We’ve made a few changes to our kitchen. So Peanut can see what it was like while before she was born, we decided to organize
a little before and after. Here’s a few of the major changes:
A tad more space.
Before
Rising Sun,
we had shown our kitchen to a few professionals. Each kitchen planner who
drafted plans suffered the same challenge of improving such a small and awkward space. Then, Chris
came in and said, "you just need to change the space," and proposed adding a mere 126 square feet. Suddenly, we had a plan that would totally improve our kitchen.
The outer walls of the kitchen were built on
concrete piers with Structurally Insulated Panels (SIPS) provided by
Mid-Atlantic Foams. SIPSchool, in partnership with
Mid-Atlantic Foams and
Rising Sun, is using our house for education and
training purposes. By wrapping the entire house with SIPS, the house will be the first Green Retrofit
of its kind in West Virginia.
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| BEFORE - outside of house |
Glad we decided to add on. Although it doesn’t sound like
much, the new space made us a pantry, entry way, and a dining area. Now, the
ceiling beams trace the old outline of the house, but it’s difficult to even
remember how it looked before…
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| AFTER - outside of house / kitchen |
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| BEFORE - wall and bumper pool doorway |
Goodbye wall. A
wall once separated the kitchen and the living room; a narrow doorway that I
deemed the “bumper pool” walkway provided entry to the living room.
Although we’re
both athletic figures, we still had to pay attention not to bump into the
doorway each time we went though. One attempt to pass in the doorway left us stranded
for days. Now, the door is a new wall, and the old wall is a wide opening
between the kitchen and living rooms.
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| BEFORE - battling doors |
The end of the
battling doors. Our old kitchen entry was marked by battling doors; the
former entry to the house aligned with the door to the basement. Oft heard in
the Zegre household: “Love, [insert sound of smashing doors] ouch! I’m home!” If
either caution or luck prevented you from slamming the doors into each other,
there was one additional obstacle: the stove and sink were positioned so you
had to carefully slide between them to avoid hitting either. The challenge was
heightened when pots were boiling on the stove and/or knives were drying on the
edge of the sink. Now, although there’s not much of a challenge in getting in
the door, our entrance is more Peanut-proof.
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| BEFORE - ceiling cabinets |
Trading ceiling cabinets
for an island. Awkward cabinets once hung from the ceiling separating the
cooking from the dining areas. While in the kitchen, the cook would have to hunch
under the cabinets, turning an ear to the counters to be able to talk to talk
to anyone in the dining area. The configuration made the cook feel like a
slave, but offered the diners the “breast” view of the cook.
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| AFTER - the island |
Venting the smells of
the kitchen. We love cooking. Blindfolded, I could identify our old kitchen
by the lingering smell of eggs and curry – and maybe the spray painted cabinets.
Kitchen smells would linger in the kitchen for hours, sometimes days. And,
often our entire house would smell like the last few meals. The new kitchen has
two sources of central air, as well as a dream kitchen component: a hood. Now,
those wanting to smell last night’s dinner have to stand on the roof.
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| BEFORE - view of the entry way |
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| AFTER - view towards entrance |
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BEFORE - "view" of the living room
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| AFTER - view towards living room |
SIPSchool, in partnership with Mid-Atlantic
Foams and Rising
Sun, is using our house for education and training purposes. By wrapping
the entire house with SIPS, the house will be the first deep energy retrofit of
its kind in West Virginia. 
It’s
local. For once, you don't have to travel out of state to get training on this cutting edge product! It's in our very own Morgantown, walkable from West Virginia University’s Evansdale campus, a few minute walk from the Towers PRT!
It’s a value.
How often do you spend less than 100 bucks on training? Not only that, but if you're a WVU student or faculty in sustainable design and other similar fields, SIPSchool is offering some discounted or free attendance opportunities for WVU students
or faculty.
