Happy Tuesday! Please forgive the dark, grainy phone photos — I wanted to share a quick update even though it’s hard to take pictures while contractors are working in the kitchen all day.
There’s a lot happening at the house right now. It’s exciting, but busy. With Christmas just around the corner, we’re racing to finish projects so the home is ready for family on December 25th.
Our appliances arrive on Friday and the final kitchen work will happen before and after delivery, with the goal of being mostly finished by Christmas. Flooring, cabinets, and countertops are already in, so we’re very close. The walls and ceiling in the kitchen should be painted next week.
In addition to the kitchen, new flooring is scheduled to be installed downstairs in the family room and office this Wednesday and Thursday. That’s great — but it also means the entire house is in disarray and we have just two weeks to get everything organized before guests arrive.
Since many readers have been asking for updates, I’ll answer one question that came up about the galley kitchen layout.
^ kitchen before ^
Earlier I considered moving the sink to the back wall to take advantage of the view out the window — the backyard, water and distant mountains are lovely. We explored ideas for opening the kitchen up or relocating it into the dining room, but eventually I realized there were good reasons to leave the sink in its original position and keep the kitchen where it is.
In a galley kitchen every inch counts. One pet peeve in small kitchens is having counters interrupted too frequently by sinks, appliances or varying counter heights. By keeping the sink where it was, we were able to add a long stretch of uninterrupted countertop and plenty of drawers, including space right under the window where there used to be a low desk-style counter and microwave stand. We needed the storage, so this became a practical and attractive solution. Now we have a clean view out the windows and still plenty of counter space for baking, laying out plates, or just daydreaming.
This may be one of the worst photos ever taken, but it gives an idea of the layout and offers another peek at the room.
Remember, the walls and ceiling planks will be painted — I’ll cover those details in a separate post.
Sometimes we catch the sunset through the back corner window, which is lovely. Other times the late-afternoon sun can be too bright, and in winter it gets dark early — this photo was shot around 4:00 in December and it was nearly dark within half an hour.
There are the usual chores — loading and unloading the dishwasher, which means we still glance out the window — but the counters will serve well for food prep, baking, entertaining, coffee-making, cleaning, and simply enjoying a clean kitchen. Because the sink is on the side wall, we’ll be able to relax in the living room with guests without staring at piled dishes over the stove or sink.
I already love the kitchen layout. It gives us the best of several worlds: a view, lots of natural light, practical function, and style, all within a small footprint.
A window over a sink is a classic and pleasant feature. To make our sink wall feel special, we replaced the average window with a round one that fits in the existing opening; it will be trimmed out to finish the look. You’ll see that in an upcoming update — very soon.
Here are a few inspirational photos showing counters placed directly under windows (rather than sinks or upper cabinets). A clean counter under a window preserves the view and creates an open, airy feel.
Related Posts:
My kitchen design board and more kitchen updates are available in previous posts on this site.
Also, I wrote an article titled “15 Gifts for the Kitchen Any Foodie Would Love” for eBay.
Have a great Tuesday!