438 kitchen remodeling

Thinking more about this doublewide do-over for my mother-in-law. Specifically, the kitchen.

This is what it looks like now. Basically, an all original '70s galley kitchen with avocado appliances and sink. A wall oven and surface cooktop, and lots of mdf cabinets with funky ye olde tap room hardware.

Layout wise, I don't think this is the end of the world. It's small, but not unusable, and there are lots of cabinets, and nothing is too far apart from each other.

For a long time, the trend has been toward "open concept," and this is definitely not that. It's a little hidden cubby. 

But everything old becomes new again. The galley is coming back into style. It turns out, sometimes we want to leave a mess in the kitchen and not have to look at it all the time. 

The kitchen in our apartment is a "one wall" design, and while most people might think it's tiny, I quite enjoy it. 

Here's a modern take on the one wall concept. Notice the wall oven and surface cooktop? Everything old is new again. 

Which has me wondering if avocado appliances are coming back. 

Looking at renovation pictures, I realize a few things. Number one, I think most kitchens are ugly. Dark counters and cabinets make me shudder. Brown on brown is also not my thing. Or busy tile backsplashes. 

Basically, I'll just say it: we're fucking challenged for taste. Combine that with budgets, and honestly, when I look at a lot of before and after pictures, I ask, why bother?

For instance, here's a functional kitchen. That iron scroll over the stove and the microwave/toaster oven stack needs to go, but basically, sure, it's fine.

Here they've made a smart choice. They recognized it basically worked, so all they're doing is painting. And that iron thingy is gone.

And then they blew it. It doesn't necessarily look worse than the before, but that backsplash doesn't look anything but kinda trendy, ten years ago. And why on earth go through the effort of painting and not at least paint those ugly cabinet handles? Or better, replace them?

These are like a buck a pop. 

This might look spectacularly modern to some eyes, but honestly, how much time would you want to spend here? I'm pretty sure if you open one of those cabinets you're going to find a toe tag.

This isn't the end of the world, I could probably live with it. Although it's apparently more difficult to match stainless appliances than white ones. In general, I tend to favor timelessness when it comes to interiors. (I've never had the opportunity to do an exterior yet, so I'm not sure, but I kinda think my New England upbringing will run they day there, too. White trim and shingles, baby.)

Now here's a one wall kitchen that I'm sure the designers think they...uh... What did they do? What is this space? I'm guessing it's a tiny studio or something, because they're cramming everything under the sun into this wall, and in my eye, the result is over-decorated mud room. I can't tell you how to solve this one, other than get rid of that stupid mirror. I get it, they're going for second bathroom vanity or something, and they have achieved it.

This kitchen probably checks off a lot of "wish list" boxes. Farmhouse sink, open shelves, granite countertops, stainless appliances. What do you think? I think it's going to look horribly dated in a few years. It already does. That sink is going to say "teens" the same way avocado says '70s. 

But most people would probably find this to be pretty nice. Heck, I might be proud if I made it, too... But I don't want to.

Other than the lack of windows or space to sit, I don't have many complaints about this design. It's pretty nice. The amount of white makes up for the dark countertops, the appliances could be new or twenty years old, and the cabinet pulls are bright and cheerful. Plus, they have a cat. 

That kitchen, to me, has taste.

This wants to. It's all very tasteful, I'm sure those cabinets were expensive, and those glass fronts are the new way of doing open shelving. (Sorry to whoever has to clean them.) But somehow, to me, this is nice, but still trendy. It won't age as well as the kitchen above. Really, that green is already 20 years old. I know, I have a friend who redid their kitchen around that time in the same color.

So, first we're going to debate whether to fix up the existing kitchen, in which case I'll be making avocado popular again, or whether we're gutting it and starting over.

If we do, I'm leaning toward a "one wall" design. Partly because I'd like the whole house to have a "converted chicken coop" "industrial farmhouse" vibe, and one-wall designs remind me of line cooks and professional kitchens.

And partly because the most straightforward designs are the least expensive. $600? Plus, of course, all of the hardware.

And then there's the world of used stuff. It's going to be interesting to see how my taste, Deb's desires, and our in-laws input all comes together. 

Stay tuned, the Doublewide Do-Over Show starts in about three weeks.