Kitchen Remodel in the Fixer Upper Historic Mansion

I am beyond excited to share with you this drool worthy kitchen remodel. If you are new here, we've been following along with Dea and Christian Rust, a young couple that is rehabbing a historic mansion in my old hometown. They just tackled the kitchen and it looks amazing. We are going to be taking a look at it all week, but today, I wanted to give you some of the before pictures so you understand what you are looking at when I show you the big reveal. Dea also has some great tips and advice if you are considering a kitchen remodel in the near future.

The home was built in 1860, when kitchens and modern conveniences we appreciate today weren't something that were part of a home. In the span of more than a hundred years, this home has seen many updates. Some making more sense than others. You can't have an after without a before, so here's a little shot at how far this kitchen has come and what a beautiful space this couple has created together. Why not come see more!

Custom Kitchen Remodel in a Historic Mansion

This kitchen had to come a long way in order to make such a dramatic change. The Rust's lived in the home for several years before making any changes in the kitchen.They actually started in the foyer, then moved to the living room and then to the master bedroom, guest room, kids bedroom, and the parlor before tackling the kitchen. They knew that it was going to be a huge undertaking, so they tackled what they could first.

They realized that they needed more counter space as well as more cabinet space. The existing kitchen really felt more like a kitchenette to them. 

They had such a massive space and there was little flow to this area of the home. The industrial-sized gas range looked dwarfed along the wall where the cooking fireplace used to exist and the refrigerator was situated along the opposite wall. 

If you look closely at the floors, they were more of a sub-floor where dirt and food would get stuck. Dea told me that while they normally like to restore the areas that they work in, taking the details of the home back to the original way they were intended, a home that was more than 150 years old without a modern kitchen, was going to need a new design. In order for the kitchen remodel to feel like it fit in the traditional formal home, they were going to need to do a lot of work.

While they were restoring the kitchen, they were also going to tackle the bathroom that used to be the butler's pantry.

Fun fact about this home, it was the first home in the area to have indoor plumbing. Even though this toilet looks old, it was just made to look historic. It was part of a remodel in the 90's.

There was also a butler's pantry that used to be the bathroom. The homeowners decided to make the switch back. The current bathroom would become the butler's pantry and the butler's pantry would become the bathroom/mud room.

The home had a faux copper ceiling that was installed and was going to be replaced to update the home with radiant heat in the ceiling. I remember growing up in a historic home how difficult it was to find a good way to heat the home. The couple is going to try out this method that they will attach to their boiler and see how they like it. If they think it works well, they will continue the process of adding radiant heat to the ceilings in the rest of the home.

I know my first question when I saw that the bricks were being covered up is why? I do love the industrial look that bricks give off, but Dea told me that these bricks were uncovered several decades ago, but were covered with plaster when the home was built. They are a structural part of the home that really wasn't meant to be exposed, so they covered them again with plaster. They wanted to restore the home to the formal showpiece that it was in it's glory days.

The couple does a lot of DIY projects. If you have read any of the previous posts with the room reveals you will know that they are very hands on. Both of them have full time jobs, so while they did hire out many of the parts of this remodel, they did a lot of the demo and prep work themselves. 

They also channeled out the brick to allow electrical to run through the walls. Remember, this home was built in 1860, the electric light bulb wouldn't be invented for another 19 years!

After taking out the copper on the ceiling, they installed the fir boards. Their drill got a lot of use!

While much of the home has the original hardwood floors, they had to lay new hardwood in the kitchen after they fixed some rotten floor joists. Like I said, this was a major undertaking! 

But that's not all! What if I told you just two weeks after the remodel was finished something horrible happened.

Stay tuned! I will fill you in on the bad news but first, lets end this post with another beautiful image of this remodeled kitchen in this historic home.

If you want to see more of the beautiful spaces this couple has created check these past remodels out. Simply click on the image to be taken to the post.

                           

      

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