Life at Cloverhill

Decor Family Kitchen Renovation

Kitchen/Nook Renovation – Part 1

Sixteen years ago my parents unexpectedly sold their house within four days, and suddenly they had to design and build a new house bronto, with two little girls and a four-month-old baby in tow. It was rushed to say the least. Now they are in the process of updating their house, and the room that needs the most work is of course the place where we all spend the most time – the kitchen/nook area. Its a small kitchen that opens up into a larger eatting/sitting area that gets a lot of natural light with great views of the river behind them. People naturally seem to gravitate towards this room and it always feels homey, but all of the traffic has had some wear and tear on it. Their main goal is to replace the linoleum flooring with ceramic tile and update the rooms.

The fireplace was actually built by my father just over a decade ago using plywood, decorative molding and a gas fireplace kit. In order to have all the tile lie flush with the molding, the entire unit will have to be dismantled, along with the baseboards and quarter-round. In the mirror you can see the heavy pink/burgundyish drapes that cover the french doors leading to the porch. Those are going to be replaced as well, in something closer to the new colour palate of the rest of the room.
The flat screen television used to be where the antique wicker chair is now, resting in a stand on the little sideboard below it. This created a dark corner there, and limited the amount of seating that we could have. However, mounting the tv to the wall was no small task. It took my father two days this Fall to get all of the cables for the tv and surround sound wired through the walls, as well as anchoring the wall hooks for the tv. The weekend that he did it was the same weekend that my sweet little cousin was visiting. And she was going through her 20 Questions phase, and wouldn’t stop pestering him with questions: “Uncle, what are you doing?”, “Why?” (I’m sure that he was asking himself the same questions!)

Over the past couple of years my parents have been slowly replacing all of their appliances with stainless steel ones to create a more uniform look. They plan to keep the same oak cabinets, but will be replacing those that have suffered from water damage (those ones that are just left of the stove). On the right side near the top you can see where my mother and sister went to the paint store and fell in love with a light green shade, only to discover that when they got home with a sample, it was more of a minty green. A good reminder to always check the colour with your own light before you commit to having a minty fresh kitchen! They’ve opted for a more neutral colour palatte instead, and plan to paint after the tile has been laid.
When I took these photos they had already started removing some of the drawers so that they could dismantle the cupboards. Although the countertops are in great condition, they are hoping to replace the countertops soon with a nice dark stone surface.
After sixteen years, three dogs and lots of kids, this linoleum flooring has seen better days. The cermaic tiles that they have chosen to replace it with are gorgeous, and will be able to handle the wear-and-tear of our busy family. There are also a few little perks that they are including, like a heated section of the flooring right here in front of the sink.

And of course our kitchen wouldn’t be complete without keeping the Tim Hortons’ coffee maker, complete with two sugar containers (we have a problem) and a cute little coffee jar. I don’t even drink coffee and I know the EXACT measurements that go into making their favorite blend.

Next week I’ll post about the demolition work that we all chipped in on, and the progress that has been made so far.


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