Before Picture
I know I know, there are so many blog posts out there about kitchen updates, farmhouse kitchen updates and everything under the sun about budget renos. But I still wanted to share mine! This was a project that just like my master, was something the hubby and I talked about doing for years. Frankly, I wanted new countertops. I have acquired granite countertops that I would not in a million years select for myself. But I was always met with the response "why are we tossing a one of a kind countertop out the window so you can get butcher block?!" (Insert eye roll)....
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Ok so I wanted either butcher block or just plain white quartz to have my all white kitchen that resembled all the gorgeous kitchens I stared at in magazines! The kitchen is where we all spend a majority of our time-especially while entertaining (why does everyone always hang out in the kitchen?!), so why not make it the kitchen you want? I hope my mother doesn't read this because she's been begging for new cabinets and floors in her kitchen for years and I keep "advising" her on what she can do to bring it to her liking without having to jackhammer the tile out of half her downstairs- ok Im getting off topic here!
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So as you can see in my before picture above, I had my white cabinets but something always seemed "off". I would just quickly blame the counters-they have an orange tint to it that drove me crazy! But when really looking at the bigger picture, the counters were not the problem. Since we didn't have the $6000 laying around for new ones we came up with another plan. Oh I also wanted to take a hammer to the wall behind the stove to open the space up BUT that whole holds our septic pipes SO that plan was quickly scratched.
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We were at the point where we barely used the microwave and I was finding that every time I turned it on I would get an insta-headache (true fact!). So we said, why not? Let's take it out and remove the shelf and add a ventless hood
We also tore off the hideous wainscoting and put up brick tile that we had left over from a previous project. We painted it the same color as the cabinets only in high gloss so its super easy to clean! It completely opened that space up and modernized the kitchen.
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On the other side of the kitchen by the refrigerator there were two more cabinets over our "coffee bar." This we went back and forth on if we should tear them down and put shelves up.
It was holding all our coffee and wine supplies BUT we decided to just go for it! If you don't try you will never know right?!
Talk about opening an area up! We made the shelves out of pine wood and plumbing pipes, well, I can't say WE when the hubby actually made them HAHA- but I did stain and supervise! Again, we added the backsplash of the brick tile to add more character to this area. The gooseneck barn light we purchased on Wayfair!
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At the end we also selected a different wall color (BM Pale Oak) since the first one was just too green....eeek!
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If you look closer to the before picture above the trim around the window was small and not exactly what comes to mind when you think "farmhouse". Off that trim and the sliding door trim came and up more pine wood went! Last but not least we replaced the hardware. I tried with the large black hinges and square knobs but as you can see it just overtook the cabinets. The knobs we found at good 'ol Lowes and the bin pulls I scored from Beautiful Life Market.
Yes, the tag is still on the rug here :) I decided to keep the rug!
The awesome pendant over the sink was found on Amazon! Who would've thought?! The chandelier over our kitchen table is from Ballard and that added the perfect carriage house touch!
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To top it all off we sold our barstools and purchased under the counter ones from Overstock (here are similar ones). Having the counter stools makes the kitchen feel less broken up as it did when the high back ones were there.
I couldn't be happier with how this came out. Yes, I didn't get my butcher block counters but I hear they are high maintenance and since I can't keep real plants alive I'd hate to see how butcher block would end up in my house. Plus, I like being able to pull the hottest dish out of the stove, (usually something burning with my awesome cooking skills) and throwing it right on top of my orange granite counter tops, that with all these little changes, do not seem orange at all.
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With the right color selections I am a firm believer you can make even the ugliest purple countertop work-well, actually if you have a purple countertop I would highly suggest replacing that immediately!
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Until next time friends,
Maria
*You can follow along my journey and see more behind the scenes of my work and home on IG!
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