Cramped and Cluttered to Cozy and Country

Prisalla Lake

I recently remodeled a kitchen in the home of a Greymount resident who wishes to remain unnamed due to a secret experiment or some sort. The tenant of a small cramped studio apartment had a limited budget and no taste. The tenent is a gardener doing a few gardening experiments to perfect a top secret fertilizer. I agreed to remodel the kitchen and create a space of order and warmth.

The kitchen proved to be very challenging. The budget was set at $2500 and the kitchen was housed in a room that served as the bedroom and living room of a small studio apartment.

The kitchen contained two old desks from a yard sale and a rusty fridge that was donated by a friend. The appliances were ill arranged and the only salvaged items from the old kitchen was the stove and the appliances. The kitchen needed a complete makeover-however, I had a budget and a time constraint.

The decor in the room was horrible, a dull clapboard wall and blue carpeting, but I decided to use the wall as a design theme and create a country/garden kitchen. The design worked well with the tenent, a gardener. My main goals were to update the current appliances, install more storage space for the room and create a seperate space for the kitchen.

I started by replacing the old fridge, buying a double basin sink and installing opened faced counters. The counters gave more space for food and other items in the room and provided a clean garden feeling. I also laid down a wooden floor made from scrapwood salvaged at the local mill and installed a beautiful anitque window that the tenant's grandmother had saved from her first home. Finnaly, I painted a series of three paintings for the wall and added plants to the counterspace to create a cozy yet open country kitchen.

In all I spent $2350, under budget!!!

Shopping List [all items can be found in the Maxis Buying Catalog and the Maxis Building Catalog] Appliances: Porcina Fridge Double Basin Sink Surfaces: Opened Face Counters Decorations: Paintings by art student Flooring: Grange Wood Panels Windows Windser Window