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goldchip

Split-level house kitchen renovation, Holiday Cabinets

goldchip
11 years ago

Hi everyone!

Our kitchen was completed this summer, but I am just now getting around to posting the pix.

The cabinets are from Holiday Kitchens, frameless, contemporary flat panel doors in solid cherry. After I selected these cabinets I received some misinformation that caused a fair amount of agita ( one local designer told me that all solid cherry cabinets are too unstable and that they would warp and buckle. ) I am happy to report that after six months of daily use, many 100-plus degree days, solid weeks of rain and lots of steam-producing kitchen projects -- these cabinets are just as beautiful as the day they were installed.

All the uppers are 15" depth -- a great recommendation for a small kitchen.

The other key decision for me was whether or not to put in an island or peninsula. I just didn't have the space, and boy am I glad I didn't.

The granite is bross blue.
Backsplash tiles are from Ann Sacks.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/91711416@N05/sets/72157632397824932/

--Robyn from Framingham, MA

Comments (19)

  • jakkom
    11 years ago

    Beautiful cabs - so glad everything worked out for you! I put your kitchen on a direct link, below:

    Here is a link that might be useful: Robyn's kitchen

  • goldchip
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thanks so much to both of you! I love the new kitchen, and wanted to show owners of split level 1960-era houses (you know who you are!) the possibilities of thinking small, frameless and modern! I was a frequent lurker on these boards during the design process.

  • Sherrie Moore
    11 years ago

    Beautiful work! Love the dining set too! And the open flow of you living dining and kitchen areas!

  • a2gemini
    11 years ago

    GoldChip - Your kitchen size is about the same footprint as ours - I went through the same deliberations and am also glad that I didn't go with an island or peninsula. I am going to get a kitchen cart that can serve as an island when needed but can roll out of the way. I just posted ours from this summer also...

    Lovely kitchen. I love your countertops and cherry cabinets (OK, I am partial to cherry..) I wish I had found GW before I started as those 15 inch cabinets would be great! Looks like a lot of lighting - which is good - are the cans LED? What did you do for your UC lights? Tell us more about your "nook" for your radio and fruit.

    BTW - I grew up in split level houses(PA) - lived in them for my first 20+ years - 3 by the same builder! I also have seen a lot of postings for jobs in Framingham! Tempted but our new kitchen says NO!

  • gsciencechick
    11 years ago

    The majority of houses in our neighborhood are split-levels like yours (we have single level ranch). This is a really great remodel to get so much out of the space. I agree, an island or peninsula in these homes is not going to work well.

    I also like your entryway! Love the contemporary fan and the art placement.

    Congrats on a job well done!

  • springroz
    11 years ago

    Gorgeous! Those cabinets!! I would have that granite in my home, too. Love its swirls and smokey color!

    Enjoy!

    Nancy

  • badgergal
    11 years ago

    Congratulation on your new kitchen. The clean, straight, line of the slab doors is perfect for your space. Cherry is a beautiful wood. Since your pictures were taken 6 months ago, I'll bet the wood has turned a little darker and even richer looking. (My cherry cabinets did) Love the granite you picked. It provides a nice amount of contrast. Your backsplash tiles coordinate so nicely with the lighter swirls I see in the granite. Your kitchen is so bright and airy.
    I noticed in one of your photos that you have the same ceiling fan that I have too. It's such a cool looking fan and does a much better job of moving the air than my previous common 5 blade fan. Was that a " renovation creep" purchase? Mine was!
    Thanks for sharing your kitchen.

  • MarinaGal
    11 years ago

    Your kitchen is beautiful - really great choices. I am glad the cabinets held up as you expected during the weather extremes of MA - they are really stunning!

  • AnnaA
    11 years ago

    Goldchip, I love your remodel... The color of your cabinets against your countertops, with the white subway. And the flow with distinction between your dinning room and living room is warm and inviting.

    We too have a split entry. I have never posted completed photos via our good camera. One of these days I'll do it and send it over to the Finished K Blog, but here's a link. I smiled as our entryways share a similar color.

    I love the way you have enclosed your deck. We hope to do that one of these years.

