We took a two-year break in renovating to, know you, have a baby and stuff. The kitchen was the last project we wanted to do in this house (Ok last big project, because if we're honest will we ever really be finished with projects?). We wanted to do it soon so we would have lots of time to enjoy it before a potential move (still years away).
It took quite a bit of planning since it's pretty impossible to rip out an entire room with a crazy tornado-of-a-toddler on the loose. Also, the negative side of being real foodies/eating Paleo is needing a working kitchen to cook 3 meals a day. Jeremy enthusiastically sacrificially offered to eat pizza for 10 days while he worked, and Micah and I stayed with my parents in Houston to be out of the way.
While the old kitchen had been upgraded at some point by a previous owner, it wasn't quite our style. The tile counters were a beast to keep clean, not to mention uneven. The open areas on top of the cabinets was wasted space in our small-ish kitchen. There were several structural oddities that bothered Jeremy, and I wanted the space to look sleeker, cleaner and less cluttered.
Here is our progress:
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We wanted to keep the light cabinets with the open feel while maximizing our storage space. Jeremy custom-made all the upper cabinets and made new doors for the lower cabinets to match.
He created molds and poured concrete counters, then sanded them smooth and stained them. We found the granite slab for the island for fairly cheap in a granite "graveyard". We were pretty creepy about it - we picked it out after the granite supplier was closed while peeking through the fence in a sketchy part of Dallas.
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We changed the outside hinges on the cabinets to hidden "soft-close" hinges, which make it impossible to slam the cabinet door. VERY helpful with a baby!
To keep the backsplash "clean" looking, we mounted all the light switches and electrical outlets under the cabinets. Jeremy said this was one of the biggest pains of the entire project. I guess I'm lucky I got it in this kitchen, because Jeremy may never be willing to do it again!
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Jeremy created an appliance "garage" to use as a coffee bar. We mounted the microwave to create more space.
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The open shelves felt cluttery and invited baby hands to pull everything off onto the floor. We closed them in for another cabinet and drawer.
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One of my favorite parts of the remodel is my new sink. A fireclay apron-front farmhouse sink to replace my 60/40 stainless. I LOVE the single bowl, and having the sink mounted lower is much better for shorties like me.
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This post was one of the structural things that bothered Jeremy.
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I'm a pretty lucky lady to have a man who can do work this beautiful!
