Phase 2 of our kitchen remodel is even easier in the first. Don't forget, I'm doing this all on a budget because my idea of completely revamping a kitchen doesn't make sense if it doesn't really need it. For this phase I had to figure out what to do with the old opening where our large fridge was and how to make our kitchen align with the vision I had for the rest of the house.
I've been painting most rooms a soft gray throughout the house, but wanted to do something slightly different in the kitchen. We decided to go with a soft white to capitalize on the amount of windows in the space and took down the blinds on all the windows to let in even more natural light in. The room immediately felt completely different. It was airy, clean, fresh, and even the cabinets didn't look so old (still not my favorite, but it will do for now). The cabinets will come in the next phase, but I honestly haven't completely figured out what direction I want to go in.
With the opening where the fridge was, I wanted to use the space to become a part of the cabinet area and extend storage and function space. My original plan was (yet again) to create more complicated work for myself, build out a custom cabinet with a water tap and coffee connection to create a coffee bar. At one point I even considered a beer and kombucha tap. Gotta dream big! and then scale it down.... way way down.
In the middle of painting, I realized that a cabinet we already had in the kitchen (that always got in the way from our huge dining table) was literally the perfect size to fit in the alcove, a little short, but I loved the traditional design, glass upper doors, and vintage style hardware. It was a super easy (and free!!!!) update to our alcove. No water line was attached here, but for now it works great and functions for what we wanted. I think in the future I could definitely see this space turn into something more custom and utilize all the space.