Big day!!!!!!!

[Jenise]

The architect just left with a retainer fee: the kitchen remodel begins!

SWEET

All the best, Jenise -- I'm sure you know what you want and need.

I'm just finishing insulating the extension to our den, and on Monday we are sheet rocking the master bedroom closet. Both will be great additions to the house.

Ooooooooh! I am so envious! Have a great time!!

[Robin Garr]

The architect just left with a retainer fee: the kitchen remodel begins!

Woohoo!

So, do we get an executive summary of the plan!?

[Jenise]

Ai yi yi. Executive Summary? Well, let me see if I can figure out how to describe what we're doing. It's complicated.

Okay, our house is architecturally unusual and really really cool. It's flat-roofed and box-shaped, and the outside is clad in corrugated metal siding and cedar shingles. On the street side, all you see is garage doors, metal siding, and two tiny bathroom windows (my neighbors call this house "the barracks"); it was built to turn it's back on the world and be totally open to the water side. It's two-storied, but there's no stacked living space. The three bedrooms are over the three car garage. The downstairs is one huge two-storied cavern, nominally divided by a 15 foot tall by 25 long limestone rock wall in which there is a two-sided fireplace. There are no rooms per se, just four major areas, and each area is defined by an elevation change. The four areas are currently: kitchen/wet bar/walk in pantry/breakfast bar and family room (hereafter called 'den') on one side of the rock wall, and dining room and office on the other.

To get to our front door, you come through a fenced-in courtyard (made of the same metal as is on the house), which is a very large contemplative, zen-like space ringed with little ornamental gardens, my raised vegetable planter, and several stands of bamboo that shield us from the house next door. There is also a winding metal staircase to the rooftop deck. The rooftop deck is over the kitchen, which is the northeast area.. The kitchen has one tall, narrow 12 inch wide window onto the courtyard which you have to bend over the kitchen sink to look out of. Otherwise, there is no view into the totally private courtyard at all. None. And it makes the kitchen dark; it's like a cave that you have to walk between the wet bar and the breakfast bar to get to. The kitchen itself is about 12' square with an island stove, and it's open to the den, which is the southeast area and one step down, which is walled by sliders that looking out onto the patio on the other side of which is the scrub/log beach and on the other side of that, Puget Sound.

Overall, the house has a raw, organic, straightforward Frank Lloyd Wright sensibility. Everything's oversized, nothing's 'cute'. We're not going to change any of the outside walls, we're simply going to redefine the space within, and create a grand kitchen.

The old den/TV room is moving from the southeast area to the southwest area, which I'm currently using as an office and share with an 1850 American grand piano. That frees up all of the area between the kitchen and the patio to become a real eat-in "Great Room", and the turn-of-the-century dining table that seats ten is moving there. That space is perfect, it's about 30 feet long by 20 feet wide so there will be casual seating there, too. My 'office' is moving two steps up into the northwest area, a 10 x 20 foot dining room, which like the kitchen is open (it's divided from the other area by a long built-in credenza and is walled on the other side by the staircase) so that the view is always available. It has really grated on me that the dining room is on the other side of the wet bar and the rock wall, and not visible at all from the kitchen. To me, that's awkward for entertaining, though when it was designed 25 years ago the prevailing idea was that guests not see the mess in the kitchen. That it marooned the cook at the same time was not an issue--back then, entertaining meant you pulled the casserole out of the oven and ta da! dinner was ready.

So, the kitchen itself: we're going to debottleneck and enlarge the kitchen by gutting the wet bar/breakfast bar and pantry. The island will go too. A new walk in pantry will go along the far wall, effectively pulling the expanded kitchen closer to the center of the house. The open part of the new kitchen will be galley shaped and measure about 25 feet by 12. New tall windows on the north side will open the view into the courtyard. The south side of the kitchen will be a counter with seating. The counter will be the main architectural feature of the new kitchen, made of concrete and shaped like a wave with a school of tin fish swimming through it. There will be a six foot by three foot butcher block prep counter on the other side so I can chat with guests while I work. I'll probably take advantage of the water supply from the current wet bar to put in a small vegetable washing station/island. The stove is a new six burner Viking range with a grill and double ovens. The fridge is a 48" Kitchen Aid that has the Sub-Zero look, and I chose it because I got the KA for two grand under MSRP and I couldn't justify the four grand delta between the two brands. We're going to reuse our Bosche dishwasher and under counter wine cooler. The only other appliance I've bought is a warming drawer. I might also add a cool drawer for cheeses. I haven't bought a hood yet--we might have something custom made.

So that's it. Sorry about all the detail, I don't really know how to describe why we're doing what we're doing otherwise.

