Kitchen Before
We began working on this 1940’s home in downtown Madison prior to the kitchen remodel project. We previously remodeled the entire basement, adding a living room, laundry room, mudroom, bathroom and storage room. While remodeling the basement, and knowing a kitchen remodel would be “phase 2” for the home, we put pipes and wiring in the correct locations so everything would be ready to go for the kitchen remodel.
There were many problems with the existing kitchen area, but mostly just the fact that the cabinetry and countertops were original to the home; they had reached the end of their life span. The countertops were tiled, making them very difficult to clean (so many grout lines!). The cabinets lacked all the modern storage options available in new cabinetry and had two blind corner cabinets that wasted space. A soffit running above the wall cabinets also stole valuable space from this small kitchen.
Design Phase
We went to work designing a new kitchen for the homeowners. They wanted to stay within the existing kitchen footprint, as it was landlocked; surrounded by a bathroom, dining room, entry hallway and basement stairwell. Because the first floor was not very expansive, they did not want to expand the kitchen into another room. We thought this was a smart choice and got to work designing!
Because the kitchen walls were unusual dimensions, and we wanted to make the most of every inch, we decided to use a custom cabinetry maker who could make the cabinetry to our specific dimensions. We kept the refrigerator, range and sink in the same positions. The homeowners decided on a counter depth refrigerator which really helped save room in the space. We also proposed adding some extra cabinetry near the basement stairwell door. This area, adjacent to the dining room, would serve as a china cabinet and service area.
