Kitchen

The space that the kitchen currently occupies was originally the library. The kitchen was originally located in a structure attached to the rear of the house that no longer exists

I had never entered a contest before.  I mean, real people don’t actually win those contests do they?  Well, I’m here to tell you:  They do.  And I did!  Shortly after we moved into Kraemer House, House Beautiful magazine advertised a contest for various makeovers where the grand prize was a whopping $100,000 kitchen and dining room makeover.  All you had to do was submit photos of your rooms in need of a little help from the design professionals and write an essay about why you needed a makeover.  So, that’s what I did.  I mean, the kitchen was the ugliest thing I had ever seen.  Not, oh bless her little heart ugly but dial 9-1-1-there’s-an-emergency kind of ugly that you just don’t see every day.  So, I snapped a few pictures, wrote an essay, and dropped my entry in the mail.  And.  I.  WON!  I’ll spare you all the details because the actual process was a pain.  We had no say in any of the details and that was probably the most difficult part since we had just moved into the house.  But in the end, we ended up with a great layout and a design that works well with the rest of the house.

The space that the kitchen currently occupies was originally the library.  The kitchen was originally located in a structure attached to the rear of the house that no longer exists.  The former owners gave us the blueprints from the 1944 renovation so we were able to see the original footprint.

THE HOUSE BEAUTIFUL MAGAZINE WAS PLACED IN A TIME CAPSULE AND HIDDEN IN THE WALL OF THE PANTRY/LAUNDRY FOR THE NEXT HOMEOWNERS TO DISCOVER WHEN THEY’RE RENOVATING

Before, During, and After