1930’s home: kitchen reno

buying a new home was something we had planned for for over two years… almost three years to be exact! but we never could have imagined we’d be renovating one home and designing another simultaneously! i’m still trying to wrap my head around everything that has happened.

the past couple of months have taught us there are no guarantees in life, no matter how well someone plans, some things are completely out of our control.

we sold our beloved family home last november and bought this 1930’s home. we were originally looking for a lot to build on, but fell in love with this character home for numerous reasons.

unfortunately, i got very sick after only three days of living in this home (allergic reaction to the off-gassing from new carpet and paint) and we had to pack our belongings, leave this home and move in with family (this all happened two weeks before christmas!) during this time, we were introduced to another house that was for sale privately. it was a great opportunity, and the lot had potential for us to build a new home as we had originally hoped… our silver lining!

we decided to sell the first home we bought so we could move forward with the new build. cory had new kitchen cabinets (from his work) that we had access to use, so we decided we would renovate the first home we bought (this character 1930’s home) and sell it, so we could move forward with the other one.

the renovation is now complete and we’ve also now sold this home! we finally have clarity about our future and we can breathe again. i haven’t wanted to share too much about our housing situation beause I didn’t want to jix it. i’ve received lots of housing questions on instagram which have been challenging to answer because this story is so complex.

after four very stressful months, i finally feel ready to share what we’ve been working on. the new owners of this home have also agreed to rent back to us, which means we get to enjoy the work we put into this home, while we wait for our new home to be built. after countless hours, sickness, uncertainty, blood, sweat and tears, happy days are finally here…

my favourite part of the kitchen, is this eating nook. it’s pretty simple, but sunlight pours through these wooden windows most hours of the days and it’s the most relaxing spot to sit and sip tea in, plan the day, or get some work done. we also use this spot to eat breakfast together as a family.

i fell in love with these wishbone chairs months and months ago. anyone remember when i was trying to decide between the walnut and natural colour? i had originally wanted to incorporate them into our dining room in our old home right before we sold it.

my indecisivenss paid off, as i think the chairs work perfectly in this room and it was clear to me that for this room the natural chair colour would be best. we wanted a soft, more relaxed vibe and I love how well they match the cabinets in the kitchen. we ordered the chairs and table from Rove Concepts who carries beautiful, hand-crafted, mid-century furniture items.

i’m always nervous ordering furniture online, but we were so happy with the quality of these pieces when they arrived. the chairs and table are very solid and you can tell that they use quality material to build their products. the only problem i have is i don’t know how to incorporate them into our new home as we won’t have a cute little nook like this!

here is a picture of the original nook, so you can see what has been changed. the entire house needed a fresh coat of paint, but we also changed the flooring, opened up the windows and added a light fixture into this room.

here’s another before and after of the kitchen. the kitchen was one of the rooms that transformed the most in our reno. well, this room and our bathroom. originally, the kitchen had very old appliances, bright orange counters and brownish vinyl flooring. The layout was also very odd, but we knew it had potentional as it was a bright open space.

before

after