I had the chance to renovate my kitchen and put in good, solid materials after a complete gut. I tried to source as many things as I could as cost-effectively as possible. You can go back to previous posts (click on the “kitchen reno” tag — I think I have tagged everything that way) to get into the nitty-gritty of specific elements including where I saved some bucks; I figure it's helpful to people with my same mentality of Use Up Wear Out Make Do Do Without (but also, get good things if you have to start from scratch). Sometimes we just don't know what the good things are.
I did my best to figure it all out and I'm here to share the knowledge with the collective memory!
Let's talk about windows and doors. I tried very hard to find used items in this department and only succeeded with one (see below).
The truth is, doors and windows are likely not going to be a standard and very particular size, especially in an old house. I mean, the contractor can make the window opening to a standard size as far as the window manufacturer's offerings go — it would be extremely pricey to get a truly custom-sized window, and not at all necessary when everything is being built rather than retro-fitted.
But finding the size you need from among the offerings on the second-hand market turned out not to be feasible for me. Either the things were not the right size or they were not good quality. So this is a place in the budget where we had to accept spending the money for solid, quality items.
These are all Marvin windows and doors (other than the interior door). The line is called “Elevate” — they are as close to “true lights” (divided panes) as you can get and still have modern energy-efficient windows. If you can renovate truly old windows, absolutely do that. It's not actually cost-effective to replace them. The windows we had were already replacements, and they were not right for the space.
I really wanted a big window over my kitchen sink.
BEFORE – the small window over the sink just looks rather … not in proportion, outside (it's to the right of the porch on the first floor):
AFTER:
(The roof needs re-doing and the front needs repainting, but you get the idea already!)
BEFORE inside:
AFTER inside (you can see the ceiling got raised quite a bit!):
As you come in from the mudroom, I thought it would be more open feeling, and less dark to have a French door (with divided lights as they call them, or panes of glass).
This is the door I was able to find on Facebook Marketplace. It has tempered glass, which we thought was a good idea, given the number of children running through here, and my own clumsiness. A similar door would cost upwards of $1000. I got it for $125, brand new:
I got the brass doorknob and two others for about $1 each on Facebook Marketplace (new they go for about $20 each).
Here is French door from inside the kitchen …
BEFORE — that is the original, solid door and it is good quality:
AFTER:
It makes it so that I can see who comes in — I have a sightline now right into the mudroom. It makes the little entry area right inside the door more open and airy. This is what Christopher Alexander calls a pattern — to be able to see from one room to the next (but not have everything be totally open), to give a sense of connection and settlement.
The other day I opened the window above the sink, due to Spring making an appearance! The windows are all casement windows, which I love.
This was my inspiration photo for this window and especially this corner, saved on my Pinterest:
I hope to someday find a vintage dish rack of some kind for the wall of the fridge.
I really encourage you to keep Pinterest boards, well organized, for what inspires you, even if it's just a photo of something that produces a certain feeling. You can see I didn't need to replicate the photo exactly to get the feeling I wanted. Here is my Pinterest — look at my kitchen inspiration board to see how minutely I organized it.
On the other side of the room, here is the window above the vintage sink:
And here is the sliding door to the right of it, on the same wall:
I considered a real French door here, but it was not going to be able to open inwards, due to the traffic pattern, and it's not a reasonable idea at all to have it open outwards here in New England, not to mention in this corner of the house where snow and ice can really pile up if we are not careful. So a slider it is. I made the decision to have it a couple of inches taller (but no wider) than before, and I think that makes a big difference, actually, without costing much more (about $100 more). People do seem to sell sliding doors second-hand, but my contractor frowned on cutting corners here. The door has to remain square and be solid — this one gets a lot of use for most of three seasons.
A big part of why things look a lot better is the trim — and this is true all around. Hefty trim goes a long way to making things look solid and high quality.
