Expanding the kitchen. . .

You've already read about the addition of the kitchen backsplash. Another major issue with the kitchen was the lack of counter space, not to mention the absence of a dishwasher. Having lived without the dishwasher for nearly 5 years, we sort of got used to it. However, in order to even think about adding that luxury, we had to make a few more changes.

From the before pictures, you can see we had one long counter along one side of the kitchen, with the refrigerator taking up an entire corner. The first step to making room for more counter space was to move the fridge. Before we could move the fridge, we had to find it a new place to live. Luckily, behind the door with the white curtain was the mudroom/dog room. The biggest drawback was that the room only had a screen door separating it from the backyard.

Before:





The first construction step was to remove the screen door and install a new exterior door. Once that was done, the fridge could be moved, and the 'interior' door removed as well.

After:




       

With a few minor touch ups to the construction aspect, it now looks like this door was part of the house all along. I think Blake misses his mudroom, but he's gotten used to it now.

An upcoming blog entry will show the additional improvements made in the kitchen including moving some cabinets and the installation of a dishwasher!