We’ve lived in our house for almost 15 years, which is crazy hard to believe! Partly because the time has flown by and partly because I don’t want to admit that I’m getting really damn old! When we moved in it was just Brian and I and we thought we would stay maybe 5 year, tops. We have since gone on to have 3 kids and every year we toss around moving but we always come to the same conclusion, we love our neighborhood and location so why move? Yes, we could use a little more space and a bigger yard but at the end of the day it really isn’t that big of deal to us, we love our home so we have decided to stay. Since we have decided to stay, we realized we needed to spruce the place up a bit and begin the remodel process… room by room. I’m not really sure what the best way is to remodel…Courtney and her family lived in their master bedroom for months with two dogs and two kids while they remodeled their entire house. We have gone the other route and instead of making our life inconvenient for only a couple of months, we have decided to continually have a project going over a span of years. I’m pretty sure that Courtney made the better decision!!
We started with the kids bathroom, gutted and remodeled everything. We then moved on to the flooring, removing our tile floor and replaced it with wood….from there it’s been non-stop projects. To tell you the truth, I actually have come to really enjoy the process. Of course I was most excited when it came time to renovate the kitchen, yay!!! If you’ve been following our activity on social media, you have seen the time-lapse videos we have posted of the demo and renovation. Like most remodel projects, the process from start to finish took a lot longer than expected. We knew that going in and just rolled with the setbacks, it’s just part of the process. Needless to say, it was worth the wait and we are thrilled with the results!
Prior to the remodel, our kitchen was dated with tile granite counters and an island wrapped in drywall. We knew we had to start over with the island because we wanted to create a more functional space with added storage. We decided to square out the corner of the island, add cabinets under the island overhang and increase the functionality. The existing back cabinets were great quality so instead of replacing all of the cabinets we keep the existing cabinets and had them refinished. We also kept our existing appliances as well, only replacing the sink and faucet.
It’s crazy how quickly demo takes and how long it takes to build everything back up! The island, back counters and backsplash were removed first. We were out of a kitchen sink for about a week, which really wasn’t a lot of fun with 3 kids and pets. We knew what we were in for so as much as it pained me to buy microwave meals, I had to jump in and do it. We also ate out a lot which our kids thought was pretty awesome!
We decided on a navy blue island…because I’m obsessed with all things navy and gold so I knew it had to be incorporated into the kitchen somewhere! I seriously contemplated navy everywhere but didn’t want a dark kitchen so we went with crisp white for the back cabinets. Simple white cone pendant lights with a touch of gold and a chrome bridge faucet and farm sink to complete the island. The counters were a tough decision for us, you would’ve thought I was picking out my wedding dress, actually I had a way easier time deciding on my wedding dress compared to the counters! We were convinced we were going to install quartz because of the durability, but we couldn’t find a slab large enough for the dimensions of our island. Two slabs would’ve shown a visible seam down the center of the island so we opted for marble. Definitely not the most durable or forgiving material but it sure is purdy!!
The backsplash was our major holdup, it took about 5 or 6 weeks longer than anticipated for it to arrive. It’s amazing how something as simple as backsplash can really complete the look of the space. Last week the backsplash was finally installed and the kitchen reno was completed!!
In addition to renovating the kitchen we also added a banquette. The idea behind adding the banquette was to make better use of the existing space and provide us with more storage with added cabinets. The kids love to pile on the long bench for meals or to just sit and hang out in the kitchen while I cook. We swapped out our wood table for a concrete topped table which I’ve had my eye on for a long time. We went back and forth about whether or not to add the banquette space and we are both so glad we did, it makes the entire area so much more inviting and cozy.
Lastly, since we were removing the old tile marble from the kitchen, our fireplace was adorned in the same material so it was time for a fireplace facelift as well. It’s true what they say about remodel projects, one project always turns into 10 more! We removed the hearth and the mantle as well as the pillared walls. We added a modern stacked stone with a reclaimed wood mantle. We painted the walls on both sides of the fireplace hale navy, the same color as the kitchen island. I was able to get my additional splash of navy in the room which made me extra happy! Finally we had the entire house painted a light gray to freshen things up a bit.
We have a few more remodel ideas and projects up our sleeve but in the meantime we will enjoy the construction free zone for a bit and our new cooking space. It was definitely worth the wait!!
