Monday, May 20, 2013

mini kitchen remodel

I'm sitting in my home office right now in the exact spot where when I posted last, I had a space heater blowing at my hands to warm them up as I typed. Wow! What a difference a week makes! It's nearly 90 degrees in here and I refuse to turn on the air conditioning yet. I am loving open window and fresh breezes, but I might cave soon. I am dripping with sweat! Summer is almost here! Yippee!

I wanted to finally post pictures of our mini kitchen remodel.  I call it mini not only because my kitchen is pretty mini, but also because we didn't make a ton of changes...only a few that made the space brighter, lighter and feel a little larger. 
I truly do try to live by my business tag line, "Room for Change-Where a little change, goes a long way". See for yourself. See if it's true:

 Kitchen: Circa 2010
Kitchen 2013

BEFORE:


(Why is it killing me that I left my coffee creamer out on the counter? "Countertop Cleaner" is not happy with herself for that)!
 2010

NOW:
BEFORE:
AFTER:
This photo above is actually from 2012-last year when Kennedy and I decided on a whim to paint the original cabinets one more time before Ken built me new fronts. Here she is, hard at work:



Here's what we did:

Switched the tile looking laminate flooring to engineered bamboo.

Replaced the door and drawer fronts with a recessed panel shaker style design. (Ken built them for me out of pine for less than a couple hundred bucks)! I painted them "Inspire Awe" by Clark and Kensington Paints.

Switched out the black hardware to a brushed nickel modern pull I bought from Lowe's. 

Replaced our outdated faucet and installed an instant hot water tap (LOVE).

Bought new aluminum bar stools from Overstock.com

Replaced our built in kitchen island with a rustic pine Pottery Barn knock-off! (Again, Ken built me this out of pine and I distressed and stained it). Saved ourselves $2, 350!!) We have yet to add the industrial looking bolts...that's next.

Bought a new pedant light in over the island from Lowe's. 

Added a porcelain counter top to the island that looks like marble. (Duca Tile and Stone-Holland). 

I am happy with how everything turned out, despite sweeping and mopping the dark kitchen floor more often than I want to. :)

Here are a few more angles.


The final (??) project we have in this house is updating/finishing off our laundry room.  Trying to psych ourselves up for that in the fall.

Hope your week is off to a great start!  See you back here soon.


4 comments:

babs said...

Christy....really lovely. You did a great job...it's so much lighter. I just did a 'mini' change also. Looks like we have the same faucet! Check mine out....www.babsjustababblin.blogspot.com

Keep cool!

Sarah said...

Fabulous! I love it all, especially the island (what a great hubs!) and floors! We are finishing our basement and plan to use carpet throughout most of it, but there is a little nook that we plan to use as a toy room area for our boys and I'd like to try bamboo or cork. Can you give me details about bamboo? ie. does it retain heat? is it durable? does it require any yearly maintenance, etc.? Thanks!!

Kip said...

The new setup does look livelier than the old one. The hardwood flooring is a nice touch, and so was the homemade kitchen island. It gives a contrast to the white cabinets and countertops and has a simplistic yet pristine look.

Tittle Brothers

The Changing Room said...

Thanks for the comments guys. @ Sarah, overall, I'm happy with the look of the bamboo and it is incredibly HARD (doesn't dent or ding easily), however, we are discovering that the surface of it does scratch pretty easily. Drop a pair of scissors? Scratch? Move a barstool? Scratch. Might not be the best option for a boys' play area. I would consider a realistic looking wood laminate. I've tried cork before in a client's house and we ripped it out right away. It was chipping and scratching during installation. Wood laminates have come a long way and are very convincing looking-hard to tell between certain ones and real wood.

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