I can hardly believe I’m about to type this, but our kitchen is finally done. After 10 MONTHS of setbacks, tearing down stucco twice, framing our wall twice, mold + water damage to our cabinets twice, electricians repairing electrical lines countless times…the disaster of all home renovations is finally behind us.
I’ve written several blog posts on our kitchen before the shit hit the fan. Even though the situation was absolutely horrific, I didn’t want to come back and relive every little detail on the blog.
So I focused my energies on planning the finishing touches to our kitchen. And I have to say, I LOVE how it all turned out.
One of the biggest changes we wanted in here was the flow of traffic. Our old kitchen island was a set of three cabinets facing the stove. We did use it for entertaining but it made walking around the kitchen difficult.
Brian wanted to get rid of the island
It’s unbelievable how much bigger the same space looks just by rotating the island cabinetry and knocking down the knee wall!
Since the window had to be replaced (along with all the rotted framing inside the walls), we opted for a taller window. The six-inch height difference brings in so much more light. I still need to get a window treatment, but for right now I’m enjoying all the sunshine.
Since we weren’t changing our flooring at the moment (this tile runs down the hallway and into a bathroom, laundry room, powder room, and the foyer) I wanted to distract the eye with runners. It took me a while to find a pattern forgiving for spills, and then to get the right lengths. But I’ve loved these and they have held up great with two dogs (and several spilled rum + cokes).
It’s the right balance of neutral and my favorite colors to decorate in: shades of blue and gray.
While I love the farmhouse sink in other homes, I just cannot commit. We went with a deep single basin sink and upgraded to the strongest garbage disposal we could afford
My two must-haves in our new kitchen was quartz countertops and a fridge enclosure. I was tired of the dark granite we had in our kitchen, and I wanted the counters to look spotless. (I like cleaning, okay? Don’t judge me haha). We went with white quartz with gray veining from New View Granite Jax.
I also didn’t want that awkward empty space above the fridge. You know the one. Those small wall cabinets that never line up with the fridge doors? And you end up with that empty space that gathers dust? That awkward space.
I wanted the fridge to be enveloped by the creamy white wood of our shaker cabinets. We ended up having to knock down part of a wall for the enclosure to fit. But it really polishes off the kitchen and I have zero regrets.
And then there’s my favorite little nook in the kitchen.
When my husband proposed not putting wall cabinets up on this wall, I wasn’t sure. To be honest, we didn’t have much in the old cabinets there so I was wasn’t attached either way. But replacing them with two open shelves helped open up the kitchen even more!
With no cabinets there, the light from the taller kitchen window really brightens the space. I painted these open shelves the same color as the cabinets and saved close to $800 versus getting them from the cabinet company. They’re not the sturdiest, but since they’re decorative I’m not too concerned.
I can honestly say it is a joy walking into our kitchen every morning to start the coffee. They say women forget the labor pains after they have their babies. Considering it took 10 months to get this kitchen, I think it’s safe to say I’ve (almost) forgotten all the pain it took to get here.
Have you undergone any major home renovations?
