Diary of a Kitchen Renovation, Part 7 – We’re Cooking With Gas! (AFTER PICS)

I was having fun, snarking about all the unfun surprises, delays and headaches that go into renovating a kitchen, but I’ve had the snark smacked out of me by the beauty that is our totally remodeled, still tiny, but dreamy-to-me kitchen.

Would you like to take a tour? Come on in, have a glass of wine. Just for God’s sake take your shoes off! Jk, jk. So, remember how we used to have a hole instead of an oven?

Now there’s a fancy range with six working burners! More than I deserve! And the built-in microwave was swapped out for a ventilation hood, which is much prettier, and doesn’t scream “I microwave on the daily” (even though I do).

Before the remodel, we had this bizarre split sink that not only didn’t fit our large pots but also caused copious water spillage, mostly down my front.

But now, voila! One big sink, with the counter angled to meet the body of the person cleaning up (not it, not it!). It’s so much easier to use and also really good at hiding dirty dishes.

In the old kitchen, my out-of-control cookbook collection sat right on the counter, meaning I spilled liquids under the books constantly, gluing half the pages together (this is likely how Rachel wound up making meat trifle for Ross and Joey).

In the new kitchen, tada! Floating shelves just for me and my fetish.

And the Franke sink came with a cutting board that fits onto it, so i can just chop and sweep. It’s brilliant. Did you all know things like this existed? I had no idea.

But wait, there’s more! We replaced the serviceable but very 90s brown speckled counters with this Quartz prettiness that Dave selected. Props to my husband, he has an eye. (It’s Vadara Bianco Molassa, for those who like to know these things.)

I love how it ties in with the new floor.

We used to trip over our trash can, which half blocked the patio door. Now we have one of those stealthy drawers. Recycling too!

Another cool small-kitchen solution–a pull-out pantry! I love this thing!

I did lose a bit of counter/cabinet space in exchange, but a person needs a place to put her enormous collection of carbs.

Luckily, we gained extra cabinet space in the form of this hutch slash perfect party cocktail area:

And the lower cabinets come with cute and practical sliders so every item has its own place and doesn’t come crashing down on my toes when I pull out a pan.

If you recall, we couldn’t increase the window size as much as I’d wanted to, but the 5″ gained still feels bigger and brighter to us:

And lastly, check these hilariously tiny drawers to the right of the fridge. I’ve got tea bags in there right now (they’re too short for spice jars) but would love to hear what you would do with them. I’m pretty sure they’re just filling a hole but they make me giggle.

Truly, the only thing wrong with this kitchen now is that the people in my house expect me to USE IT. It’s like 85 degrees outside and I’m supposed to turn on the oven? Which is how I wound up making these room temp items from What’s Gaby Cooking, my favorite source for summer eats. (Not an ad, just an obsession).