Kitchen at the AGH Cottage: The Making of A Good Home

Design
Written by Chelsea Wade

BTS of the AGH Cottage Renovation

The kitchen is the first project we took on at the AGH Cottage. From the “before”, renovation plans, inspiration, design, selections, to the process, timelines, install and comprehensive costs, we’re sharing it all below.

 

The Before

The existing kitchen was cramped, tired and in need of a total overhaul. The kitchen felt particularly small due to an imposing 108“ x 49” wall that encased a climb-up pantry (yes you read that right) on the left side and a descending stairwell to the lower level on the right side. However, it had a few things going for it, including a cute bay window with beautiful view of the water, a nice French door, cool stained beams across the ceiling and white oak flooring (unbeknownst to us- uncovered at the time of floor refinishing).

Click on this Instagram post to see the before & almost-there after of each angle of the kitchen.

 

The Plan

With an overall renovation goal of removing/moving as few walls within the entire house as possible, we decided to keep the kitchen’s small footprint and general layout (with a few change-ups) while essentially starting from scratch otherwise and putting our renovation dollars towards high-quality materials within the space. Also, a nearby small bathroom would be converted into a pantry to provide additional storage and workspace.The biggest structural change in the space was the decision to remove the wall that cut-off the kitchen from the adjoining living & dining room. The removal of the wall opened up the entire space to create an open-concept kitchen/dining/living room, and subsequently required a 16-foot support beam to be put into place (recessed into the attic) where the wall previously existed. The descending stairwell to the lower level stayed in its existing location, and we installed a stair railing around its perimeter. At first, we wished the lower level access didn’t have to be right in the middle of the kitchen and dining room (relocation was not possible), but in the end, we felt it added a unique feature to the space, and we do like having it there! The stained aesthetic beams across the ceiling stayed but were slightly re-worked to make sense with the newly expansive open ceiling; two newly installed beams tied the spaces back in together. See below for floor plan references!

Also in the scope of the renovation— We replaced the sheetrock from the height of the countertop down. We installed all-new electrical and plumbing. We refinished the existing floors (which ended up being the best surprise as we uncovered beautiful white oak flooring hidden underneath dark/drab stain). And lastly, I had initially considered getting rid of the bay window, but I realized that just the lack of mullions (which are the interior grids/grilles) was why I wasn’t loving it and that adding them would be the solution to keeping it. So, I found a maker on Etsy who laser-cuts mullions to your exact windows specifications.

 

The Inspiration

I am consistently inspired by classically-designed British kitchens: simple, rooted in functionality, mainly lower cabinetry, inset style, enameled cast iron sinks, classic taps, natural honed stone and surfaces, historic metals, heritage hues, monochromatic walls and cabinets, gracefully-aged patina. I wanted to take those foundational details, and translate them into a coastal New England cottage; a clean and simple space with timeless, enduring details.

 

The Design

As soon as we went under contract on the house in mid-February, I jumped right into the kitchen design and spent about a week determining the layout and all of the details I wanted to incorporate. At only ~165 square feet, I sought out to make up for its small size with high-quality materials. Pulling from my aforementioned inspiration, the jumping-off point for the design included inset cabinetry, marble countertops and polished nickel fixtures & finishes. The finer details included a beige cabinet color, flat drawer fronts, recessed panel cabinet doors, baseboard toe kick, flat top trim, cabinet latches and cupboard pulls.

For the plumbing fixtures, I selected an undermount cast iron sink and a single deck-mount swing spout faucet. Both of these selections utilize the classic features of a British kitchen while remaining subdued and restrained; whereas a cast iron sink with an apron front or a bridge faucet, while both inherently beautiful in their details, felt like they would visually overwhelm this particular space.

For the appliances, we decided to go with mid-range more cost-effective options, knowing that there is opportunity to upgrade down the road, and decided on with Thor’s 36” French Door Counter Depth Refrigerator, 30” Convection Oven Electric Range, and 24” Top Control Smart Dishwasher (more on those appliances, including a setback we faced during install below!). For the lighting fixtures, I framed the bay window and sink with a pair of Vendome Double Sconces, and a pair of vintage-style lantern pendants over both the kitchen island and dining table.

