Our Kitchen Reno Plan
One of the highest traffic areas in our house (and like any other home) is our kitchen. Although we like its open plan, the layout never worked well for the three of us. It’s set up like a U-shape, with limited counter space, limited storage, limited pantry, all in all, it’s not working for us.
Our current kitchen layout (view from dining area).
A Little Background
Our house was built in the late 1980s, and it's considered one of the newest addition to our block. Some neighbors even called it the "modern house" on the block, compared to the rest of the mostly '50s houses. So to carry out its nickname, we're designing our house to be the modern house on the block.
Some Pinspiration
I've been a long-time sucker for a simple line and clean look, so the above pics hit all the spots for me. Even no-hardware built-in J-handles in a warm tone look just right. It's seamless, it's clean, it feels right. We are also thinking of carrying out our oak ceiling throughout the kitchen and living area.
Materials We're Using
Floor and ceiling in natural oak
Cambria Sutherland quartz countertop (might also extend to backsplash)
Warm tone cabinet front
Cabinets: We plan to use IKEA Sektion cabinets with all components; drawers, shelves, hinges, except their fronts. We used their online kitchen planner to input our kitchen dimensions, then picked out all the base cabinets and used placeholder objects where our appliances would go. Besides updating the look and feel of our kitchen, our goal is to gain more storage, pantry, and more counter space to work. Then we chose all the upper cabinets that would extend to the ceiling. We even managed to fit a tall pantry cabinet where our old fridge used to be.
Doors, Cover panels, Plinths: Ikea's basic doors and fronts come in various options, but we knew we needed more substantial sturdy doors that could handle daily use and abuse. Although Semihandmade is one of the more common names for fronts, few other places offer exceptional doors for Ikea cabinets, like Plykea, Reform, Kokeena, and Norse Interiors. I'm currently working with a few of them to get an idea of their pricing and the process to order fronts for Ikea cabinets. Once I have all the prices, I will follow up with a post.
Handles: My initial choice is a built-in J-profile throughout the cabinetry, but it depends on the fronts' pricing and color/finish options.
Appliances: As some of you may know, our old fridge stopped working prematurely a few weeks ago, so the refrigerator had to come first. We've decided to go with the Samsung refrigerator and dishwasher purely for their aesthetic point, and surprisingly, we're not disappointed with both their design & performance. Their matching, flat, black stainless-steel doors with hidden recessed handles were more attractive to us.
New kitchen layout shown with Ikea fronts and no countertop.
The time has come (finally!) and we are super excited about this project. We’ll be sharing our experience and every little detail with you, so stay tuned!