Our Kitchen Makeover

Our kitchen was "just okay", when we decided to give it a little face lift. You won't be seeing a dramatic before & after where an old useless kitchen is gutted and old outdated materials are replaced with new. The layout worked, we had decent, cherry stained cabinets and carmel colored granite counters. But what I envisioned was lighter, painted cabinets with a more modern face, brighter and simpler patterned counter tops, a brighter back splash, a more dramatic hood area and a new sink that was not stainless! So a pretty thorough face lift I guess:)!

Here is a before photo... I didn't get it photographed before they started doing work in there. In this photo you will see a void space where there was a wall mounted microwave with glass door double cabinet above it.

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AFTER:



The hood was designed by GB Design. I told her I didn't like the look of having the microwave over the range. We were going to redo the tile and I wanted to see a taller space to showcase the new tile. We got a microwave drawer that is under the counter instead. I liked the idea of a display above but hated my old glass double doors with muttons. You couldn't see inside very well and they always fogged up from the microwave. The open display with the light is more dramatic and a much better display area.

The lamps I found at Home Goods. I love the shadow that lamps in the kitchen cast. Also it looks cool when you can dim the overheads cans and keep the lamps on. Makes a great night light.

For the back splash I almost chose regular subway tiles which are usually 2x4 tiles. I knew I wanted white but I wanted to make it a little more unique than just diagonal across the area. I chose the 2x6 tiles instead. They were inexpensive tiles- well, that is, until we had to cut every corner at a diagonal to get the pattern you see here!:) This is a chevron tile pattern, not herringbone. They are similar but chevron is more modern and the layout is slightly different.

I really wanted white Carrera marble looking counter tops on the island but knew I had to use darker counter tops on the perimeter because it would be against the white back splash. I have heard nightmares about solid black shiny granite so I went with a leather finish black granite that has a lot of dark chocolate and gray tones. The thing I love about this finish is that it is a dull finish, has a lot of character up close but is not a busy pattern at a glance.

 Below was an area we had by the fridge. Kind of a pointless counter top area.

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AFTER:

A new age appliance garage! They have come a long way from the old accordion style role up appliance garage! I hate having coffee makers, toasters, etc on the counter top. That comes along with my organizational OCD! This was a the perfect use of an otherwise pointless counter top space!

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AFTER:

This is a Kohler Farmhouse sink. It is cast iron, in white and has a single bowl. Love that it is white and I don't have to deal with scratched up stainless! The sink is a Delta touch sink. When your hands have raw meat bacteria all over them, all you have to do it touch the faucet with your arm and its on! Very cool!

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...A tad more interesting than the painted on wall squares that I had done around the island in the before photo. Before it was just drywall and I decided to paint on a faux trim look. The new design was applied with wood onto the drywall and than painted all the same color to give it a clean look since it was a busier pattern.

Above is just a shot of it where it stood before they came in and painted the existing cabinets and the new applied woodwork done around the island. They painted the shells of the cabinets inside the house and then they sprayed the doors in a booth before bringing them to hang. The key is to use catalyzed paint to ensure you have a finish that will hold up as well as stained cabinets. The color I chose for the gray is SW6072 Versatile Gray, a warm beige gray as to not appear to stark and cold. Gray is tricky but if you are not trying to go ultra modern you can go with more a "griege" look and it will be a safer bet.

AFTER:



As I mentioned above, the cabinet faces were the only thing replaced. The shells of the cabinets never came down, they were painted on site after the old doors were removed. The original doors were a more traditional raised panel style and our new doors are a more modern frame less flat panel.



You can see that the frame less gives the cabinets a cleaner look because the doors come right up to meet one another rather than seeing the frame behind the door around each cabinet.

The island is my Carrera marble looking surface without having to deal with the marble! Marble is nearly impossible to deal with in a kitchen because of how porous it is. It will stain, change colors if spilled on and scratch. Kids and marble don't mix! So, I hunted for the most realistic look alike to marble. We decided on a Cambria Quartz product called "Torquay".  I love it. Here is a closeup.

And to end, just some of the decor details.... We have display shelves on both sides of the island. On the inside island display, I have my cookbooks, so this outward facing one is a good space to display an accent color, in this case the greens.

The tall vases below we a present from Dana, knowing I wanted to bring in greens and yellows in the kitchen. The paper flowers are from West Elm. Love the look of flowers and the idea that they won't die anytime soon!

Hope you enjoyed! Cheers! {Laura}