Today is the day I get to write the blog post I’ve been wanting to write for years, the one about my very own kitchen project! I’m Amy Girard and I work in Schloegel’s marketing department; you may have heard my voice on one of our podcast episodes or read one of my hundreds of blog posts over the years. As a rule of thumb, I like to stay behind the camera but a few months ago my kitchen addition/remodeling project kicked off and I’m excited to share the project and process with each of you!
Here’s a pic of my family from a recent family trip.
A Little History
We purchased our 1950’s brick ranch home, in Old Leawood, back in 2012 and fell in love right away. What’s not to love, it has great bones, character, sits on a cul-de-sac, the location can’t be beat, and we have the best neighbors. We hoped to make it into our forever home and had a long-term goal of adding to the small kitchen. Fast forward to early 2020 and we were ready to start, timing was right. We signed into our Design Service Agreement (DSA) and then the world came screeching to a halt. My husband Calvin and I decided to proceed forward even with the unknowns. Unfortunately, several things like remote learning and long-term working from home came into play and we knew it was no longer the right timing.
We went back and forth over the next year. Finally, at the end of the 2021 we decided the time was right, again . Project costs had increased quite a bit but so had our home value, knowing this was our long-term goal we hit the trigger. Next week I’m going to share all about our addition floorplan!
Financing an Addition
An addition is no small undertaking and we decided to finance our project. We worked with Tom Rosberg and Aaron Ridenour with Capital Federal. They helped with a loan that would fit our needs. If you’re looking to do a large project and are interested in financing Cap Fed was great to work with.
Our Existing Kitchen
Our kitchen was small but fairly functional. It had served us well for 10 years but we had reached a point where things were starting to break down. We either needed to band-aid fixes or take the leap and do our dream project.
Overall, the kitchen was pretty cute but it had seen its day. There wasn’t enough cabinet or counter space and we had quite the list of things broken or on their way out. The cabinets were original and had been painted previous to us moving in. They looked cute but paint flaked everywhere! We had to rinse ever pot and pan before we could use them. None of the drawers opened easily, and we even had a few metal drawers! The granite hadn’t been installed properly and had a large crack in front and behind the sink. Here’s a brief tour.
Perhaps my largest complaint was that you entered the kitchen from the garage. There was no where to put anything. Our two kids dumped shoes, coats, & backpacks right in my cooking zone. The countertop was used for mail and miscellaneous school things. The shot below also shows our range and hood vent. The hood vent broke about 9 years ago and the range wasn’t cooking to its full capacity.
Here’s the view into the dining room. We had a small breakfast area and a cased opening to the dining room. The dining room has always been one of my favorite rooms with the built-in shelves, those would definitely be staying! The floors throughout the home are mismatched. The tile surrounding the hardwoods wasn’t laid even, we constantly bumped into the tile with shoes, vacuums, mops, etc.!
Check back in when I share my wish list, the proposed designs, and the plan for our kitchen.