Monday, August 22

monday …

292e

Hello there! Just a little more lighthouse love to start off the week.  

We’re still in the middle of some home improvement work, and I have to say it is slow going.  We’re giving our terrible, ugly, outdated kitchen a bit of a facelift.  To be honest, it needs an entire re-do.  Frankly, I don’t know how I lived with it for as long as I have, but I think you sort of block things out after a while.   But in light of some future work we want to do on the house, and complete indecision as to whether or not a wall is coming down, it just doesn’t make sense to do a new kitchen now, and do it again in a couple of years.   So facelift it is.     But it seems like there are just as many decisions to be made as with a redo.  

A few questions for you if you don’t mind:

a.  Switch to radiant heat in the floors?

b.  Wood floors or tile?   Keep in mind that my kitchen works hard and the back entrance to the house is in the kitchen – no mudroom. 

c.  Right now when you first walk in, what used to be a coat closet has been converted to a pantry.   Should we replace it with cabinets and counter top to match the rest, or should we put in a storage unit/coat rack like the Pottery Barn ones, with one section for each of us?    I don’t like the idea of coats in the kitchen, but I very rarely fry anything, and I always use my exhaust.  I do have another place for the coats, it is just far from the back door, which is the one the family uses.  (So I think I’m leaning towards cabinets, but I’d love your input.) 

And if you’re still reading this … THANKS!

Best,
Stephanie

9 comments:

  1. hi Steph! your photo is really great, my husband's family ran a lighthouse here many years ago!

    personally the cubbies we have are such nice storage, a place for all the stuff.

    i love my hardwood floors in the kitchen and it's easy cleanup. although out mudroom does have slate.

    we actually switched to radiant heat in the family room and kitchen when we remodeled 6 years ago. it works well except when it's really freezing but the rooms are pretty large. the fireplace seems to be a good solution during those really cold days.

    good luck!!

    xo
    suz

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  2. how exciting. i think any bit of improvement is good. a total redo would be nice, but that's a lot of money and a big old mess. i say wood floors and cabinets in the pantry. i love my pantry. and radiant heat in the floors would be awesome. i hate having cold feet. good luck - pictures please!

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  3. I've had wood floors in the kitchen for 2 years - they are a lot of work in my opinion, and they show wear and tear over time. If I had a kitchen separate from the rest of my house I'd go for tile. Terrazo, probably, but we're in California:).

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  4. I have wood floors throughout and love them. Yes, they do need to be screened and poly'd after 5 yrs, but I would never go back to tile.

    I don't have radiant heat, so no help there!

    Good luck with the project. It will be beautiful!
    I still remember your rood dilemma!

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  5. Not sure what frying has to do with coats and cabinets, but I think I like the idea of the pottery barn storage thingy.
    I'd prefer wood floors rather than tile cos I just think it's warmer looking and more cozy. Tile I only like in the bathrooms.

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  6. I'm an old fashioned wood girl- can out lots of inexpensive throw rugs down that can be washed in your own washer- cabinets and counter' but- do u have any room on other side of wall for hooks for coats
    Maybe you can send a picture
    And yes I am putting radiant heat in the new house it really is inexpensive can't wait to hear how it's going

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  7. My in laws have the radiant heat and love it!

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  8. The photo is gorgeous, Stephanie!

    We have wood in most of the house, but tile in the kitchen. It is a tad uncomfortable to walk on barefoot, but I like it. I don't know about radiant heat, but it does sound like a good idea if you go with tile.

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  9. A facelift for your kitchen will be so nice, Steph! How exciting...and messy! ;o) Funny that your call for advice ends up being things that I know nothing about - radiant heat in the floors? Ugh...we're in the middle of a heat advisory here in Arizona so I can't even imagine having a heated floor. And coats in the kitchen? We're lucky to wear coats here...maybe a light jacket in the middle of winter.

    At any rate, I hope the remodeling goes well. Also hope you took some "before" pictures so we can see the change when it's all done. Enjoy! xo

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