When we bought our house nearly two years ago we knew we would have to ultimately redo the kitchen. Several appliances were malfunctioning, a few drawers were broken, and we were not happy with the decor... at all. When the most recent appliance broke (the stove), we decided it was time to redo the kitchen.
It took three weeks and what resulted is the most dramatic renovation Ben and I have ever done!
Here are a few shots of the kitchen before the remodel.
We are very grateful to have such a large kitchen. We did not like the darkness of the granite and the darker cabinets, however. We also had another conundrum... the seating in the kitchen was a major problem for us.
Ben, the girls, and I found ourselves sitting at the barstools to have our meals... we would usually be facing a sink of dishes. Meanwhile, the boys, would be in the high chair and another chair closer to the ground. We were all scattered, yet we didn't want to put a table next to the barstools because it would be too cluttered. With the really little kids we do not dine in our formal dining room everyday. With the upholstered chairs and carpet, it's just not practical. You will see our solution a few pictures down from here...
And here is the "after"
Ben and I were interested in grey cabinets. My mother-in-law recently renovated a flat in England (more on that later) with grey cabinets and she did such a beautiful job, it inspired us to do the same with our kitchen here. Funny enough, though we intended to have grey, the color really turned out to be blue. We love the shade and feel that is very unique. It is a custom mix so I do not have a name for this paint. Ben calls it "duck egg blue".
Here you can see the solution to our dining conundrum. We had our contractor create a built-in bench in the island where the barstools sat previously. Then we added a farmhouse table and bench on the other side (these are from Living Spaces). My friend, Lisa, gave me this idea after hearing about our seating problem. Thank you, Lisa, for this wonderful idea!
The countertops are white quartz and the backsplash is white subway tile. The grout we chose is rolling fog. I picked brass knobs and pulls after having a discussion with my lovely friend, Hilary from Old World Home. Hilary has excellent interior design sense and she thought brass would look smashing with the grey/blue cabinets. She was right!
The appliances are Kitchen Aid and the sink is cast iron Kohler. We were able to say on budget by keeping our cabinets and just replacing the doors. We are thrilled with our new kitchen and have been enjoying it immensely. I hope you enjoy today's video. I would love to hear your thoughts on our dramatic kitchen transformation!
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I hope you enjoyed today's kitchen transformation. I'll see you soon!
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Love, love it!! It really is amazing what newly painted cabinet doors can do. Would you be willing to share the source for your door pulls/knobs? That's something that we would like to update in our kitchen. I'm never sure what's "in" and what's "out" with colors for hardware like that. :)
ReplyDeleteHave been looking forward to the big reveal. It’s just beautiful! You and Ben did a great job with all of your choices. Love the cabinet color with brass hardware. Easy to see how you love spending time there.
ReplyDeleteIt's beautiful and seems to be "you"...I love how you solved the seating conundrum! It's just a perfect solution.
ReplyDeleteThe kitchen is lovely! Very fresh and light. I'm glad that you are pleased with the final result. I'm sure it was a challenge to do without a kitchen for weeks!
ReplyDeleteSo nice!!! The kitchen looks so light and airy now. Love the touches of decor you have as well.
ReplyDeleteI love it!!! It looks so serene. What a pleasure it must be to work in such a lovely space. Maybe you can do a video soon about tips for keeping white countertops clean. ;-)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! ♡
Bravo! And congratulations!
ReplyDeleteVery heartwarming to see this project turn out so well, to see the 2 of you working in harmony, and realizing how graciously you were able to live and work for the prior 18 months with a sub-par kitchen, then during the 6 weeks (?) of upheaval. You are an inspiration, a real example of living graciously in all circumstances. And now you reap rewards! So happy for you.
PS Surely you'll be bringing your CD player back out for classical music in the kitchen, right? :)
ReplyDeleteA stunning transformation! It's gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! Airy and light! I love it. I think the seating idea was brilliant. I would love to hear more about the appliances you chose and whether or not you are happy with your choices. I look forward to more cooking videos in your new beautiful kitchen.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. When you painted the cabinets, did you sand down the old color or just prime and paint?
ReplyDeleteJennifer, do you own a microwave? I didn't see one in your photos unless it's hidden.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, that little baby cameo was the cutest. He's the cutest baby ever!
Oh, one more thing...the tiered fruit basket...could you share the source?
ReplyDeleteGorgeous! I love love love how you did the seating. We've been debating doing a white subway tile, and I think you've sold us! I agree with another commenter, would love to know your source for cabinet pulls.... as well as some of your adorable kitchen accessories!
ReplyDeleteWell done love the whole kitchen! Thankyou for sharing we will need to update our cabinet doors and bench tops in a year or two. Many people don't realize how cost effective and environmentally sensible to not pull out the whole cabinet if its sound and in the right place
ReplyDeleteHi everyone, thank you so much for your lovely comments and kind messages about the kitchen! We are beyond happy with how it turned out. I love that is has character, yet is also a beautiful space that blends into the home we have. As for your questions: the brass knobs and pulls are called Bremen 1 in satin bronze from the website https://www.hardwareresources.com . The kitchen accessories, like the dish cleaner in the flower bowl and the tray are from Grove Collaborative. The two-tier fruit basket is from Costco. I am not sure how the contractor did the cabinets, but I don't believe they sanded them down. I hope that answered all of your questions. Thank you for taking the time to watch our videos. You are so appreciated!
ReplyDeleteWith love,
Jennifer
Your kitchen redo is just beautiful! Makes me want to redo mine even though it doesn’t need it. I love the duck egg blue color and the dining area! I know you’re enjoying it. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI think this looks great! I know it was "on a budget" although not "low budget" and I love the white quartz countertops with the happy accident of the cabinet color. It's so bright and cheerful. I painted our cabinets 10 (!) years ago and it's about time to do it again; they were a honey oak and I painted them a creamy white, and it was an amazing change! I do like the duck egg blue here; it's one of my favorite shades.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the way you mention that this was a budgeted-for renovation and that you made specific choices to remain on budget and debt-free, such as keeping the cabinets and simply replacing the doors, because I think in our throwaway culture it's far too easy for people to be seduced into getting rid of things that are functional just to follow fashion. That's the sort of thing that would have horrified my grandmothers, who were careful and thoughtful with the way they decorated their homes. They tried to make choices that they could live with for many, many years instead of following trends, and I try to do the same thing. I think you will be able to live happily with this renovation for a long time because it's both beautiful and functional (ie the bench and new appliances). Well done!