switchin' kitchens

according to neighbourhood legend, our kitchen was last remodeled in the early 80s. although there was ample cupboard space and a decent sized island, we needed to meet the local health and safety requirements in order to use our kitchen as a production/prep space. at a minimum, that meant adding a separate hand basin and replacing the countertops with a non-porous material. however, we also wanted to take advantage of the gas line running under the kitchen and put in a "commercial style" residential range, increase the work surface, and overall improve the functionality of the space.

the before shots.


















































































so, with a little help from our aussie friend nathan (you can imagine how many beers the boys went through), we gutted everything and started from scratch.





















































































































after 6 quick weeks of elbow grease, heavy lifting, paint fumes, trips to ikea and home depot, and the occasional . . . disagreement . . . we had our new kitchen!

of course, we had some help from a few very skilled trades, including an electrician, the plumbers and gasfitter at CH Plumbing, and Ed and the guys at Hudson Welding and Fabricating. it was our first (but definitely not our last) big project in our 85-year-old home. if you want to know where we sourced any of the materials in the photos, just leave a comment!