What Comes First? A New Kitchen Or The Addition?
Matt and I have been talking about which one to do first, then new kitchen or the addition. Okay, let me back up a bit.
Right now, I’m working on our bedroom suite. And yes, I have quite a way to go before it will be finished, especially since I was slowed down last week with my injured hand. But I do plan to get that whole thing completely finished before moving on to the next project. After it’s finished, I’ll take a short amount of time to finish up the studio bathroom since it will be our temporary (and only) guest bathroom. After that, I’ll get the inside of my workshop set up so that I can be ready for the next big project.
I had planned on that next big project being the kitchen. I’ve already explained why I will be remodeling our kitchen, and why I’m going to keep the kitchen in its current location instead of moving it to the breakfast room as I had been planning for the last year. If you missed that post, you can see it here. As of right now, I plan on that new kitchen looking something like this. The peninsula will stay where it currently sits.
The back wall will have actual usable floor-to-ceiling cabinets, and I’m hoping I can move the refrigerator to that back wall.
And, of course, the opening to the living room will stay…
And then, with the refrigerator moved, I’ll have more room on the range wall.
And then after that, the plan was to finally do the addition on the back of the house. We’ve been talking about this addition almost as long as we’ve been in this house. I’m really glad that we didn’t jump in and do it sooner, though, because plans have changed so much over the years. And looking back, I think things have worked out perfectly. I love our bedroom suite, and had I forged ahead with earlier plans that we had years ago, it would have been completely different. So I’m not at all sad or frustrated with the fact that the addition has continued to be put on the back burner while I focus on other things.
But I really am wondering if my plan is in the wrong order. I think the addition needs to come before the kitchen. The addition will be a family room, guest bathroom, and guest bedroom.
Here’s my thought process. Over the last week or so, I started asking myself this question. If I could only choose one or the other, the kitchen or the addition, which one would I choose?
The clear answer is the addition. Without the addition, I won’t be able to have an actual dining area because that dining area will have to accommodate a sitting area for Matt. And while we don’t have a real demand for a guest bedroom, it would be nice to have one. But what would be really helpful is to have a room that we can use as a home gym again. Right now, Matt’s Theracycle and my treadmill are in my studio, and that can’t be a long-term solution. And, of course, it would be really nice to have a proper guest bathroom sooner than later rather than guests having to trek through my studio for a bathroom. And finally, I feel like any plans for our back yard are perpetually on hold until the addition is built.
And finally, I asked myself this. If I had to live the rest of my life with our current kitchen, could I do it?
That answer is obviously a “yes”. I’ve lived with this kitchen for ten years, and I’ve been perfectly fine. At a minimum, I would want new appliances, and I’d have to get the countertops refinished again. Those are concrete countertops, and they accumulate stains over the years. So the main area that I use to the left of the sink is pretty stained right now. And I don’t think they can be removed and replaced without damaging the cabinets, so I wouldn’t even want to try unless I’m willing to take the chance of a full remodel.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m still fully on board with a complete kitchen remodel. That’s still my plan. But a full kitchen remodel and a house addition are both really big projects, and I’m just trying to weigh which one is more important. Matt isn’t really any help in this decision. His answer, as with most everything else, is, “It doesn’t matter to me.” And since we can’t peer into the future and know exactly what the future holds, I always try to hold these plans loosely so that I won’t be devastated if I never get to see my plans come to full fruition.
But yes, when I weigh the two biggest projects that we have planned in the future, I think the addition is actually more important to me than a new kitchen. So as I look at our long-term plan, and we budget for our long-term plan, I think that’s the direction we’re going to head. Can you even imagine how exciting it will be to finally build that addition after talking about it for ten years? I mean, talk about long-term plans! 😀
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
Your new kitchen needs some counter top space beside your refrigerator-could you work this into your existing floor plan?
Do you mean on the new kitchen plan with the refrigerator on the back wall? I really need more storage space.
Your studio is quite large. If the Theracycle and treadmill are the only two pieces of equipment you use maybe it would be best to leave them in the studio and have a dedicated guest room. I would suggest a narrow cabinet in the kitchen to house a stepladder. I have cabinets up to our 9 foot ceilings and being only 5’4″ tall I need a stepladder to reach upper shelves. I have to go to my laundry room closet to get my stepladder and it would be so much more convenient to have a cabinet for one in the kitchen. Possibly to also store a broom.
Agree with the need for some counter by the refrigerator. Could you have a pull out shelf (un-sided drawer) in the cabinets flanking the refrigerator so you have someplace to set things that doesn’t take away too much from the overall storage?
I’d do the addition first so that you can have some calm while the storm rages on the back of the house. You can go about your daily life as usual and the addition won’t impact you too much. If you rip into the heart of the home then it’s just more chaos right now, right in the middle of the house. I think you both need a break from that for awhile. Once the addition is done then your whole house will be done and you can reassess if you want to do anything to the kitchen or maybe start on the outside and keep that on the back burner. I’d also say that if your appliances are in good shape then maybe wait until they are on their way out and do the kitchen then.
I think this decision makes a lot of sense. Like you said, you can move on with backyard plans and while the addition is being done, you can get your shop situated to work on the next work when you take over. There won’t be “dead” time. Working on your shop will give you a little break, too. I’m excited for the addition, shop, and yard for you!
