A New Year, A New Home! Kitchen Remodel: Before and After

Well, you may have noticed that it's been pretty quiet over here at the MomTog Diaries. We've been busy! We decided to list our home a few weeks before the kids started back to school this past summer. Long story short it sold within 4 weeks, after just 3 showings! We received an offer on the kiddos' first day of school and it's been a roller coaster ride ever since! I was excited about looking for a larger home but a bit sad to say goodbye to the charming little house we loved. We packed up everything we owned and put it in storage, closed on our old home in late September and moved in with my parents where we lived for the next 2 months. There was a delay in closing on our new home since it took us a few extra weeks to find the right one so the first month spent living with family was spent waiting...that was hard. We also had to pull the kids from their old school that we loved and start driving them to their new school that was closer to our new home. Lots of adjustments in a short time. We finally closed on our new place on October 18th and we started demo of the kitchen immediately. The house had great bones but it was dark and dated. We actually called it the granny house because that's what it looked like. Just old fashioned. All the wallpaper, dark trim and dated fixtures were a little hard for me to look past but we knew that this house could be perfect for us with a bit of work and some creative vision. It is situated on 1.23 acres in a beautiful, quiet neighborhood in a great location near highway access, shopping, our church etc!! Plus it is much closer to my husband's work which was a big factor in our decision to move. The kids absolutely love the huge yard and my husband loves the separate driveway with additional 2-car garage with workshop and storage room. We moved in before the work was complete, right before Thanksgiving, and had to live without a functioning kitchen for over a month. Plumbing, sink, dishwasher, stove, countertops and backsplash tile were completed within a few days of Christmas!! The project took a tad over 2 months but much of that was b/c the farm sink I ordered from Kohler was delayed 7 weeks beyond what we were told which halted much of the other work. Renovating is very stressful especially when you have to move in in the midst of it (imagine moving all your belongings into a home with no floors on the main floor, drywall dust everywhere, and no kitchen, and people always in your house! eek!). I freaked out a little during the moving in process. However, if you can just hang on, the end product is so worth it!! We absolutely love our new home. We still have lots of updating projects still to do (mainly bathrooms) but we couldn't be happier to be here. We feel incredibly blessed to be able to start 2014 in our new home!

Here are a few of the images of the home from the MLS listing. You can see the "granny" factor throughout. I have painted every single room in this house and we had a painter paint every door, trim moulding, window frame, baseboard etc. The entire house looks completely different with all the painting we've done along with ripping down wallpaper that was in several rooms, updating fixtures and adding new hand-scraped hardwoods on the main level. I'm still working on decorating as well as looking for furniture and rugs for the dining room and formal living room. As of now we don't have furniture for those rooms. The kids rooms look great as well...I just can't keep them organized long enough to take photos, lol! As projects are completed I will share our progress :) For now enjoy our kitchen and family room updates!!

This is how the kitchen and family room looked after demo (well actually after we cleaned up after demo!). We decided to keep the existing cabinets b/c they were in great shape. We just had to remove the peninsula and make some modifications which included a new hood vent, drawers underneath the stove instead of doors, moving the dishwasher from the peninsula to next to the sink, building an end cabinet unit and modifying the sink cabinet to accept a farm sink. I also worked with a carpenter to design a custom island. Where you see a change in flooring below is where the original wall dividing the kitchen and family room was. It was the very first thing to go. In fact when we saw this house I said that if that wall couldn't come down I wasn't interested in the house. We brought a contractor along for our 2nd showing and luckily he said it could easily come down :)

I just think the difference is amazing. Paint played a huge factor in this transformation! And I just adore my new island. It is 9 feet long with drawers on one end, storage down the middle, and a bookshelf on the other end. It serves as our kitchen table and our homework center. It also serves as my main food prep space! It's wonderful!! 

The original wall made the space feel so closed off to the family room. Plus the rooms were incredibly dark. Knocking down this wall completely brightened the entire area and created an open concept space that is perfect for entertaining. I can be cooking, the kids can work on homework, and I can still be involved with whoever is in the family room...or watch tv!

I chose a cast iron farm sink from Kohler. I love the lightly rippled texture...it's really only noticeable in certain lighting but I think it's pretty. The floors are a hand-scraped pecan with multi tones. I need to get a better picture to show the coloring. We removed the original fluorescent fixture and added recessed lighting, a schoolhouse pendant over the sink and dome pendants (kichler) over the island. And once again...PAINT!! It's transformative!!

