Friday, August 03, 2012

my extreme kitchen makeover, part 1

My loft kitchen, "before" shot. Stay tuned for the "after."

Well, after 8 years of planning, dreaming, and talking the talk, I'm finally walking the walk and am getting my kitchen redone. The folks who developed my building cut just about every corner when they converted this former warehouse space into lofts. So the basic city kitchen I've endured for almost a decade [and amazingly, have used to develop recipes for my cookbooks] included energy-hogging, low-quality appliances and less-than-perfect [read: crappy] finishes.

Still, I was happy with the basic layout and minimal look. And I love my stainless steel chef's table and Ikea stainless steel 3-drawer unit, since I do a lot of chopping and dough rolling, so I planned around these. I wanted to keep a modern, minimal look.  Here's the layout I ended up going with. F-stop's best friend is doing most of the work [and an amazing job, at that]. The appliances were all are supposed to arrive today – but because of a snafu, only the dishwasher and refrigerator came. The oven arrives next week– at a 10% discount for my trouble. Anyway, I'm at the point of no return. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

New kitchen plan, side view 

New kitchen plan, view with 'fridge area. I decided to skip the top shelves on the refrigerator cabinet since they would be too close to my exposed HVAC, not shown in the drawing. Good feng shui is everything; let that chi flow, baby! 
I chose Ikea Abstrakt high gloss cabinets, like the ones in this picture: white for the sink area and grey for the refrigerator cabinets.  I went with different handles than the ones shown here.

Right now, I am living in a construction zone. This nifty little "tent" keeps the rest of my loft dust-free.

As of last night, I am officially without stove or dishwasher. It's kind of like camping in my kitchen.

From minimalist loft to maximal home improvement clutter. All the wall photos are down, too, to minimize breakage.

Pantry raid! All my non-perishables are now perched on and below my dining room table – and in cupboards, wherever I can find a spare inch of space.
I did get a chance to bake one last pie in my humble "Premier" oven… Chocolate-Pecan Bourbon. Hopefully, I'll be baking pies again sooner rather than later. Please light a candle to the kitchen gods for me!

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10 comments:

Matt said...

I feel your pain! We have a tiny, awful kitchen.

You've great taste and it looks like yours is going to turn out beautifully, though it must be a challenge in the meantime!! Stay nondusty ;)

Unknown said...

I want to redo my kitchen so badly! I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of yours when it's finished! I'm sure it'll look amazing.

Anonymous said...

the plans look awesome! and wow -- that pecan pie -- stop teasing me!! haha looks delish!

Suburban Snow White said...

How exciting! Having a well-designed kitchen is going to make cooking such a joy! Looking forward to seeing it unfold. (And it will give us some ideas on how to redo our own kitchen someday.)

dreaminitvegan said...

How exciting! I've been in your position before and we used our outside grill for almost everything we cooked. You'll be so happy when it comes together. Looking forward to those after shots!

Katie said...

I am so excited to watch your progress!! You deserve a fresh start in your new kitchen, especially after all of the magic you created with such limitations. Can't wait to see how this unfolds!

Daria said...

What recipe did you use for the pie?

urban vegan said...

Daria. The pie recipe is my own. I'm working on perfecting it for my new vegan pie cookbook which will be out next year ... stay tuned. For now, I am still ovenless. Sigh.

GiGi said...

Oh I so dig your new kitch. Congrats, so exciting. My fave color scheme.

Finn said...

Wow what a fantastic work you have shared with us Thanks



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