Notes from a Hoarder's Haven: The Kitchen and Dining Room

This past weekend I went to stay at my sister and brother-in-law's new house in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A year ago, shortly after they married, Andrea and Paul purchased a spacious bungalow east of the city that the previous family had owned for the better part of the century. Unfortunately, it had sat empty the past few years as the owner's children had moved their aging mother into a retirement community. Fun fact about that aging woman: she was a hoarder. And included in the purchase price for Andrea and Paul were the entire contents of the house. Not such a good thing when you look at what the dining room and kitchen looked like a year ago...

A woman was actually living like that. And it was Andrea and Paul's job to get rid of it all.

And bit by bit, they cleared away all the junk. EIGHT DUMPSTERS FULL OF JUNK!

And as is the case with most renovations, quite a few walls came down. They opened up the space by knocking down the wall between the kitchen and the dining room, eliminating the butler's pantry that had been in the back part of the house connecting the two rooms, moving doorways, and taking out a tiny powder room and servant's staircase that allowed them to expand the kitchen, as well.

 

New cabinets, appliances, and bamboo floors are installed in the new, spacious kitchen. Mind you, Paul did 90% of all this work himself, with the generous help of his family (who lives nearby) and friends.

And one year later...

...my family gathered at Andrea and Paul's lovely new home for a weekend of wine, great food, four puppies, and fun. Excuse the mess and the scaffolding in the dining room. They moved in two days before we arrived, and as you can see, there is still work to be done. It's really down to the details now. Hardware on the cabinets, painting the baseboards, finish installing light fixtures, etc. And then the best part: decorating.

In other words, you can expect many more posts on this project in the near future!

A few notes about the new kitchen:

- cabinets are Ikea

- countertops are soapstone

- kitchen faucet is a bridge faucet from Home Depot

- kitchen floors are bamboo, while the rest of the home has original oak hardwood floors
- wall color is Behr's Dolphin Fin (same as I have throughout my apartment)