We have been keeping busy this summer with a wide variety of projects and home improvement undertakings. In fact, we just finished one such project – the kitchen renovation of a Fridley ranch home. The house, built in 1954, needed a modern update. The existing kitchen included the home’s original cabinets and laminate countertops. The space – laid out in the popular galley-style of the 1950’s – lacked storage and ample lighting. The flooring also left something to be desired – in the kitchen itself, dark ceramic tile did little to brighten the space, while the adjoining dining room had plywood floors.
To begin with, we completely gutted the kitchen with the intention of creating a modern space within the room’s existing footprint. Working from the bottom up, we replaced the dining room’s plywood flooring with oak and the existing kitchen floor with a ceramic tile heated floor. Next, we traded out the dark cabinets and replaced them with custom off-white models. The back splash was tiled in Onyx and an accompanying wall of open shelving was installed to maximize storage. Stainless steel appliances were also installed, including a modern wine refrigerator. We also replaced the electric heater a with tank-less gas fired unit.
To resolve the homeowners lack of lighting, we installed under-cabinet lighting, in addition to hanging pendant lights. We did make one change to the layout – we closed off and eliminated a door leading to the living room, opening that space up for additional kitchen square footage. We also added a twenty-three foot steel beam across the length of the dining room and kitchen to further open up the two areas.
In the end, the homeowner ended up a with a beautiful new kitchen and we ended up with a happy homeowner!
“Trent and company were easy to work with. They took the time to answer my questions and made sure I was understanding what was happening. They offered more than one solution to each problem and then told me what they believed would work best. I would not hesitate to use Excel Builders again!” – Homeowner