Oh, and one wall of the new "great room" will get a new wall of built-in display and storage that will including a wine service area.

[Robin Garr]

So that's it. Sorry about all the detail, I don't really know how to describe why we're doing what we're doing otherwise.

Don't be sorry! It was a great description, and I didn't speed read it.

It sounds like the kind of house I would love.

[Jenise]

So that's it. Sorry about all the detail, I don't really know how to describe why we're doing what we're doing otherwise.

Don't be sorry! It was a great description, and I didn't speed read it.

It sounds like the kind of house I would love.

I think you would, too. I loved it the second I laid eyes on it. But it's definitely a love it or hate it kind of house because there's nothing conventional about it and parts of it that seemed visionary 25 years ago are now just weird. It took three years of our living in it to figure out how to re-assign the spaces to suit the way we want to live in it. It turned out to need more than the simple replace-the-appliances/kill-the- island renovation I originally envisioned. And such is the setting, that if I couldn't afford to change a hair on the house's head, I'd still choose to live here.

Wow, Jenise, it sounds fantastic! Do you have a website or Flickr account where you can post before/progress/after photos?

[Jenise]

Cynthia, no I don't. But I'll definitely photograph the entire process once construction begins.

Gotta laugh--the architect just called and suggested I think about some place to move to during the worst of the work. HA! With six cats? We're staying put.

So where are you going to cook for the next eighteen months?

[Jenise]

So where are you going to cook for the next eighteen months?

Hopefully, I'm going to be guest-cheffing at various friends' homes. I'm surrounded by people who love to eat but hate to cook!

*Sigh*

Hope ours gets started sometime this decade.


But congrats, Jenise! Wish you lived down the block - a guest chef stint from you would be great!

Mike

Everything's oversized, nothing's 'cute'.

Poor Bobo!

But then I guess oversized is better than cute....

Congrats Jenice,
We did an 8 week kitchen remodel 4 years ago. It was great fun. I kept a dairy from the very first day we met with the designer through to the very last day. I kept track of who said what, dates, etc. It proved to be invaluable. The designer sometimes forgot we had the conversation. We stayed put, as well. I watched every move they made, sometimes they knew I was there, sometimes not. I gave them ice cream cones, cookies, hot coffee, teased them, cracked jokes and answered a million questions. You will be amazed at the questions they will ask if you are there.

We have two garages, one for two cars, another for three plus a workshop. When they took out the old cooktop, hubby moved it to the three car garage, set it on a metal stand, and that is where I cooked. We moved the refer out there, as well. I had a table set up so we could eat our meals. We sealed off the entire house from the kitchen area.

Good luck with all your remodeling. You will love it when it is done.
Oh, one last thing. Our contractor met with us each and everyday, at 5 pm to show us the progress, (I already knew) and to explain what would take place the next day. I loved that! It gave us a second chance to spot something that was not right and get it fixed right away.
Karen

[James Roscoe]

Congrats Jenice,
We did an 8 week kitchen remodel 4 years ago. It was great fun. I kept a dairy from the very first day we met with the designer through to the very last day. Karen

Karen, where did you keep the cows? Did you churn your own butter. Do you make special cheeses? (Sorry, the devil made me do it. )

Jenise - Are you going to host that big west coast MoCool type event when it is all finished? Good luck with the project.

Typo brought out the devil in you. That is OK! Am I still a member of this FLDG?

[James Roscoe]

Typo brought out the devil in you. That is OK! Am I still a member of this FLDG?

Of course. It's funny how a one letter switch like diary and dairy makes such a big difference. I do it all the time. Of course having a dairy in your kitchen would not be a bad thing. I apologize if I offended. It was not my intention. Have a great or grate day!
Cheers!

[Jenise]

*Sigh*

But congrats, Jenise! Wish you lived down the block - a guest chef stint from you would be great!

Mike

Let me return the compliment. It would be great to go through this sequentially with a like-minded couple down the street, wouldn't it? Like: December, January and February, we all eat at my house, February thru April--your turn!

Karen, those are great ideas--I'll do the same. I had planned to keep the camera going but you're right about documenting any conversation that includes a commitment of time or money.

James, how about the 4th of July? The whole bay turns into one big party. It starts on July 1st when we celebrate Canadian Independence and just keeps going.

[James Roscoe]

James, how about the 4th of July? The whole bay turns into one big party. It starts on July 1st when we celebrate Canadian Independence and just keeps going.

July 4th in the NW!!! Oh ya, that sounds like a plan. Now if I could just swing the deal with my wife. I really need to get out to that neck of the woods, but the excuses just keep rolling. It would be fun!