I should have taken more "before pictures". In fact, this was the only picture I could find that had my kitchen with the white appliances. Hopefully, my sister and brother-in-law won't mind me sharing her 50th birthday picture. Please note that we were having a party and the kitchen had more clutter than normal. But, at least you can see the beige Formica and white appliances that I've lived with for almost 8 years.
We also had a low bar attached to the counter that we never liked the looks of. It was nice for placing food when we had a houseful of people, but other than that it was an eyesore.
Our first step was actually getting stainless appliances in December. We shopped the Black Friday sales and got an excellent price for our refrigerator, which I love. I have always had side by side refrigerators and I don't miss that style one bit. We are happy with the tile floor and other than having the carpet people steam clean it when they do our carpet tomorrow, we made no changes to the flooring. As you can see, we removed the low bar and the countertop, sink and faucet. We also put a fresh coat of paint on the walls. We actually kept them the same color, we still liked it and couldn't find anything we liked more.
This is how it looks now! Bead board on the bar, stained to match the cabinets (thank you Kim @ Savvy Southern Style for the idea of staining it rather than painting it). The countertop is now a foot wider, creating a bar area and more workspace for me. We found the bar stools yesterday at Sam's. We still need to pick out tile for the backsplash and add some baseboard to the bar and some under the counter lighting.
The undermount sink is deeper than my old one. I stuck with a stainless sink because they don't stain. The faucet has been replaced. I agonized over this decision. I was torn between wanting a very tall faucet, or one that was just slightly curved. I didn't want the pull out sprayer...just my personal preference. So, we opted for one that was somewhere in the middle.
We talked about putting wooden shutters or blinds at the window, but decided that I'm too messy at the sink and that I am constantly cleaning the window. So, I found a valance that was muted tones of the colors I wanted.
It is difficult to take a picture of the granite. Ignore the reflection of light and you may be able to see that it has several colors in it. It appears almost black, but actually is a very dark green with hints of sea glass aqua, a sparkling taupe and black. The color is called Verde Butterfly. One thing I learned in this process of buying granite is that you must see the entire slab that you are buying. When you look at a small sample at a Home Depot type store, you really can't get an idea of what it will look like. We went looking for a taupe/white granite, we absolutely didn't want anything dark. When we saw how many of the taupe slabs took on a pinkish "glow" in the large slabs and when we saw all the depth of color in this piece, we completely changed our minds. I'm so glad we went to a specialty granite and marble place rather than a "big box" store.
Some people want to have a perfect kitchen. Every inch has a vignette that matches beautifully. I like for mine to look nice, but I also use my kitchen. So, for accessories I choose things that I love. I wanted to use lots of whites, but also some 'beachy" things and a few favorite pieces. Above you see my grandmother's cookie jar, canisters with starfish my husband bought me, favorite cookbooks, a vintage Hall Pottery teapot that I've had for decades and a new TJ Maxx white tray ready for serving coffee.
A Corian cutting board, my grandmother's crock bowl, a pottery trivet from a vacation, my crafted pineapple and favorite basket are on the other side of the stove.
The frig...love it!
Simple brushed nickel pulls to match all the stainless.
My dad gave me this cutting board and clock for Christmas...it reminds me of my "other home" in Florida where he is and where my daughter is. The paper towel holder isn't very classy, but at least it is stainless and matches everything else!
If I had selected the cabinets (we kept the ones that came with the house and simply added a fresh coat of varnish) I wouldn't have added these shelves. But, since they here, I filled them with new and old white pitchers. The top is the antique pitcher my mom gave me years ago, next is a teapot I've had for many years, the smaller pitcher was from TJ Maxx a few months ago and the bottom pitcher was part of my CSN purchase that I won from bj @ sweet nothings.
A simple white bowl (TJ Maxx clearance-$7.50) full of lemons sits on the counter. The tops of the cabinets have a few vintage pieces and some newer things with a beach theme. I like the mix of old and new.
I'm sure we will be "tweaking" things as we go along. We've about decided to put the bead board on the end of the counter even though we would be covering the wood that matches the cabinets. We think it might make for a more completed look. Any opinions?
I am very pleased with the way things turned out. It really did change the look of my kitchen entirely. I had nice cabinets and the kitchen had "good bones" but the countertop had been bothering me from the minute we moved in. It just wasn't me. Now, my kitchen fits.
I am joining several parties this week.
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