It might go down as our most gradual kitchen renovation ever, however nearly precisely two years into residing right here (we hit that milestone final Saturday!), our kitchen is formally DONE! New cupboards? Examine. Tiled backsplash to the ceiling? Yup. Quartz counter tops and a sink that’s 3X deeper than the overmount sink of yore? Affirmative.
New hidden vary hood? You betcha. Extra practical storage within the type of extra drawers, new higher cupboards, and a generously sized pantry cupboard? Yessir. Tons of earlier than & after photographs? That’s what this put up is for! Plus we’ve acquired a full funds breakdown for you. So within the illustrious phrases of Tiesto, let’s get all the way down to enterprise.
To us (and possibly to you as effectively) this has felt like a really gradual transformation as a result of we simply form of tweaked and adjusted issues during the last two years in lots of small phases, slightly than going via one mega-gut-renovation like our final home’s kitchen. And the excellent news is that regardless of how slowly you peel the potato (is {that a} saying? If not, let’s make it one), the change nonetheless feels fairly dramatic once we look again on the day we purchased it.
Not solely is it a aid that it’s lastly full, we’re additionally so grateful for a way practical it has turned out to be. I’d be mendacity if I didn’t say we weren’t a bit of skeptical of this house once we first laid eyes on it (okay, I used to be skeptical – Sherry’s a kind of perenially optimistic individuals who really believed on this room).
So think about my elation that it has turned out to be one of the vital environment friendly and easy-to-cook-in kitchens that we’ve ever had. After coming off of such a big kitchen in our final home, that was the most important shock. The work triangle in right here is so direct and simple, it takes fewer steps to seize issues and assemble meals (whether or not it’s a fast lunch or a deep and concerned dinner). And we even have a bigger pantry cupboard than we did in our huge Richmond kitchen!
I’ve mentioned it earlier than and I’ll say it once more: one big professional to renovating an area in numerous phases over a time period is that you just actually get to reside with issues, establish points, and take a look at out options earlier than touchdown on the ultimate design. In order that positively helped us in right here.
Talking of which, this video not solely captures the completed kitchen because it seems to be proper now, it begins with a flashback to what it appeared like once we first laid eyes on it. In some ways it fills in additional blanks than all the remainder of this put up as a result of a video is definitely price 1,000 photos. So in the event you do nothing else, ensure you watch this video:
Word: You too can watch this video on YouTube.
The Evolution Of Our Kitchen
Once more, that is the kitchen we laid eyes on once we purchased the home (it’s one in all many “befores” that we documented on this put up). Between the soffit that ran throughout two partitions of the room, the popcorn ceiling, and the mismatched home equipment – there was so much that we hoped to improve. And let’s not overlook the boob gentle shining brightly on the ceiling.
As a part of our pre-move-in renovations, our contractor made some huge enhancements whereas we had been nonetheless in Richmond – eradicating the soffit & uppers, taking out the peninsula, patching the flooring, and re-drywalling (we needed to redo all the first ground’s drywall and patch the flooring all through as a result of moisture points) in addition to including some can lights. However a lot to their shock, we left a lot of the kitchen intact.
By the point we moved in, that is how we first lived with the house. Thoughts you, this was Could of 2020 once we had been nonetheless just about cooking and consuming each meal at dwelling, so it was a little bit of an adjustment. However it labored!
These first few weeks gave us confidence that we may reside with this kitchen “as is” for some time, which gave us permission to make enhancements slowly – and that’s largely what you noticed us do during the last two years. We hung cabinets. We put in a pendant gentle that we swagged over the desk. We painted the cupboards mauve to match the laminate counters.
Then, a few 12 months in the past, we had a clearer imaginative and prescient of what we wished from the completed house. We moved the fridge and constructed a big pantry cupboard round it for further storage. We acquired a bigger desk that seats extra individuals. We added a door the place a window had been (which leads out to our grill & s’mores pit). We hung extra cabinets. Sherry minimize the pendant gentle in half. , the standard tweaks.
