Before & After :: The Old House Kitchen, final installment

Here's the last piece of our kitchen puzzle.  Day one you saw one wall - yesterday the other - and today the final piece of the kitchen.  Potentially overlooked as not "part of the kitchen" because it doubles as the laundry area, but it is a vital part of why this space works.

BEFORE

Originally this space had plumbing for a washer and dryer and full height bi-fold cabinet doors the entire length of the wall.  They came out immediately.  Before pictures were taken. And on the right you can see a door that leads to a "mud-area/ porch" that we decided to enclose into the kitchen.   The counter that you see jutting out was a temporary fix using a counter from Ikea to get us through until we could finish the kitchen.  

Do you like the half painted door?  Someone's idea of creativity...

INSPIRATION 

AFTER

Because we included the "mud room/porch" into the interior, rather than leaving it as it was originally designed, we were able to extend the cabinets and the counter top all the way to the end wall.  Visually, this creates a lot of space - it does technically too - but it's lovely the way your eye is lead directly out the french doors.

We chose to use upper cabinets here, despite the fact that neither one of us is crazy about upper cabinets, to maximize our storage space.  This is still a small kitchen and we needed to be rational about making room for stuff.  We chose a combination of glass and panel front for practical reasons.  I much prefer glass front, but we did need to store laundry soap and other things that may not need to be seen 24/7.  

The built in washer/dryer has been a source of conversation.  While some have said it's unsightly to have them in the kitchen and others have thought it was trying to have the kitchen do too many things, we have found it highly enjoyable.  Not only can I do laundry while the kids are playing - but laundry gets put away fairly soon.  When it's stacked out for everyone to see, it's a good reminder to put it away - at least when people are coming over.

The bar sink is next to the back door which is great for cleaning up when you come in from outside.  We also keep our collection of pint glasses directly above making getting a glass of water handy.  The coffee pot is makes each cup individually - and we love it.  We make coffee a dozen different ways but this is the simplest way to always have "coffee' available.  The clock was a housewarming gift that came from an old bar on Camano Island.  

Under the bar sink used to be storage for trays.  Then I had kids.  This use has been beyond practical and so nice to be able to have the kids play in the kitchen - and be able to throw their toys in a cupboard really quickly when we need to clean up.

We collect pint glasses from everywhere we go - we have dozens upon dozens that spill from their intended cabinet into the one next door.