KITCHEN/DINING ROOM

What an amazing story this room's transformation has been!  Here's our first view of the kitchen: it's got a close feel, with low ceilings and cabinets above the stove that divide the kitchen from the dining area.  It was very dark here, especially during the winter.

First view of the eating area.  The windows were replace right away, which helped.  But the room was still dark overall.  So I started to think about adding a skylight and maybe removing those cabinets above the stove, which I really didn't need.  Then I thought about making that two skylights.  And then Chris Page, my contractor, suggested a large skylight well.  I decided to go for it.

Before we did the skylights, we had Annie's friend Danny redo the kitchen counters with granite tile.  Then we added a new cooktop and a wonderful big sink.  It certainly got rid of the 1950s feel of the kitchen area.

Here we go!  It's lighter already with the overhead cabinets gone and the ceiling cut out for the skylights.  But I have to say I wasn't prepared for how drastically the look of this room would change.  Look below:

Amazing, isn't it?  It's like someone dropped a whole different room into this space.  The floor area is still relatively modest, but having all the new overhead space makes the room seem much larger.  It's a great, welcoming place to cook now, and the skylights made a huge difference this winter.

Here you can get a view of the new tile flooring Danny put in.  The old vinyl had gold tones in it that essentially connected all the strongly honey-colored cabinetry, making all the warm tones in the room run together for a rather overwhelming effect.  The new floor neatly divides one area of cabinets from another and makes them stand out more distinctly.