After which lastly this spring, we changed the unique cupboards with better-functioning Ikea cupboards (and painted them the identical mauve coloration), acquired new counters, and – as you’re seeing for the primary time on this put up – added higher cupboards and tiled the backsplash! We additionally hung a new woven pendant gentle as a semi-flush-mount, slightly than swagging it over the desk like we used to do, which feels ethereal and easy. And the substantial brass faucet under it feels balanced and ties into the brass {hardware}.
From the delicate backsplash (Sherry describes it as: “a pearly-blue coloration that feels good for the seaside – like the within of an oyster shell”) to the basic marble-like quartz counters and the mauve coloration that we introduced over to the brand new cupboards (which has at all times been on this room and feels meant to remain) – we actually like the place we ended up. The cupboard coloration is Artsy Pink by Sherwin Williams by the way in which.
So let’s discuss these new additions for a second…
Our New Tile Backsplash
This backsplash is definitely what kicked off this final part of the renovation. It was a kind of “In the event you give a mouse a cookie” situations. We wished so as to add a backsplash, however we knew it solely made sense to do AFTER we changed the counter. And it solely made sense to interchange the counter AFTER we changed the cupboards. These had been issues we meant to do finally, however the want for a backsplash is what made us lastly pull the ripcord and go in any case three. Additionally, our previous sink was so shallow you may see a small cup protruding excessive edge. In order that state of affairs has tremendously improved. Now we are able to cover all of the soiled dishes. Lengthy reside the deep sink!
However again to the backsplash. Our preliminary objective was so as to add some texture and shine, however not a ton of daring sample or coloration like we’ve finished earlier than. We simply wished it to really feel gentle, relaxed, and beachy – and because it shares house with a sitting space and might be seen from the entrance door, we didn’t need something too busy or daring that we’d tire of over time. We shortly zeroed in on this inexpensive 4×4″ zellige-style tile within the “Sky” colorway. It’s extraordinarily laborious to seize in photographs, nevertheless it’s really a really smooth blue-gray tone with a lot of sheen.
The entire wall solely value us about $325 to do and we knocked it out in about 2.5 days, together with grout. I gained’t bore you with the step-by-step particulars, since we’ve talked extensively about tiling earlier than (right here’s our backsplash tutorial, together with a video!) nevertheless it got here collectively fairly shortly and instantly gave us that shine and delicate texture we had been hoping for. It truly is like the within of an oyster shell.
The one factor about tiling a kitchen backsplash that I’ll reiterate is the purpose I illustrate on this put up about LAYOUT PLANNING. Please, please, pleeeeease take time to plan your tile format earlier than you start. You’ll most likely need to decrease the necessity for small slivers of tile round any edges (just like the ceiling or in opposition to the cupboards) so measure and/or dry suit your tiles to see how issues look first. You possibly can at all times make changes – like chopping your backside row barely or shifting your centerline to be on a grout line, slightly than the middle of a tile (or vice versa).
It really took us just a few tries of dry becoming (no mastic, we simply leaned issues up in opposition to the wall to visualise just a few choices) to verify we selected a format that appeared even & symmetrical across the window AND in opposition to the aspect partitions, particularly because the window isn’t centered on that again wall.
My solely different tip for putting in zellige or zellige-inspired tiles is to kind them forward of time, paying shut consideration to the completely different sheens and/or “instructions” of the tile. A few of ours had been extra matte than others. Some had vertical or horizontal motion, others had a extra round feeling of their distinctive handmade-looking shapes (these don’t have actual sq. edges and the fronts differ of their peaks and valleys and shapes too). You possibly can form of see what I imply right here:
So to attain a pleasant randomized look, we really needed to be fairly deliberate about putting differing tiles subsequent to 1 one other, typically rotating them if two with vertical motion had been about to be subsequent to one another.
