Once upon a time there was a yellow house that longed to have an open-airy country
kitchen, but at the same time have the makings of a chic city loft. It started as a galley
kitchen, with the counters being the same tile as the floor {very chic, right?!}. It also
had a horribly stained white sink, an all too small pantry area, and only one oven. This kitchen was screaming for a makeover, and luckily one day, we were blessed to be able to do just that- MAKE IT OVER!
It all started with this:
We then did a whole lot of paint work, smoothing of walls, and adding trim to make it look like this:
And then we had a
vision to make it this {minus the: yellow, ugly table, missing brick, and cabinets on the wrong side of the island}, with the help of
Lowes room planner.
So without further ado, here is the beauty all {well, almost all} finished:
Looks quite a bit like the vision, huh? We are beyond thrilled with how everything turned out. It has been quite the journey, with everything from:
The biggest change we made was knocking down a wall and moving the laundry room to the other side of the 'now' brick wall. The character of the brick wall, off-set by the elegance of the
chandelier, is what your eyes are drawn to instantly when you walk in the house. BAM!
Looking straight ahead here, this was the area of our old laundry room. It now is a
great place where large groups of friends and family can hang out freely, relax, and enjoy some good food. It also is the area we chose to hang our
DIY driftwood art we made. I love sitting on the bench {keep in mind- we got this baby for $20 from a garage sale} and drinking my coffee in the mornings, it has a certain coffee shop feel, yet my coffee costs me $.10 instead of $4 {no offense coffee shop owners/frequenters}.
We finally got to put one of my our dreams into action by creating an island for the kitchen. I love the open flow it allows throughout, and the fact that even with six people in there at the same time, it still feels open {which was so not the case with the previous galley kitchen}. Also, it allows me to have tons of counter space on the sides and in front of the stove, which is great for all my prep work. One added benefit that J and I didn't really even think we would love so much, is the ability to eat at the island. It is incredibly convenient now, and will only continue to get more once we add to the group { you know, kids, not more dogs..!}
As for the granite countertops, we ended up going with the
much cheaper budget-friendly option of Bianca, and couldn't be more pleased. Read about
our process of the counters here, and even more on that to come.
My 'baby' of the kitchen is the beloved farmhouse sink we got from
Home Depot. It has been a dream to work with, making washing dishes actually {almost} enjoyable. To make the sink even more dreamy we added this
awesome faucet, also from Home Depot. The backsplash we chose was the classic white subway tile. We used the classic white grout from Home Depot for the grout. Super easy on the eyes, and the hands for cleaning:)
I spend many-a hours here slaving away with dishes..but I love it
Next you move into the brand new pantry area. This is how it looked prior to the makeover:
Here is the new and improved view:
In the pantry we added an oven and microwave wall unit, additional cabinets, along with an additional counter space that we will eventually add open shelving above {showing now because I knew you guys were tired of me being such a tease}. There will be much more about the pantry in later posts. For now, were asking for some serious advice.
Before:
We hate the boobie lights. Hate them. If you don't know what a boobie light looks like, see the arrow above, or ask your mom and dad {I kid, I kid}. But seriously, we hate it, and still have the same dilemma in the new pantry area. Ideas, suggestions, haters of boobie lights? Theres not enough room for can lights, and we i'm not allowed can't have any more chandeliers.
After:
One of the only things we were sad to see go was the french doors. We simply couldn't keep them if we wanted the laundry room to be relocated, and the pantry to be functional. Bummer, huh?! But we still have a single door that lets plenty of light in.
We were super excited to be able to carry the hardwood throughout the whole kitchen and pantry now, which leaves only the bathrooms and the laundry room woodless. Hopefully we will have a full wood floor installing tutorial coming soon {done by our amazing floor guy Steve}, and if not, at least a basic tutorial with photos {done by yours truly<3}. Its humorous to think that this whole makeover stemmed from our hardwood floors being discontinued, which got us in a panic thinking "CRAP, what if we ever want to do a kitchen makeover and they are out of the same wood..what then?" Dun dun dun...
We are loving all the little details we have already added, and obviously there are many more to come. For instance, we still direly need a rug for under the sink, and under the miners cart {from
Modern Manor-duh!}. We will be continually adding things as we go, and will keep you posted.
Thanks so much for following along throughout the process! We truly couldn't have done it {at least with a smile} without y'all and your positive and encouraging feedback. I'll leave you know with a shot from our dining room {with the ever so loved
card catalog} into the kitchen. Be sure to let us know what you think, good and bad, mostly good though, , i'm a sensitive one folks!
<3,
Adri
