Well - our kitchen has been finished for about 3 months and we are super happy with it! Taking this project on made such a huge difference in the entire feel of our house. We should have done it sooner - but it was nice to live in our house to get a real handle on how we best wanted to use the space before taking this project on.

As you can see, I completely changed my mind after posting the initial color scheme/design plan. Going darker on the cabinets was 100% the right choice and I'm so glad we did.

Here are the before/afters. Before - the kitchen was essentially a small galley, with a wall separating the kitchen from the back family room.

The biggest change came from knocking down that wall and adding a peninsula with glass uppers. This completely opened the space to the family room, which is where we spend most of our time. Having a sight line to the family room will be super helpful with Sam's impending arrival. And I love having a spot for a few bar stools where guests can perch.

Before - range wall.

After - range wall. We kept the range in the same place and added a stainless vent hood in place of the microwave. Microwaves over ranges have become one of my least favorite kitchen things, so I'm glad we relocated the microwave to be hidden in the lower portion of the peninsula.

 

Another view of the range wall:

Before - sink wall.(Hi Dais!)

After - sink wall. We kept the sink and dishwasher in the same place, but we purchased a panel ready dishwasher and had the cabinet maker make a panel front so the dishwasher blends in. This was maybe my favorite design element!

 

Just some more pretties:

We went with Bianco Toscana granite. I really, really love how the color works with the cabinet color (Urbane Bronze by Sherwin Williams). The veining is really unique, too.

The pendant we chose is the Reed Hanging Light from Circa. The scale and finish are perfect.

In the end, white subway tile won out for back splash.

 all photos by Ely Fair Photography.

We are thrilled with how everything turned out! Living in a construction zone is less than desirable, but all is well that ends well. Now, my sights are set on the master bathroom. We'll see what the Hubs has to say about that :)

nursery planning

I recently started work on a very exciting and special project - our bebe-to-be's nursery! 2014 ended with the exciting news that we are expecting a sweet little one and we couldn't be happier. While my mind is definitely swimming with practical baby matters, I must admit that a large part of my daydreaming belongs to nursery planning.

We don't find out the nugget's gender until next month, but I already have a solid plan of action for the space whether we have a Samuel....

or an Elise!

See what I did there? I only changed out a few items for a different feel, more suited to a little gal. Very excited to get started!

PS- Kitchen renovation is set to be complete (fingers crossed) this week! And I went a totally different direction than I had planned :)