You too can see under that we painted that window trim the identical tone because the tiles. It was feeling weirdly brilliant and white whereas every thing else was deliberately tonal on that again wall, so it felt so significantly better as quickly as we painted it to recede with the tile. We purposely picked a extra gray-toned quartz counter to go together with the blue-gray backsplash tile and our softly toned cupboards, as a result of we had been hoping for a smooth layered impact and the result’s so calming and delicate in actual life. Be sure you watch the video for a greater view of it – no image can actually seize it as effectively.
The Higher Cupboards & Hidden Hood
You too can see that we made the leap from open cabinets to closed higher cupboards on this final part of the renovation. It was one thing we went forwards and backwards on, however finally had been swayed by two issues:
- Including extra hidden storage, which feels much less busy (we have now open cabinets by the desk, so two partitions of it was so much)
- Gaining a hidden vary hood (a hood wasn’t required by code, however we at all times hoped to finally add one)
Plus, we additionally assume in the long run that the kitchen feels greater and taller in particular person thanks to those higher cupboards that go all the way in which to the ceiling. Two completely different pals have come over and been like “how bizarre is it that including these huge cupboards really makes the again wall really feel additional again and better?!”
We’ll share extra about what’s IN all of those cupboards and the way they’re organized in a future put up, however I did need to present you the hidden vary hood cupboard over the range (though it’s arguably the least organized in the entire room).
It is a trick you might keep in mind from our duplex kitchens, nevertheless it’s simply the Ikea OMSINNAD vary hood which is designed to suit inside an higher cupboard. It’s not the most affordable vary hood on the planet, however we had been decided to maintain that again wall trying as symmetrical & balanced as attainable, so hiding the hood inside this cupboard was the right answer.
After not having a spread hood for nearly years, we’ve actually appreciated proudly owning one once more (they assist enhance indoor air high quality, minimize down on airborne grease, and – bonus! – principally gave us underneath cupboard lighting on one aspect of the kitchen). Hashtag fancypants.
Additionally a deep stainless single bowl sink is endlessly our favourite alternative for a kitchen (we’ve had a double bowl and even a white forged iron sink, however that is simply ALWAYS our favourite). In order that, together with a pull-down faucet that may be managed with one hand is the jackpot for us (the entire managed by one hand with one single toggle bar = why we’ve by no means gone for a bridge faucet).
It has been so nice having the hood and higher cupboards that it makes us really feel foolish that we ever debated them within the first place. They helped this turn into, as I mentioned firstly, one of the vital environment friendly and easy-to-cook in kitchens that we’ve ever had…
… most likely solely rivaled by our first home’s kitchen, which had a equally hardworking work triangle, however a lot much less pantry storage than we have now right here.
So…. winner winner rooster dinner. That rating positively has so much to do with this kitchen’s compact dimension and the truth that every thing isn’t quite a lot of steps away. And let’s not overlook how way more practical and enjoyable this complete house turned with the addition of this door that leads out to our new kitchen porch, full with a grill that’s not more than 5 steps away.
It is a earlier than of the exact same angle. Fairly unbelievable, proper? Discover how a lot taller the ceiling feels simply by eradicating the soffit to permit for taller cupboards and elongating that window right into a door.
By no means earlier than have we had an outside grill this shut and simply accessible from the kitchen. It truly is only a few steps away, which makes it ridiculously environment friendly and is certainly one of many causes that we grill out a lot extra now. We even have an outside cupboard on order that can principally elongate our present kitchen counter and basically join it to the grill exterior. So our grill instruments might be saved on the market and we’ll acquire extra out of doors counter house.
Due to our new kitchen porch, we even have the selection of sitting exterior to eat, and what can I say… we like choices. If pals come over, the youngsters may find yourself inside on the desk whereas we’re out right here (or vice versa). Plus we have now a giant desk on the higher deck that seats 8 extra if we have now an even bigger gathering or need to head up there for a recreation event after dinner!
