Kitchen Remodel Inspiration
The kitchen is absolutely the heart of our home.
Both my husband and myself love to cook, whether it's a Wednesday night or Sunday dinner, you will find one of us making something spectacular. We moved into our home with the intentions of remodeling the kitchen, we also knew we would have to do it in stages because the money tree we planted got West Elm disease. ;-)
The first step was getting new appliances, the original fridge was on its way out and not large enough to fit our families needs. The oven did not have a child lock on the burners or door which was a huge safety hazard in my eyes. Last February, we picked up all of our stainless steel appliances at HHGregg. We got a Samsung French Door Fridge along with a Whirlpool Double oven, you can cook two things at once in the same oven! It is pretty amazing.
Our current kitchen has oak cabinets with laminate countertops that look as if there are covered in tiny milk puddles. I am constantly pouring milk for my 2-year-old, so about 10 times I am faked out by the design. The cabinets themselves are not in bad shape, which is why I convinced my husband we should just paint them and add more. We received two estimates from IKEA and Menards for new cabinets. IKEA has really beautiful kitchens, for a smaller kitchen, it would be worth it. IKEA outsources their installation. The downside: they do not do countertops, plumbing or electrical and demolition is extra. You will pay a contractor thousands of dollars to handle your granite/quartz/etc. so we learned that you should just go through a countertop company who basically charges next to nothing for installation. After meeting with the IKEA recommended installation team, we found that it would cost about half the price of the cabinets themselves to have the old kitchen removed and new cabinets hung. This did not factor in countertops and backsplash, we were already two times over the budget. Menards was the same story. After months of contemplation, we decided to paint the cabinets and to also design a hutch for the empty 7ft wall in our kitchen. We did this through Menards, using the same cabinets as our existing kitchen. It will be 6 cabinets in all, two lowers with four more cabinets sitting directly on the counter top.
My dream kitchen consists of grey lowers and white upper cabinets with a beautiful, white farmhouse sink and herringbone subway tile. I love Carrera Marble BUT knowing that we are not the Kardashians I will settle for white quartz that has the same wavy, organic grey lines, it is called Bianco Perle. Once the cabinets are installed next week and the sink cabinet cut to support the new farmhouse sink, the rest of the work can get started!
I have envisioned a farmhouse sink in this home everyday for the past year. I cannot believe my dreams are finally coming true! The sink is a beautiful porcelain white with a big apron on the front. It weighs 60 pounds! The installation may be tricky with our current sink cabinet on an angle so I am crossing my fingers.
Lastly, we really wanted to give our existing closet/pantry a new look. Giving the kitchen a face lift and leaving the current beat up folding doors just wasn't an option. We are hoping to have sliding barn doors (painted grey) installed. I have an obsession with barn doors! Check out this gorgeous pair below from Country Living.
I think either painted the doors white, grey or staining them a grey-ish stain will compliment the room, I haven't decided yet. I also adore the sign over the pantry. I am having two horizontal signs made for above the cabinets that read: "FRESH BAKED PIES" and "COFFEE & TEA". I found a local Mom that makes custom wood signs, I cannot wait to see them in person! I love working with local businesses in my community, especially other Moms.
As soon as these cabinets get delivered (which we were told would be next week) the whole renovation will get started! The contractor can come once the cabinets are in, the painters can come once the contractor hangs the cabinets and modifies our sink cabinet, then the countertop people can come once the sink is in place and the backsplash can be installed once the countertops are in. Well at least it SOUNDS "easy," fingers crossed for a smooth job!
