Monday, May 07, 2007

Before and After

Monday, May 7, 2007
I promised some before and after pictures of the kitchen, and then I'm done talking about the kitchen and back to baking bread.
This is the wall facing north, or the sink wall:


More windows now, so there's a lot more natural light. No cabinets at all on this wall. I wanted more cabinets and fewer windows; Michael wanted more windows and told me I'd have all the cabinets I'd need.
This is the east wall, facing out on the rear garden.


The west wall now has a beautiful Viking cooktop.

Before, it had an old stove that never sat straight on the floor. Whenever you sauteed something, all the oil (and eventually the food) immediately moved over to the lower part of the stove. Both Jim and I marveled when we used the new cooktop--the oil stayed where you put it! Miraculous!

The old sink:

The new sink:

The pantry area now has lots of little nooks and crannies, but also has big enough spaces so I can have most of my bread-baking equipment in one area:


Before, there was space there, but it wasn't pretty.

There's a lot happening on the south wall now--the refrigerator, cabinets, a wine rack, the oven.
Before, it was just a wall with a small kitchen table.

Before the remodel, there was a door just leading from the kitchen to the hallway:

Now, no more wasted space.

Closeups of the knobs and pulls:


Before, my cookbooks were smooshed into a small space above the microwave in the pantry.

Now, most of them are in a long shelf beside the refrigerator and above the doorway to the new pantry. The shelf is long enough that there are even empty spaces on the shelf, although I just uncovered another box of cookbooks in the basement.

A smaller shelf next to the cooktop holds the books that I use most frequently. Note the burgeoning number (well, four) of bread cookbooks.


I'm gradually getting used to the kitchen, and it is gradually becoming my own space, although even a fancy kitchen doesn't guarantee that you won't mess up a recipe.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is quite a transformation. I think it looks 'purty'. I was hoping for a close up of your knobs.(uhhh, don't take that the wrong way.) The cabinet knobs.
Where are all your cookbooks now?

doughadear said...

Very nice! Everything shiny and new you probably can't wait to get home from work to cook in it.

jini said...

marie, it is absolutely gorgeous! i'm sure you are enjoying having more light as well as using all the new appliances and cabinets.....and the new large sink! how great to see the before and after in photos.
ENJOY!!

Marie said...

Melinda,
I added closeups of the knobs and pulls, and am going to add photos of the cookbooks, as soon as I get around to it.

Doughadear,
Believe it or not, there are still times when I come home from work and don't feel like cooking--then I feel guilty. Last week when that happened, I made an omelet instead of getting takeout, and felt quite pleased with myself for being virtuous.

Jini,
Thanks! I'm enjoying them a lot.

Anonymous said...

Nice knobs, Marie!

jini said...

marie, i am wondering about which kitchen scale to purchase. i saw that you mentioned the "my scale", (possibly the uber kitchen scale?) and am wondering how you decided on that one and if you are pleased with it. i have been looking at the soehnle kitchen scale too....i need a pro's advice before i dive into the baking bread thing. help??
thanks!!

June said...

Everything looks great! Enjoy your new space!

jini said...

i meant "my weigh" scale. :(

Marie said...

Jini,
I picked the My Weigh scale because Rose recommended it on her blog as a high-quality scale that was much less expensive than the scales she'd previously recommended. I was such a novice that I didn't even know what "tare" meant. I'm hooked on measuring by weight now, and get a little irritated by recipes that don't give that option. I'm definitely not an expert, but I'm very happy with the My Weigh scale.

June,
Are you going to try Rose's instructions for sourdough starter again? If you do, let me know how it turns out.

jini said...

i am a total novice bread baker, and i appreciate your advice. i just ordered the my weigh kd 7000. i guess i will now have an excuse to put off that first loaf till the scale arrives! THANKS marie!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the tour! It 's such a welcoming, warm, functional space.

Love your hardware choice; it's absolutely perfect.

I think most of all, I love that awesome cooktop!!! (land I love that tile work behind it; it fits so perfectly)

... and the couners... space to work! And the wall of cupboards... a place for everything!

It all harmonizes. all fits together. So aesthetic! So functional!

Congrats. You surely deserve this beautiful kitchen.

You Really culled those cookbooks down. I was glad you added that pic; I'd been wondering what you'd do about your stacks of them! And now I can peruse your shelf!!! Always fun to look at a person's cookbook collection. I'd been thinking about finding a copy of Rose's Christmas Cookies. Seeing it there on your shelf reminded me!

Marissa

Marie said...

Marissa,
The cooktop is amazing--I feel like such a chef when I cook on it. I think the hardware is perfect with the cabinets--but I get only a little credit for that. Michael narrowed the selection down to three, and I only got to choose from those three.
I always make at least one recipe from Rose's Christmas Cookie book every holiday season, and none of the recipes has ever disappointed me. I highly recommend it.

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you said you recommend the Christmas Cookie book. I'd kind of assumed that since it made the new shelves, it had to be good, and not just there for its looks, though it is a sweet looking book.

You are so good at responding to our responses! It's wonderful.

Also, I like how your remodeler gave you limited good choices. You still had choice, you were saved the agony and time of searching yourself, yet you knew that anything you selected would look good. That' seems like the best of all worlds.

Marissa

Marie said...

Marissa,
You're right--if I hadn't had those limited choices, I would have been paralyzed. Michael's style of limited choices worked very well for me.
It's fun to get comments on this blog--it makes it seem less like I'm talking to myself.

Anonymous said...

BBC

Beautiful job! I was peeking at your cookbooks and was wondering if you could give me a quick review of Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker. I heardbout it on my local NPR station and was intrigued. I have a slow cooker, and I never seem to get a good meal out of it (meat is dry, but with lots of juice to go over top). And most of the recipes I find are of the "add a can of condensed soup" type. Will this cookbook make me blow the dust off my slow cooker? Thanks
Chris in RI
oh and your sourdough starter success made me try my own again. This time I vow to be more patient, and no bad language. Around the starter.

Marie said...

Chris,
I borrowed my daughter's slow cooker when we were kitchen-less, and bought the cookbook because I didn't like the cream-of-something soup recipes I was finding on the internet. I only made one or two of the recipes, and I thought they were pretty good, but not amazing. When I gave the cooker back to Sarah, I gave her the cookbook too. Now that I have my beautiful new Lodge dutch oven, I'd rather use that in a regular oven than use the slow cooker. (Of course, the cost of the Lodge dutch oven is a lot more than the cost of the cookbook).
My starter seems to have forgiven me for my bad language. Maybe it makes them tougher.

Rosa said...

Wow, what a difference in your kitchen!! I came upon your blog somehow--don't quite remember how now, you know how it is. We are in the midst of redoing our kitchen. I am so happy to see that it is all worth it! Yours is just fab! And your breads! You have motivated me to learn to bake. I've never been good at it and perhaps the new kitchen will give me new superpowers in the oven area! What a wonderful idea on christening your kitchen too. How fun!

Marie said...

Rosa,
Good luck on your kitchen! Now I can hardly remember the days of dirt and dust all over the house and the microwave and dishpan in the basement! Yes, it is worth it, and I hope that you also fall in love with baking. (I was never much of a baker either).