Living in a home you designed can be a humbling experience. When I designed our home - the Longhouse - in 2007, I treated it as an experiment. With a tiny budget and two young kids, humble materials + simplicity were solutions born of necessity. Fast-forward fourteen years and it’s time to update + address a few of the choices we made that haven't aged well.

See part 2 for the before + after.

In this DIY kitchen makeover I'm sharing the lessons learned + fixing my mistakes. I'm revisiting + updating the finishes, replacing fixtures + fittings, installing new cabinet fronts + hardware, organizing + decluttering, and even adding a few bespoke details we couldn't afford when we first built our home.

Every project begins with a series of sketches to flesh out my ideas ( the app I use is Procreate ) and I use these to discuss the project goals with my client: my (incredibly patient) wife. Having lived and cooked in this kitchen for many years, our wishlist came together quickly.

The counters were purchased in 2007 on an epic run to the nearest IKEA just south of Boston (6 hours away). They were an inexpensive, sustainable choice and we loved the look of them. For a time, we lovingly treated them with mineral oil and we never actually used them as cutting surfaces. Did they stain? Yes. Did they scratch? Yes. Did they yellow a bit? Of course. You can see (image below) the area that suffered the most next to the sink where we kept our dish drainer and mat. All of these things we knew might happen and we were accepting of them because we knew that if it bothered us too much all we had to do was sand to restore them to their original condition. In the absence of a budget for stone, we still think this was a good decision. Nevertheless, we wanted to refresh, sand and remove the water damaged area. The video illustrates best all my ideas for this area and, there are a few surprises I have in store with the island that I can’t wait to share.

Replacing the door + drawer fronts was an easy decision given the condition of the yellowed and chipped veneer and we knew this would clean up the esthetic with relatively little effort. There’s an entire industry that’s grown to serve this market - a sure sign we’re not the only ones with this problem! We’re shopping for new hardware to pair with the doors too. More on that in the next post.

Upgrading the appliances and addressing the open shelving were related problems and our next priority. My wife and I have never cared for overhead cabinetry so, when we were planning dish storage we opted for open shelving. We thought at the time this would be a timeless, affordable and practical solution. The lower shelves delivered, they were functional and accessible, but the upper shelves disappointed. Our range hood was chosen for price and esthetics - in that order - over brand recognition (ahem, Eurohoods?) It made a lot of noise but that was about it. Cooking grease settled on the upper reaches ensuring the dishes we used less frequently needed washing before every use. And, with open shelves, let’s face it, not everything we own or use for cooking is something we want visible and on-display for the world to see.

The shelving we used for dish storage looked industrial and amazing (IKEA Grundtal) at least for a while. The bars were difficult to keep clean and the spacing made them difficult to store smaller objects like glassware without tipping. The new shelving will be solid and keep daily use items like glasses and cooking essentials in easy reach be minimal. Many of the plates + dishes once stored near the range will find new homes in a new sideboard. We’ll be upgrading the range from a slide-in to a pro-style range and to keep grease at bay we’re installing a new, whisper quiet hood and ductwork.

One of the few places we chose to spend in the original kitchen design was on the island pendant light. We loved the look and quality of light it produced from the six MR16 halogen bulbs. This too suffered from collecting dust on its many surfaces and exposed wires. Over time the wire connectors have loosened and only three of the light reliably stay illuminated. Time for a new fixture here and we’ll also upgrade the downlights by the range to LED.

We’ll be decluttering, organizing, changing fixtures and generally rethinking every detail of how we use the space to improve the function and esthetics. Humble material selection and thoughtful design can be the foundation for functional, stylish and luxe living even when you're working with a tight budget.

In the next part, we build and install everything and reveal the new look.