My Kitchen Remodel

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Mar 12

Renovating our outdated 70’s style kitchen

I’m so excited to finally reveal our remodeled kitchen! Where once stood a severely outdated and grimey kitchen, with worn cabinetry and a duck-taped microwave…now stands a much brighter, elegant space. It’s been over two years since this project has been completed and we’re still just as much in love with everything. Grab a coffee and read on to see all the photos from the process and of course, links to every item we used!

Before

Yikes, Right?

Wallpaper has certainly made a comeback in recent years, but this one was just not it. But the biggest thing that needed to go was this wall that enclosed our kitchen from the rest of the house!

Let the Remodel Begin!

Demo
We did a total demolition, removing the wall that blocked off the kitchen, but keeping the pipes and electrical items in the same position.

Cabinet Install
Now it’s really starting to look like a new space! Removing the wall, allowed us to create a 5ft island which was a huge goal of ours. We opted for sleek, white shaker cabinets and prioritized storage with a new intuitive layout. We knew we also wanted our cabinets to go all the way to ceiling, making the space feel taller.

My Crappy Photoshop Rendering

I’m a visual person and love to create these quick photoshop mockups for any of our home projects. I wanted to ensure everything we wanted was working together! As you can see, the island is a midnight blue color…but as any homeowner knows, things happen and don’t get done. Maybe one day we will get to it!

Quartz Countertops
We went with a gorgeous Quartz Calacatta Viola countertop that had some hints of blue, grey, and taupe in the veins. Quartz is on the affordable side while still totally elevating the space.

Backsplash
We went with counter to ceiling faux zellige tiles. I have been seeing these tiles everywhere lately and for good reason! It reflects the light so beautifully due to it’s opalescent finish and the subtle changing hues are so pretty.

New Floors
We ripped up our old tiles and carpets around the house and selected these perfect faux wood floors. They are luxury vinyl plank (or LVP) and have just the right balance of warm and cool tones.

Almost There…Appliances, Light Fixtures, and Hardware are in!
Now it’s finally a useable kitchen, albeit not quite complete yet. We chose stainless steel appliances and prioritized our spending for items we really cared more about. The pendant lights are by Anthropologie but I luckily found them on Facebook Marketplace. Also…we had A TIME with this gas range, we went through I think maybe 4 total ranges before we finally got one to work. Fun stuff!

And Now Presenting

The AFTER!

She’s so pretty!
We absolutely love our kitchen now. I know that all white kitchens are controversial these days because people think they’re boring, but the white really does brighten the space and feels fresh. Our home doesn’t get much natural light so any opportunity to make it feel lighter, I’ll take it! At some point, we may paint the island a deep blue (which I think will look bomb) but we will see.
A fun little note…we wanted to keep our counters relatively clear, so we moved our microwave to be hidden inside this upper cabinet on the right of the photo.

SHOP OUR KITCHEN

Quality Appliances
Over these past two years, all of our appliances have held up really nicely with little to no issues, which is what we all want! James favorite has got to be the GE gas range by Café, we’ll probably never go back to electric. My favorite is of course, my Nespresso Pixie, but besides that, our faucet and sink set up is actually amazing. Highly recommend! Never thought I’d be so excited about a faucet but here we are.

SHOP OUR APPLIANCES

Design Choices
The counter stools were a dream come true for me…I absolutely adored these ones from Serena & Lily but those prices were steep. I happened to come across these near-perfect dupes at Home Goods! When I first got them, I was worried they were too warm compared to the floor, and quite frankly...they might be! But I just love the coastal style of them and how comfy they are too much.
I think our pendant lights above the island tie everything together! The gorgeous amber glass with brass accents goes nicely with our gold hardware, and then the textured glass ripples and reflects light very similarly to the backsplash tiles. Just love!
I’m definitely more of a gold girl and finding the perfect gold finish for our hardware was a challenge! I find a lot of brass to be too yellow, shiny or expensive. When I found these honey bronze ones - I knew they were the right match to contrast with our stainless steal appliances.

Before & Afters

That’s a Wrap

Pretty crazy to me how different this kitchen looks now! We accomplished our goals of having a more functional, brighter, and elegant kitchen. We cook out of here every single day so it was super important that it actually worked for us. What do you think? Write in the comments below!