A Moderate Kitchen Remodel with a Touch of Pizazz

The homeowner’s of this Lake Oswego home wanted to update their 1970’s U-shaped kitchen without changing the footprint, cabinets, or breaking the bank account. They had installed, a few years earlier, beautiful Brazilian cherry wood hardwoods that made the kitchen look kind of drab. The problems included worn out laminate counter tops with matching backsplash outlined with an awful metal strip, and limited counter top space. They wanted something practical, classic to last, light in color, with a touch of pizazz - what we call the jewelry in completing a space. After getting an idea of their wants we formulated an approved design plan and took a trip with them to a vendor’s to look at hard surface selections armed with a kitchen cabinet drawer for color specifications. 

BEFORE

 

BEFORE

AFTER

Behind the sink was the original wood decking that extended into the window area. We pulled that out, supported it for the 3CM Santa Fe Tan Polished Pental Quartz stone slab that now extends into the window niche. A single drain under mount stainless steel sink along with a counter top mounted push bottom for the new garbage disposal gives this a clean look. 

 

 

What makes this kitchen is the backsplash called Coral Mix Linear mosaic. It’s a glass and travertine stone mix that adds a modern flair and texture too. To highlight the backsplash and give optional kitchen lighting LED light strips were strategically placed under the upper cabinets.  

The counter top space solution was to install of GE Spacesaver 1.5 cu ft Microwave over the range in Stainless Steel to match the existing appliances instead of having one sit on the counter. We modified the existing cabinets to fit the new self-venting microwave. The small screen TV that took up some valuable space was removed too. The owner’s swear they don’t miss it and claim they are enjoying conversation at the kitchen table now. This minor makeover made a large impact bringing this space back into the 21^st Century.