The butler's pantry - better than we could have imagined!

When redesigning the kitchen, the only thing that remained (and I mean the ONLY thing) was the original butler's pantry cabinet that was located in what used to be the butler's pantry or breakfast room.  We took down the wall between the kitchen and the original butler's pantry room to make the kitchen larger and more usable.  We both agreed that the butler's pantry cabinet was a keeper.  It is a huge floor to ceiling cabinet with solid doors on the bottom and what we think were glass doors on the top.  However, the glass that was in the middle was gone when we bought the house.  In it's place was chicken wire. 

Our dream from the beginning was to have leaded glass panels made for each of the four doors.  We, however, are not gifted in that area of leaded glass.  We thought this dream would have to wait indefinitely.  Our friend J was helping us paint one day and reminded us that her mom was a leaded glass artist and she said she would see if she might be willing to help.  J said her mom would love to help and to send her a pattern we liked.  We sent Mrs. B a picture of a pattern we liked and she and Mr. B spent weeks building the doors.  Here is the cabinet ready for the doors:

And here is a leaded glass panel in Mr. and Mrs. B's shop:

And here is a panel in a door:

P and I would like to say a special thanks to Mr. and Mrs. B for their incredible work for us on this project.  If I remember right, there are 408 pieces of cut glass between the four doors.  We are so thankful for them and their help!  Thanks guys!

Stay tuned for the finished product.  I'm in the process of sanding and painting the door frames now so that we can add the leaded glass.  Hopefully soon... I have two sanded.

Kitchen

The kitchen has come along way.  The walls and ceilings are mostly done (with the exception of some trim), the hardwood floors are installed, the cabinets are installed and the countertops are in!  This all seemed to happen so quickly.  The floors are engineered hardwood glued down on the concrete/tile subfloor.  This was my first experience with gluing hardwoods and it is a messy and slow process.  It came together well and it looks great.

I bought the cabinets online as ready-to-assemble (RTA) cabinets.  Basically, you get a major reduction in cost when you buy standard sized cabinets and assemble them yourself.  Much of traditional cabinet cost are in shipping/assembly/installation.  With the RTA cabinets, I was able to save enough money to get P's dream countertops.  The cabinets are espresso stained shaker-style and are surprisingly well constructed.  I did order a sample door before I bought the set to be sure we would be happy with the look.  We went with no upper cabinets as there is very little wall space for upper cabinets because of all the windows.  This made the installation easier.  We also modified the refrigerator cabinet to add a shelf for P's cookbooks. 

Since we started the project P has dreamed of Alabama white marble countertops.  I was very skeptical about marble based on all I read about it - expensive, stains easily, chips easily, etc.  P has always wanted marble and it is really good looking.  It also fits well with the age and style of the house.  I agreed to at least price it out and see how much it would cost.  We set a budget prior to looking and when we priced it out, it came out to almost exactly to what we'd budgeted.  P assures me that it will change color with use, but that is the charm and look that marble is supposed to have.  We'll see how it ages, but right now it looks great. 

Filling the hole

In the former butler's pantry (now part of the new kitchen) there was a hole in the wall  We were told that the the hole was made by the former owner for a window air conditioner.  The old casement windows have openings that are too small for an A/C unit to fit, so they tore out a 2'x2' hole in the the 14" thick concrete wall.  When we bought the house the hole was covered with plywood on the inside and outside. 

We removed the plywood to do a permanent repair of the hole.  When we removed the plywood we found this:

We decided to fill it back in with concrete block.  The challenge was that the concrete block made in 1925 is sized different than today's typical 8" or 12" block.  We had to trim 8" block to fit the opening.  It took a little time and trial and error, but we ended up with a pretty good fix.  We're going to have to add a layer of brick to the inside to make up the difference in width, but it came out pretty well.  A nice layer of stucco on the outside will make it perfect.

Wall repair

During our renovations, we found some old termite damage.  While repairing this damage, we were able to open up the existing 24" door opening to a 32" door opening.  This should add some light and easier access from the hall to the kitchen.

new wall after repair

new wall in progress

view from hallway into kitchen with newly expanded doorway

I hate plaster.

Maybe not as much as birds, but I do hate it.  What's even worse is plaster under a leaking roof.  And we have both.  No problem, we'll just tear it out.  Did I mention that plaster is like brittle, dusty concrete?  So far we've removed the plaster from most of the kitchen (walls/ceiling), the master bedroom ceiling and the upstairs ceiling in the hallway/stairwell.  The benefits of this upstairs is we get to add recessed lights and insulation.  The benefits downstairs is a new kitchen.

The Kitchen

The kitchen was remodeled probably 30-40 years ago and updated with paint of questionable tastes.  A window was covered up with cabinets and a wall oven.  Some of the original tile was visible on the walls.  Similar tile was on the floor.  Apparently somebody really liked tile.  Really.  

P's vision for the kitchen doesn't include anything seen here.  Especially the tile.  So the demolition of the kitchen begins.  P is removing tile from the walls.  There was even tile behind the cabinets.  We've picked out cabinets and have a dream of marble counter tops.  We hope to make that happen.

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