I smile every time I walk in this room!! I can't help it. I was so hesitant to take the step towards choosing this house. We visited 3 times. There were two other homes also in the picture. One was brand new still under construction and another was just a few years old and impeccably designed but not the location we wanted. I wrestled with it...cried over it...torn. But ultimately this is where I knew we should be. God gave me peace. And now I can't imagine calling any other place home! Home buying is such an emotional experience...can I get an AMEN?! We are also thankful for all the help we received from Todd's uncle Jeff who served as our contractor for this project. We couldn't have done this without his help!! And also to my mom/realtor, Inga Koujak, for helping us through our home search. (I'm still waiting on my toughest client trophy). Thank you!! 

I decided on two tone cabinetry again. This time going with white perimeters and a robins egg blue island. 

I originally wanted carerra marble countertops for their timeless look, however, I was very concerned about marble's reputation for staining and etching and not holding up well in the kitchen. When I saw this slab at the local granite yard I knew it was the one. It has the timeless elegance of marble but the durability of granite!  This piece is white on one end, transitions to grey, and then to a pale blue. I've never seen anything like it before and the granite people said they've never seen a piece as beautiful and unique as this one. They called it Elegant White but after searching online nothing looks anything close to this. I think it may actually be a quartzite which is also a natural stone and is supposedly a tad more durable than granite. Time will tell but I love it regardless! It also has a leathered texture applied to it which is really nice as well. Just enough texture to give it a little extra something but still smooth enough to write over without being bumpy.

We added this vent hood and had it vented to the outside of the home. The original kitchen had no venting whatsoever so I knew I needed a venting system with as much cooking as I do. We chose white subway tile just as we did in our last home. It's inexpensive yet beautiful. However this time I decided on a light grey grout instead of white to give a little more contrast and it's less maintenance. The drawer pulls are the gilmore pull from Restoration Hardware.

We did the perimeter cabinets in Black Pearl...also with the leathered finish. I love the two tone look especially after seeing my inspiration kitchen over at For the Love of a House. 

One neat little discovery we made after buying the house was this nifty pull down cookbook shelf. We never even noticed it tucked underneath the cabinets until the day we closed and got the keys to the house. It's great for cookbooks and also great for placing your tablet if you're using an online recipe. You have no idea how excited I was about this little gem...I just love it!!

This space is so much more functional than the original u-shape with peninsula. I felt trapped in the kitchen before but now the entire layout is open and easy to move around.

I found the perfect spot for my wall shelves that I used on my chalkboard wall in my last house. It feels like home with all my little vintage lovelies displayed :)

I'm still working on decorating and am always moving things around but for now this works! The rug is  from Pottery Barn (heathered chenille jute rug) but I found it on craigs list this past weekend for half the price! We are also hoping to get a small sofa to replace the white chairs but we're using what we have for now.

The large bay window looks out onto our enclosed patio. These side windows open and make a great pass through if you are entertaining out there. We are really looking forward to using that space once it warms up. Yesterday it was 3 degrees in the morning....brrrr, too cold!! For now Oliver is enjoying the window as his perch and he is loving the chance to finally hang out outside (on the patio) :)

This is the view if you are entering from the foyer. We continued the flooring through the foyer as well as in the formal living and dining rooms.

I'm thinking about doing a white wash technique on the brick but haven't decided for sure yet. I do love the brick but I've seen a number of whitewashed brick fireplaces that I adore as well. Future project maybe?! We have lots still to finish in the home but it will be a work in progress for a while. I hope you enjoyed our kitchen tour!

Coastal Farmhouse Kitchen: A Before & After Reveal

Well, it is FINALLY finished (for the most part)!! We started this kitchen project back in late February I believe. It was supposed to take a week or two to complete...ummm...that did not happen. It actually took us 4-5 months to get all the projects completed and several of those weeks were spent without a functioning kitchen...no countertops, sink, water, dishwasher, etc. It was awful because we didn't prepare for that. That's what happens when two un-handy (is that a word?) people take on a kitchen renovation. It drags on for forever because we second guess ourselves at every step, and underestimate how much time things take and then we get stuck and have to ask, beg, PLEAD for help, lol. True story. I am just relieved that it's done (actually it was done in July) and I can now share some before and afters to all of you. I am in LOVE with the end result. Exactly how I hoped it would look :) I will share helpful links and resources that were helpful during this project throughout this post. Enjoy!


 

This is what our kitchen looked like right before we began this project. Builder Grade boring...blah. It needs some help but the cabinets were definitely workable. A little paint would make a huge difference.

We actually ended up hiring some local painters to take care of this part for us to save time and energy. Of course it costs more to hire someone to do the painting for you but for what we paid it was definitely worth it to avoid the headache. They sanded, primed and painted all the cabinets and doors. They also added beadboard to the side panels, per my request, to add a little extra character. We had to live without cabinet doors for about a week and a half. Don't judge me by the mess on the shelves, lol!