If I recall, at one time the plan was to have the kitchen open to the new family room. I’m not sure what happened with that plan, but it makes sense for entertaining. You can still accomplish this by moving the fridge and full wall of cabinets to where the fridge and stove now reside. Then move the sink to the back with a pony wall (so it’s open to the family room), and move the stove to the peninsula. Leaving the fridge where it is also gives you a landing space (peninsula) and keeps the flow open to the addition.
I think I love this idea!! I’m going to use the IKEA kitchen planner to test out this arrangement.
It is really hard to effectively vent a stove in a peninsula to eliminate cooking smells. A good range hood is a kitchen “must have” for me and my family to avoid food smells regularly permeating the entire house.
everytime you state an amount of time you’ve had something, like ten years, with this kitchen or this long with this or that, i say to myself and i’ve seen it all, can’t believe i have been through all this with you at this house and prior, time flies.
I say do the addition! Why not consider a Murphy bed on the wall that backs up to the closet in the home gym? Then that room can do double duty.
Great idea!
I think a Murphy bed would be perfect. I like the idea of the room doing double duty. We so rarely need an actual guest bedroom, but it’s nice to have that option.
I agree!! I would do the addition. That isn’t something you can do over time. I would get the space so that when you do the kitchen remodel you have more space to spread out!
You say the only time you need a guestroom is if you need to leave town and someone needs to stay with Matt. Just get a sleeper sofa for that. I agree the addition. You can continue on with your bedroom while its being done
I’m on Team “Keep the Kitchen for Now”.
You have no clue what is ahead for you in the next few years. What if you were seriously hurt at some point? What if Matt’s condition deteriorates? What if you need live in help at some point?
A functional kitchen is present. I think we all have things we hate about our homes. Things that are aggravating. But we live with them. Tackling the guest room and bath is so much bigger than the kitchen. Do it now while you are able. It may come in handy a little further down the road.
I like your kitchen the way it is. When I take stuff out of the fridge, I need a place to put what I take out right next to it. With you having all cupboards on both sides of the fridge, you have no counter to put stuff on. Could you paint the concrete countertop rather than replacing it at this time? That would cover up the stains and give it a new look. I do hope you get all the other things done, like your bedroom, storage closet, the studio bathroom, the emergency door entrance in your bedroom and the workshop done before you get sidetracked with the new, big, big project of the new addition. With the things you wanted to do first, probably would take you a year to do it all. I don’t think your guests have all that far to go to get to your studio bathroom and they probably enjoy the view of your beautiful studio.
Good point about needing a landing spot for things coming out of or into the fridge…I wonder if a pull-out shelf could be incorporated into the cabinets, maybe between a bottom set of cabinets and top set of cabinets.
If I have to wait a long time for the kitchen, I’ll definitely be refinishing the countertops in the meantime.
The kitchen will serve its purpose where it is now, so I’d do the addition first. You can do the kitchen when the addition is finished. You will get so much joy out of having the addition done.
Have a good week.
I think I would have made the same decision. Also, if in the future Matt becomes more bed bound, having the addition would be a wonderful place to set up his hospital bed. Can’t wait to see the addition started!
Go with the addition.
I’ve been wondering if you plan to keep the footprint of the kitchen the same or if you need to “borrow” space from the addition in order to replace the short depth cabinet wall with the fridge plus deep cabinets. What’s the plan for that?
I’m still trying to work through those details. I’ve been searching for a shallow depth refrigerator, but it seems that even cabinet-depth refrigerators will still require me to borrow some space from the living room if I put the refrigerator on that wall.
I like the idea of the addition first. And also, having a Murphy bed or a pull out sofa would work for guests. You never know when someone might need a place to sleep–like the snowmageddon of ’21. We have a pull-out sofa in an alcove, a guest bedroom and a queen size blow up mattress that just barely fits in the office/sewing room and they were all used by my son’s family of 6.
So waiting to do the kitchen makes the most sense.
I vote for do the addition first. As others have said, the whole house will basically be done and you can move on to the kitchen. But I do have one question: On the plan for the addition,I see the guest bath, closet and living room, but don’t see a guest bedroom in that layout. Or did I miss something?
Kristi,
I’m with you on the addition first. You will benefit having that extra space as you continue with Matt’s needs and allowing for entertaining. The extra square feet will also add to your home equity. I know you guys have no plans to move, however, building equity is always a good thing. I also think your kitchen is at least nice and put together which truly matters for daily living.
What you decide is going to be wonderful either way. Your skills and creative mind will continue to amaze all of us who have followed you for a time.
That’s my opinion
Follow your heart! You have a really cute kitchen!
I don’t have any counter space next to my refrigerator and have tall floor to ceiling cabinets flanking both sides of the refrigerator. I have not found it to be a problem. I love floor to ceiling cabinets, they are very useful, and I have found with sliding shelving for each of my 24-inch-deep cabinets are so easy to keep clean and organized. Even cabinets that are below. I also have a sliding shelf under the sinks in my kitchen and baths, no more digging for items and I love the convenience to get to the back of the cabinet by just rolling out the shelf.