Way Too Early Kitchen Planning

We've started planning for our kitchen, which is going to be the largest project going into the new house. The freedom and options seem endless when we need to design from scratch. Here's some photos of inspiration courtesy of Houzz

Modern Kitchen design by San Diego Tile Stone And Countertop Oceanside Glasstile

Contemporary Kitchen by Portland Interior Designer Jenni Leasia Design

Modern Kitchen design by Portland Architect risa boyer architecture

Modern Kitchen by Bronxville Interior Designer Mantra

Contemporary Kitchen design by Denver Architect Forum Phi

Let's take a look at the existing floorplan where the kitchen sits in the small rear room. The dining room is an astonishing 26' long, and a narrow 10' wide. They are separated by a solid brick wall that was originally an exterior wall, so it looks like that needs to stay.

Step one is to decide to move the kitchen into the dining room. Done. Easy decision. This brings the home  in line with the other nearby homes with similar layouts. This opens the kitchen to the dining and living areas, and frees up the rear room for laundry/bathroom/storage.

Moving the kitchen forward, nearby homes have all used a C-shaped layout, with a fridge along the rear wall, sink or stove along the side and front facing the dining area. Here's some examples of nearby MLS listings:

884 N 27th St

883 N Pennock St

This layout appears in both developer flips and also older homes that have been tastefully renovated. So is it possible for me to come up with a more efficient layout? I went to Trimble Sketchup to find out.

Layout Option A: 

This was the first layout we came up with and the most similar to the other homes in the neighborhood with similar layouts.
Pros: Common, practical layout; cost efficient design; bar seating near sink; easy passage through to rear of home.
Cons: Window and stove are on opposite wall of windows; Limited cabinet space.

Layout Option B:

This layout is a different layout that I came up with that would split the kitchen so that the sink can be centered under a window. This would mean the window would need to be replaced with a smaller one that didn't go below the cabinets.
Pros: More cabinet space; maximizing work/prep space.
Cons: Interrupted flow to rear of home; Window replacement.

Layout Option C:

A modification of layout B, this has a cooktop and separate wall oven and microwave. I think this layout could work well when we are hosting and will have multiple people in the kitchen.
Pros: More cabinet space; maximizing work/prep space; and separation of cooktop and wall oven
Cons: Interrupted flow to rear of home; Window replacement; extra cost of wall oven and cooktop

All of these layouts were good in my mind, but I know I have to get the advice of someone with a bit more experience. I reached out to my good friend Cass from the MSSD program and she generous enough to offer some insight over lunch.

After reviewing my designs, she urged for the first, C-shape layout but offered a creative spin: place the cooktop on the portion nearest the dining area, allowing the chef to entertain and put on a cooking show. Fantastic Idea!

Below is our updated design. While I initially thought we'd go with dark-stained cabinets, the tight space has us thinking white shaker cabinets with a grey counter top  More on those design decisions to come.




This ended up being the traditional layout for the home, but with the twist of the cooktop and island-style range hood. I'm pretty sure this is the direction we'll go forward with once we dig in.

I'm still looking at sourcing and pricing for cabinets, counter tops, paint and lighting, so another post is sure to follow to hone in on some more of the specific details. Thanks for reading!

Home Inspection Review

We scheduled inspections for the home on Jan 23rd with Chilmark Home Inspections. Matt Brown was the inspector and we spoke at length during the appointment. He was thorough, efficient, and honest. I recommend him highly and would work with them again.

The outside temperature was 27°F, so it made for a good stress test for the windows, doors, and heating system. Overall the inspection went well aside from the age/condition of the electrical. Below is an overview of important aspects of the inspection.

HVAC

System is a natural gas hot air blower that is ~ 40 years old. It's working, but highly inefficient and is ripe for replacement. No air conditioning. I'll be looking into the EnergyWorks program to obtain a loan for an efficient replacement. I'll update when I research new units.
Current condition: 2/5

Water Heater

The current one is a 55-gal natural gas heated standard tank that's 10 years old. This is towards the end of it's life cycle but it in good working condition. I will look into replacing this as well with a tank less or more efficient system with the EnergryWorks loan.
Current condition: 3/5

Electrical

Electrical is the largest issue that turned up during the inspection. The 100amp service, while adequate for the past 30 years, will need to upgraded to 200amp. The electrical panel is full and unorganized, as well as unlabeled. The electrical also consists of a lot of knob and tube wiring and poor junction boxes. After speaking with the inspector, he strongly recommended replacing everything.
Current condition: 1/5

I need to look around for a quote to do a full-replacement. While I expected a handful of old systems in a home of this age, a full replacement warranted me going back to the seller and asking for a concession to assist with this upgrade.

