Kitchen Renovation!

We've been in our home for ten years. We love our house, but the kitchen has been in need of some updating. A couple of weekends ago, we decided to go to Home Depot to check out countertop options. We had always wanted to go with granite, but I was concerned about standing water, staining, and maintenance. For that reason, I thought quartz would be our best option. After speaking for quite a while with a kitchen design specialist, we ended up going with granite after all since it requires no maintenance and will not stain (something about a sealant in it-no technical mumbo jumbo here!). So, this is the granite we chose, Juparana Persa. I LOVE the gold, gray and beige tones throughout.



We decided to continue the granite all the way up the backsplash as well. I like the clean look and the easy cleaning surface of granite. We currently have tile and it's impossible to keep clean due to the texture. We gave Home Depot a rough measure of our counters, backsplash, and island and they entered everything into the system. We paid for the rough measure, and as soon as we're ready the granite company will come and do a digital template and then install. We had some work to do first, though. We had to tear down the current backsplash and have it drywalled. We also had to take down the microwave for a new range hood.

Here is the before of the stove area:

Under the open shelving and the corner by the sink:

Maya decided to help Daddy:

And after taking the microwave down and tearing down the backsplash:

Over the sink before:

After:

All of our appliances are fairly new and stainless, except our stove. We have an old Jenn Air dual fuel convection with a downdraft. Apparently, Jenn Air is the only brand with downdraft. Jenn Air used to get really good reviews, and we've never had a problem with ours, but it's old and is not working as well these days. So, Anand did his research and found that the new Jenn Air dual fuel convections are getting HORRIBLE reviews. So, we decided to install a range hood and purchase the range we really want... a GE Cafe Series Dual Fuel Convection:


So pretty! It has a griddle which I'm super excited about! She will be delivered on Monday. Tomorrow, the electrician is coming to install our new hood (Kobe):


And recessed lighting! Our house was built in the late seventies and apparently people didn't like light. We have no overhead lighting except the bathrooms and our bedroom. Needless to say, it is really dark. We've wanted to do recessed lighting throughout, but because we have a lot of exposed beams we don't have much space. Turns out we can have some recessed lighting in the kitchen. We're also having it installed in the entry, the girls' play room, and the living room. YAY for lighting! I told Anand we'll probably have to wear sunglasses for a while :)

This is our new undermount sink (Kraus):




And I think the thing I'm most excited about is this baby (Kohler):



Our current faucet is so old and has plastic knobs. I won't be sad to see that baby go!

We replaced the cabinet hardware with these:



Now, onto the fun part-DECORATING! I had a really hard time deciding on a paint color. Anand wanted gray, but I wasn't sure. We have a lot of wood and beige throughout the house and I thought gray would look off. We went to Home Depot again and got some help with a kitchen designer. She asked me questions-cabinet finish, flooring, etc and said she would be back with a palette. Guess what color I fell in love with? GRAY! I couldn't believe it, but the light gray really pulled the gray from the granite and it will also pull from the gray stone in our living room. I absolutely LOVE it! We went with Martha Stewart Bedford Gray (color matched in Behr Premium Plus):



I couldn't wait to get started on painting the kitchen!

This is before:

Sage taped the entire kitchen while I cleaned the walls and above the cabinets:

Here is a little preview pic of the new color:

It really softens the room and feels calm & relaxing. I love it!

Next it was time to find window treatments. I have never in my life purchased window treatments, so I now officially feel like a grown-up! We have french doors with huge windows on either side, so the total width is 206 inches. I looked all over to find a rod, but there aren't any that long. So, we decided to break it down into three parts. These are the rods I got (Threshold at Target):



These are the insulating drapes (Bed Bath & Beyond):



The drapes match the paint color and I love them! I really love that I can close them in the summer when the sun is shining directly into the kitchen and heating it up!

I picked up this table runner at Target because we decided to use yellow as an accent color and this runner has all the colors in it:

I picked up some daffodils yesterday to put on the table. They make me happy!

I found these napkins at Target:



I went into TJ Maxx on a whim to see if they had any Le Creuset in yellow or any other pretty accessories. I about died when I saw these gorgeous bar stools:

They totally reminded me of my beloved Restoration Hardware and they matched the wall paint. I texted a pic to Anand to see what he thought. They were $129 each. I looked online and found these ones for $448 each at Ballard Designs:


SOLD! The manager told me they had four of them, but we only needed two. Or so I thought. When I got them home, Anand called me and told me to get the other two. I debated with him for a bit because I wasn't sure. Well, when I went back to the store, the manager came out and told me they had been marked down to $99 each and he would give me a refund on the previous two, so we ended up saving even more. DEAL! I love them! They are really comfortable and look so pretty in the kitchen. We are going to start buying a piece of Le Creuset in Soleil here and there:




Our floors are wide plank pine hardwoods like this:



We're having them refinished once everything else is done.

So, that is where we're at with the kitchen renovation. I'll post more as it progresses!

To see some of our other projects, check out these posts on my old blog:

Dishwasher

Outdoor furniture for our new deck

Having a Deck Built

New Outdoor Lighting

Closet Organization

Decorating our Bedroom

Organizing the Pantry

Installing a Microwave (that we just tore down!)