Flippin' Kitchen

Recently in March my husband and I bit the bullet and decided to go through with a kitchen renovation.  We didn't do it OURSELVES, but our role in creating our dream kitchen was a little more pivotal than cutting a few checks.  We had been entertaining the idea for quite sometime.  Ultimately we decided that renovating the kitchen would add value to our home, and if and when we ever decide to sell, we would definitely make money off our investment.  I always try to think logical when it comes to how we spend our money.

Our home isn't an OLD home, it was built back in 2003, at the time we bought it, it was only 10 years old, so it had a lot of dark beiges, browns, dark dark wood, orangish colors.

One day my husband and I were out on date night, and he asked "do you want to sit at the bar" and I said to him "I don't like sitting at the bar, I don't feel comfortable in bar height chairs, haven't you noticed I never sit at our kitchen bar at home?"  Then it hit me... we needed to demo our bar top, lower it to counter level, and create a giant island!  I called our contractor, asked him if this was even possible and he said yes.  Right there and then I knew it was time to get the ball rolling on our dream kitchen!

The renovation took one week to complete.  Now, the picking of colors, tiles, counter tops, etc took over a month.  I wanted it to be just perfect.  There was no way I was going to invest all this money and have it turn out anything less than perfect.

If you notice the kitchen window, well, its just a basic kitchen window.  I know that windows are EVERYTHING in a home, and I wanted a way to really make it stand out in our boring kitchen.  We decided to frame the window out with wooden trim, to add character, along with that, I wanted the illusion of ceiling height cabinets, so we had the gap between the cabinets and ceiling framed, and cased out.

As you can tell from the picture, it was already a big difference, Then I knew I wanted my backsplash to wrap around the window and extend all the way to the ceiling (crown molding) I think my husband thought I was a little nuts at first, but he's not the best when it comes to visualizing things, but luckily for me, he trusts my judgement, and let me roll with it.  Came out GREAT!

Picking the countertops was probably the most challenging part.  Initially I wanted marble, I mean who wouldn't want that million dollar look right!?  But after seeing how much that would cost me, having a minor heart attack, then trying to recover from a broken heart, I did some research and found that it is not the easiest to maintain.  So I moved on to my next option... quartz.  Turns out that stuff is not cheap either!  Going with a quartz that I LOVED completely threw off my budget, which was something I was NOT willing to do!  It was really important to stay true to what we could afford and not over extend ourselves.  I could have gone with a very basic quartz and stayed in budget, but I thought, maybe I could find a BEAUTIFUL granite that would still give me the WOW effect I was really looking for.  So at the absolute top of my countertop budget I finally came across the perfect granite.  Mayfair White.  It sparkles, it has specks of shimmer, it was PERFECT.  I kept going back and forth, because everyone was saying granite is so standard, and quartz is where its at, but I needed to stay true to what I liked, what I could afford, and what I would ultimately love!  Between the basic quartz, or awesome granite, I knew I had to go with the granite.  

The same day they installed the granite, they demo'ed my bar top that I couldn't stand, and I was left with a giant island that made me envy my own kitchen!!!

 Before :(

AFTER :)

I was pretty much a hero in my house for coming up with the idea of knocking the bar top off.  My husband came home from work, and looked at me as if I had done it myself with my bare hands.  He loved it, and so did the kids!

Then it was the hard part.  Deciding on paint colors.  Do ya'll have any idea how hard it is to pick paint color?  Do ya'll know how devastating it is when you pick the wrong color?  It sucks.  That was my biggest fear.  I finally decided on Dove White by Benjamin Moore for my cabinets, in a satin finish, and Repose Gray by Sherwin Williams for my walls.  I actually painted the kitchen, kitchen nook, and living room in that color.  Then Alabaster White by Sherwin Williams for my ceilings.  (They use to be a peachy color, don't ask why?!)

I was freaking out.  Literally FREAKING OUT.  What if the color was all wrong... I was going to be pissed.  Luckily after researching those colors, I was confident in my choices, and they came out just beautiful.

We decided to add some under cabinet lighting to reflect off the tile and really brighten up the kitchen, I am so glad we did!  Changed out our old appliances to SS, removed the once out dated vent that was above our stove, and got an over the stove microwave with a built in vent.  I initially wanted a big apron front (farmhouse) sink, but they were going to have to cut into my cabinets quite a bit, and I didn't want to lose cabinet space, so instead I found a 10 inch deep, open bowl sink, and I LOVE IT.

We waited a few weeks for the paint to cure, and then added chrome pulls and bars as hardware as you can see from the picture below.  Which I ordered from Lowes, they add the perfect amount of shine to my kitchen :)

A few tips when it comes to renovating your kitchen:

ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS have an upfront quote, and everytime you decide to add something additional, ask for an updated quote, because you can lose track of your expenses pretty easily, and that defeats the purpose to updating your kitchen if you are going to be stressed out about money.

Take your time picking out your countertops, paint colors, hardware, etc.  Use pinterest, instagram, google images, search blogs, and get ideas to really make sure the selections you make fit your likes, your personality and the general design of your home, this is yours, you worked hard to get your dream kitchen, don't rush, your kitchen isn't going anywhere.  Patience is key.

If you have an idea for your space, and think it may be too expensive, ask your contractor anyways, you don't know if you don't ask.  It turns out that all the additional add ons (subway tile wrapping my window to the ceiling, cabinet casing, under cabinet lighting) were all small additions that have added so much more character to my kitchen, and did not cause me to exceed my budged.

Stick to your budged.  Do not create your dream space based on someone else expectations.  Don't jump into something if it isn't the right time.  We were quoted 8 months before we pulled the trigger, how were we suppose to know what we needed to save, if we didn't know how much to save?  There is no shame in asking for a quote, contractors know that if someone calls them to help them map out what everything is going to cost, it's because they are serious about renovating, and they also know that Rome wasn't built in a day.  Things take time.

Lastly, if you are currently living in the home you plan on renovating, stick to one project at a time, remember, you still have to live there while you have all this stuff going on, don't turn your home into a war zone for your family with utter chaos. 

A lot of people have asked me how my cabinets came out, because they've been hesitant about painting wooden cabinets, I'll say this, imagine a painted bedroom door, yes you can see the grain, but it looks beautiful :)

Have a great day!   l look forward to my next blog!

Lis