8 Year Kitchen Renovation for Camelot

When we moved into the house, our realtor had said "what I would do is take out the room above the kitchen and vault the ceiling to the roof". Well he made it sound easy and a few weeks work if we just did it before we moved in. I wanted to do a rolling renovation in stages...it took 8 years!

Move-in photos! Note the position of the stove, with extractor, door to the woodshed and fridge. The room was "heated" by two sections of baseboard radiator. The walls and ceiling paneling held back the original plaster. The ceiling beams are screwed to the ceiling and are formed in two halves.

The kitchen was added around 1890 as a "ballon framed" extension to the 1760 stone house - the required entrances were cut through the stone walls and the edges left unfinished behind the final trim. It was built with a second floor - although the apex kept the door clearances and standing room to 5'5" at its edges. The ground floor foundation was leveled logs on dirt withing a simple field stone edging.

While I was on Pinterest I did find a couple of inspirational farmhouse kithcen styles and color schemes = i like the use of cherry wood and green paint with rustic lighing - so this became the vision / theme for the kitchen project!

One of the first jobs completed was moving the door to the woodshed more central to the room to redistribute some of the cabinet positions - this allowed the stove to move next the sink where the original fridge was. This photo from November 2018 also shows the original window trim and unequal heights of the sills / window sizing on the back.

Each side of the kitchen was laid bare in turn - stripped down to the vertical clap boards that made the original 1890s external wall - these have 2 layers of dutch-lap siding on them on the outside! The above photos show the progress Jan 2021 - wall stripped back and all laft and plaster, slate dust / old insulation removed - spray foam sealing the joins in the clap boards. When clean and wiring was addressed new R19 insulation and sheet rock was applied. The white cabinets were a Thanksgiving bonus in 2020 from Lowes - custom designed from one of their premium cabinet companies to surround the stove with pan racks and spice / herb storage. The butcher block countertops are South American hard redwood - plentiful before covid and we hunted the last remnant sheets down in 2025 to complete the kitchen and pantry. Shortly after this the rear lower windows were replaced with a matching Anderson pair - the original windows in the 1890's build were found to be framed for huge gothic sash windows - the lower sill was mid thigh high - the upper almost at the ceiling - how fashions have changed!

The onset of Fall 2021 saw the first of the Cherry cabinet and green paint color schemes come together. In this photo the University cabinet from the Science department of Kutztown U looks like it has been there since it was new! The mobile center island is the original far wall base cabinets put on quality casters and refinished with the bead bard that used to the walls of the attic space - the older cabinets clean up better than the new cabinets ever will! The color for the island is actually G30 - a British war time vehicle camouflage color..

June 2022 the second floor was removed along with the 2 layers of ceiling. Before this was done two barn beams were added (from the barn restoration) to tie the two tall walls together and the well pump lay shaft from the barn well shed was hung between them. The beams and the wooden roof structure were blasted with glass bead to clean them uniformly - this required the upper room to be sealed and then 500lbs of glass bead and wood debris removed from it! The demo let all the ceiling wiring untangle and a plan could be made to reroute certain circuits for the final build. The upper windows were previously replaced with 3 matching Anderson motorized units - the control panel is by the new woodshed door position.

December 2025 - Blue Mountain Contracting was hired to make the finishing push - all walls drywalled, spackled and painted, floor 1/3 rebuilt from the dirt foundation and finished in cermaic tile - the remainder sanded and sealed. All intended cabinets, lights and accessories put into their intended place - including thesalvaged cast iron and white enamel double sink double drainer that has been in storage for a decade, yes the wall colour was changed by a couple of shades by popular request!

Where we sit as of April 2026 - Recycled fan lights installed on the beams with LED bulbs - the uppers are flicker flame like on the barn. Cabinet detialing is ongoing - am researching a matching set of pull out wire draws for all base cabinets, finishing paintinng the last original cabinet restoration and applying handles to all cabinet doors and drawers. The fans will be a great addition for the summer - A big reveal is planned on the window and door trim - its 80% there!