I've been admiring this kitchen renovation from the blog Lemons, Avocados and the Bay for some time, so I decided to reach out to Tammy and ask a few questions about the overhaul and the inspiration behind the project. Read on for the full interview!
The Kitchn: How long have you lived in your home?
Tammy: We purchased our little 1950s yellow beach bungalow exactly one year ago. When we moved in, the home was in really bad shape. The home had never been renovated, reeked of cat urine, and had thirty year old stained carpet. Sounds inviting, right? We knew we had a lot of renovations to tackle in a very short amount of time.
The Kitchn: When did you overhaul your kitchen?
Tammy: We began renovating as soon as we moved in because the appliances were basically unusable. To make things even more fun, the last owners decided to "surprise us" by taking the refrigerator with them. As soon as we realized we couldn't fit our newly purchased oven, dishwasher, or fridge into the original kitchen, we knew we were in for a few long months.
The Kitchn: How long did it take?
Tammy: The kitchen renovation lasted about three months, but there always seems to be something that needs to be fixed.
The Kitchn: Where did you find your design and color inspiration?
Tammy: We found our inspiration kitchen (see below!) on decorpad.com. It inspired me because it was bright, airy, and had an attractive color scheme.
The Kitchn: How much planning did you put into the project?
Tammy: We spent about 5 seconds planning. No really though, we made decisions as contractors come into our home and made "suggestions" about how cheaply and quickly they could make changes.
Honestly, I really wish we'd had more time to plan our renovation. We attempted to stain the cabinets, but realized quickly we have little to no DIY skills. I had picked out a light granite that looked beautiful in the store, but it looked horrendous when it arrived at our home. We returned the terrible granite and picked out the darker shade that's now in the kitchen. I knew from the beginning of the renovation that I wanted a green wall, and that seemed to be the only plan we made that actually panned out.
The Kitchn: What was the most challenging part of the project?
Tammy: We found that making modern appliances work in a 1950s kitchen is close to impossible. Apparently people were shorter in the 1950s and countertops were built lower. Because of this, we had to raise all of the countertops to fit our modern appliances.
The Kitchn: Did you learn a new skill during your home improvement project?
Tammy: We learned a great deal about how to work with unreliable contractors. Let's just say we grew up a lot during those first few months of home renovations...On a more useful note, we also learned how to paint cabinets and remove lots and lots of wall paper.
The Kitchn: Are you happy with the outcome?
Tammy: We are happy with the outcome...for now. In the future we would like to completely open up the kitchen into the living room and install a large kitchen island.
The Kitchn: What, if anything, would you do differently next time around?
Tammy: Next time around I would love to have the opportunity to plan! I would take the time to search the Internet for inspiration, take my time choosing a color scheme, and make sure I was working with reputable contractors.
The Kitchn: If you had one piece of advice for readers, what would it be?
Tammy: It's important to realize that things do not always go as planned. Take a deep breath, and realize that in the end everything really will work out.
• Read more: Oh, And The Kitchen Renovation at Lemons, Avocados and the Bay
Related: Before & After: Opening Up a Galley Kitchen
(Images: Lemons, Avocados and the Bay; DecorPad)
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This was a great post. We are in house hunting mode and many of the homes we see are described as above, maybe not so much on cat urine but never been renovated, (at least in our budget) its nice to know that it can be done
We have the same cabinets! And have the same fate planned for them. I love that you kept your sink. It looks nice against the dark counters.
I think it is a shame to lose the charm of the original. To me, it looks really cheap and generic.
@hazelstone: cosign. It looks like every other kitchen redo these days, and how exactly does it fit into a 1950s bungalow? I will never understand why people buy homes that aren't what they want, then try to force them to be something else. (I guess for the same reason people get involved with other people, hoping that they'll change. :) Don't do it!)
I feel like this white cabinets, modern stainless hardware, dark counters, stainless appliances, and dark hardwoods thing is the new granite/cherry/stainless thing. It all looks the same, dates quickly, and shows very little originality.
To each their own :)
And in response to @shanalulu's point about why people buy homes that aren't what they want... well buying a home in San Diego is expensive, buying a home by the beach in San Diego is even more expensive. We knew that our main priority was to find a home by the beach, and we also knew that any beach house we could afford would need lots of work. If you check out my blog you'll see all the other renovations we went through. :)
Also, if we could have maintained more of the kitchen's original charm we really would have. In the beginning we tried to do that, but we quickly realized it would be really difficult to do with our budget. In the future, when we are able to afford a major kitchen renovation, we probably will bring back some of the 1950s charm.
@hazelstone.. if it looks cheap, that's because it was hehe =P Either way, we're really happy with the way it turned out
Thanks for taking the time to check out our renovation.. Good luck to those of you who are in the process of buying or renovating an older kitchen. :)
White kitchens have been the rage in kitchen design for over century now.Woods have always been popular too.What dates a kitchen is lack of imagination to begin with.If you can't walk into the average kitchen and modernize it in your head.....your never going to be able to design one from scratch that doesn't date easily to begin with.
Good design works that way.Anything you see in a kitchen that you don't like can be changed easily.I think if I wanted to live by the beach in San Diego ,the before would be what I would live with for years.It's ugly!I prefer the after and would live in it for years too.To me this is a huge improvement.With that kind of mortgage how did they manage it to begin with is what I'm thinking.Job well done!
I wonder where the "50's charm" is supposed to be in the before shots... feels generic, low-cost and definitely dated to me. It's not because we love some design elements from the 50's that I'd feel compelled to love everything from that period...
Your kitchen will probably feel dated in twenty years, but I don't know a kitchen which wouldn't. Be proud of it: it's nice and airy, and I personally really like the colors you chose ! It seems very functional too.