On Saturday, Lin and I went to see the new kitchen, plus all the other remodeling just finished-up in Suzanne's house: a powder room carved out of former kitchen space, new cabinetry in her sitting room, and a complete overhaul of the master bathroom.
Cherry wood cabinets, a tile floor, and stainless steel appliances
Shaker style cabinets
The new arch leads to the dining room; beyond that is a sun room with a view of San Francisco Bay,which Suzanne can see while she cooks at the island, one of her special requests.
Looking from the dining room into the kitchen in late afternoon: glammy!
New cabinets along the back wall
Gray-green granite counters with a pale green glass tile backsplash. All the windows are original.
My sister, who designed the kitchen, with a slab of the granite and a sample of tile during the "choose-the- materials" phase.
To give you an idea of how different the new kitchen is from the one Suzanne lived with for 2-3 years:
The new sink is in the same place and the window remains, but that's all that's the same.
Quaint but impractical, according to Suzanne.
The old fridge was in an awkward slot between two small rooms adjoining the kitchen. The slot is gone, the wall is gone, and those two rooms are now incorporated into the new kitchen, with a new powder room carved out of the room on the right (rust paint).
Below, a new and improved fridge installed where the old stove used to be:
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The brand-new powder room:
Before the remodel:.
The only toilet on the main floor of the house was
this one, a lone fixture in one of the two rooms adjoining the kitchen, with no sink. Guests had to go into the kitchen to wash their hands. This interior wall was removed during the remodel.
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The master bedroom's sitting room has 12 new drawers for storage:
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A completely remodeled master bath:
A big new shower replaced the old shower-over-tub. A bank of drawers and shelves was added, at right.
The shower features two shelves, one at perfect height for leg-shaving (not this one, obviously).
New vanity, toilet, and medicine cabinet
The old pedestal sink smashed during demolition. Suzanne wanted storage space around the sink.
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And for Suzanne's cats, Dilwyn and Gracie, who endured all this with her...
...a custom entry to the laundry room closet where their cat box lives:
Although they seemed to prefer hanging out in the master bathroom before the shower door was installed:
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Suzanne is happy! I can only think that remodeling is like childbirth--you forget how hard it was once the baby arrives. Two years of planning went into this project, and then seven months of construction.
The team that made this happen: Madeleine Randal Interior Design, San Jose; and Geoff Semans of The Original Crafters, Oakland. Yes, there was a lot of commuting on 880 and there still is, because these are the people in charge of our bathroom remodel.
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