When you're remodeling a kitchen, how do you pick appliances? If you're Kitchn reader Piper, you take two raw chickens to your local appliance store, cook them in two different ovens, and the oven that presents the best cooked chicken wins! (First of all, we'd like to know what appliance store agreed to that!) But this was just one of the tasks Piper tackled while updating her Napa Valley kitchen. Read more about her project and see 'After' photos below:
Piper tells us more about the renovation in her own words:
We took our Napa Valley kitchen down to the studs, but kept the same footprint, and built our dream kitchen. In choosing appliances, we took two raw chickens to our local appliance store and cooked them in two different ovens. Based on that test, we selected our oven.The project was finished in 2009, and we've been delighted with it ever since. The kitchen was out of date in both design and functionality, and did not have much storage space or a very open feel. Using the same footprint, we updated the look, feel, functionality and gained a lot of storage space. We accomplished this by going to the ceiling with the cabinets, grouping the large appliances on one wall, using clever storage ideas (e.g. an appliance cart in the middle of the island, open bakers rack storage in the pantry), utilizing all walls for drawers and cabinets, and using mirrors to increase visual depth.
We also incorporated ideas such as an electric drawer opener for the garbage drawer so that it opens hands-free when your hands are full of chicken parts, and various specialized drawer fittings.
Thanks so much for sharing, Piper!
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Love the pantry and the shelving for cookbooks; wish I had room for cookbooks in the kitchen!
With a little bit of paint and some better organization, the "before" could have been really spectacular. It looked homey, in a good way. The "after" looks so industrialized and impersonal. I've never had a renovation on here bum me out so much but this does.
It looks really great! We currently have those nasty 80's oak cabinets and there is nothing "good" about them. I think maybe bringing in more warmer metals like the hanging pot rack and wood floors would have added some warmth to the space. But, oh what an improvement. Are the cabinets Ikea GNOSJÖ? Nice job.
http://diligentdesigner.blogspot.com/
looks awesome. love the countertops.
I love it. And there's so much storage!
Truly, I'm envious of both kitchens! But I do love the countertops and increased storage in the remodeled version.
I do think it's an improvement- but they both look really cluttered to me, and I HATE the built in TV in the kitchen.
Love the before and after (at least the first set of pictures)!
I'm not a fan of the floor, but that's just personal preference. I also don't like the built in TV--gives it a sports bar feel to me--but that also is personal preference.
Regardless, I'd be thrilled to come home to this kitchen instead of the one I have.
Loooove that pantry!!
I think better lighting would have done the 'before' a lot of favors. The after is a little cold for my taste, but I think the layout is much more well thought out. I really like that you kept that nice pot rack though! And I very much like your flooring and countertops.
it's very modern and very dark...in long term somebody will need lots of light to make the cook inspire to go in this space
"After" is very pretty, but I wonder if they will be sorry to lose the wood floor. As someone who cooks alot, I have been very unhappy with our new house's hard tile floors. Instant backache! In our old place, we had vinyl over plywood subfloor and then upgraded to a bamboo floating floor. Both were fine to stand on for extended periods, although the vinyl was no one's idea of a glamorous kitchen floor.
My favorite feature of the new kitchen is that beautiful pantry! I also like the cabinetry and I think with the white countertops & ample can lights it will not be too dark for kitchen work.
I can see why the owner wanted to 86 the oak cabinets. I'll never understand why people make cabinets that stop short of the ceiling, but I don't think I could live with the black. I would feel like I was in a nightclub circa 1982. Is Tainted Love playing in the background? . .Some perspective though: no storage in the first kitchen? I counted at least five drawers in the island alone. I have one drawer (one!) in my 1937 kitchen in L.A. . . do love that pantry, though! Happy cooking to the cook!
For me, this went from "needs new, less-traditional cabinet fronts and a pop of color," to "dark and cold like the bat cave." The after definitely looks high-end, but not in a way that makes me wish it were my kitchen. But, hey, if the owner is happy with it, that's all that matters.
It's... nice, I think? I don't know, I don't understand why people would take pictures at night when natural daylight, which they seem to have plenty of, is so much prettier.
And WHY do some people insist on a TV in the kitchen? When you're cooking, that's what you should be concentrating on.
I don't like the modern black cabinets, but the counters are fantastic. The before kitchen was really outdated. I hate honey oak cabinets. They're so country looking and I'd rip them out too. But the black cabinets look pretty retro themselves, and I'm just not into the look.
Stunning redo in many ways. I think I agree that a contrast in materials would be nice, there's a lot of cold, metal, stone, black... something that brought in more warmth in a wood tone would have created a nice balance. What throws me off the most is the sheer amount of built-ins, it looks like the eating area has been all built out too, kind of creates a claustrophobic effect in the pictures at least. But then, my dream kitchen would have a nice balance of built ins and stand alone vintage pieces. Ah.... one day.
I too have the honey oak cabinets in my kitchen. Sadly, they are nearly new (just bought the condo and it was redone a couple years before) so it's hard to justify ripping them out. And I'm having a hard time convincing the SO that we might paint them.
Oh yikes! The befores are way better! :(
gorgeous!
not liking the after kitchen much here. claustrophobic feel.