When we walked into the listing that became our home a few years ago, the incredible sunlight streaming into the living room gave me that flutter in my stomach — I knew this was the one. Never mind the fact we hadn’t been looking at houses seriously at all and I wasn’t even sure if I was interested in the neighborhood — the dappled natural light blinded me to the house’s… idiosyncrasies. So when we came back the next time, already in contract, we saw the house through fresh eyes. Including, especially, the kitchen that hadn’t been touched since the house was originally built in 1960.
We hired a contractor, and we brought them through and explained what we (I) wanted.

Expectation: I’m a kitchen girl, always have been, always will be. For me, it’s the most important place in the house, and, considering we were working with a budget, I knew that while I wanted it to look and feel like the kitchen I envisioned, it couldn’t break the bank. A major thing to take into consideration was that we knew we would need to do an extension within 10 years that would necessitate a complete revamp of my entire first floor, including the kitchen: another reason to keep the budget reasonable. That means that we did not hire a kitchen designer, and we worked with our contractor, who went above and beyond with helping us source inexpensive materials to make it all work. Expectation: I’m not high maintenance, and I don’t need hand-holding. I’ll be fine.

First Things First: The Structure

The original kitchen had one counter, one sink, and a wall which abutted the dining room, along which was a tiny table. I needed more prep space, more sink space, and a way to make my home feel more open and take advantage of the natural light we loved so much.

Reality: The only way to do that was to take down the wall between the kitchen and dining room, and place a plumbed peninsula in the space where the wall and table used to be. We could have stools for the peninsula that could be stored neatly underneath the counter when not in use. That became my milchig counter and sink, and the kitchen table.

This worked out great, except that whenever I have guests, they can see straight into the kitchen. Not ideal, but worth it for the maximized space.