Before and After Kitchen Renovation

My house by the beach was built in 1928 or 1945. I’m still not completely sure. What I am sure about is that it was time for the kitchen to have a makeover. I had always wanted to remove the wall separating the kitchen from the rest of the living space. Originally I was petrified to make any decisions, but with a little help from Home Depot and a lot of help from my awesome contractor, my kitchen exceeded my wildest dreams:

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The kitchen before – wall blocking kitchen area from dining area

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Kitchen – old tile, cabinets and odd location of attached lower counter/table in middle of room

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View from kitchen to deck, which does have water views. One sliding glass door blocked by wall.

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Kitchen sink and window – looks at nearby neighbor’s house. Dated

Demolition day. Goodbye old kitchen
Behind the wall are wires and more…
View from kitchen through to bathroom space. Not much room for insulation due to cement walls so we had to build space for that.
Uncovering wood damage from under the tub in bathroom which is next to kitchen
newspaper article from 1963 in the walls
Sheetrock is up. New wood floor is added to kitchen. There was some wood floor under the old tiled kitchen
The floor is stained dark to blend with rest of house. Cabinets and appliances arrived.
A new closet replaces the unused bathtub, an Aria vanity is installed along with bead board wainscoting
Countertops are in. Subway tile backsplash in too.
The 6 foot island could fit 3 but 2 is more comfortable with chairs from Pier1 Imports
The renovation extended throughout the house with a dining area.
I love my Louis Poulsen light fixture
The couches finally arrived from Wayfair after a 6 month wait. Table and rug from Wayfair as well. Very happy with the look.

runawaywidow

At the age of 51 I unexpectedly became a widow. For the first 6 months after my husband died, I was in shock and numb. I journaled and with the help of friends, family and therapists was able to get back to living my old life, even if it is now very different. Before I was married, I had spent a semester in England and backpacked around Europe. My husband and I moved from New York to California for 8 years and started a family. Travelling took a back seat to raising a family and going to work everyday. Since the loss of my husband I have visited a lot of places with family and friends and took a solo trip to Thailand. I am enjoying sharing my stories and adventures as well as some of my insights to how I am traveling the path of being a widow. I hope to share my stories and adventures as well as some thoughts on being a middle aged widow. While I have some great experiences traveling to Thailand and cruising to Central America, some of my adventures involve a trip to see a Broadway show in nearby Manhattan and a shopping trip at Bed, Bath and Beyond. If I can inspire anyone to go out and continue to live a good life that would be my greatest accomplishment.

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25 Responses

  1. Karen Johnson says:

    Wow, so pretty. You should also add kitchen designer to the list of talents you have.

  2. Dianne says:

    Looks gorgeous Kristin. You and Pete have good taste! Enjoy xoxo

    • runawaywidow says:

      Thanks Dianne – it was actually more fun than I thought it would be and the result so rewarding!

  3. Liz says:

    Looks amazing!! Glad you can at least enjoys your new kitchen during this crazy time at home!

    • runawaywidow says:

      Thanks so much Liz – I’d love to have company, maybe by the summer we can not have to social distance as much!

  4. Audrey Krause says:

    Wow! Your renovations look awesome! The timing couldn’t be more perfect now that you are spending all of your time at home. I’m really happy for you.

    • runawaywidow says:

      Thanks so much Audrey – I am loving the new kitchen and you are right, we are sure spending a lot more time at home these days. Stay well!

  5. Rosemary Martinek says:

    What an awesome job. Thanks for recommendation on where to buy. I love the elephant print. Safari reminder?

    • runawaywidow says:

      Thank you so much Rosemary – yes, the elephant is definitely a reminder of that wonderful trip. So glad I did all that traveling last year, such a disappointment for people who have to cancel their long awaited plans.

  6. This came together so nicely! Great job

    • runawaywidow says:

      Thank you so much. It has had quite a workout this past month with 5 of us sheltering at home. So glad it was finished before this happened!

  7. Leif Price says:

    Awesome! What a beautiful transformation! Very well done!

  8. Wow such a great post. I found the information for which i was looking for. Keep sharing such a great posts, and thanks again.

  9. I enjoyed to visiting your blog. Very nice information.

  10. Loved it!!

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