The layout was a little tricky given the size of the space, but I was determined to make it work and very happy with how it turned out. I felt that traditional upper cabinets throughout the kitchen would make an already-small space feel even more cramped, especially with our 88.5” ceilings, so I eliminated the possibility of those entirely; Instead, I focused on mainly lower cabinetry and placed a few thoughtfully placed full-height cabinets in the layout— two on the north wall surrounding the refrigerator, and one on the far left side of the south wall to balance it out. Pulling inspiration from the aforementioned British kitchens, full-height cabinets make the cabinetry feel like a piece of furniture, especially when the top half is at a recessed depth, giving it the look of an old cupboard. Continuing on with the layout, I tend to gravitate towards symmetry in kitchen designs, but then like to add-in subtle elements (whether in design details or dimensions) to break it up so that there’s not too much symmetry. For instance, in the South Elevation— the base cabinets follow a similar layout moving out on either side of the sink, but are not exactly the same; also in the North Elevation, even though there are full-height cabinets on both sides of the refrigerator, there is variation between the two.

(Initial) West Elevation

Once I was clear on the design, I reached out to Hanford Cabinet & Woodworking with my initial elevations and pre-determined details. I was familiar with Hanford and their reputation of excellence through client projects, but this was my first time working with them directly. After some initial email correspondence, the process kicked off with an introductory phone call with Allie, Hanford’s owner, followed by our first meeting two weeks later. During our first meeting, we discussed the project and space in great depth— Because I had sent over initial elevations and a solidified design before our first in-person meeting, it expedited the process a bit; rather than spending the first meeting gathering ideas and inspiration, we were able to actually go through all of the design aspects I laid forth, confirming and refining each design detail. Allie also provided helpful input from the perspective of her cabinetry expertise, which helped us further fine-tune and alter some things. Having an island in our kitchen (even if it had to be very small) was an important feature to us, as it anchored the space, added additional work area/countertop and storage — we decided on a max size of 50×20 (including countertop overhang), and Allie had the great idea of putting them on casters so that it could easily be moved around if needed for any reason.

In addition to Hanford’s own custom-built cabinetry, they are also a 40-year dealer of Kountry Kraft, a custom cabinetry company based in Pennsylvania. Our cabinetry was custom-built by Kountry Kraft, and Hanford built our custom kitchen island. We also had Hanford manage the countertops, too; Similar to having the same company design, measure, manage and install the cabinetry to streamline the process, putting the countertops under that same management umbrella makes the process even more effective. We purchased our countertops through Genrose after visiting and selecting our slabs at their massive warehouse in Middletown, and Hanford took it from there.

The lead time on our custom cabinetry was an 8-week production period for delivery, and this ended up timing well with the progress of the kitchen project itself.

Hanford also offers management of kitchen appliances (they are an authorized Sub Zero, Wolf, Cove and Miele dealer, among others) and plumbing fixtures, as well as General Contracting services of kitchen and bathroom projects.

 

The Selections

Kitchen Specifications

  • Wall Color: Swiss Coffee by Benjamin Moore

Cabinetry Design & Specifications

  • Cabinet Style: Framed-Inset, No Bead

  • Exterior Material: Painted Maple

  • Cabinetry Color: Skimming Stone by Farrow & Ball

  • Cabinet Door Style: Recessed Panel (simple recessed center panel with defined framing)

  • Drawer Front Style: Slab

  • Top Trim: Square, 3-1/4” x 3/4” thick

  • Toe Kick: Square/Baseboard Moulding, 4” H x 3/4” thick (Recessed at Sink Base)

  • Finished Side Type: Smooth

  • Hardware:

    • Drawers - Charlotte Cup Pull, Polished Nickel (Top Knobs M1301)

    • Cabinets - 2” Cabinet Latch, Polished Nickel (Top Knobs M1784)

Countertop Specifications

  • Stone: Bianco Carrara Marble, Honed

    • the slab we selected had a discontinued “Azerocare” finish on it, and we paid to have the sealer removed to make the finish honed.