What do you think? I think I mentioned at some point that I came across an article about “mistakes people make when renovating their kitchens” and one of them was getting windows that are too large, because then you don't have room for cabinets and storage. “Well, I guess I made that mistake!” thought I! However, I am content. Before, there was a shortage of light in this room. Now it feels light and airy, and I still have plenty of storage!
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Rozy says
Let’s just say I have a holy envy of your kitchen renovation. We live in an 1898 house in which the kitchen is large, but rather inefficient because of poor design. So much wasted space and a broken work triangle. Anyway, I don’t think you made a mistake on large windows; letting light in is more important than more storage, at least to me. I’d rather get rid of extraneous things for more light! Thanks for sharing all your lessons learned, wisdom and lovely photos. You have really good taste!
Leila says
Thank you! One thing I’ll say I learned: it’s not so much about the triangle as about the work zones. Once you think “unfitted” it’s easier to figure out the zones. These old houses have so many doors and windows and the odd fireplace that the triangle idea just doesn’t really work!
Lisa G. says
Leila, one of your photos isn’t loading – the one after you saying Spring is making an appearance. Other than that, it all looks so beautiful. I love it, especially the bigger window over the sink! I never heard of Marvin windows.
Leila says
Thanks! I fixed it. I had so much trouble with the photos today! That’s why my post was late.. I have to figure that out.
Melisa says
Your new kitchen is so lovely! I’m glad you were able to increase light, something I’d love more of in my kitchen. The new window really does look to be in better proportion from the outside to my eye – and the added detail is beautiful.
Where did you get your iron log rack? We could use something like that in front of our fireplace.
\Blessings to you and yours,
Melisa
Leila says
Thanks! I got the rack on… drumroll… FBMP 🤣
I looked on various sites for one I liked that was the right size for the space (which has now changed, but luckily it still fits) and that I liked the look of. You have to ask yourself if you want it to collapse, hold kindling, go straight up and down, etc… I then searched on FBMP until I found one.
I can’t remember now where it is originally from, but I do know it was originally about $200 and I got it for $50 I think? Might have been less. I like that it’s straight up and down (doesn’t curve outwards) because my fireplace is sort of in a traffic pattern.
Rachel S. from California says
Auntie Leila, your kitchen is so lovely! It was lovely before, too, but this renovation is amazing. I’ve “lurked” on your blog for about a year and read every old post I could find before buying the Summa Domestica, and I have to say that it feels like you have kept your reno so true to the spirit of your home while making beautiful upgrades! Thanks for sharing the process with us – I love it.
Rachel
Leila says
Thank you, Rachel!
What you say was my goal. It makes me happiest for people to come in and say “it’s still homey” and “it feels the way it did before.”
I had the chance to put into practice the Pattern Language things I learned and to express my design ideas, which feels like a true gift!
And I’m glad I’m not boring you with the details LOL
Helena says
I was wondering, Auntie Leila, If you could make a post of a general update on your family, like who’s who, who’s married, and who all the kids in your photos are and who they belong to, and how many grandkids you now have. If not, that’s fine, but it got very complicated tracking how many of your kids are married and how many kids they have 🙂 Thank you!
-Helena
Katie K says
Airy kitchen with fewer cabinets is not a mistake. I have a little corner of a kitchen and it keeps us from the temptation of piling up gadgets, etc, that we don’t need.
I noticed the solar panels . . . do tell! I’m suspicious of all these solar people trying to get a piece of my roof (though I do not love the rates Eversource charges here in central CT). Maybe a future post?
Leila says
There’s not much to tell about the solar panels. It’s not my favorite thing but it was cost-effective to lease them.
Rachael says
Your kitchen looks so lovely! Windows are a must for happiness. Less stuff and more windows! Plus that pantry can store the extra stuff😘
One of the best things about this new house we bought was the massive kitchen and the 4 huge windows. Unfortunately it doesn’t fall in a sun path so not a ton of direct light but still it’s very lovely overall.
Thanks for the delightful poetry link. We just finished memorizing sand-between-the-toes by a.a. Milne. Listening to the 2 year old “say” it was hilarious.