Construction Zone: My Kitchen

When we bought our house (back in December), we knew we'd have to update the master bath and the kitchen.  Actually, we bought the house BECAUSE we'd get to do this.  We looked at several houses with updates, but I wanted to be able to make my kitchen and bath my (our) own.  He told me I'd have to wait 1 year before I could start re-doing these areas. 

Well, as I've spent the last 8 months going back and forth between whether to redo the bathroom or kitchen first.  I saw this article in my Southern Living magazine, and knew, then and there, that the kitchen would be our first construction zone!  My decision was further confirmed when I went to visit my husband's parents.  My M-I-L came in and said "Amelia, I ripped out some pages of a magazine.  I saw this kitchen and instantly thought that it was soooo you".  Yes, friends, it was indeed the exact same article!

I love love love the cabinet color!  I am a HUGE fan of white, but because I have dogs (who like to go counter surfing) that tend to get white dirty really easily, I am okay with painting my cabinets a grey tone.  I also love the apron sink.  I first saw this type of sink on our trip to Portland, Oregon right after we graduated college, and ever since then, I've promised myself that MY kitchen would have an apron sink!

I LOVE the stools she used!  Because our kitchen connects to our small living room, clear stools are a perfect solution.  He has already given me permission to buy them, but of course, I'm just waiting for a coupon.  (I may or may not have even created a registry in hopes of receiving a 10% off coupon.)  I also love the school pendant lights!  You can find them at great bargains on several lighting sights! 

Because my husband and I love to cook, we definitely need a chef's oven.  I'd probably get one with a larger range---and add a pot filler (because Italians love pasta.)  (PS- my husband is Italian.)  I also love how she added subtle color in the tile back splash!  It brings in just the right amount of POP.  Oh, and seeing her cabinets raised to the ceiling gave me great inspiration.  I love the open shelf she inserted to display decorative dinner wear! 

Finally, I love how she built a pantry next to the refrigerator.  It gives the fridge a nice home.  We currently have our pantry in our laudry room, so this inspired me to build out a space so that I don't have to fight the wet jeans (that I hang dry) just to get olive oil!  

So, now I will share a few pictures of how our kitchen USE to look.  These were taken during our inspection.  (I'll show you how the kitchen currently looks in a few days.)

Looking in from back door, kitchen on left, living room on right.  The repainted mirror I recently blogged about here hangs on the wall to the right of the cabinets.

See the lovely "fruity" backsplash tile?  He painted over that with white paint.  We used the "Gripper" primmer to help the paint stick on the tile.

 

Looking into the kitchen from the living room.



 We painted all the cabinets white and I replaced the gold hardware with sleek sliver handles.  He also took down the wine right (above the counter in the above picture).  And, those red curtains have found a new home---probably in the city dump.



Standing in front of the fridge, looking out into the garage.  The laundry room / pantry is on the right behind the fruity backsplash.



Laundry room / pantry.  We removed the bi-folding doors  to create more space for me to move around in there!

Now that my manditory 1 year holding pattern is thisclose to being over, I'm gearing up for some major changes to our kitchen!