Kitchen Makeover!

"Kitchens sell homes!" That's the motto anyways. But I think more than that, a kitchen is where we live, it's were come together at the end of a long day of work with a glass of wine or beer. Whit and I don't cook very often, yet we still find ourselves lounging and snacking in the kitchen (at least until the ice cream runs out). So we thought we would liven up the decor of the plain kitchen with glass tile back splash and some stainless steel appliances to make it more of an inviting space. Also, Pat contributed the wow factor for the kitchen with a custom bar, located perfectly for watching Whit cook ;)

The best story is when we thought we would go without a dishwasher. This lasted two days and one load of dishes before Whit set the cup down and we loaded into car bound for Fred's Appliances. It didn't takes us long to find one and we had it plumbed and installed the next day. You don't realize how much you miss something until it is gone.

As you will notice, the theme of the old kitchen is YELLOW! I think they had some left over from the exterior paint and decided "why not?" and then covered everything with it. The cabinets, floors, under cabinet lights and sink were included with the sale of the home...very excited about that.

So now that you saw the "before", here is the "after". We started by opening up the entrance to the kitchen to connect it to the other rooms and extend the open floorplan with hemlock trim around the opening. Then we continued by adding a glass tile/travertine back splash. Next we installed a dishwasher and added new appliances. Then we put in the two tiered bars with stools. Then we painted the yellow out of the kitchen with a smooth tan color. Lastly, we installed vinyl windows to finish off the space.

We weren't sure if it would be too much wood in the kitchen with the cabinets and the trim and the bar, but it works very well and it's functional. Luckily, we didn't have to gut the entire kitchen and start from the studs. So a few upgrades went a long ways.

If you are interested in the back splash, we were able to find it on sale at Home Depot and install it in less than a day with the "mud less" adhesive. It sticks to the walls and the tiles adhere to it. After it is applied, it is ready to grout. Another valuable lesson is to buy the grout sealant that evaporates from the tile so that you do not have to worry about it glazing the tile. (This tip can save you hours of work scrubbing tiles). The bar is made out of a glu-lam beam and for more details I will have to ask Pat. He is so talented. If you have any questions let me know. Hopefully I can give you some ideas and ultimately save you some time and money.

If you are interested in looking for a house this spring, let me know and I will start keeping an eye out for you.