Our Kitchen Renovation: From Full Gut to Heart of the Home

Melani
Feb 7
2 min read

When we began renovating our kitchen, we knew it wouldn’t be just a cosmetic update. The space hadn't been touched since the 80's and needed a complete reset... for the sake of functionality, and to honor the home's history with a space that really "belonged." This meant taking it all the way down to the studs and starting again from the ground up.

Original outdated 1980s green kitchen before renovation, showing the layout and finishes prior to the full gut remodel. — Our kitchen "BEFORE" just after we moved in (June 2025)

The Full Gut That Changed Everything

Farmhouse kitchen during full gut demolition showing exposed framing and the early stages of the renovation process.

The renovation began with a full demolition. Walls came down, outdated layers and lathe and plaster were removed by the ton, and for a while, the kitchen looked more like a construction site than the future heart of our home.

But that stage gave us something invaluable... the opportunity to rebuild the space intentionally, correcting years of patchwork updates and designing a kitchen that truly fit both the house and the way our family lives. Working from a blank slate allowed us to rethink layout, storage, and the small details that make an everyday kitchen feel warm, rather than purely functional.

Discovering Pieces of the Past

Original 1800s brick uncovered inside the kitchen walls, some still charred from the home’s early wood stove - salvaged and reused in the new range surround to preserve a piece of the farmhouse’s history.

As the walls were opened, we found unexpected reminders of the home’s long history, including newspapers from the late 1800s and original brick hidden inside the walls. Instead of discarding it, we carefully saved what we could and began looking for ways to incorporate those materials back into the renovation.That decision ultimately shaped one of our favorite features in the kitchen.

The reclaimed brick is now built into our DIY plaster range surround, tying the new renovation directly to the home’s past. It adds texture, depth, and a sense that the kitchen belongs exactly where it is, not newly installed... but evolved over time.

Reclaimed original brick from inside the farmhouse walls being installed around the built-in kitchen range surround during renovation construction.

The Details That Are Still Coming Together

Finished plastered kitchen range hood featuring reclaimed brick surround and wood-tone mural wallpaper accent wall in a historic farmhouse kitchen.

While the structural work is complete, the details are what define the character of this kitchen.

We hand-plastered the built-in range hood to give it a soft architectural presence, incorporated a mural wallpapered accent wall to bring subtle storytelling into the space, selected moody handcrafted cabinetry to balance customization with practicality, and even hand-painted a little magic on the walls as a reminder that "anyone can cook".

Each of these elements deserves its own story, and in the coming weeks we’ll be sharing the full process behind it all.

Hand-painted mouse on the plastered farmhouse kitchen range hood accent wall, adding a subtle storybook detail to the historic kitchen renovation.

For now though, this stage marks the moment the kitchen finally began to feel real, not just a renovation plan but the beginning of the space where everyday life gathers and some of our fondest memories are made.