Same Perspective : New View

After posting the photos yesterday, I thought it might be fun to show a little before/after from approximately the same view points.  I loved seeing the photos nearly side by side.  One of these days I need to do a quick slide show for myself that shows the transformation over time.  Cause for the life of me now, I still am confused about what took so long - - even though I was there watching it through its various stages of transformation...

Kitchen-old on October 1, 2012

Kitchen-new on December 21, 2012

Kitchen-old stove view on October 1, 2012

Kitchen-new stove view on December 21, 2012

Kitchen-old view from pantry on October 1, 2012

Kitchen-new view from pantries on December 21, 2012

Beyond just updating everything from the 1984 pink sink, gray/pink granite, white cabinets and weird faux wood floor - - the thing that we like best about this room now is that it is really open.  Removing the wall made a really big difference in the amount of light that we get in there (and I guess putting in a larger window over the sink didn't exactly hurt).  It's also a place now where we spend a lot of time just hanging out - - when someone else is cooking, there's enough open space for other people to be there - - the "galley" concept of kitchen-old wasn't conducive to having more than the cook in there without getting in the way.

And like all things "new" - - it takes a little getting used to.  Last night I discovered that putting garlic bread in the small top oven (which seemed to be a perfectly reasonable place to put it to heat it up) is not a great idea.   The good news is that when the bottom of the bread turned black and started smoking - - I quickly discovered that my fan hood is amazingly strong and efficient!  Silver lining - - but no garlic bread.  heh heh heh.