Updated Kitchen

Almost everything had to go – including the kitchen sink! 

The kitchen in our Calumet house is now finished, and it feels good to have all the kitchen items crossed off our project list.  When we purchased this home, we were pleased that it hadn’t undergone a lot of renovations through the years.  It was built in 1968 and we were lucky it escaped the paneling/wallpaper era almost unscathed.  The only exceptions were the one layer of wallpaper on some of the kitchen walls and a bit of paneling on some interior basement walls.  Our plan is to have my mom move into this house after we build a home on our property.  We want to have all the Calumet house updates completed by the time we start building, as we don’t want to have projects going at two different properties at the same time.

Shortly after closing on this home last August, we spent an entire day shopping in Saginaw for things we needed in order to update this house.  We purchased all the paint, light fixtures, bathroom flooring, toilet, vanity, sinks, faucets, etc.; and Steve spent a couple weeks up here working on this house.   By the time we moved in October, the new kitchen flooring had been installed, and he had painted the ceiling and the area behind the refrigerator.  He had time to paint the rest of the house, but he didn’t have time to finish the kitchen.

The kitchen cupboards and countertop were definitely original to the house.  The cupboards were in great shape and had never been painted, so we decided to leave them that way.  Since this is the “Copper Country,” we didn’t want to replace the copper cabinet hardware either.  The stove/oven and refrigerator had been replaced by the previous owner and had hardly been used.  I doubt the interior of the oven had ever seen a batch of cookies or a pizza.  The refrigerator is smaller than what we would like, but there isn’t enough space available for a larger one.  The interior of the refrigerator was moldy, but it looked new after a thorough cleaning.

The kitchen was functional, so finishing it wasn’t our top priority after moving in.  Unpacking, organizing, deer season and holidays came first.  Steve stripped the wallpaper and painted the rest of the kitchen in January.  There may have been just one layer of wallpaper, but it was still quite a job to remove it.  It was really, really stuck!  He also installed the new light fixture and replaced all the outlets and switches.  We stopped right there for a few months, because that’s when the basement bath project rose to the top of the project list.  We ordered the new kitchen countertops in April, and we finally installed them with the new sink and faucets in June. 

OK, now for the before and after photos.  Here’s a before shot of the kitchen floor.

The before shot of the paint and wallpaper combination:

When Steve was working here before we moved in, he painted the area behind the refrigerator.  He also did a little love-note graffiti on the wall for me.  We lived with it that way until January!

The original color of the kitchen was hiding behind the wallpaper.  It was sort of a clay color.

This is the new floor and new paint color.  The heat register hadn't been painted yet.

We took the next photo when we first looked at the house last summer.  I was standing in the kitchen looking toward the old front door and sidelight that has now been replaced.

This is the after photo of the same corner of the kitchen.

Next, I was standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room looking toward the back door.  I’m not sure why that green strip was painted near the back door.

Here’s the after shot.

Looking at the old kitchen sink area:

Looking at the new kitchen sink area:

Oops!  I’ve replaced that red rug.  Sorry.

Next, two shots of the previous oven, refrigerator and pantry area:

Finally, two shots of the updated area:

We’ll post more photos of the other rooms in this house in the future. The project list is now quite short. We need to install the new fence and there are few more things to do in the basement. Steve is saving the completion of the basement for his winter project. He needs something to keep him busy all winter – other than snow removal!

All is well in the Keweenaw.