Bath Design for Small bathroom

Kitchen Reveal

It seems like half a lifetime ago when I first mentioned working on the kitchen. The bulk of the work was done in a couple of weeks, but we took our time finding the right hardware and breadboards and you know, the important things.

Waaay back in the day of 2003-2009ish, our kitchen looked like this above. It felt cluttered and chaotic, and so the great removal of doors began.

We ended up liking the “open shelving” a lot. It helped keep our cabinets more organized, and we left it this way for the next 5 years. There was certainly nothing wrong. It was a good kitchen and the layout worked well for us. There were, however, some issues. Our formica countertops were bubbling up and peeling, some even cracking along the edges from run-ins with the kids’ heads (yikes). Some of the countertops even pulled away from the wall repeatedly.

Matt had replaced almost every cabinet hinge in the kitchen once, twice, some even three times. We began to save for some solid surface counters about a year ago, and as we got planning, we were told repeatedly, “If you’re putting in solid counters, make sure your cabinets are exactly how you want them.” It occurred to us (DUH) we wouldn’t ever want to rip out the cabinets from under the new marble/granite/etc.

So, we took the plunge and did the whole shebang…

This was a makeover we saved for so it could be hired out. We could have done some of the work ourselves, but we wanted the kitchen to be professionally “installed” for lack of a better word, and finished correctly. I’m so happy we did…ole Matt and I could have drug it out for a solid year.

And the after…

All-white kitchens are my favorite. I know the look is not for everyone, but for me, it’s perfection. Changing our look is pretty simple with a white backdrop, which is one of the things I do love about a coat of white paint. I’ll share mostly photos of the reveal today, and be back with a sources post this week.

We lowered the bar, and made it all counter height, swapped out the formica for marble countertops, gutted the cabinets and raised the new ones up to the ceiling, and made other minor changes. All these things made aesthetic sense, but also work better for us.

And if any space in the home should work, it should most certainly be the kitchen.

The reclaimed shelving is one of the warm, rustic touches in the space and I feel like it helps ground the room, and stands nicely off the glossy subway tile.

There are warm wooden touches in several spots…

We replaced the laundry room door with an antique, and added some sandblasted glass to the panels. I’m considering adding some lettering to the top portion, but I wanted to live with a while to see.

The full frame glass panels break up all the white, and again, help me keep our essentials to a minimum, and help the cabinets remain clutter-free (sort of).

By taking the the cabinets up to the ceiling, we were able to double our space, and if we keep our counters clear (which obviously doesn’t happen all the time), everything fits inside. See: choir of angels singing.

The cabinet to the left of the fridge was built “hutch-style” to serve as a second pantry and houses all of the coffee and tea, plus lots of storage for serving pieces and spices.

We switched up the hardware there to a rubbed brass so the hutch could stand on its own a bit.

That door. I’m obsessed with that brass mail slot. We’re still looking for the perfect something to put above the door, but I just haven’t run across it yet. It’s worth waiting for the perfect accent.

The counters are Bianca Gioia marble. I love their dark gray veining, and stark white surface. Of all the slabs we looked at, these had the most striking contrast.

A lot of Carrera slabs looked grey in general, and I wanted white with grey counters–these were perfect. Without going into all the detail, here are a few more pretty pics of the space…