Category: Kitchen 2

Last Saturday, Ben was baking banana bread while the boys and I ate waffles at the dining table.  Ben got annoyed talking around the upper cabinets separating the kitchen and dining rooms.  He jokingly said he wanted to take the cabinets down.   After a second, I said, “Go for it!”  I thought about where we could move our plates, bowls and cups.  After breakfast, I cleared the cabinets out and moved everything to our newly empty cabinets thanks to Jen’s 30 in 30 challenge.

Then, Ben got his drill and started removing the cabinet doors.

After the doors, the cabinets came down.

It was a quick process.  If only our entire kitchen renovation would go as quickly.  Just 18 screws, 5 minutes, and a little dancing to get a brighter, more open kitchen.

Now, we have a nice, open view to the dining room.

It’s amazing that the kitchen is so much brighter without the divider.  Remember the old view?

Just for kicks, I asked Ben to hold one of the cabinets against the wall, just to get a feel for the new cabinet layout.  This one is larger than what we’ll actually have.

The walls behind the cabinets haven’t been painting and to be honest, I’m debating whether I want to or not.  The screws left a little damage and the holes should be filled.  But, I’m lazy and hopefully we’ll start renovating the kitchen this fall, so it won’t last too long.  Right?  Most likely, I’ll get sick of looking at the mismatched paint and touch it up.  We’ll see.  Haha.

Now you’ve seen the results of our impulse decision.  It’s strange to go to the cabinet to grab a cup for Vincent and see plates.  We’ll get used to it soon.

Have you made any impulse home renovations lately?  Did you paint?  Retile?  Maybe you did a little demo work?

This is a big renovation year for us, just like two years ago when we finished our basement.  Soon enough, we’re going to pour a new concrete patio.  Over the weekend, Ben and I discussed our kitchen.  We already had a general idea of the design elements, so we were talking the nitty-gritty details.  Cabinet layout, whether to go with all drawers or keep some cabinets, assorted toe kick options and things of that nature.  That inspired me to whip up a mood board to give you an idea of where we’re headed.  We’re looking for classic traditional with modern touches, something like this:

Here’s a break down of our major components:

1.  The paint will tie into the living room and I really want a warm, mid tone grey.  We haven’t picked absolutely settled on a paint color, but I like Kendall Charcoal (HC-166) and Cape May Cobblestone (1474) by Benjamin Moore.  Both colors are favorite greys selected by Ben Moore himself, well, the company.

2.  We’ve used these modern cylinder drawer pulls on our entertainment center and love the look, so we’ll use them both as drawer pulls and door handles.  Helpful hint:  You can buy packages of 10 at Lowe’s for about 1/2 the individual price.

3.  Rather than a standard undermount sink, we’ve fallen for the look of this stainless steel apron front sink.  It’s both traditional and modern, all in one.  Oh, the smaller size (6 inches smaller than our current sink) will allow us to move our trash from its current location to the left side of our sink.  By doing this, we’ll also gain another drawer stack.  (Right now we have a small cutting board cabinet).

4.  It’s no secret that we (really, I) love Carrara marble.  We have it in both bathrooms and we’re adding some to the kitchen.  Because our backsplash is minimal, we’re planning a cut it ourselves subway sized, brick-lay marble backsplash.  Something similar to this, but cheaper because we’ll buy 12 inch square tiles to cut ourselves.  Not literally ourselves, but we will do the cutting.

5.  We love custom details and a good price, so Ben has decided to build our kitchen cabinets rather than buy.  The square recessed panel, like the cabinet doors in my office, is a clean style with just enough detail.

6.  Since we love our DIY welded steel and marble dining table, we’d love to add more of the same marble.  I don’t know the name, so I’m sorry that I can’t give those details.

7.  A set of matching LG stainless steel appliances is on our list including a backless range, dishwasher and refrigerator.

8.  A few months ago, we were lucky enough to find 3/4 inch thick cherry-stained hickory hardwood flooring on clearance, so Ben bought what was left.

Some things might change and others already have.  We’re not completely certain on the paint color and we already know the marble remnant we used for our dining table is no longer in stock.  We’re searching for a single hole, pull out faucet in brushed stainless or nickel.  We’ll also need to find the worlds smallest functioning microwave to keep on the counter, or another secret stash.

We have a few projects to tackle before we can start gutting the kitchen, but the planning is on like donkey kong.  While we’re planning, I’m curious what kitchen features you have and couldn’t live with out?  What about the gadgets you thought would be great but weren’t?  Have any kitchen products you’d like to recommend?  A faucet or tiny microwave, perhaps?  Do you have all drawers?  If so, any regrets?

P.S.  Voting ends soon.  Please vote for our office and bedroom to give us a chance at $5,000 for our kitchen remodel.