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Although this project has been completed since October 2017, the day has finally come to reveal my latest kitchen project yet. Ah, the feeling that comes up from uttering the words ‘the kitchen renovation is finally done!’, still evokes sheer joy even after these many months. If I were to regale you with the level of stress and hard work that went into assuring this project got completed dealing with dubious contractors and the lack of professionalism that exists today, I’d either quickly lose your attention or scare away some of you who might be thinking of tackling your own kitchen renovation. For the sake of not reliving this nightmarish time, I’d rather stick to the pretty aspect of things, like the before and after pictures. Let’s just say, it was a very long road to finally get here.
When we decided to purchase this house, we knew right away there were many things we would be changing so it could reflect our style vibe – and the one area I couldn’t wait to tackle and remodel was the kitchen. I knew I wanted to have a clean, open, bright and airy space. But, it was about much more than that. For me, I wanted the kitchen to be efficient, uncluttered, orderly, and practical, yet a stylish and inviting room to cook and entertain in. As soon as the cabinets were torn off the walls, we painted the room the same bright white color as the rest of the house, reconfigured the oven wall appliances to allow for better flow from the refrigerator to the cooktop and the sink and added white subway tiles along with white cabinetry with soft-closing drawers and doors.
For contrast, I opted for a grey cabinet in the island modified with side shelving for more additional storage for the essentials: wines, cookbooks, and displays. I also chose to go with a large commercial grade stainless steel sink instead of my dream white farm sink I really wanted, as I know my OCD tendencies would be heightened trying to keep stains out of a white sink. We ditched the unventilated microwave above the stovetop and had a stainless steel hood range installed venting out and opted for quartz countertops (which I explained why here), specifically the one with gorgeous gray and white veining that looks like Carrera marble. Since the countertops I picked ended up looking similar to the rectangular tiles already on the floor and as they were in decent shape, we decided to keep them and had them re-grouted with a darker grey grout which amplified the brightness of the kitchen.
But perhaps even more important for me in every design project are the finishing details – so in this kitchen project, it was crucial to get the right muted gold-tone finishes from pendant lighting and faucet to cabinet hardware. Finding just the right style, color and quality hardware that both the hubby and I loved, took a while. We ended up having to special order the ones we have now at a cost of waiting six long weeks to get them, thus prolonging this renovation project even more. But, the piece-de-resistance for me (and I fought for this one) was having a spice drawer underneath my cooktop. There was a lot of back-and-forth with the countertop installers as to whether or not my design for the kitchen drawer underneath the cooktop would work. They thought that the cooktop was too deep and that it would prevent the draw from being functional after the cooktop was dropped in, even though I had already measured every square inch and knew it would fit. These guys were still skeptical and unsure. However, being the type of gal that does not take a “no” for an answer when it comes to executing my design plans, I had to help them figure out what they had to do for things to work out as planned and of course, my mission was accomplished beautifully, to their surprise. Always love when that happens.
This space has become one of our favorite rooms in the house. We love how open and bright it is – the storage, practicality, and efficiency are incredible. We have poured our heart, soul, and sanity into this kitchen renovation. Despite all the stress, I’m glad my ability to be ‘like a bulldog on a bone’ to get things done, rewarded us with an efficiently stylish kitchen that now brings us joy every day we step into it.
Next up: our breakfast and pantry area.
