Anne Z. and her husband lived in a few houses in the Denver area over the last nine years, until a few years ago when they found the place they were going to permanently call home. But as their family grew to four children under the age of six, the walls around the kitchen became a problem.

“The kids were separate from the kitchen when they were in the family room. When I was cooking or packing lunches, I couldn’t see the kids,” Anne said. “It was the driving force behind the concept of the remodel.”

So the idea was to open the wall between the family room and the kitchen and to remodel the kitchen to fit the style and needs of their expanding family. They would be able to keep a better eye on their children and dog and have a better space for cooking and entertaining. They hired Ascent Builders out of Broomfield, CO who handled the design and the construction.

The Kitchen

For the kitchen, they needed function but didn’t want to have to sacrifice style or their ability to entertain. “The island counter was the big question,” Anne said. “We wanted it to be different from the surrounding granite counters. Something that would be distinctive but also functional since guests so often end up around the island when we’re entertaining. ” They found Westwoods of Boulder that specializes in custom woodworking, including unique wood plank countertops. They settled on a 3 inch thick walnut island top.

The overall style is mainly English Country, as noted with the scrolled legs, apron sink, and patina on the cabinet doors. The backsplash is tumbled Travertine, adding texture to a sleek kitchen.

Also included was a new appliance package, complete with two drawer dishwashers, a new fridge, and a stove with a pot filler. The pot filler had been quite the conversation piece. “When people come over or see pictures of the kitchen, they always ask about the pot filler. I guess they aren’t that common, but it has been extremely useful and is such a big help in the kitchen.”

The 8 Square Foot Addition, A Few Extras

The house needed a few more things, such as patching drywall throughout the house, taking out an old intercom system, and continuing the wood flooring out from the new kitchen. The contractors were able to bundle these as part of the remodeling process.

Then came the 8-Foot Addition. Many might consider an extra eight feet to be less than excitable, but this could be the family’s new favorite spot. They rearranged some space between the washroom and the garage to carve out a mud room—complete with six snazzy lockers so every family member had a space to put their lunchbox, toys, purse, backpack, or laptop. “It’s the most utilitarian and the least sexy part of the house, but it was a nice addition and the kids love having their own lockers,” said Anne.

Hidden Costs, Lessons in Home Remodels

Their remodel took eight weeks. Eight weeks with four children and no kitchen. That’s enough to make any family think twice about how much they need this new kitchen. However, something that Anne and her husband did smartly was to educate themselves not just on materials and styles, but also the remodeling process in general.

“If you go into the process with realistic expectations of what’s going to happen, it’s not that big of a disruption,” Anne said. Luckily, they had an open basement where they created a mini-kitchen with a microwave and the outside fridge. The whole family camped out down there for the duration of the project. “Kids are pretty resilient, and they never complained or even seemed to notice the disruption,” remarked Anne. The family seemed to enjoy the change of pace, and the limited space didn’t bother them at all. While the camping out grew old eventually, it was better than two months of eating out and hotel expenses.

The two things that the Z’s weren’t completely prepared for was the dust and the transition. During the drywall and flooring installation, many homeowners are caught off-guard by the amount of dust. However, knowing the dust was coming was not preparation enough.

For the transition, when you remodel one room, it affects the adjacent rooms, and it’s easy to overlook how paint and flooring will flow from the new changes into the old house. Once the project started and it was easier to visualize how the project would live, they opted to extend the wood floors into the living room and the dining room. This was a great move, but it was a cost that snuck up on them.

All Finished

The family has been in their new kitchen and mud room for several months now and they still love the results and are glad they made the choice to remodel when they did. Their family is young, but they built the family hub to be able to handle grown-ups, teenagers, and even Luke, their youngest, who can’t even reach the counter, let alone that cool pot filler.