We even have a door on the opposite aspect of the kitchen that mirrors the door that leads out to the deck, which is a utility closet that runs underneath the steps. We lately redid all of it to achieve a LOT extra practical storage in there, so we are able to’t wait to point out you ways that closet has advanced. It homes our HVAC system, and likewise had our water heater, so it used to principally be blocked up and filled with simply that stuff…
… however we made the swap to a tankless water heater, so now there’s SO MUCH BONUS SPACE on this closet! It’ll by no means be a real pantry or something because the HVAC system has to remain in there – however we added some helpful storage and even a worktop floor – plus it’s the place we hold our vacuum and broom and all that stuff. We’ll {photograph} and share all that we did in there in a future put up.
Talking of additional features, one other factor that makes this one in all our favourite kitchens is the truth that this house just isn’t JUST a kitchen. It additionally has a lounging/entertaining/hanging out space proper close by.
And in comparison with this image taken throughout the preliminary renovation, the view has improved fairly a bit.
The Kitchen Sitting Space
About half of this room is the kitchen zone, and the opposite half is a sitting space that’s SO USEFUL to us. All of us spend hours in right here day by day, and after two years of getting it, we are able to’t think about this home with out it.
It’s an space that we positively didn’t anticipate utilizing or having fun with as a lot as we do – we simply thought we’d attempt it out and see if we used it, and if not we’d put the eating desk right here and add an island to the kitchen or one thing. However boy will we use it.
That is what it appeared like once we purchased the home and, as a part of our preliminary renovations, we closed off a part of that opening to create our bed room. Our guess is that the earlier house owners had a eating desk right here possibly?
Right here’s one other view of what it appeared like earlier than. That’s the previous kitchen peninsula within the foreground and that door is our entrance door. So possibly it was some eating room / lobby state of affairs for the earlier house owners?
For us it has turn into the right small sitting space downstairs – for studying or hanging out with pals who cease by whereas their youngsters run off to play exterior or upstairs. It’s additionally the place our children hang around whereas we’re making meals (within the morning earlier than faculty we’re all in there – and within the night round dinnertime too). Making this space work with two doorways form of in the midst of it took some strategic furnishings shopping for. Just like the cozy loveseat and our new spherical terrazzo espresso desk – nevertheless it got here collectively higher than we may’ve imagined.
In a smaller home there’s a sure luxurious to having a hangout space downstairs in addition to a comfy TV/film room upstairs (as soon as once more, we are able to have pals over and sit and chat right here whereas the youngsters are upstairs crafting or watching a film). It actually helps the home “reside giant” as a result of we don’t really feel like we’re all on high of one another.
Right here’s a shot with some individuals and a sure smiling canine for a greater sense of scale. I’d say this can be a fairly typical scene, though I’d most likely be enjoying Wordle and Sherry could be whispering candy nothings to Penny like she is under (maybe whereas additionally trying to beat me at Wordle and speaking smack like solely a girl from New Jersey can).
As a lot as we liked our previous storage espresso desk, we knew one thing spherical would give the room higher circulate. And slowly over time as we lived right here, we had been in a position so as to add extra built-in storage (like our bed room wardrobes, the cupboards flanking our hearth, the media cupboard upstairs – and much more lately optimized the utility closet within the kitchen) which meant that we had a lot of alternate spots for the gadgets that we used to retailer within the previous espresso desk. Sherry has liked this terrazzo desk from CB2 for a very long time, so it was a simple alternative as soon as we eradicated the necessity for a espresso desk with storage.
Although it’s fairly substantial trying because it’s product of stone, the sunshine coloration helps this aspect of the room really feel extra open and ethereal than it did with the opposite desk. Plus the terrazzo texture performs properly with the sturdy metallic rug we’ve had endlessly.
Talking of a room that works further laborious for us, we’d as effectively swing over to the opposite zone on this room… the laundry closet. Yup, behind these two doorways = a complete laundry station. I’m telling you, this room works so laborious for our household.