  • Thickness: 3cm

  • Edge: Eased Edge on perimeter; Dupont Edge on island

Shop the AGH Kitchen

 

Railing

I wanted a softer, rounded-style stair railing that would work well with the home’s cottage style, which brought me to the candlestick-style posts and balusters. From talking to a few builders and carpenters throughout this part of the process, my understanding is that round posts create a more challenging installation, but I found it to be worth the extra effort and time to find the right person for this project. I selected and purchased the railing components from JMP Wood, a Brooklyn-based maker of stair parts. The chosen material was Poplar Wood since it will be painted the color of the walls (Swiss Coffee by Benjamin Moore) to blend into the space.

Railing Inspiration

Railing Specifications

  • Posts (6): Candlestick Newel Post (3” x 48” cut to height), Poplar Wood

  • Balusters (60): Candlestick 5040 Baluster (1-1/4” x 42” cut to height), Primed Poplar Wood

  • Handrails: 6010 Style, Poplar Wood (No Plow)

  • Fittings:

    • Opening Cap (2): Fitting 19/7019, Poplar Wood

    • Quarter Turn with Cap 90º (2- For Corners): Fitting 21/7021, Poplar Wood

    • Tandem Cap (2- for Middle Posts): Fitting 20/7020, Poplar Wood

Railing In-Progress

Shop Stair Railing

 

The Demo

We closed on the house the last Friday of March. That same afternoon, we had a dumpster delivered to the driveway, and by 8:00 am on Saturday the following morning, we were demo-ing the space. Over the course of the weekend, it took three of us (myself, my husband and my father) 14 total hours to demo. It produced about 20 yards of garbage. It was an exhausting, arduous task, but we decided to do this phase ourselves for a little sweat equity and cost-savings. We had a good system between the three of us, and it was manageable. After initial demo, there were about 3 more additionally accumulated hours to remove the final pieces of wall framing that were attached to the ceiling— something that we didn’t want to do until we were ready to put the support beam into place. Watch our sped-up demo process in the video below.

 

The Process, Timeline & Install

With pre-project work (like design work, and selecting/ordering appliances and countertops), the project took 6.5 months; From the start of demo to a finished kitchen, the project took 5 months. However, project setbacks and delivery delays (both directly related to appliances) added about a month to the end of the timeline.

(Pre-Project)

  • 2/18 Reach out to Hanford; 3/6 First Design Meeting; 3/20 Follow-Up Meeting

  • 3/7 Select Countertop Slabs (Genrose)

  • 3/14 Order Appliances

Week 1: 3/29- 4/4

  • Dumpster Delivery

  • Kitchen Demo, Wall Demo, Bathroom/Pantry Demo (Self-Performed)

Week 2: 4/5- 4/11

Week 3: 4/12- 4/18

  • Floors Curing

Week 4: 4/19- 4/25

  • Floors Curing

Week 5: 4/26- 5/2

  • MOVE-IN

  • Other non-kitchen related work done on house (exterior repairs, interior carpentry, landscaping)

Week 6: 5/3-5/9

  • Plumbing Rough-Ins for Kitchen, Pantry & Laundry Room (William’s Plumbing)

Week 7: 5/10-5/16

Week 8: 5/17-5/23

  • Finish Rough-Ins for Kitchen & Pantry (William’s Plumbing)

  • Drywall Install in Kitchen & Pantry (Drywaller)

  • Other non-kitchen related work done on house (exterior repairs and carpentry)

Week 9: 5/24-5/30

  • Drywall Install in Kitchen & Pantry (Drywaller)

  • Other non-kitchen related work done on house (electrical, exterior and interior repairs and carpentry)

Week 10: 5/31-6/6

  • Install new trim on kitchen window, french door; build new window sill on bay window (Carpenter)

  • Prime and paint kitchen walls, trim, and ceiling (self-performed)

Week 11: 6/7-6/13

in-progress

Week 12: 6/14-6/20

  • Kitchen Cabinet Install (Hanford Cabinetry & Woodworking)

    • All lower cabinet bases, 2 of 3 full-height cabinets; hood/vent cover, and baseboard toe kick

    • Some off-site adjustments

Note: 2 out of 3 full-height cabinets (located on the north wall) did not have a marble countertop separating the top from bottom, so they were installed with the rest of the other cabinetry on Week 12. The 3rd full-height cabinet (located on the south wall) has a marble countertop separating the top from the bottom, so this has to be installed (Week 15) after the countertop is installed (Week 14).

