Shop Transformation: 11.Kitchen

This room was the best, unexpected finish to the project. My initial plan was for this space to simply house incoming packages. I mean, that was the whole purpose behind my desperate cry for help. For years, our house had been overrun with incoming packages and local purchases. We needed a place to store it all. But, as the rest of the shop design came together, this room stayed empty. And if you know me, empty space is OK in my book!

The non-pink room (aside from the paneled room)!

Brooke and I worked in the shop a lot while refinishing furniture in 2018. I soon realized a kitchenette would be practical. It was no longer just a place to hold packages -- we needed to eat, take breaks, and drink plenty of water, lol! Poor Brooke...it still took me months to pull it all together.

While remodeling our #CanfieldClient in 2018, they intended to donate their kitchen cabinets. They had been sitting under the carport for weeks before I had the thought, "hmmm, I wonder if some of these would work in the shop"? The wife's dad built the cabinets 40 years ago while she and her husband were building their home. They were thrilled to pass on whatever I needed. Knowing the cabinets had such sentimental value, I was excited to repurpose them in a "new old" location! I hauled away two stretches of upper cabinets with glass doors to my shop (after a thorough sweeping and de-spidering, of course.)

The upper cabinets were in here somewhere, lol!

Here is what they looked like in my client's kitchen prior to removing them. They served this dear family well for many, many years.

And here they sat for a while, as I tended to other things.

I knew there was an original, solid wood door up in the attic just waiting for a project.

Thankfully, it was EXACTLY the right dimensions for a countertop! I seriously don't know how I managed to get the door down from the attic, take pics (of course) and avoid getting knocked out in the process! If I haven't mentioned it before, I am not keen on waiting for help. There it is, peeking over the attic door, showing its rough, chipped paint side...

I'm pretty sure it's stuff like this that explains why my husband lovingly refers to me as "crazy lady." I mean...maybe.

So, now I had a countertop, a bunch of glass front doors and cabinet bases. I drew up plans for the kitchen area and sent them to Karl, a carpenter I work with frequently. He built a base for the countertop (old door) and built boxes to run horizontally above it. The original cabinet bases were too tall because our ceiling is super low in this room. He modified the glass doors to close flush and attached gas hinges.

The single, vertical cabinet on the far right was a project I tackled myself. Again, somehow single handedly hung that cabinet. I'm sure it wasn't a pretty site...but it's up and secure!

I painted the inside of the cabinets high gloss white and the exterior black. Custom Accents cut a glass top to create a smooth surface over the "door." I made a crude template so they could cut a hole for appliances to plug in below. The original knob hole was already there, so that was handy! A friend was giving away a microwave for free and I bought the fridge at a huge discount (a whopping $3)! The small Keurig was even on sale. Yes, I DO love sales! But ONLY when it's something you need/want and would pay full price for...not just for the sake of the deal. That's how you end up with stuff you don't need!

This "incoming package room" sure turned into a nice surprise. It is wise to leave room for flexibility when designing. I always have a plan on paper when I begin any project. But, I never follow it 100%. That's part of the fun of creating - to address challenges when they arise (because they will) to bring about the best result possible.