Kitchen Reno - Part III

After a few weeks of chaos, things were coming together in the kitchen.  As we started to see the room take shape, we felt better about the process.  We definitely had some hiccups along the way (i.e. the heat being installed leaving no room to open the pantry door so it had to be moved), but as each issue arose, we were able to deal with it and move on.  

The cabinets were one of the first things to go in.  I had dreamed of white cabinets for so long, but every decision I made proved to be difficult.  I found myself second guessing every little choice because it was hard to picture how everything would come together in the end.  When the cabinets were installed though, I felt better about my decisions.  We picked oil-rubbed bronze knobs to match the light fixtures and other doorknobs around the house.  The other thing we added was a floor to ceiling pantry with pullout drawers.  Now all our dry good are stored in one place and it's easy to find whatever we need.  We did opt for soft-close drawers, which are amazing, but I'm sad to say the cabinets are not.  It was a huge up-charge to add that to the cabinet line we chose, so it was a sacrifice we had to make.

Once the cabinets were in, the next things to be finished were the floor and back wall.  I can't even begin to describe how happy I was to have these two things off the list.  You may remember that that back wall was all wood paneling.  Not only was it dated, but it made is almost impossible to even hang a picture up there.  Now we had an entire, flat wall to work with.  Disclaimer: The wall is still blank as we have yet to find a piece of furniture like a buffet table or cabinet, so we can't hang pictures until we know how that's going to turn out.

For the floor, we had narrowed it down to two choices.  One was a textured tile and the other, which we ended up going with, had tans and browns with specks of gray.  We thought this transitioned the best from the wood floors and laundry room tile.  One of the best decisions we made was to extend the kitchen floor into the hallway that connects the bathroom, living room, and two spare bedrooms.  There was an old parquet floor there before, so we were happy to see that go.  And it makes the kitchen feel even bigger now that there isn't a divide between the kitchen and hallway.

Thing were moving along, and somewhere along the way, the appliances were re-installed and the new microwave was put in.  We had purchased all new appliances when we moved in, but the original kitchen did not have the microwave above the stove.  This turned out to be such a space saver and we were actually able to find one that perfectly matched the stove.  The kitchen was also painted a light blue to tie in with the blues and grays in the rest of the house.  It was a nice pop to the otherwise somewhat bland kitchen.

The next piece of the puzzle was the counters. We chose a tan granite with specks of brown and gray to tie in with the floor, etc.  These new counters really brought everything together.  And it was amazing how much more usable space we had.  Not only were the old counters tile which were impossible to really clean, but there was also a wooden trim around the edges which really affected the amount of usable space.  Now the granite went right to the end which we chose to keep rounded.  I didn't want a beveled edge because I wanted just to be able to easily sweep crumbs off.  

The remaining cabinet moldings were put in place and new baseboard heating replaced the old radiators.  The last step was the white subway tile back-splash and under cabinet lighting.  The subway tile was another dream of mine.  We had gone back and forth about it, but I'm so glad we did it.  It's one of my favorite parts of the kitchen.  The under cabinet lighting was suggested by our contractors.  We had it in our apartment years ago and I loved putting them on at night.  This kitchen was pretty dark at night before the reno so the under cabinet lights have really helped.

 

This was the end of the line for the contractors and we could finally start to put the kitchen back together.  We spent a few days reorganizing the cabinets.  This was where my skills really shined.  I do love to organize.  Even though the layout didn't change, we now had so much more space to fill.  And the pantry provided some much needed extra storage and freed up other cabinets where food was previously kept.

When this was done, Dan had a break for a few weeks, but then I decided it was time to go get the new island.  The old one was in an odd location, too far from the sink area to really be usable.  It had great storage, but other than that, it wasn't functional.  We knew we didn't want an island to be part of the original kitchen plan because we wanted one that was moveable.  I had my eye on an Ikea one for about a year and I knew now that our reno was complete, it was time.  So one Sunday, Dan and I drove down to Stoughton and picked it up. 

He put it together that night (he's so good!) and then came my part of accessorizing it.  I loved that it had open shelving for easy access.   At first I had been nervous because the old island had housed all of our serving platters, but with all the new cabinet space we gained, they easily fit.  We used the island to house the toaster oven, some extra dishes/chargers, a few serving pieces for display and our blender.  The blender is actually held in a vintage wooden box I picked up at a consignment shop awhile ago.  I just pull it out whenever I feel the need to make a smoothie. 

When we first bought the island, I didn't want to buy the coordinating stools.  I thought we could find something else that would work.  We searched different Home Goods and Targets and actually ended up buying a set of wicker stools.  We measured before ordering but when we got them home, there wasn't enough space between them and the base of the island to comfortably sit.  So back to Target they went and I ended up giving in and ordering the ones from Ikea online.  They actually fit perfectly, as I should have known, and match our farmhouse decor.

So that was our kitchen remodel in a nutshell.  I can't believe it's done!  There are still quite a few things to add, though.  I'd love a new table with a leaf for entertaining, the buffet, and of course, some wall art.  But I think those things will all come in time, and for now, it's been such a great improvement. 

Be well,