New Kitchen

By living through a pandemic last year, we decided that it just might be time to have a home base. To have another home and home base for part time RV travel. I always thought that I would know when, but could not have imagined that scenario.

So, we selected the New River Valley of Virginia to be close to family. And of course the southwest part of Virginia was our home for 21 of my working years. We looked at many homes, but during July of 2020 the country was still pandemic stricken so there were not really many on the market. Luckily, through a friend, we found a place with the perfect location in Radford, Virginia that was not even listed on the market. A 1956 house with the most recent updates done in 1989. We decided on this house knowing that many updates were desired including a new kitchen!

Kitchen Quoting Process Recap

Last fall we started the quote process for the kitchen remodeling. See my blogpost for more details: https://www.ourepicrvjourney.com/fall-2020-updates/

We narrowed the contractors down to two and then settled on the one we felt the most comfortable, Normans Cabinetry of Radford. The work was to take place while we were gone to Florida for the winter. And they almost made it! I cannot imagine trying to live in a house while the kitchen is in complete disarray. And it was a mess for quite a while. We returned to maybe the final week of work.

We are very please with the work from Norman’s. Very thorough and some excellent craftsmanship. They custom make all the cabinets and doors in their shop here in town. While it is not cheap, we were wanting a quality kitchen as this will probably be our forever home. Or until the move into the “home.”

We also included the adjoining room to the kitchen in the remodel as the new “coffee bar.” It was a sort of den in the prior life. Now it is more of an extension to the kitchen.

All the drawings per the quote are shown below:

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Kitchen Requirements

I can tell you it is a lot of work to finalize all the details. We had to decided on a cabinet color, on the style of doors, and the style of edging on the doors. Then it was the handle pulls, crown molding, glass panels, in cabinet lighting, countertop, sink, and all appliances. While it was somewhat fun and exciting, it was also tiring and a little stressful as the tab kept increasing.

Pat requested that most all the large cabinet shelves and pantry included pull out shelves. Very nice. All doors and shelves also have soft close hinges.

Pat and I had never done any major home upgrades before. Oh sure we have maintained our homes by replacing broken stuff, but never spent the money just to update or bring it up to current styles. During my working years, our normal mode was all about the accumulation phase. Saving as much as possible while minimizing spending on stuff.

I guess that plan has more or less worked out since now we can RV travel and fix up our home. I do miss the RV travel and exploring new places, but enjoy having the large home. This spring and summer has been about 50% work on house projects and the other half relaxing and enjoying life.

Some Details

Cabinet color: Iceberg; Door design: modified Shaker; Countertops: Cambria Quartz Beaumont design; Kitchen and Coffee Bar floor: Dubeau Red Oak hardwood installed by Floored of Christiansburg; electric induction range: Kitchen Aid KSIB900ESS; Anzio Chimney Hood; Refrigerator: GE 27.0 cubic ft, french door, bottom freezer; backsplash tile: B&F Elegance Polished 2″ Hex Calacatta special order imported from Italy.

Before Photos

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After Photos Kitchen:

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After Photos Coffee Bar:

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Wrap Up

I still need to paint some trim in the kitchen and then it is 100% completed until the next update! If interested, I can provide any of the costs associated with the updates. Just message or email me. We love the end results! We think it is a very functional and beautiful kitchen that we will enjoy for the years to come.

Thanks for following along. Take care and God Bless.