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alicia_marsh44

Kitchen renovation when you can only do half

Kit Evans
2 years ago

Thanks to a water leak, one whole wall of our kitchen, the one with the sink, dishwasher, and fridge, needs to be torn out and replaced.

The cabinets are custom built … forty years ago out of press wood, apparently by someone who’d only seen pictures of kitchens. We learned from a an earlier water-induced bathroom renovation (this place has bad luck with water) that there’s no way to pull out the cabinets and put them back. Thanks to the material used they fall apart when touched so full replacements are needed.

I won’t be sorry to see the cabinets go but unfortunately insurance will only pay to replace the ones along that wall, leaving the remaining 2/3rds of the kitchen with the original (awful) cabinets. We can’t just pay the difference and modernize it all- this is a rectory so owned by our church, not us - so we’ve got some choices to make.

So here’s the challenge: what cabinets, countertop, and backsplash can we go with so the kitchen looks like the different wall is deliberate and not some Frankenstein creation? While I’m not looking forwards to the process, I’m THRILLED at the prospect of a (slightly) nicer kitchen.

A few notes:

  • Sink, dishwasher, and fridge stay on that wall but placement on that wall can change, though the current layout works fine.
  • I’d prefer to have cabinets over shelves but that’s flexible
  • I like the current countertop, fake and cheap as it is.
  • there’s no pantry (seriously- two ovens but no pantry!) so if there any way to fit one in, that would be incredible.
  • I’d love a different paint color -blues and greens are my favorite. Anything to liven up this room!

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