Hi guys!

In our last few posts about our Blonde Victorian project, we shared floorplans for all 3 floors (here, here, and here) and talked about making some changes. One of those changes was our plan to move the kitchen into the dining room.

Let’s rewind for a sec, in case you missed it.  We originally came up with this design for the kitchen (keeping it in the kitchen space) and were really excited about it.

Then, we realized that we were working with the wrong measurements, which made the walkways in our original plan too small.  While in problem solving mode, we decided to try swapping the kitchen and dining room.  Making this change meant that we’d have a larger kitchen and a smaller, more open dining space.

We thought we had everything figured out, but after letting it simmer for a bit, the open dining space didn’t feel right for the home. Considering its age and size, we felt like we were taking an important element away by getting rid of the formal dining room.  We went back to the drawing board again and decided to make the kitchen work in the old kitchen space with a few tweaks:

• Decrease the width of the powder room (behind the pantry cabinet wall) to create enough room between the pantry wall and island
• Move the fridge onto the pantry wall to increase storage + counter space on the back wall
• Choose a built-in fridge, which is even less deep than a counter depth fridge
• Close up the small window on the back wall to increase flexibility for the range + hood placement

We’re still debating all of the finishes from cabinet colors to flooring to what type of range hood to do, but it’ll look something like this.

Another perk of keeping the kitchen in the kitchen is the focal point it creates from the front door. It’s going to be a pretty view!

There’s one more big change we’re making, and it’s in one of the second floor bathrooms.  Here’s what we originally had planned – shower, double vanity, and open toilet w/pony wall.

We found out that we didn’t need to put the toilet on the left wall, which was an important factor in our first design.  With this new knowledge, we decided to move the sinks, shower and toilet to improve the overall flow & functionality of the space.  Now, the mirrors reflect the shower instead of the toilet, and the toilet is off on its own in the nook that used to house the dryer.

There’s so many details to consider beyond what meets the eye when designing a space, and it’s always a challenge to balance budget with aesthetic with functionality.  Our goal for every room we work on is to create the highest and best use for the space, and sometimes it takes a few iterations for the right solution or inspiration to strike.  The key is getting all of the changes figured out before we get too far into the construction process 🙂

Demo is finished on all floors and framing has begun!  Next up will be plumbing, HVAC, and electrical.  We’re so excited to see our designs come to life on this one.  We’ll be back soon with construction updates and some insight into where we’re headed design wise (if you don’t want wait, check out our Pinterest board here!).

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