    It was a big decision for us to take out the wall between the kitchen and LV. It wasn't load bearing, so that sealed the deal. Otherwise, there would have been no room - or need either - for an island.

    Thank you for posting. I always enjoy watching how us current inhabitants of these 60-70's split entries adjust and change them over time. Hope you are enjoying your new space.

    Here is a link that might be useful: AnnaA Finished Kitchen

  • goldchip
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thanks so much for the kind words, all! This was my first kitchen remodel and it was not without its challenges! But in the end, it was well worth it...

    a2Gemini -- the under cabinet lighting is not LED, i think it's xeon. That was a miss IMO -- if we had gone with LED I could have saved my cabinet installer the trouble of hiding the lighting (he had to install all those little strips of wood twice, as the first time they were done incorrectly. If I had to do it over, I would have gone with LED -- flatter, easier and cleaner. By the time I figured this out, though, the tile had been laid, so too late.

    Badgergal and gsciencechick -- That entry painting is from a local artist, and yes, both the entry hall fan and the light fixture in the dining room are project scope creep! In the six months since these photos were taken, the wood has darkened a wee bit, which is fine by me.

    AnnaA -- Lovely kitchen! We debated taking down that wall but ours was load bearing and at the end of the day we wanted a bit more separation of living room from kitchen. Yours looks great!

    The subway tile is not white, it's actually Ann Sacks Savoy Cornflower blue, which is gorgeous in person, you can't see the detail from the photos but each tile is tinged in a blue outline.

    And for all you 60's split-level lovers... it occurred to me, as I was doing this remodel, that in its day, this house style was considered modern, a big change from the styles that preceded it. And that remodeling our kitchen in flat panel contemporary was actually paying homage to and appropriate for that period. The light over the dining room table is also a nod to 60's design (which I am old enough to have lived through the first time as a child...If only we had kept those danish modern side tables!)

    I too love seeing the rebirth of these modest-sized homes as they are adapted for our times.

    -- goldchip

  • hoffmalr_gw
    11 years ago

    Your kitchen is beautiful! The 15-inch uppers are brilliant. Our house is similar and our kitchen layout is nearly identical, though the stairs to the garage level are where your pantry cabinets are.

    Do you have a layout you can post? If not, I'd love to know the overall dimensions of your kitchen.

  • a2gemini
    11 years ago

    Thanks Gold Chip - My niece is holding our Danish table hostage - I gave it to her to take care of...
    LOL - I went back and visited one of our splits and the kitchen had the original cabinets in it - including the bread box! Someone had painted it white.

  • gr8daygw
    11 years ago

    Beautiful! Love your granite!

  • goldchip
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    hoffmalr, plans below... -- gold chip.

  • goldchip
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I forgot to mention -- we did make one change to the plan onsite -- extended the window above the skink (extended to the left) and cut down the 24 inch cabinet to accommodate -- gold chip.

  • dccurlygirl
    11 years ago

    Great kitchen remodel! I, too have a split-level (not split-entry) and am looking for kitchen inspiration photos. (Actually, I'd like to remodel/reassign the entire 1st floor.) Thanks for showing your beautiful kitchen, goldchip! Any other split-level remodels, out there?

  • hoffmalr_gw
    11 years ago

    Thanks! That's really helpful. If you don't mind another question, where is your trash located? I mocked up a similar layout for our space and I think ours would have to go under the sink or on the short wall opposite the sink (where we currently have a freestanding can).

  • msl511
    11 years ago

    goldchip, that's a beautiful kitchen! I have a 1960's single floor ranch and my kitchen is a bit (not much) bigger than yours, but the layout of LR, DR, K and front hall is pretty much identical to yours, down to having a patio in the back that we want to turn into a screened porch in the same location as yours. And we're planning on taking down the wall between the K and the DR, so I really appreciate you doing it all for us ahead of time at your house, so I can truly get a feel for how it's going to look.

    For months and months, I've been saying white shaker cabinets, but my husband and I love cherry, too and your pix may have single handedly convinced me to change to cherry slabs. I still have the original cabinets in my kitchen, so I can definitely assure you that the slab doors are absolutely faithful to the period of the house.

    Thanks!