Basement

The basement runs the full length of the home. The ceiling height is 7' in the unfinished area of the front of the home where the mechanicals are. Behind that, below the dining room and kitchen, there's a semi-finished section with 6' ceilings. This will work for well for storage but now much else.
Current condition: 4/5

Kitchen

The kitchen currently sits in a small room in the rear of the first floor and consists of little more than a stove and refrigerator.  I plan to move the kitchen forward into the extra large dining room. This proposed layout is how homes with similar layouts in the area position their kitchens. It also will open up the back room to laundry and a half-bath.
Current Condition: 2/5

Bedrooms

There are three bedrooms upstairs, two of which are spacious. The hallway bedroom will either make a nice office or large walk-in closet to the front bedroom. The rear bedroom has a very nice bay-style wall and extra windows on the south side. But, being an older home there is no closet space. One cool thing is the large built-in storage unit in the front bedroom. Unfortunately it's very shallow and I may disassemble and donate it in order to put in practical storage.
Current Condition 4/5

Bathroom

The home has one decent sized bathroom on the second floor. The door opens right into the toilet which is a bit weird. The tub has a cheap shower surround. It also has a small, single cabinet vanity in between two windows. It's going to need to be renovated, but it's livable for now and will be on hold until after the downstairs is completed and a half bath is added in the rear.
Current Condition 3/5

Living/Dining Room

Entering the home, the current living room is enclosed and separated from the dining room. This wall can be removed to really open the space. I was able to find the next door building's listing from when it went on sale in 2011 and the layout has been opened up and updated. This is a very promising find because it shows that there are no beams that need to be added to span the living room.

Rear Patio

The rear patio is one of the highlights of the home. It's the largest of any home that we saw, and gets a decent amount of sunlight being on the west side of the home. Currently it has a busted up concrete surface, but there is a lot of potential for some seating, a garden, and BBQ.
Current Condition 2/5

Summary

Overall, the home is solid condition for it's age. Of all the things that turned up in the inspection report, we only requested some help from the sellers on the electrical updates. Our request was put in as soon as we got the inspection report and it took the seller two weeks (!) to come back to us with a response.

We're Buying a Home in Fairmount!

Erica and I had a very busy and productive 2012. Most importantly, we planned, celebrated, and then paid off our wedding early in the year in the Bahamas with close friends. We went small and wouldn't change a thing. Afterwards in the summer and fall, we buckled down and paid off credit cards and started to save for a house. By the time the start of the 2013 new year rolled around, we were getting in a position where we could start looking for homes.

I've been excited for a few years now at the prospect of buying my first place. You've probably seen my eagerness to help friends or family with their own projects. With my ability to do most of our own renovations, I've been on the lookout for a property that can use a bit of work to build in some equity, all the while hitting all the marks on Erica's wish list (safety, proximity to trail, outdoor space).

Over the past few weeks we started out house hunt, focusing on the Philly neighborhoods of Art Museum, Southwest Center City, and Graduate Hospital. All three of these 'nabes have easy access to work in Center City, the trail along the Schuylkill River, and a good amount of restaurants and activities. With our pre-approval in hand, we set out and looked at about twenty different homes.

The current housing market in Philadelphia is starting to shift back from a few years of being a buyer's market, to being a seller's market. This is due in part to homeowners feeling that prices are at rock bottom and are unwilling to sell, rather intent to wait another few years before making a move. Additionally, with interest rates being at all time lows and credit institutions starting to lend again, This has created a tight market with historically low inventory. This has forced buyers to fight for what's on the market. Recognizing that, we were careful not to head into a bidding war over a home because of these reasons.

We identified a home that shows poorly, but the location and size are very favorable. So this weekend we made an offer that was accepted on a cozy townhouse in the Fairmount neighborhood in Philadelphia, PA.

• 800 Block of N. 27th St, Philadelphia, PA
• Listed at $275,000 ($199/SF)
• 1,380SF, Two story, with 3 beds and 1 bath
• MLS#: 6088063
• Brick exterior, built around 1920 (although it may be earlier)

There is quite a bit of work that needs to be done (read: full renovation) that I will be tackling over the next few months. This work includes:

• Full New Kitchen (Existing kitchen is in small room in the rear we will be converting into bath/laundry)
• Removing living room wall to open the floor plan
• Reposition basement stairs which have been moved to dining room.
• Upstairs bath remodel
• New hardwood floors (possibly salvage existing)
• All the remaining drywall, paint, trim, etc.

The inspection is scheduled for tomorrow so we'll get more detailed information about the condition of the property. More to follow in the coming days and weeks!