Melissa + Chris Jensen
“The upper cabinets and a large pillar for ductwork and electrical blocked off the space leaving a very small, closed off and dated kitchen with a large breakfast nook”
When West + Main agent Ann Gurley’s clients Melissa and Chris bought their house last summer, they immediately knew the kitchen was the highest priority.
“The laundry closet was built into the kitchen as well so we wanted to move that to make a coffee nook, and to have a better spot for laundry upstairs. We gutted the kitchen right away getting plumbers and electricians in to get us started and then Chris is extremely handy so he did most of the labor."
Melissa is now in school for interior design, but they started the process before she started school so it took a lot of research and planning to execute her vision.
"I really wanted dark green cabinets which took a little convincing,” said Melissa. “We did one row of floor to ceiling cabinets for the pantry, added an island and turned the former laundry closet into our coffee nook. It was easy to add a sink in the coffee nook since the washing machine used to be in that spot. We love that one person can make coffee while the other is cooking or cleaning without getting in each other’s way."
The biggest hiccup in the project was that their countertops took about 8 weeks to come in, and then it took the couple a long time to decide on a backsplash once the rest of the work was done, even with all the tile samples Melissa had access to at school.
"We also updated all the appliances and lighting in the space and got new windows throughout the house, changing the size of the kitchen window slightly so it wasn’t flush with the countertop,” shared Melissa.
"We have two young kids so opening up the visibility from the kitchen to the family/play room was essential, plus it seemed important to have more kitchen space and unnecessary to have the large breakfast nook when there’s also a large dining room. We are so happy with our new kitchen!"
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