Home Sweet Home Tour {Kitchen and Keeping Room}

It's time for another Home Sweet Home Tour post. 

First though, a look back and the other posts in this series: 

The Building Process

Building Tips

Entry and Office 

Mudroom and Command Center

Today is all about the heart of the home...the Kitchen and Keeping Room.  This is probably where we spend the majority of our time...just like any family!

When we were deciding on our kitchen I really was considering doing gray cabinets because that was really popular at the time we were building, but ultimately decided against it because I was worried it was too trendy. Instead, we just did a cream color because I felt like it would be more timeless. I knew I wanted the island to be just a little different than the other cabinets so we picked a khaki color that matched the beveled subway tile back splash. 

I had really wanted to fit more stools at the island, but because we were working with an existing footprint we just couldn't make the layout work.  The kids eat at the island for most meals so I just got easy to clean wooden bar stools.  I would like to replace them now that they are a little older and don't make quite as many messes when they eat.

I knew I wanted a wooden counter top for our island. I looked and researched them for months!  I just love how it brings some warmth to the kitchen and sort of makes the island feel like a piece of furniture, setting it apart from the rest of the cabinets and counter tops. 

Another thing that I researched like crazy were kitchen sinks!  I knew I wanted a farmhouse or apron front sink, but wasn't sure about having a single or divided sink.  Every single review I read of homeowners who switched from the double sink to one large single basin loved it so I bit the bullet and decided on that. I am SO happy that I did. I LOVE having one big sink.  

I think my hesitation was not having somewhere to dry hand-wash dishes, but I just use a drying mat on my counter top and put it away when I'm not using it.  We searched for sinks for a long time because so many of them were VERY expensive.  We kind of thought finding THIS ONE was a fluke, because it was such a great deal.

I don't love to cook and part of that could be because we are rarely home. I know some people really want and need double ovens, but for me that was not anywhere on my wish-list.  Instead we did a single oven and cook top and splurged on a more expensive microwave.  

I wanted it hidden so we did a drawer microwave and put it on the backside of the island.  My kids eat popcorn almost daily and when they were younger this allowed them to be able to reach it themselves with no problem. 

When we aren't sitting or standing around the island to eat we sit at our kitchen table. It belonged to my grandmother and I was so excited to get it to use for our home.  

We had the banquette (or bench) built and I had planned to have a cushion made for it, but again...with kids that make messes when they eat I was holding off on that and just used some pillows for now.  

The chairs that go with the table also belonged to my grandmother.  I actually didn't want to use the chairs at first. They were rickety and had a crazy plaid fabric. The Mr. was convinced he could tighten them up though so I got to work recovering the cushions and was so in love with the way the turned out! 

Now when I mentioned our keeping room before I had several questions about what a keeping room is. According to my research a keeping room is basically a secondary living room that connects to the kitchen area. It was a popular space during colonial times due to the fact that the heat from the kitchen kept the keeping room warm, making it one of the few heated areas in the house.  

When we were originally designing the house we knew we wanted to keep the existing brick fireplace  so it just kind of made sense to turn this space into a keeping room off the kitchen.  

We painted the brick and just used a love seat we already owned.  The kids will sit here and watch TV while I'm cooking or I'll have it on when I'm in the kitchen if I want to keep an eye on a game or something that is happening.  

The sofa table belonged to my husbands great-grandmother and this antique hutch belonged to my great-grandmother. I love having family pieces that we can use in our home! 

So there you have it for the kitchen and keeping room. Most definitely the space where we spend the majority of our time and where everyone congregates when we have people over and aren't in the basement.  It feels cozy and welcoming, and that is exactly what I wanted! 

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Kitchen Renovation: Part 2

Time for a little kitchen update! We've come a long way since the start of the renovation in February. And looking back at our old kitchen it looks like a totally different house!

We're in the home stretch now and about 98% finished, but wanted to pop in to give you a little peek at how it's gone the last few weeks. A lot changed about our original scope of work, and a kitchen update has now turned into an entire main floor renovation. Stay tuned for more on that, but for now...the kitchen! 

Week 4

 The brick is in! 

Week 3 they started to put up the brick wall and back splash and it took a good week to finish. It's my absolute favorite part of the entire kitchen. We went to Mardis Gras in New Orleans during this time and came back and it was all finished minus the backsplash area above the stove. 

This was the beginning of our major changes though. Once we saw that brick we fell in love. We asked our contractor if we could change the floor in the pantry/backpack wall/laundry room to the same brick. 

And our door frames and windows in the entire house to match the kitchen ones we installed. 

Our brick wasn't able to be used as a flooring in our particular house just because of the width of our subfloor. We didn't want to make an entire main floor flooring change (because the money train has to stop somewhere), so we opted to pick a brick-like flooring to coordinate. 

Off to Floor & Decor I went. They had so many pretty things. I could have redone a whole house there! 

Week 5

Also known as "the week we changed our countertops three times". That's right. We changed them three times. First, a little back story.

We were asked to pick out our countertops in week 2. All the samples of everything we had picked were pretty small. Once everything started to come together in the actual kitchen we realized the granite we picked wouldn't coordinate like we wanted to. It pulled a lot more grey and was a lot "busier" than we intended. So we went back to the countertop drawing board. 

And we went back again. 

We finally decided on a quartz countertop that we wouldn't have a heart attack on cost, and decided that was our final decision and there would be no go back-sies. There were two options and when pricing came back the bottom square (Blanca Statuarietto) was almost half the cost of the top square. It was a no brainer. 

The nice thing about quartz is they can make it extremely fast. Within a few days we had our new counter tops in. 

It looked SO GOOD! And then we looked closer. And then we looked at our pictures we had from the samples. 

We realized they installed the "Virginia" quartz instead of the "Blanca Statuarietto. We had a small panic attack because of the pricing, but a quick call and our contractor said, "No this is the correct one at that pricing." What ever happened in translation between us, the contractor, and the distributor we aren't sure. All the paperwork we received says one thing, but who are we to argue nicer more expensive counter tops at a lower cost. Especially after installation. 

Because the countertops were installed that meant our copper sink and our faucet were installed too. Doors and drawers were put back on and our kitchen started to resemble an actual kitchen again. 

Week 6

The beginning of the week was pretty boring, but then on Wednesday I came home from carpool to this...

 

My washer and dryer were in the kitchen. With loads in them.

I was super happy. #sarcasm

But that meant our laundry room flooring was being installed so I got over it quickly. I was ridding my house of that ugly so what was a little (a whole lot) of wet laundry? 

I got a little over excited and ordered our new counter stools one night. 

They made a brief appearance before going back in the boxes for a few more days while painting and such was going on. But they are pretty. 

Cabinet hardware was up next and it was a pretty easy process. We just went to Home Depot and grabbed a few options they had in stock to choose from. By this point we (and by we I mean "I") we just wanted something quick and easy. 

Luckily the first pulls we picked matched perfectly and were the right size for our needs. We chose the coordinating knobs for the drawers and all was well in the kitchen hardware task. 

Weeks 7 & 8

We are in the throws of week eight now and I haven't taken any pictures of in between because the tasks that have been done haven't majorly changed anything. Our door frames, baseboards, and windows have all been updated and painted. Flooring is finished and I'm happy to say we are back to business in the laundry department. It was a messy process, but the outcome was worth it. 

Next week we should be all finished and my next update will be the final product. I can't wait to share with you!  

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Kitchen Renovation: Part 1

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...

{source} 

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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