project feature: lake oswego kitchen renovation
Hello! Welcome to my first client kitchen renovation, what I called the ocean avenue. I was lucky to work with these clients on a furnishings design in the living and dining areas two years ago, and when they decided to renovate, I was excited to get started.
These are photos of the kitchen when my clients bought the home in 2019. They made a few cosmetic updates in the first few years, including laminate flooring (which they immediately regretted), some paint, lighting updates and a new front door. After the diy updates they made on their own, they decided to hire a designer. A kitchen is one of the biggest investments to make in a home, and you want to do it right. Especially with first time homebuyers, you just don’t know what decisions to make and it can all feel very overwhelming. Which is why you hire a designer to walk you through the process.
One of the biggest issues with the original design was the lack of storage, and how dark and overbearing the room felt. The kitchen is the first room you walk into upon entering the home, so it was important that it feel inviting, and add a lot of modern updates. The cabinets were low quality, builder grade from the 60s. Bringing in more wood felt important, and new flooring was added to match the flooring my clients had added the previous year throughout the rest of the home, so we needed the wood tones to be cohesive, like cousins.
The project started in April 2024. I call this project a DIY design, because I functioned as more of a consultant on the project. I created 3 design directions, and a few layout selections in the initial design. From there I made most of the final selections, we had a few in person meetings and they took it from there in the construction phase to completion, outside of a few questions along the way.
Budget was a major concern for my clients, and they plant for the home to be a rental in a few years, which helped inform the design decisions made. We began by creating a mood board, choosing the color scheme, selections for cabinetry, counters, hardware, faucet, tile, etc. My client loves teal, and that became the defining feature for the space. Creating more light, more storage, and a more inviting and fun space. The layout stayed the same, with the addition of floor to ceiling cabinetry on the left side of the kitchen. When removed all uppers to allow more room to breathe, while still increasing functionality overall with the pantry wall, and increased functionality of an all drawer kitchen.
My clients did their own demo, installed the cabinet bases and fronts themselves in an effort to keep costs low, then hired out for drywall, plumbing, window install, counter fabrication and install, electrical and flooring. Lucky for my clients they had a cousin in contracting, so that made things easier for them financially.
In terms of our timeline, we decided on the vision in the first few months, and took a few months break from the project for the holidays. Selections were finalized between January to March. Cabinetry arrived in April, demo in May to July. Drywall, flooring and cabinetry in July, counters in September, and the hood was finished in October.
In October I helped my clients pick out a few rugs for the space, and I came over in November to style and photograph the space. Overall I helped them with the vision, design, and material selections upfront, and was there for updates and questions along the way, but they did an incredible job bringing the design to life! Just over a year and a half in total, but completely worth it for this incredible transformation. The pantry, and all the storage they wanted, and the space feels like a completely new home.
Kitchens are my favorite space in the home, and I’m ready for my next remodel!