Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Kitchen Renovation: Part 1

Kitchen Renovation: Going from Dark to Light

Currently my house looks like a construction war zone. I'm living in a cloud of dust and the constant noise of power tools. But I don't care. This means our kitchen renovation is FINALLY underway! Hallelujah!

We've been chatting about a kitchen renovation for years! I am so excited that the time has finally come to say goodbye to our dark mis-matched kitchen and say hello to something lighter and brighter!


Our old kitchen wasn't completely hideous. There were just a few things about it we didn't like. Not to mention it was super dark. And even that really didn't bother us until we built our screened in porch a few years ago. The extended roofline of the screened in porch and the fireplace, blocked a lot of the daylight coming into the house. It felt dreary and dark, and with the amount of windows we have in this place you know that's not our style.

So, we're hoping to lighten it up to make it seem brighter. And to bring a few things up to date in the process.

Our inspiration has come from a lot of Pinterest searching. Check out our "Dream Kitchen" board - I seriously could get lost looking at all those swoon-worthy kitchens.



Originally we were going to go with the current trend and do something with grays and whites. But after we started looking we realized we kept leaning more towards lighter options with brick back drops. We saw this photo and fell knew it was what we wanted to do...

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The Wishlist

We created a kitchen wish list and spoke with several contractors about what we wanted. We were given some great feedback, and they gave us some great ideas based off our space and layout too. Our remodel goals are: 

  • Lighter cabinets (light cream or white)
  • Lighter matching counter tops
  • Brick back splash and floor to ceiling brick wall at entrance of the kitchen
  • Exchange single oven for a double oven.
  • Change wasted space at mail center into more cabinet space.
  • Exchange a dead space in the kitchen for a microwave space. 
  • Add shiplap to walls 
    • Note: The husband has been watching far too much Chip and Joanna. He apparently is team shiplap or team no renovation. #diehard
  • Add a larger single basin sink.
  • Add a larger more functional faucet.
  • Add a serving cabinet to dead wall space.
  • Update lighting fixtures. 
  • Updated trim work. 


Weeks 1 & 2

At the end of January we secured our contractor and now we are about half way through the remodel. Here's a little peek at how the process has gone so far.


Packing up the kitchen took a good three days. I never realized how many things we were storing that we never used! Marie Kondo would be proud because I got rid of a ton! My husband however undid some of my Kondo-ing. Second to shiplap the renovation would be over if I touched his cup collection. Not. a. single. cup. 


We did find some fun goodies in the mix of it all. 
At least I know we had a cup or two to drink it from. 


Before the demo crews showed up, our contractor sent us on a shopping spree to get certain items on order. We knocked out countertops, and all appliances in one day. 


We went back and forth about granite, marble, and quartz. I was in love with a marble they have but realistically marble is the most maintenance. With three small children, I knew it wasn't going to work for us. One day...

We chose this granite, but having a meeting tomorrow to finalize because we think coloring might be off now that things are in motion and we see "the big picture". Stay tuned.  


We chose our brick color and then went through 1,859 shades of white. Our brick color is called Old Dominion and the white we chose is Sherwin Williams Westhighland White. 


Once demo started our house was an organized mess. The contractors taped off the kitchen to try to limit the amount of dust getting to the rest of the house. The kids thought it was hilarious. The dust however...it still manages to make its way through. 


With in a blink of an eye everything was torn down to the cabinets we were keeping, and then we got to choose what little touches we wanted to add here and there with corbels and island posts.  We went with the square leg. 


The shiplap started going up and the husband was living out all his HGTV dreams. I also never realized how many different options there are to put shiplap in your home. I'm not sure I ever wanted that knowledge, but the hubby is happy so we are all happy. 


The island got modified. We are extending it by about three feet and the posts are in place ready to go for the granite. 



Week 3

We went on vacation and came back to a fully sanded and painted kitchen. 


We were so excited to see it kind of start to resemble what we had envisioned. Not to mention it already looked much brighter. 


We only had to make one tiny decision while we were gone. We decided to add back the antiquing we had on our original cabinets. The contractor asked us to choose a color and a line style we liked. I'm not going to lie, internally I was hoping he chose a better "colorer" for the final product. 


The window and door trims were updated, and I didn't know I could be in love with a door frame. But I so am. This was a last minute change to our original scope of work and love love love it! Now for the rest of the house...


The blank wall will have a custom cabinet added to it. We're still waiting for it to be finished. 


They started the brick wall and backsplash yesterday and I am so excited! The thing I hated the most about our old kitchen was the tile. We could have just done this and I would have been happy. 

The rest of the week will be focused on the brick, continuing the cabinet modifications, and finalizing our counter tops. 

I'll share another update soon, but hopefully only a few more weeks and I'll be back to making dinner for everyone again. 

Well...we'll at least have a place to sit and eat the dinner I order. ;) 




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