Modernish Kitchen Remodel: Before Pictures

Demolition is supposed to start in a couple weeks, so we thought we'd take some "before" pics in the current state (which is pretty clean by our standards). Just for reference the front door of the house opens to the middle of the living/dining area; if you were to keep walking straight in you'd go down a hallway leading to the bedrooms. The kitchen is off to your right as you walk in the front door. Once you're in the kitchen if you turn to the left (facing west), the back door leading to the deck is visible.

Most of the kitchen is original. The cabinets have worn paint, are dented in spots, have terrible closures, and are friction (no rollers). The countertops are white tile that is chipped with complimentary ugly, dirty grout. The electric range is from 1962 (the original owner gave us the manual) with 3 out of 4 burners functional, and a oven door that stays mostly closed. For some reason they capped off the original gas and got rid of the range that must have been there the first 5 years. We just bought the dishwasher about 3 years ago; if you can't tell, it's a roll-around that connects to the sink. The sink is pock-marked and starting to rust through on the bottom. The sheet vinyl floor is on top of two other layers, the height of which makes the pocket door to the living room almost impossible to open. We could go on, but you probably get the point.

The 1950's kitchen has a bit of charm that isn't lost on us. The style is really neat, and there's some cool features. I kinda like the subtle backsplash. But it's not very functional, and is a poor use of space.

We had originally intended to just replace everything with new stuff in the same place; like the floors, cabinets, countertops, etc., just to update it. But then one of those darn architects has this bright idea about opening up the kitchen to the living room, and designing the kitchen from scratch so it would flow properly and be the best use of space.

I'll probably post some of the design stuff next.