Week 13: 6/21-6/27

Note: Because there is a full-height cabinet sitting on top of the countertop on the south wall, Genrose templated and installed only the countertop and island first - not the backsplash and slab over stove - they came back to template and install the backsplash and slab after the top of the full-height cabinet got installed on top of the countertop. This approach ensures extremely precise measurement of the backplash and slab, and a perfect fit.

Week 14: 6/28-7/4

  • Ductwork installed for vent/hood (KMK Mechanical)

  • Countertop installation (Genrose, managed by Hanford Cabinetry & Woodworking)

    • Countertop and island, excluding backsplash and slab over stove

  • Kitchen Appliance Delivery and Installation

    • Dishwasher and Range, excluding refrigerator

  • Stair Railing Installation begins (Carpenter)

    • Posts installed

    • Off-Site assembly of handrail and fittings & on-site installation

    • ½ of balusters

Week 15: 7/5-7/11

  • Cabinet damage is discovered due to faulty dishwasher

  • Stair Railing Installation continues (Carpenter)

    • Remaining balusters

    • Trim in stairwell

  • Kitchen Cabinet Install (Hanford Cabinetry & Woodworking)

    • Full-Height Cabinet (on top of countertop)

    • Custom Wood Grille for toe-kick HVAC vent under sink cabinet base

Week 16: 7/12-7/18

  • Faulty Dishwasher & Cabinet Damage Troubleshooting

Week 17: 7/19-7/25

Week 18: 7/26-8/1

Week 19: 8/2-8/8

Week 20: 8/9-8/15

Week 21: 8/16-8/22

  • Refrigerator Delivery & Installation

almost there

 

Change-Ups & Challenges, Setbacks & Solutions

While the purpose of having detailed kitchen design plans is so that everything is decided beforehand, there are so many moving parts in a kitchen renovation and having someone actively manage the project and its details allows you to ensure all of the pre-determined details are being implemented as they should, catch anything unforeseen that might need attention while they’re in-motion, and also determine any change-ups that could be needed. A few minor change-ups in this kitchen included:

  • Increasing the height at which the hood was installed. Originally, we were planning to have the top of the hood sit at the same height as the top of the cabinets. However, when it came time to install the hood, my husband (who is 6’3”) wanted the hood lifted by about 2 inches to give him a little more clearance when cooking at the range. While I liked the original plan of having all of the top heights uniform, this change didn’t make much of a difference to the look of the kitchen. This change did slightly increase the size of the marble slab on the wall above our range.

  • Changing the color of the castors on our kitchen island. We didn’t have a big selection of castors to choose from for our kitchen island, but we initially selected a silver wheel that we hoped would work with the kitchen’s polished nickel hardware (an alternate option was all-black, but that felt too industrial). However, when the wheels came in, they were so distracting and cheap-looking, so Hanford hand-painted the wheels white which made a huge difference.

Also, no matter how much you plan ahead or do things “right”, things can still go wrong. We also experienced a few setbacks throughout the kitchen project:

  • Damage to kitchen cabinets from a faulty dishwasher. After our cabinetry installation was complete, our kitchen appliances were then delivered and installed (excluding our refrigerator, more below). Once our dishwasher was installed, I began using it immediately, taking all of our kitchen supplies out of storage boxes and washing them. After just a few loads, I realized that steam was pouring out of the tub gasket/door seal during the drying cycle, literally melting the paint off of the surrounding cabinetry, and ultimately ruined the left-side foot of our sink base cabinet. We contacted the appliance company for assistance, however were met with pushback. So instead, our plumber came over, took the entire dishwasher out and re-installed it from scratch, ensuring everything was perfectly plum, only for the issue to persist when we tested another cycle. Ultimately, the appliance store took back our Thor dishwasher and replaced it with the 800-series Bosch dishwasher (which has worked great for us), but not without way too much back-and-forth. And of course, our sink base cabinet was compromised, but Hanford jumped right in to help with the paint damage; they replaced the toe-kick (it required an all-new baseboard for that section) and added a returned-end miter cap into the recessed toe kick area of the sink base to hide the damage.