Little half peek:
Full monty:
Let’s flash again to a earlier than shot from the identical angle, only for enjoyable. it was once much less broad (only one door) and it inexplicably led into one of many bedrooms (which additionally had a standard door for entry, so we closed the again of the laundry closet off actual fast).
It feels actually good to have the kitchen feeling extra practical and streamlined together with a settled-feeling sitting space and a super-efficient laundry zone. We tried all kinds of insane format concepts for the sitting space earlier than touchdown on one thing that labored, btw, so don’t get discouraged if a difficult house feels prefer it’s evading you. Simply hold making an attempt new issues and rearranging stuff, and two years later you may simply be like… “that is IT!”
Earlier than I escape some math on you within the type of a funds breakdown ( I like a spreadsheet) let’s take one final take a look at the true star of this room, curled up in one in all her go-to spots. Penny appears to like this loveseat simply as a lot as her brother did.
The Kitchen Renovation Funds
This was one in all my more durable budgets to piece collectively as a result of it was unfold over so many months, however I did my finest to hit all the most important renovation parts you see within the completed kitchen (the pendant, new faucet, cupboards, counters, sink, disposal, tile, paint, home equipment, {hardware}, and so on). It’s strictly a kitchen reno/materials funds so I didn’t add the fruit bowl, toaster, desk, chairs, and so on – since that stuff isn’t connected to the precise home/reno and I felt like it will simply get insane to attempt to tabulate each bowl & plant pot.
I additionally didn’t embrace contractor prices from the preliminary home replace earlier than we moved in, as a result of we left the kitchen intact for essentially the most half (the previous cupboards/counters/sink remained) and I can’t escape *simply the kitchen costs* from our authentic renovation (line gadgets had been extra like: “entire home new drywall”, “entire home flooring patched”). So this funds is from the purpose of beginning with a room that has drywall and doesn’t have holes within the ground, which looks like a reasonably widespread beginning place.
We did all the different work ourselves (cupboard set up, portray the cupboards, tiling the backsplash, and so on) in order that’s why you don’t see any line gadgets for that. The counter professionals did set up the counters, however that’s included within the worth under:
*Our range, dishwasher, and fridge had been purchased second-hand for $500, which was the deal of our lives, due to Fb Market and our realtor (the equipment complete is $930 above as a result of it additionally contains the Ikea hood).
Word: Altering the kitchen window to a door was half of a bigger contractor worth for redoing our total kitchen porch. We’d guess it was about $1,270 for that a part of the job (round $900 for labor + $370 for the door), though the associated fee will possible differ based mostly in your state of affairs & the door you select.
And whereas we’re on the kitchen funds topic, you’ll be able to try how a lot the duplex kitchens value proper right here and see one other wonderful kitchen renovation that was finished on a funds that we featured some time in the past proper right here.
Okay. We did it. One large photo-filled put up about our completed kitchen with a lot of earlier than & after photographs, in addition to a video (really, the video provides you a lot of a greater feeling for the house than any sequence of photographs can, so watch that at any time when you’ll be able to).
Thanks for following alongside as we shared essentially the most gradual kitchen renovation we’ve ever finished. There have been a lot of small victories alongside the way in which, like lastly having a pantry or lastly getting a spread hood – and man it feels good to stay a fork in it (*insert dangerous dad-joke about forks belonging in kitchens right here*).
And in the event you’d wish to look again on all the opposite kitchens we’ve renovated through the years, we’ve acquired you lined:
That makes this kitchen our seventh one (!!!) and we wouldn’t thoughts if it was our final. Fortunate seven looks like a great place to cease. Though Sherry helped a neighbor replace her kitchen (whereas conserving her wood-toned cupboards!) so we hope to get that up on the weblog finally.
*This put up incorporates affiliate hyperlinks, so we might earn a small fee whenever you make a purchase order via hyperlinks on our web site at no extra value to you.
