Name: Claire & Jeffrey
Type of Project: Kitchen remodel
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Type of building: Single-family bungalow, 950 square feet
The Renovation Diaries are a new collaboration with our community in which we feature your step by step renovation progress and provide monetary support towards getting it done in style.
Claire and Jeffrey's kitchen, as you can see, has beautiful natural light, but more than a few issues. The cabinets are old and mismatched, there's not nearly enough storage space, and the walls are covered with layer upon layer of crumbling contact paper. Over the years, multiple owners have covered the original hardwood floor with plywood and vinyl tile. With a little budget and a lot of elbow grease, Claire and Jeffrey are aiming to help this small kitchen live up to its potential.
From Claire:
Our kitchen is pretty awful at the moment. Small, awkward, ugly, poorly laid out. In our renovation, we're putting a lot of thought into functionality. We all know how important it is for things to function really well in small spaces. We've put a lot of thought into how to make that happen — tons of storage, strategically placed appliances, durable surfaces.
Aside from the functional aspects, it'll be a major aesthetic upgrade. Our new kitchen will be clean, modern, white, but quirky and inviting, too, with a lot of natural accents. The biggest change will be the redirection of a small segment of the basement stairs to allow for more counter space and a new location for the refrigerator. This will require a wall to move.
Also, we've uncovered the original hardwood floor under 4 layers of nasty carpet, vinyl, plywood, and linoleum. We literally tore that up the night we closed on the house. We couldn't wait to find out what was under there! Major score. The oak floor will be repaired (a bit of water damage to address), sanded, and stained a dark walnut to match the rest of the house.
The cabinets will be gutted. They are nasty. They'll be replaced with a much more functional arrangement of the very user-friendly, clean and simple IKEA Abstrakt glossy white cabinets. There will be a new DIY concrete countertop. *gulp.* A new range. Oh! And a DISHWASHER. ZOMG.
We rented this house before we bought it this year. Part of our agreement with the landlord was to fix it up in exchange for rent credit. So we were able to take the house from a small, grimy, dark and uninviting space to a bright and carefully curated home.
The house has great bones. Since we've been at the helm, every surface has been painted white, every piece of millwork trimmed-out in high gloss white. We just wanted to create a space that would highlight the original beautiful details of the house (the millwork, the strangely high ceilings, the fireplace, etc.) while providing a nice backdrop for our art collection and our "stuff." I have a degree in furniture design, so I take my stuff probably more seriously than I should.
We redid the bathroom a couple of years ago. Imagine wood paneling, carpet, the smell of rotting floor. Plastic tiles. No shower head. When you sat on the toilet, your knees hit the tub. It made no sense. Now, it's a clean, simple, very classic design. White all over. Subway tiles. Black travertine hex floor. Tons of light being reflected all over the place.
Jeffrey and I are both of the creative sort. I'm a graphic designer. I have a hard time trying NOT to make everything I look at work better and look better. Jeffrey is a fine artist and a digital 3D artist. On top of that, he's super handy and can figure out anything just by looking at it. Together, we have a history of making cool stuff happen.
Thanks, Claire!
(Images & Diary Text: Claire Moyle)
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The horror! Good luck, can't wait to see how it turns out.
The kitchen is a nightmare. I wonder what compelled people to install soffits in a home with such high ceilings, and I wonder what's behind those soffits.
I am so ridiculous for saying so, but I actually really like the color of the greenish-gray on the cabinets. Regardless, I'm excited to see the progress!
Even the dog looks bummed out. I can't wait to see how it turns out. We just got done installing an IKEA kitchen. We were supposed to have custom, site-built cabinets but the builder over-promised and time was running too short to explore other options.
While we like the flexibility of IKEA's Akurum cabinets, we weren't terribly crazy about the "finishing" pieces like the side panels for the cabinets, the toe-kicks, and cornices for the tops and bottoms of the cabinets. We found that the colours and finish of them didn't go with the cabinet door and drawers we selected, and so returned them. The end result is that the cabinets look unfinished. Still trying to decide if it's better than the obvious mismatching. (We went with Ramsjo in plain white, which has a slightly creamy cast to it with a matte finish).