  • Delayed delivery of refrigerator. Despite purchasing our refrigerator in March and being told that we did not have to provide any lead time for request of delivery, our refrigerator was delayed by two months. We requested the delivery on June 23rd to be delivered the following week, and the refrigerator was delivered on August 22nd.

  • Poor experience with local appliance store. We were disappointed in the communication and customer service from the local company we purchased our appliances from. Outside of the kitchen, we also had issues with the laundry appliance installation by their team that resulted in additional costs incurred due to their mistakes.

 

The Costs

At the time of this post being published, we have not yet installed the custom mullion grids on our bay window, installed the two replacement aesthetic beams on our ceiling, or installed new hardware on our french door— all of which will be done by our carpenter this fall; we also have not yet received a comprehensive invoice/bill from our plumber. They will be added as the final bit of work is done and costs are calculated.

TOTAL COST $86,481.58+

Demo $2,592.50

  • Dumpster $742.50

  • Demo Labor $1,850.00

Stair Railing Build (Post-Wall Removal)$7,377.76+

  • Installation of Wood Floor Frame Around Opening of Descending Stairwell (Materials & Labor) $1,250.00

  • Electrical Work $150.00

  • 16’ Support Beam into Ceiling/Attic (Material & Install) $1,250.00

  • Stair Railing Materials (Posts, Balusters, Handrails, Fittings) $2,827.20

  • Stair Railing Installation $1,770.00

  • Misc. Materials $130.56

  • Aesthetic Beam (Material & Install) TBD

Floor Refinishing $615.00

^ this amount is pro-rated based on 165 sq ft of kitchen. The total cost of having the floors refinished throughout the 1,432 sq ft first floor was $5,220.40.

Trades $6,312.98+

  • Plumbing TBD

  • Electrical $2,514.59

    • Labor (rough-ins, switches, outlets, appliance hook-ups and lighting) $2,410.00

    • Supplies (specialty, non-stock materials) $104.59

  • Dry Wall $1,304.72

    • Materials $204.72

    • Labor $1,100.00

  • HVAC $1,266.67

  • Carpentry $1,227.00+

    • Window Sill and Door Trim Work $670.00

    • Custom Mullion Grids for Bay Window

      • Materials- Custom Mullions $557.00

      • Install- TBD

Painting $475.02

^ This amount is for materials only, as we did the painting ourselves.

Cabinetry & Countertops $59,252.00

  • Cabinet Design Retainer $1,500.00

  • Installation $7,000.00

  • Custom Cabinetry $39,370.00

    • Cabinets $33,950.00

    • Island $5,420.00

  • Hardware $695.00

  • Countertops $7,913.00

    • Perimeter $4,554.00

    • Backsplash & Slab above Stove $1,760.00

    • Island $1,599.00

  • Tax $2,774.00

Appliances & Fixtures $9,856.32*

*many of the appliances and fixtures were purchased at a discount through my professional trade accounts

  • Plumbing $1,386.68

    • Kitchen Faucet $738.07

    • Kitchen Sink $451.88

    • Sink Drain/Strainer $111.66

    • Sink Rack $85.07

  • Kitchen Appliances $7,115.87

    • Hood $1,410.19

    • Refrigerator $2,755.53

    • Stove $1,894.09

    • Dishwasher $1,056.06

  • Lighting $1,353.77

    • Sconces $727.43

    • Pendants $626.34

 

See the full kitchen reveal (coming soon!)

Chelsea Wade
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