Ode to my Kitchen

I love my kitchen. I've said it before. I've decided to document a tribute to it so when we move I'll have a memory here. That sounds corny, but you have to understand how much thought and hours of time went into designing this one. A few years ago we added on to the back of our house. Here is a before and after: (The brick you see to the right of the addition is the next-door neighbors house)

The kitchen was just one of many things that we changed. Here are some old photos of our kitchen. Take note of my lack of counter space and storage. There were only three drawers in the whole kitchen (to the left of the stove)! Also, those big white double doors did not open to a pantry. That was my washer and dryer!

Now, I have a TON of space. Here is what my kitchen looks like...




These first two pictures are of where the original "run" was (with my sink and stove) to give you an idea of the space we have now. The current sink is about where the stove and three drawers were before. You can kind of see the bulkhead above where the addition starts:






The window in this next picture was to the right of my sink in the old kitchen:




Next up is the addition part. We added an eat-in area as well as extra cabinets and countertops. I'm in heaven!!



That door in the left corner behind Ella goes to the broom closet that also houses our receiver for the whole-house surround sound. We have speakers in the ceiling in every large room, including my master bath and the loft upstairs. It's awesome...I always have music playing!

Up against the wall where the old countertop came out for a breakfast bar (the phone is on it in the old pictures above) we added another line of cabinets that also includes a double oven:



And last, (but certainly not least!) is my most favoritist (!!) part of the whole kitchen!! My island!!




When the cabinet maker brought this thing in my jaw dropped. I had no idea it was going to be that big! I mean, I did, but you don't realize it until you really see it.

And so here is a pic of the space that used to be the old kitchen:




Because I had the cabinets custom built I was able to add all sorts of cool things to them. I have built-ins in most of the drawers (like the silverware one you see below to the right) and pull-out shelves in most of the cabinets.The drawers are also the full-extending kind so there is no wasted space! My trash can is also a pull-out. Then you can see above the bookcases and I also made a spot for my bread and onions (you can see that in the 2nd pic...under the Pampered Chef carousel). Then, there is my pantry. That is down to the left here.....

So, that's it. My kitchen. My pride and joy. And probably what is going to sell this house