 

This is the result once the painting portion was finished. The upper cabinets were done in Almond Cream and the lowers were done in a robins egg blue called Celtic Grey, both are Behr colors. At this point we had already removed the old countertops and I had begun work on the new butcher block ones in the garage. Sanding, staining, and sealing was a labor intensive process that took about 9 days, working on them multiple times a day, both sides to prevent future warping of the wood.

 

This is what my garage looked like for a while as we worked on the kitchen makeover. We bought our butcher block countertops at IKEA. They are the oak Numerar ones. I followed some great advice and tutorials for staining and sealing butcherblock that I found here and here.

I bought my first power tool for this project, a Ryobi sander! He worked his little tail off on these countertops! The tutorials mentioned above will guide you as to which sanding papers to use...I cannot remember exactly what grit they were...220 and something else.

I used a Minwax pre-stain wood conditioner and wood finish for staining. The color was Special Walnut 224. It's gorgeous!! Then I used Waterlox the seal the butcher block. Some people use mineral oil but that requires regular maintenance and re-application. This Waterlox gives a nice sheen and after a process of multiple coats it will not need to be re-applied often...maybe for touch-ups. I've had my counters in use for 6 months and they still look great. I do use a cutting board to chop on to avoid knicks and scratches. They are holding up beautifully to everyday wear! Water has been no problem, it wipes right off.

 

This is a close-up near the end of the staining and sealing process. It took me about 9 or 10 days. Be sure to do both sides!! If you don't do the underside you risk having some warping later on. Do the underside to completion first so that once you flip to work on top side you won't have to worry about damaging it to flip again.  

This is the way the kitchen walls stayed for quite some time. We installed the counters so that we could use them but we had open holes in the wall with exposed wiring for about 4 mos before we finally got around to tiling. We chose a white ceramic subway tile. It's an inexpensive option that offers a beautiful result! We enlisted the help of some friends to get the tiles on the wall in late June. I actually became very ill (from a virus that I contracted elsewhere that eventually caused a visit to the ER) while the tiling was going on and wasn't well enough to grout them until mid July.  I'm still feeling the effects of that virus over 2 months later.

But, it was finally complete. The DH and I spent an entire day grouting (we were grout virgins and it took us forever!) and finishing up little details. I think I heard angels singing in the heavens that day, lol! Hallelujah it was done! It felt like a weight lifted from our shoulders! And we are loving it! I was kinda going for a coastal farmhouse vibe with my color choices and choice of materials and accessories.

 

 

 

My little photography assistant helping me take some "after" photos :)

This glorious apron front farmhouse sink is one of my favorite parts of the kitchen!! It is HUGE!!  This was another IKEA find and worth every penny of it's over $300 price tag...which isn't bad at all for a double-basin farmhouse sink.

A side view of my lovely sink :) Isn't she pretty?! She can hold a lot of dishes, lol!

 

 I found this adorable vintage kitchen scale on etsy and LOVE it! Fits my coastal farmhouse kitchen perfectly! Tomatoes courtesy of my mom's summer garden. Starting a garden is on my own to-do list!

A slice of watermelon anyone?! Yummo!

This part of the kitchen makeover was actually the first part I completed. I forgot to take a real "before" picture before we replaced our brass light fixture with this IKEA farm one. After replacing the fixture I painted this chalkboard wall!! It's super cool and the kids love it. The shelving is also from IKEA. Did I mention how much I love IKEA?! Loving that we have one about 90min away. But they are available online if you don't have one of their mega-stores near you. 

*Tip for achieving a well-worn chalkboard wall...after the paint is dry rub the side of a piece of chalk all over and then wipe off with a cloth...I just used paper towels. This gives it that nice "used" look!

 

Please ignore the dirty table. I forgot to wipe down the crumbs after breakfast. Just keepin' it real!

 

Most of the decorative items are vintage things I've collected from local antique stores or from the vintage section of etsy.com. I love old stuff :) Nevermind that I haven't hung my coffee mugs up yet..oops.

And here's my awesome Hunger Games basket. It's actually an old basket from a local industrial mill. It was purchased by set designers for use in the Hunger Games movie that was filmed here. I then bought it off an antique dealer who snagged it from the movie prop auction. You can see it in action in this post :) It fits in nicely in this space :)

 

I hope you have enjoyed my little kitchen tour! Feel free to email me or leave any questions in the comments section!


Supply and Resource List:

cabinet colors: Uppers- Almond Cream (Behr)
                         Lowers- Celtic Grey (Behr)
countertops: IKEA numerar
Stain: Minwax Special Walnut 224
Sealant: Waterlox
I used great advice/tutorials for staining butcher clock found here and here
Sink: IKEA Domsjo
Shelving: IKEA