Each transforming mission has one factor in frequent: It would require you to make tons of selections alongside the way in which. Inevitably, a few of the choices you make will likely be belongings you’ll proceed to like for years and others will likely be belongings you’ll want you probably did in another way. In my expertise, reflecting on the belongings you want you probably did in another way helps you higher perceive your preferences over time. It helps inform design choices you’ll make in future initiatives.
A number of the largest transforming initiatives we’ve tackled in our two homes have been our kitchens. Since 2015, we’ve carried out three complete kitchen remodels (with the assistance of our contractors)—one in our present dwelling and two in our earlier dwelling.
At present I’m sharing what I remorse from every of those kitchen transforming initiatives and the way I’d method them in another way now.
First Kitchen Rework: 2015
These are two issues I’d have carried out in another way in our first kitchen transform.
Chosen a Totally different Type of Flooring
The flooring on this kitchen is the principle factor I’d have carried out in another way. We put in a lovely cement tile flooring, unaware of the problems it could quickly current. The first subject was that the highest of the tile was porous and, due to this fact, it stained virtually instantly. Whereas I beloved the design, the quantity of seen put on left so much to be desired, particularly from Joe’s viewpoint.
Overhauled Our Method to Storage and Group
After we transformed this kitchen in 2015, our solely “youngster” was Winnie. By the top of 2017, we had two youngsters underneath the age of two. Because of the inflow of “child stuff,” the way in which we utilized this house utterly modified. There have been points with storage—partially due to the comparatively small footprint of the kitchen and partially as a result of we weren’t utilizing our cupboard space as correctly as we may have.
With two younger youngsters, I wasn’t internet hosting practically as a lot as I had been earlier than, but issues like serving dishes nonetheless took up prime actual property within the kitchen. Our storage and group method didn’t work for our new life-style, and altering it could have positively improved the way in which we interacted with the kitchen in our on a regular basis lives.
Second Kitchen Rework: 2019
After we transformed our kitchen a second time in 2019, we had been seeking to deal with the 2 points listed above and create a greater stream from the kitchen to the remainder of the principle ground. Wanting again, there aren’t very many particular issues I’d have carried out in another way on this kitchen. It served its function rather well throughout our final 12 months in our dwelling and was a key promoting level once we offered this home in 2020. My largest remorse is extra about how I approached the design course of.
Once I was designing this kitchen, I made choices extra from the lens of my job as a content material creator than from the lens of an individual who was going to be dwelling within the house. I sought out others’ opinions relatively than trusting my very own imaginative and prescient, and the design course of was much less fulfilling than it may have been. Reflecting again on this course of has been reminder to comply with my intestine once I’m designing my dwelling.
P.S. When you subscribe to my e-newsletter, Home Name, you possibly can learn extra about my ideas on designing this kitchen within the following essay: “What Designing for Myself Feels Like vs. Designing for the Web.”
Third Kitchen Rework: 2021
I’ve a lot love for this kitchen. We had good causes for making each one of many design choices on this house, lots of which got here all the way down to finances and product availability. But as with every house, the extra you reside in it, the extra you discover belongings you may need to change. Understanding what I do know now, these are three issues I’d have carried out in another way in our present kitchen.
Put in Customized Cabinetry
I want I’d have spent the additional cash on customized cabinetry, which we opted to not do due to finances constraints. The cupboards we’ve do the job completely nicely, though they do require a little bit of maintenance. The paint on our cupboards is chipping in some areas—my hunch is that it is because we opted to strive a paintable cupboard prototype which wasn’t but publicly out there.
Put in the Flooring I *Actually* Needed
Don’t get me incorrect: I like the flooring we chosen for our kitchen. It’s stunning and has held up rather well on this high-traffic house. But I want we’d have gone with the flooring I wished on the very begin of this mission.
From the onset of our kitchen transform, I wished to put in flooring in a diamond sample utilizing two completely different sorts of marble. Sadly, we didn’t have the contact or the fitting suppliers to make it occur in a cheap method. I feel if I’d have saved searching for the fitting match, I may have made it work. The ethical of the story right here can be to know when a delay or further work is price it!
Chosen an Vintage Desk As an alternative of an Island
The island we opted for in our kitchen’s eating space is useful and affords extra storage, which I like. Nevertheless, through the years, I’ve continued to consider my first selection for this house: an vintage desk. I’ve at all times wished the eating space to really feel extra separate from the cooking facet of the kitchen, and there’s one thing concerning the fashion of an vintage desk that feels so relaxed and charming to me.
Understanding how we truly use the island, I additionally want I’d have chosen a unique countertop. I’m completely cool with the marble in our kitchen creating a patina over time, however I’m discovering myself much less forgiving in the case of the butcher block countertop we put in on the island. I plan to sand it down and apply a coat of mineral oil this spring!
Kate is presently studying to play the Ukulele, a lot to the despair of her husband, youngsters, and canines. Observe her on Instagram at @witanddelight_.
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