Welcome to our new kitchen! Sorry it has taken me so long to post pictures of the remodel. It honestly seemed daunting to try to photograph it and I've really fallen out of the habit of blogging at all. But some of you have been asking about it, so here we go. The above photo shows a view from outdoors in the evening. This is a new door and it looks out onto the back yard. Come on inside!
Our previous kitchen was old, yellow tiled, and basically crumbling apart. I hated it but I had to bide my time. Finally this summer we decided to go forward with the remodel (and took out a home equity line). In the meantime, I'd been pinning kitchen ideas like mad, in the hopes of a someday kitchen remodel. I wanted open, airy, clean, white, and non-dated. Having Pinterest available as a tool for gathering ideas was great. In the days before Pinterest, I honestly don't know how I would have figured out what I liked or what's available these days since I rarely go into other people's kitchens (although I am so curious about others' domestic lives--I just don't usually get the opportunity to see in).
Here is a view of the long run of counter space. You can see part of the door that I showed in the top photo. This is leading out to the back yard. The counters are Caesarstone quartz in Misty Carrera or Frosty Carrina (can't quite remember which, but I do know I ended up going with the lighter and whiter of the two). It has a greyish vein going through that looks marble-like. Love love love this coutertop! The open shelves are really thick planks of oak, stained dark to match the flooring. I love that the wood of the door leading out back is natural/stained clear. I like that contrast. The cabinets are hand made in maple by a local cabinet maker guy named Logan.
I got rid of maybe 2/3 of my kitchen stuff. I'm loving the minimalism of this. And we haven't missed all the clutter and junk one bit!
I haven't hung any art or framed prints, but art from the boys brightens up the place. I suppose with this much white there's a risk of the space looking sterile or severe, but I love it. I honestly don't care. I'm so happy to have it be clean, bright and open.
This is the only view that shows the refrigerator. The footprint and the layout are almost exactly the same as before. The fridge, sink, and stove are placed identically. But the doorway to the dining room was widened significantly so the kitchen seems more open.
And here is one of my favorite parts--(low) open shelves to store and display my Le Creuset. This serves a dual purpose of displaying the colorful pieces and having easy access since they are heavy. Oh, and we love having the microwave down low.
Here is where we made the biggest change. Formerly this space in the back of the kitchen was a laundry room--a very ugly, crumbly, non-functional space. Now it is a tri-use area: breakfast nook + open pantry + laundry room. I'm so thrilled to have all this open shelving to store pantry goods. And the breakfast nook makes a great homework area and laundry folding station. This corner is so functional now.
Here is another view. So if you are sitting at the little breakfast nook, the washing machine and dryer are behind you.
And one final view from the back yard. Just to be clear, we didn't DIY any of this. We hired a wonderful local contractor named Johnny, and he handled everything. Last summer we just "made do" without a kitchen (we had a temporary set-up in our breezeway, outside) and in 3 months it was done and we were moving back in!
Thanks for going on this little kitchen tour with me. Words honestly cannot express what a dream come true this is for me. I'm so happy every time I step into this space.
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