My teeny, tiny updated 1959 kitchen (pic heavy)

[Holly_Hobby]

26. Thanks...

Yeah, the "remodels" on tv make me shake my head. I'd kill for a 12' x 12' square kitchen to remodel.

Our bathroom is 5' x 6'. It's like a closet.

The builder designed our kitchen. And he was lazy, the sink should have been moved down 6' and there wouldn't be the problems we have. Our house was owned all those years by a Polish couple who kept everything original and pristine. With this kitchen project, we've replaced everything. It was a 22 year project.

All those doors, geesh. What were they thinking? My grandmother's kitchen was similar to yours. If someone wanted to come in the back door and you were sitting at the table eating, you had to get up and move the chair to let them in. She also had a bedroom door, bathroom door and entrance to the living room in the kitchen. My dad eventually put in folding bifold doors that opened into the bathroom and bedroom for a little room, but the back door was always a pain.

Our cabinets are amazing, completely hand-built and well-built. My husband says they're cherry wood, but were stained a fruitwood color that turned orange over the years. So I used an exterior flat enamel on them after sanding and painted them with a sponge for a similar finish to our plaster. I'm happy with them now. We didn't have any kind of repair work to do to them. Even under the sink was clean and dry. The former owners much have kept the shelves covered with something.

There were more cabinets above the uppers that went to the ceiling that covered up the gorgeous plaster cove, those came down the week we moved in and it looked much better. I did give up a lot of storage with that move, though.

There's no way more than one person can be by the sink at once. And my washer and dryer are right behind it on the opposite wall, so I'm continually there and it aggravates my husband that he has to wait for me to finish what I'm doing before he can get to the sink.

And don't get me started about the wiring in this house...we can't use the microwave and air conditioner at the same time! But I honestly love this house, we've put so much sweat and money in it, it would be a shame not to. Now if I could just get the nuisance neighbors to move...