House Update: Closet and Kitchen Design

Thank you so much for all of your kind words of celebration and encouragement after my blog post announcing that we finally bought a house. Since that post we’ve continued to make a ton of progress! The house seems to look the same because everything we’ve been working on is behind the scenes, electrical, HVAC, and termites.  The pesky termites are hard workers!

They were able to remove and replace all of the termite damaged lumber prior to the house being treated and tented for termites.  Once the tent came off the electricians and HVAC specialists moved in and have been working for the last week on rewiring the entire house (all 943 square feet, ha) and setting up the new heating and cooling system in the attic.  Once that is done we can install the insulation and new sheet rock and finally get a start on all of the fun stuff that you can actually see.

We have our kitchen design and our closet designs finalized so that is a weight off my shoulders.  I’m a bit behind on choosing hardware and lighting but we’ve got our floors, cabinets, tile, and appliances chosen and purchased.  Choosing appliances has got to be one of the most painful things on the planet.  Why? Because they cost a FORTUNE and whoever designs them doesn’t understand that super visual people like me what everything to match and that isn’t an option with most appliance lines. For example, I really like the Thermador cooktop but the oven they sell to go with it doesn’t have the same stainless finish. The Thermador fridge isn’t very appealing and it costs a fortune so the suggestion by the appliance folks is to buy a Kitchenaid fridge but the handle isn’t the same and also is in a different stainless finish. I mean, they should just have appliances for people with OCD, it would make it easier on all spouses and appliance sales people. Just put them in a room, only give 2 options so shoppers can pick A or B.  Maybe that should be my next venture.

I’m really thankful that Chris could spend time at University Electric to come up with a plan and prepare our salesperson Andrew for my upcoming visit to finalize the order.  Andrew totally understood that I wanted matching stainless steel (I really want panels on my fridge and dishwasher but that’s just not in the budget for this tiny house), and matching handles, and great quality.  Surprisingly that isn’t easy to find especially when you need a cooktop and a downdraft.  In the end made decisions and decided to go with Dacor, ended up 55% over the budget, but it’s going to look great! I figure this could be one of the only times I get to choose what I want in a home so I might as well get what I want.

Below is a design of what the kitchen will look like! It’s a small space but now that we opened it up by removing the two walls, that previously closed in,the kitchen, now seems spacious.  We have a cooktop in the island with a built in oven below.  The sink is under the left window, to the right will be the dishwasher.  There will be a wine fridge and a full size fridge/freezer on the left of the door that will be a dutch door (are you following?) The backsplash is mini marble subway tiles will cover the entire back wall.  It might seem like overkill but this is the view that you get when you walk into the house so it needs to be uniform so it looks and feel bigger and make a statement.

On the right side will be kitchen banquette where we will add a table.  I’m struggling to choose the fixture that will go above the table because it is really the only fixture aside from the bathroom vanity fixtures that I get to choose for the interior of the house.  Talk about pressure to get it right! The banquette will match the cabinets and offer lots of storage for overflow pantry items, table linens, and general household items, remember we don’t have a garage.  Gasp, right! We will also have a large pantry on a wall opposite of the side of the fridge (not seen in the drawing)  which will be so great!

Here is a view from the banquette seating area.  To the right of the fridge is a trash and recycling drawer which was majorly on my wish list.  The kitchen is too small to have a trash can out.  Next to that is a wine fridge, a total splurge but something we will use all of the time.  To the right of that are drawers for cutlery, tinfoil and ziplocs, tupperware, etc.

This is the feel that I’m going for in this space, very light and bright.  I’ll add color and texture with the window treatments and the banquette cushions.  The living room is also just adjacent so I’m hoping I can add color there.

Here are the schematic for the kitchen layout with measurements to show you just how much we are jamming into this timing space.

Just a reminder of what it looked like originally…

and where it’s headed, fingers crossed…

It’s really amazing that we can get a walk in closet into this house but it’s something I’ve had in the plan since we started this process.  It’s not huge but we can fit, I know a good professional organizer who can help me purge, ha!

My pal Karin, a designer that we work with all of the time at Valet Custom Cabinets (the best) couldn’t wait to help me fine tune the space and develop a plan, here is what we can up with…

There are two chunks of cabinetry, the top right is storage for me.  There is a laundry hamper on the bottom left with shelves above for shoes.  Then double hang next to long hang for tunic and long sweaters with shelving above for handbags.  The next section will be visible when the closet door is open so we opted for a closed door cabinet for folded sweaters, hoodies, and jeans. Below will be a locking jewelry drawer, and drawers for socks and undies.

The bottom right section is for Chris.  Just double hang.  I know, so sad but he’ll have the storage in a large dresser that will be in the bedroom. He needs to purge a little bit but again, he knows a great professional organizer who can help, ha!

Below is the closet storage plan for the second bedroom/office.  We have long hang on the left for dresses and suits, neither of us have many so we can also put an ironing board there.  Guests can also use this area and the shelves above. The middle is wide open storage that will be perfect for general storage, and bins and baskets.  The right is where the wifi hub will be set up so we have a spot carved out on a shelf for that and the rest can be general storage.

My pal Karin said it’s going to be a tiny jewel box when we are done with it and I think she’s right! My contractor called me to ask if we would consider selling the house instead of moving in because he wants to do another project with us already! I agreed with him that it’s been fun but no way! We’ve waited for this house for a long time and can’t wait to call it home!