsplash- purchase 4 x 8 sheets- and go beadboard. Again- charming, timeless, classic, and inexpensive. Paint it to match the cabinets. The perfect look for lakefront property.

3. Stained island. I don't like wood painted brown. Wood is brown. Wood painted brown doesn't make sense to me. You said it was being rebuilt- don't paint- stain. With the wood counters on the other area- and now that we are staining the island- do a different surface on the island counter. I would do a grayish black soapstone. If that is too expensive- stay with the white cabinets and wood counter. The backside of your bar can be beadboard to tie it together.

One more thing- if you don't NEED the privacy- remove all of those blinds and valances and put in cafe curtains. We need a little more charm in your place. :) Look at the picture at the top of the post. These would be extremely inexpensive to make or have made- and what a great look! Add chrome or black hardware. (I would probably do black.)

Thanks for writing in, and thanks for spending too much time on my blog. :)

- Christine

PS- Remember that the blue and brown combination is trendy- bring it in though dishes, pitchers and wall decor, not permanent items like backsplashes and islands.

The Better Kitchen Triangle

Christine,
I'm sending you some more pictures of my kitchen that you posted on your blog under "The Good Triangle" dated October 2nd.

I liked your idea of having the range on one wall and keeping it pretty. I understand the triangle, but with your suggestions it doesn't seem feasible because of the size of the room. I attached some measurements to get more of your input.

I also attached a picture of a plan that Lowe's came up with.

My two ideas I'm considering is:
1) The plan that Lowe's came up with, which is a peninsula island.
2) The second idea would to be having a floating island instead of the peninsula.

As you can see, the kitchen is small and challenging......which is why I'm still up in the air with things.

Thanks,
Elizabeth

Dear Elizabeth,

Is Lowe's plan alright- yes. It is perfectly fine. However if I could have just the stove and not the refrigerator on the stove wall- I would try for that. The prettier we can make the focal point wall in the kitchen- the better. I found a nice focal point kitchen for you in Veranda- at the top of the post. Now imagine a refrigerator right by the cooktop...

It also makes a better working triangle to not have the stove and refrigerator on the same plane- as it separates your work areas- giving you more space around them. In your case it gives you more counter space near your cooktop. This is even more of an issue if your kitchen is likely to have more than one person using it at a time.

With the floorplan that you e-mailed me (thanks- I love having measurements)- I drew an idea for you. Having the peninsula come out from the other side is another option. Your window there would require you to lower the height of the counter surface- and the width of the room would require you to have it be a shallow area- unconventional- yes- but what a great place to have a cookbook shelves mixed with display of serving pieces. You could also add a couple of baskets to store napkins- etc. I also added some floating shelves on the right hand side for more storage and display.

Please send us an "after" shot. I love complete re-models. They excite me. :)

If my entire response was too slow and you are already finished- I apologize- I try to answer in the order questions are received... BTW- did I suggest eliminating the soffit before?

Thanks for writing in,

Christine