Kitchen Reveal Part II

So excited to give you the juicy details of our kitchen remodel. Tay and I were generally pleased with how our remodel turned out, but the kitchen exceeded all expectations. This post is dedicated to the ups and downs we experienced while remodeling our kitchen. Additionally, you can find links to all of the products/contractors mentioned today at the bottom of this post. 

Ahh the beloved gas range. This is perhaps my favorite appliance purchase to date. The kitchen was originally outfitted for an electric stove, but having a gas range was at the top of my wish list. We had to have a gas line installed to make this possible but it was well worth the cost ($280); not to mention that the cost of gas in Utah is cheaper than it is elsewhere, which is something to consider when making the choice to buy gas vs. electric appliances.

Design is all about the details. Our disposal switch was originally under the sink (not very ideal), so when I had the chance to design my own kitchen I opted for a push button on the counter (see the brushed nickel button in the bottom right of the picture below). I love this look because it is both practical and minimalistic.

One of the issues that I encounter as a designer with a sweet little child is that Owen loves to walk around the house touching everything within his reach. This includes the fridge, which he often digs through as he mimics me making dinner. Tay and I knew we wanted stainless steel appliances for our kitchen, but didn't want the hassle of cleaning them. Luckily for us we found this fridge, which despite looking like stainless steel is actually platinum (a.k.a smudge proof). Unfortunately they don't make platinum dishwashers, or stoves. It also happens to be counter depth, which makes the entire kitchen look and feel seamless.

In my last post you'll notice that the kitchen floor was at one point covered with linoleum (gagging sound) while the rest of the house was covered in this oh so delightful shade of pink carpet. When we started remodeling we decided that we wanted hardwood floors in the kitchen to give it some warmth, but weren't sure that we wanted to go with the thin slat style of flooring to match the rest of the house. We contemplated going with a small scale tile, but in the end our love of hardwood floors won out. 

In an attempt to save money I told my husband that I could probably refinish the floors myself and put the savings towards new floors in the kitchen. I rented a floor buffer and went to town. After an entire day of buffing the floors it looked like I had literally done nothing and my arms felt like limp spaghetti noodles. After talking with Tay we decided that there were certain things best left to professionals. We called around and everyone was booked out a couple of months so we ended up going with this company that told us they could start in two weeks. Unfortunately for us we interpreted that to mean that they would start working on the floors in two weeks. Not so. They delivered the floors and told us they would be back in two weeks to finish. Despite the misunderstanding they did a really good job and were able to match the floors in the kitchen to the rest of the house.    

Initially Tay and I were thinking about going with a sort of bluish grey color for the cabinets, but ended up deciding on this light gray color from Benjamin Moore as it makes the area feel more spacious. We also decided to forgo having cabinets on both sides of the sink because I wanted to have a more open concept for the kitchen and I wanted to have some shelves to showcase our dinnerware. We got multiple bids for our cabinets, but ended up going with Ryan Reeder because we wanted a custom color, which we couldn't get at Ikea. He also built and installed our shelves, which were a nightmare to install due to the plaster walls. I could write a whole post on my disdain for plaster, but I'll save that for another time.

Throughout this whole process Tay and I  attempted to do everything we could on our own, but as it is with everything we ended up needing some help along the way. The contractor we were originally going to go with was booked until January of next year (he is doing our basement) so he referred us to his son in law and hands down so happy with his work! They are easy on the wallet and we kept using them for everything we didn't feel comfortable doing ourselves (base molding, tile, mudding, etc.). They did a fantastic job despite all the joy surprises inherent in remodeling an old home like ours. I loved their work so much I used them for a condo remodel I was doing at the same time as our home remodel and my client was so happy with the work they did that she is now going to hire them for her vacation home. 

Seriously if you need a contractor call them. I'm happy to give anyone their contact info. 

Products:

FRIGIDAIRE, FRIDGE | SAMSUNG, DISHWASHER | SAMSUNG, GAS STOVE | MICROWAVE | DELTA, FAUCET | FARMHOUSE SINK | CABINETS | HARDWARE | MARBLE BACKSPLASH | GROUT (for tile) | LIGHTING (Pendants) |  RUG | QUARTZ COUNTERTOP | HARDWOOD FLOORING | LIGHT (Dining Light) | BENCHES (custom) | TABLE  | CHAIR | PILLOWS

Contractors:

Please feel free to comment or email me for information on the contractors we used.

