The Kitchen Transformation at the West End

There’s nothing I love more than to have continuity between the interior and exterior of a house and the kitchen transformation at the West End did just that. We carried the blue tones from the exterior into the kitchen, dining room, and bathroom, while letting each space have their own personality. Today we’ll look at how we just slightly reworked the kitchen floor plan and then added tons of character and old house charm into this small but impactful kitchen.

The Before

This house was a rental house for several years which meant the kitchen had a lot of wear and tear. It also was dated and the layout did not allow for a dishwasher.

The cabinets were also short with limited storage space and the refrigerator was right up against the door way leading to the dining room.

Right off of the kitchen was an enclosed porch turned laundry room with an adjacent walk-in pantry. Since the washer and dryer obstructed the path to the back door, I knew this space also needed to be reworked.

Reworking the Floor Plan

The Kitchen and Bathroom Shared Wall

The first order of business was to remove and discard of all of the old cabinets and appliances. Once those were gone I then focused on the bump out corner on the left wall as you enter the kitchen. Behind the plaster was a brick column. Since it had no use and ate up space in the adjoining bathroom wall, we tore it out. This gave a little more square footage in the bathroom and on the kitchen side it got framed out to anchor the refrigerator.

The Laundry Nook and Pantry

Along the back wall was a walk-in pantry that we also tore out along with the wall along the laundry nook. This was we could reframe the area to use half for a small kitchen pantry and the other half space for a stackable washer and dryer. These small changes made a big impact for all of these spaces.

The Kitchen Cabinets

The New Layout

With little wall space in this kitchen, I knew I had to make the best use of what space we had. Along the window wall I ended the cabinets up against the wall rather than turning them as previously laid out. This configuration allowed for a dishwasher and a large farmhouse sink and upper cabinets all the way to the ceiling.

Along the opposite wall I switched the appliances around and moved the refrigerator to the far right side up against the new bump out wall. The range was then centered within the rest of the space and above both were more upper cabinets going all the way to the ceiling. With the layout of the kitchen completed and the cabinets ordered, it was time to finalize the color of the cabinets.

Choosing the Cabinet Color

If you’ve followed my renovations for a while, you know I don’t shy away from color. I knew I wanted to continue with the blue tones of the exterior into the kitchen so I picked up several samples. In general my rule is not to try more than three samples. Once you hit sample number four they all start to look the same.

As you can see below I didn’t necessarily follow that rule and complicated it even more so when I started mixing colors. Luckily I found a mix that I liked so I guess the lessen here is to be flexible. I settled on a custom mix of half SW9140 Blustery Sky and half SW7671 On the Rocks.

The After

Kitchen

With the cabinet color selected, I chose to keep the walls and trim simple with a bright white. I then added butcher block countertops, wood shelves, and a stained pantry door to add some warmth to the room. Since the orange back door is within sight, I added a few pops of orange into the kitchen too.

The white farmhouse sink and vintage faucet add some old house character and the brass cabinet pulls and knobs compliment the blue cabinets. To finish off the space I added a classic subway tile backsplash and a mirrored finish to the pantry door. This sweet little kitchen packs a big punch with the color combination and is as efficient for a small space as it is functional.

The Laundry Nook & Mud Room

To wrap up the renovation of these spaces, we turned the area leading to the back door into a mud room. On the left side you’ll also find the washer and dryer tucked into an alcove. This new layout provides better use of the space and shows that with small houses like the West End you just have to be creative to add in all of the necessities.

I know I say this with most of our renovations but I love this little kitchen! In the next post we’ll take a closer look at the bathroom renovation and the remaining interior spaces of the West End.

KITCHEN SOURCES:

PAINT COLORS:
Cabinets-Custom Mix: Half SW9140 Blustery Sky & Half SW7671 On the Rocks
Butcher Block Countertops: Provential Stain

SOURCES:
Farmhouse Sink
Chrome Vintage Faucet
Cabinet Knobs
Subway Tile Backsplash
Butcher Block Countertop

For all of the sources of the West End, click here.