A remodel

Everyone loves seeing a fantastic remodel, right? Especially when it includes a kitchen! Well, I suppose I'm banking on this theory in writing this post... I personally LOVE seeing before/after kitchen remodel pictures so I thought you all might enjoy them as well!

This might get me to visit Tahoe more often...

Before: was cozy, but not too polished
(note the location of the entry tile and bathroom door remains the same;
the Tiffany glass lamp was made for my parents by a friend & they still love it)

I'm not sure who's been reading my blog this long, maybe 4 of you? (Mom, Dad, Tracey, Amy?) Well, you 4 might recall this post about our home in Tahoe. I love our Tahoe house and *wish* I went up more often. I think I need some friends who REALLY egg me to go or I just won't battle the weekend traffic, no matter how much I love it up there.

Before: Mom demonstrates where she'd spend most of her time

Before: LOVE that faux-wood Formica!

After: There is now room for 2 to work at that [granite] counter!

My parents, however, spend A LOT of time at the Tahoe house in their retirement, and for this reason, my mom decided it was about time to junk the 31 year-old kitchen. You may recall from many of my posts that she really is the cook who taught me to cook. So for that reason, I can't believe she tolerated that dinky kitchen for all those weekends over the past 27 years we've owned the cabin. And not just dinky but: electric stove, original fridge and dishwasher, [super ugly] Formica counter-tops, atrocious linoleum, and even an old, squat faucet!

Before: Dad demos the "super cutting-edge in its day, I'm sure"
ice compartment in the old fridge

Before: Faux-wood trim on a fridge is ALWAYS a great idea

After: The wall next to the fridge was moved forward just a few inches

Yes, yes, it all worked and it's for this reason that it took 27 years to remodel. But we are a family that believes in just a bit more than "if it's not broke don't fix it". We value and greatly enjoy when things not only work but look nice and feel good while they're working. And of course, they also enlarged the kitchen a bit by removing a wall and extending a counter. Suddenly you can comfortably fit 3 people in the kitchen when it was previously PACKED with just 2!

Before: When we bought the house, that microwave
was a small overhead oven

After: My mom is 4'11"... we'll someday need to
resell to another tiny Asian woman

Before: The... idda know, actually? Bar? Nook? Desk? Sideboard?

After: Much better. Let's call it a desk.

They essentially remodeled the entire downstairs of the cabin which includes a bathroom, entry and living-room. The best part is of course that kitchen - especially when I sit and think about the relevance to my blog. But the bathroom is worth showing a bit as well. I wish I had a better before picture, but I just don't. It's only superficial changes anyway.

Before: Baby Lucca and her audience - but behind her, the real
reason for the photo: Old flooring, cabinetry, doors...

Before: Okay really I just wanted to put this picture in
'cuz she was SO DANG CUTE at 10 weeks old!!!

After: Sorry I don't have a "before" to compare with the picture on the right

I suppose in a way, Lucca is a before & after as well, so here she is 2 years after those pix...

The remodel was finished in June but I was the last in my family to see it completed, even behind my brother. I finally got up to Tahoe last weekend on a fun little trip with my parents, auntie and uncle. And yes - we three women *did* test the capacity of that kitchen. 3 of us cooking at once. Well, the kitchen passed. With flying colors.