When Penny and Don Wuebben’s builder-grade house in Helotes was underneath development again within the early 2000s, they had been in a position to decide solely from a restricted number of colours and finishes to customise the kitchen.
“It was nothing spectacular, fairly naked bones,” stated Don, who works in cybersecurity and danger administration at USAA.
Twenty years later, the kitchen, with its black Formica counter tops, nondescript flat panel drawers and cupboards and blah beige ground tiles was displaying its age. “We raised three children and a few canine right here, and the time had simply taken its toll,” stated Penny, who works within the athletic enterprise division on the College of Texas at San Antonio. “We would have liked a change.”
And naturally, one small change led to a different and one other …
“The black counter tops had appeared good when picked them, but it surely was time for them to go,” Don stated. “We needed to switch them with granite and we thought, If we’re going to do this, let’s paint the cupboards. After which we thought, However why? Let’s simply substitute them, too.”
The earlier than they knew it, they had been in the course of a whole, two-month kitchen renovation at a value of about $50,000.
Don is one thing of a handyman and had beforehand tackled a number of initiatives round the home, together with constructing a deck and doing a little gentle electrical and plumbing work. However he shortly realized the kitchen job was too advanced for his skills, in order that they referred to as in Monica Beyer, a designer with New Generation Kitchen & Bath on Loop 1604 close to Ingram Street.
The very first thing she did was deal with the elephant within the room: the three-sided, bi-level island on the heart of the kitchen.
The builder-grade Helotes kitchen of Penny and Don Wuebben was upgraded to a two-tone room with higher-end home equipment, fixtures and surfaces.
Robin Jerstad /Contributor
Constructed within the early 2000s, the kitchen wanted a refresh. And since the area between the island and the remainder of the kitchen counters was so slender, it made issues tight.
Penny Wuebben
The unique heart island in Penny and Don Wuebben’s Helotes Kitchen wasn’t sq. and even rectangular. As an alternative it had a number of 45-degree angles and the counter alongside one facet was raised 6 inches increased than the remainder of it.
Penny Wuebben
The brand new heart island measures 5 by 8 ft and is topped with a cream-colored quartz shot by way of with thick caramel veins and tiny, sparkly flakes.
Robin Jerstad /Contributor
Penny and Don Wuebben selected a two-color cupboard scheme, choosing a slate stain on the cupboards at both finish of the L-shaped counter space and white for the remaining.
Robin Jerstad /Contributor
Penny and Don Wuebben pose earlier than their newly renovated kitchen, which has a big, heart island and white and slate cupboards.
Robin Jerstad /Contributor
The kitchen has a silver-and-blue glass tile backsplash and a pot-filler above the range.
Robin Jerstad /Contributor
The kitchen has a silver-and-blue glass tile backsplash and a pot-filler above the range.
Robin Jerstad /Contributor
The exhaust fan and duct is behind a cupboard above the range.
Robin Jerstad /Contributor
When Penny and Don Wuebben constructed their Helotes house within the early 2000s, they picked from a restricted number of builder-grade colours and finishes. Twenty years later, the look was outdated and drained and they also determined to renovate their kitchen.
Robin Jerstad /Contributor
“It was a really dated look,” Beyer stated. “And since the area between the island and the remainder of the kitchen was so slender, it made getting round troublesome.”
Initially, Penny balked at eliminating the bi-level island as a result of it hid soiled dishes after they entertained. “However then Monica defined how a flat heart island would open up the kitchen,” Penny stated. “She made me actually take into consideration what I needed.”
Beyer changed the outdated island with one measuring 5 ft by 8 ft and topped with cream-colored quartz shot by way of with thick caramel veins and tiny, sparkly flakes. The counter tops had been changed by the identical quartz.
The island’s inset wooden panels on the perimeters and a pair of ornamental legs that help the 12-inch overhang give it the look of fantastic furnishings. “I like that there’s a lot leg room underneath the overhang,” Don stated. “It makes sitting a lot extra comfy.”
The couple say the brand new island additionally makes entertaining household and mates simpler.
“I’ll transfer the chairs off to the facet and use the island as a buffet desk,” Penny stated. “There’s loads of room, and {the electrical} plugs on both finish make it handy to make use of crock pots.”
The builder-grade Helotes kitchen of Penny and Don Wuebben was upgraded to a two-tone room with higher-end home equipment, fixtures and surfaces.
Robin Jerstad /Contributor
The brand new form additionally gave them the chance to maneuver the sink from its outdated spot the place it sat at an odd angle to a spot throughout from the fridge. “They needed to chip out the muse to put in the drain,” Beyer stated. “But it surely was value it.”
The kitchen is surprisingly colourful, with a teal wall surrounding the pantry door and turquoise accents within the wallpaper of the adjoining breakfast nook, within the glass tile backsplash and within the island’s pendant lights, which resemble handkerchiefs delicately draped over the sunshine. They had been made by a glass blower in Faculty Station that Penny discovered on the e-commerce website Etsy.
“You simply needed to inform him what colours you needed and he makes them for you,” she stated. “It took six weeks to get them.”
Whereas a lot of the cupboards are white, they’re bookended by taller cupboards stained a slate shade. One cupboard homes the fridge, the opposite the oven and microwave, all in matching black chrome steel.
There are a number of refined customized touches all through the kitchen. The grey outlet covers mix in with the remainder of the room, for instance, whereas the cupboard above the range cleverly hides the exhaust fan and duct.
“We didn’t wish to see the exhaust hood, so it was value it to surrender some usable cupboard area,” Don stated.
In the long run the couple say they’re proud of the brand new kitchen.
“I may in all probability have performed it myself, however it could have taken me six to 9 months,” Don stated. “And I knew I in all probability wouldn’t have been proud of the outcomes.”
rmarini@express-news.web | Twitter: @RichardMarini