Kitchen Reveal:

Not much to say on this post..I will just let the pictures speak for themselves..

 BEFORE: 

AFTER:

Wonderful photography done by In Frames Photography 

I still can't believe this is our kitchen! Before I go to bed at night sometimes I will just stare at the kitchen and I don't snap out of my stare until my husband starts laughing at me. It is neat to see our design come to life and grateful for all the hard work of contractors and family that made this happen.

Later this week I will post about where everything is from and talk more in depth  about who we used for what and what/who I would recommend (I always like when people tell me where their products came from and what they actually ended up liking or would recommend something different). 

Happy Wednesday you lovely faces! 

Kitchen Design

Here is the first design I came up with when I started putting together what we wanted in our kitchen:

A.

The Dilemmas:

We have original beautiful hardwood underneath all the carpet area. The kitchen and bath are the only place that don't have hardwood. Options we considered for flooring: 1. Ripping out all the hardwood throughout the whole house and replacing it..way to expensive. 2.  Having just the kitchen area custom to match the original hardwood (worried about it being cohesive with the original hardwood).  3. Putting in tile. Didn't love the thought of it at first even though there is cool tile out there but I had a hard time envisioning what tile would look like in our small space. After looking around it didn't take long for my husband and me to find the perfect tile (see in design board below)!  

The next dilemma we ran into is cabinets. We want the bluish gray inset cabinets. We had a guy come out to give us a bid and I knew it would be pricey but it was way more than I wanted to spend. I did a quick Ikea design online to price it out and it was only $1,900 (not including labor or tax but still WAY cheaper). They are made of particle board so obviously they are cheaper, I read 303 reviews on the cabinets and about %60 were pleased and the other %40 had complaints. I really do like the gray finish they have but my husband is not sold (on the finish or the fact they are from Ikea). We had another guy come out to give us a bid and we will see what his bid comes in at. 

Because this is not our forever home (we may only be in for a couple yrs) we are trying to be cautious not to dump too much in that we won't get out of it. 

B. Ikea cabinets: 

C. Custom: 

Faucet / Flooring / Backsplash / Hardware / Wall sconce / Rug (similar) / Pendants / Sink

Anyone have strong opinions or suggestions? A.B. or C. brass, nickel, custom cabinets or ikea?

Here are some inspiration pics that we like:

Owen's Room (update) REVEAL:)

I have been itching to change Owen's room, I was just kinda bored of the orange. So with spending a total of $7 I got two cans of emerald green sprain paint from Ace Hardware. (I already had sand paper to sand it down, clear coat spray paint, and some metallic gold paint to do the knobs- all from Ace hardware).

So here is the before:

After:

I am really happy with how it turned out, I love going into his room and just staring at it:)

now as for the rest of the room;

The crib we (used to) have I got off KSL for a great deal and it is in great shape so we gave it a new home (to some lady that I sold it to on KSL)

and got this crib from IkEA:

and I also sold the rocking chair and got this leather rocking chair for a whopping $10!!!

Here is the results peeps:

crib}ikea   bike art}etsy frames}made them (but you can get similar ones at ikea)

Rug}from    Argentina (can get fake ones from homegoods)   Leather chair}KSL 

Accent pillow}Homegoods   Basket} Target

I am quite pleased not spending any extra money to spruce up his room and simplify! 

Kitchen Nook

I am so excited to share this with you. 

I was going to make the bench a DIY project but as I got into making it, I thought NO one would ever want to do this! But now that I am done I regret not taking pictures as I went. (It reminds me of giving birth, you forget after a year the pain you went through...I am not saying it was that HARD..but there were times I felt like throwing my hands up and calling it quits). I also had some manpower help which was very useful! 

Well here she is folks in the glory of morning sunshine..

The only thing I would like to change is the chandelier...

but because we are renting it wouldn't make sense to do that. 

L shaped bench: Custom built

Table: Ikea

Chairs: Target

(2) green accent pillows: fabric purchased at Hobby Lobby (I already had inserts but you can purchase inserts there as well)

Bench cushion: Joan's- pad: Hobby Lobby (2" thick)

Tray: Target

plant, candle holder: Target

pictures: walmart

Sweat: mine