I'm so excited to see a bungalow reno in Minneapolis! My hubby and I are in South MPLS, and are looking to buy a house in the same fixer-upper condition. Can't wait to see the results!
oooh! you have the googly eye cabinet knobs! Those remind me of my childhood! haha
I cabinets in this kitchen. They really magnify the details of the home.
haha the dog really does look sad. that does look nasty and starting from scratch is the best idea
How exciting to finally put all your planning into practice, good luck
i'd like to see the whole little house at some point as well
I second that. I'd love to see the bathroom shots!
May be an idea to take advantage of having a handy husband and framing out around the fridge (space permitting) and just buy the Ikea door fronts for the cabinet enclosure above the fridge. Might save some money on cabinets that usually go unused anyways.
Looking fwd to seeing how it all turns out! Good luck, have fun!
Fridge cabinets usually go unused? I've always found them really handy. Now I don't have any and I miss them!
That kitchen is truly a nightmare. You must have been dreaming of how to fix it for that year you lived in it while renting! Can't wait to see the process!
Cheer up, puppy! You're getting a new kitchen!
The old layout is crazy. How were you supposed to get into the cabinet to the right of the stove? (where they now have the slim garbage can)
Oh how funny.... before i looked at the other photos, i didn't realize this was a "before" shot, but instead, a "proud of my kitchen" post, and i first thought, oh they left one cabinet unpainted... how clever. And i thought there was a map of the west coast/pacific ocean adhered the the wall behind the stove, and thought, that's rad.... then i clicked on it and saw the real deal. well, at first glance i thought it was charming, haha. by the way, i love the dog!
This is exciting!
When I see these places and see how awful they look I just think "how? why?"
How did they feel happy in such a dump?
Why did they make it even more of a dump?
I'm sure the kitchen will thank you when you're done!
That is where we keep all of our nothing. :-)
Save money and get a cheaper stove and buy under-cabinet refrigeration. The counter space you gain makes up for the wasted space a large fridge takes.
I can't wait to see this reno progress. We're also redoing the kitchen in our 1948 home soon, and those glossy white Abstrakt cabinets are at the top of my list- love the look. I want the same sleek, modern look as you've described. My one issue with Ikea is that their cabinet sizes don't seem to fit with our dimensions, which is a huge bummer. Did you have any issues with that? Please post some pic of the rest of your home, I'd love to see it!
To the AT Editorial Staff: I'm really diggin' this series! Please make it easy to follow by including notice of the subsequent posts in our daily emails. Thanks.
I too am VERY interested in watching your reno. I too am just buying a little 900 sq foot bungalow circa 1900 with high ceilings (in South Dakota) so I'm wanting to preserve the character of the cottage yet improve the flow. I too am a graphic designer so I definitely identify with that drive to "improve" everything! I once rented a farmhouse that had original rounded metal cabinets, ALL covered in fake "wood" contac paper. And the counter tops - real black linoleum edged with metal - were covered in "butcher block" contact paper! Lots of peeling! I am also interested in how folks address hazards of these era homes such as asbestos and lead-based paint as they demo, sand, etc. I am just closing on my house, it's all carpeted but they say it's all wood floors underneath - first thing I'll do is check out what's under that carpet! Good luck!
I'm excited to see this reno happen. (Cute dog BTW)
AT - this renovation series is one of the most exciting things you guys have done in quite some time.
I think this renovation is the most exciting of the three. I really appreciate how Claire and Jeffrey want to make the space clean, bright, and functional, but are also committed to restoring some of the charming original details of the room. Also, it warms my heart that they are saving the fridge because it still works just fine. So many people get caught up in the rampant consumerism of our society and insist on throwing out things that are in perfect working order, just to replace it with new "stuff". It's great to see that rather than just buying a bunch of new stuff, this couple is being inventive and reusing a lot of old stuff as well. I am also really impressed that so much thought into functionality is going into this space. It's so frustrating to see people design things based only on looks and forget they have to live in the space on a daily basis!
It's a fine project. But have you thought about whether those vinyl tiles contain asbestos? Any tiles from 60s or 70s or earlier could contain the carcinogen. Please be careful.
Well, hello there, Grace! Things will get better but it's gonna be noisy and dusty for a while. Be brave!
Is anyone else dying to see their bathroom? I am! Can we please have photos.
Good luck! Can't wait to see the progress.
This is the one I am going to follow - why? Because it's not a GUT remodel! Anyone can make an amazing space if you ripe it all out or tear down the walls. And put in all new stuff.
could we see a house tour? Including "befores" for rooms already dealt with?