Everything was wrong with the existing space. The parquet floor was destroyed and extremely slanted to one corner where the house had settled. The cabinets had settled and no longer closed properly. There were 6 rooms of which 2 were not insulated, 1 was the laundry room which had electric heaters keeping the pipes from freezing in the winter. The counter tops were faux slate with ridges and indentations that collected food particles etc and impossible to keep clean. The appliances were outdated and failing. One day while doing dishes a young rat fell out of a pipe chase and through a kitchen cupboard onto the kitchen floor next to me…that was the day we decided to redo the kitchen.
The goal for the space was to keep the feel of the 1880’s beadboard with a yachty design. The house sits on a 100 foot bluff overlooking the ocean. There is an original beadboard room in the attic. We gutted the 6 rooms and leveled the foor. We replaced the windows and the appliances. We had custom cabinets crafted out of fir beadboard with a custom stain to mimick teak in a yacht with a heavy marine varnish.