Ten years – My Kitchen then, now and what the future may hold

Our kitchen. When I tackled this place ten years ago it was really a deep breath and I just jumped in. There was no other way to do it lol It was all or nothing and this is what I wanted more than anything. Though I was quite terrified! Of all the projects and rooms of this house I definitely tackled this kitchen with the same attitude. I’d certainly never built a kitchen before! But with all of the new walls and builds in this home behind me I had all the tools and, at least, some experience then to back me up.

I’m not sure how often it happened with this house but I think it was probably daily when I thought to myself, “I sure hope this works!”

One thing I got right with our kitchen (at least for me) is that it’s a COOK’s kitchen. It is not “we can all gather in here to chat” type of kitchen. The limit is only about 2 or 3 of us working here at one time before we get in each other’s way.

I guess in that sense you could call our kitchen small but, to me, it isn’t small at all but a true galley kitchen. I love to cook so that was my goal all along.

Cooking in here is so efficient and easy – nothing is more than a couple steps away.

Building my own kitchen cabinets was a shot in the dark for me (totally one of those, “I hope this works!” moments) but because I did we have a lot more storage than if I had purchased box cabinets. I really utilized every. single. inch. from floor to ceiling!

Also box cabinets would have been a total nightmare to put in as there is nothing level about this old house and this kitchen is the worst room.

(They didn’t support the second floor properly when they took out a wall that was once here… leaving the ceiling to sag over four inches. We did our best to jack it up before putting in the beams and we did wonders but the damage was done to the entire structure. If you want a perfectly level house you build from scratch lol.)

Another thing I love is that our outdoor buffet and grill is literally just outside the back door, two steps from the refrigerator. Its so close, in fact, that it feels like our kitchen just gets bigger when the weather is nice. SO convenient!

Over the years things have changed just like everything. Getting rid of the wood stove in the middle of the kitchen was the best thing I ever did for this home and space. (I replaced it with our pellet stove by the sink that we both love.)

It meant I could expand the closet under the stairs and extend the wall beside the stove to accommodate our hutch. (That was back in 2019 when I tore our kitchen a part lol.) I still wouldn’t call our kitchen small but that hutch was a game changer. Almost every bowl, plate and glassware that we use fits in there.

My grandparents built it so I loved it anyway but being able to truly use it in our every day life is just awesome.

When I built the cabinet above the refrigerator I measured to what I thought was the top of the refrigerator which wasn’t actually the top unfortunately. I missed the top hinges that stick up about two more inches on either side which means our refrigerator sticks out from the cabinet and countertop.

Its not a lot but it bugs me lol.

It is a galley kitchen after all and anything that comes into it does make it feel more like a cramped hallway. (So many times I’ve almost grabbed my reciprocating saw and just modified the cabinet…)

I refuse to replace a perfectly good refrigerator but, when we do, we will absolutely be getting something shorter and wider!

(Right now we have a rolling pantry beside the refrigerator so we have some extra space to go wider.)

One thing that not everyone will agree with is that I put all of our appliances at the “ends” of our countertops. Why do people not like this? Appliances (or sinks) almost ALWAYS end up in the middle of kitchens because most people think “centered” looks better.

I don’t care if it looks better lol.

I know with absolute certainty that a normal kitchen design would have put our stove smack dab in the middle of that countertop. That would mean only a 2 foot wide work space on either side of the stove… ridiculous.

Why wouldn’t I choose a four foot run of workspace instead?

Apparently I’ve cooked in lots of what I would deem truly horribly designed kitchens when it comes to actual cooking lol. I remember one rental house a friend of mine lived in years ago. There were FIVE separate work surfaces and none of them were wider than 2 and 1/2 feet. The stove and kitchen sink were centered on their respective walls, breaking up all of the countertops.

Between our sink and refrigerator we have almost 8 FEET of counter top!

And we have over four feet of work space over by the stove.

Talking about counter tops: Lodi gave me the most amazing valentines gift ever of those incredible new counters. I love that we chose different types for the two different work places.

Lodi and I have talked many times about changing up the heating / cooling of this home. It would cost a lot but to have something like central heating and air conditioning would be pretty spectacular.

When that day ever comes I could see us also deciding to take out our pellet stove. Right now it is our main source of heat in the winter which means we’re hauling hundreds of bags and pounds of pellets around for six months out of the year…

We’re certainly not going to want to be doing that forever!

Though we may keep the pellet stove because its a nice little “fire” to curl up beside on cold days getting rid of it would mean opening up that whole space there by the sink for more storage or even seating. And the closet under the stairs (that now stores all of our pellets) would make a great pantry.

Truer words have never been spoken when they said a house is never done!

We change, we grow older, our needs change and thus our spaces change with us too.

Something I’ve ALWAYS wanted is to put a screened in porch off that door right by the pellet stove. That’s to the north so we don’t get much light from there anyway, it would be a wind break in the winter and give me the porch I’ve always wanted!

And what 100 year old farmhouse doesn’t just have to have a screened in porch!

Here’s our last kitchen reveal post from back in 2019.