2 months after the fire, my new kitchen was completed! Below are some photos of what the kitchen looked like when we moved in (before the fire), and then obviously, there are the after remodel pics. (there is weird spacing things going on and I'm not sure how to fix it, sorry!)
BEFORE:
Before was much more traditional, with the warm red walls, giallo granite tiled countertops, and yellowy limestone backsplash. I liked the kitchen...it was definitely a nice kitchen to move right into and not have to worry about immediately having to do anything to. There are definitely worse, so I never complained about how it looked. (sorry for the blurriness, they were phone quality pics) The style was a traditional style and it was very nice!
AFTER:
As I was contemplating remodeling a kitchen, I figured this would probably be the one time in my life I would have this opportunity. So I embraced it with open arms and decided to peruse pinterest to get an idea of what I LOVED and what I wanted. Having previously had a very traditional style to the kitchen, I decided to look in more inline with a contemporary look. I kept being drawn to the bright kitchens, the ones with whites and light colors. I figured that it's because I love bright natural light so much and so I began to run with those ideas and what I naturally liked. Looking at granite, I was drawn to one called Kashmir White. It was my first choice for a long time. Then I started to see in pictures a dark counter top, most of the time, black, and I loved how that looked against the white and in addition, felt like it was a little less traditional than the Kashmir White and took on a more contemporary feel. Over time, my mind changed to Absolute Black for the counter. I love it and am so glad I decided to go that route. If I would've gone Kashmir White, I would've had a Mr. Clean kitchen! Except it would Never live up to the word clean cause you'd be able to see every speck of dirt! SO GLAD I went with black.
For the backsplash, I knew I wanted subway tile. I had the choice between a 'bone' off white color and the bright white. The bone was identical to the color of my cabinets. I feared it would match too much. So I chose bright white, and I think there is a subtle yet nice contrast between the too whites. Another decision that one doesn't normally "realize" they need to think about was the grout color. I kinda liked the idea of a dark grout to highlight the dark counter top. As you can see, even with all the white, the dark is definitely not too much and there is still a lot of "light" in my kitchen. Many many people discouraged me from going dark, but they were usually the people with more traditional tastes. Which, is fine - it's different opinions, but since I was going for a contemporary look, I knew a dark grout wouldn't be 'terrible', especially since I was choosing the smallest grout joints you could have between tiles. This made for them to take on a look of being "outlined" like you would see on a drawing or something. I am completely happy with my choice and think it turned out great!
The floor I was torn over because if there was one thing I absolutely LOVED about my kitchen before, it was the travertine tiles placed on the diagonal. It was gorgeous before. The flooring guy really educated me on the types of materials and discouraged me from using travertine on the floor due to it's high maintence qualities (having to be sealed at least 1-2x year since it's so porous and with little little kids...not such a great idea). He showed me some spectacular options for flooring and I kind of wanted to keep it simple. Tile is the most durable of all flooring materials, and since we would get a little money back on this department, I decided to go with a light gray huge 20 inch square tile and it was placed in a brick pattern. We had enough credit from the tile, that we were even able to replace the laundry room flooring with the same tile (and believe me, it probably needed it the most!). Although, it isn't my favorite part of the kitchen, it turned out really nice!
The carpet in the back half of our house was also replaced from a Berber to a Frisee style carpet. I just love our soft new, CLEAN, carpet!
The paint color in the kitchen is called Glidden Polished Limestone, a soft dove gray green. Other parts of our kitchen: I also love the little breakfast bar that I had before, but I'm just loving the girls sitting there to eat. It's great! The recessed lighting on the ceiling adds a lovely architectural detail to the kitchen, that I just love. I matched all my appliances to my Fridgidaire dishwasher, so they all have the same cohesive look (all except the fridge, which was kept the same). My oven is a double CONVECTION oven, which I ABSOLUTELY LOVE! I made cookies yesterday for VBS and they turned out AMAZING. THe evenness in which the convection cooks is wonderful and I've already been able to tell a difference. I highly recommend it if you are ever in the market for a new oven.
I Love my new kitchen and how the entire thing came together! Although it was a huge hassle dealing with insurance, now that I'm on the other side, I can say it was worth it! And I think I did a pretty good job as designer if I do say so myself! ;) Hope you've enjoyed!
AFTER:
As I was contemplating remodeling a kitchen, I figured this would probably be the one time in my life I would have this opportunity. So I embraced it with open arms and decided to peruse pinterest to get an idea of what I LOVED and what I wanted. Having previously had a very traditional style to the kitchen, I decided to look in more inline with a contemporary look. I kept being drawn to the bright kitchens, the ones with whites and light colors. I figured that it's because I love bright natural light so much and so I began to run with those ideas and what I naturally liked. Looking at granite, I was drawn to one called Kashmir White. It was my first choice for a long time. Then I started to see in pictures a dark counter top, most of the time, black, and I loved how that looked against the white and in addition, felt like it was a little less traditional than the Kashmir White and took on a more contemporary feel. Over time, my mind changed to Absolute Black for the counter. I love it and am so glad I decided to go that route. If I would've gone Kashmir White, I would've had a Mr. Clean kitchen! Except it would Never live up to the word clean cause you'd be able to see every speck of dirt! SO GLAD I went with black.
For the backsplash, I knew I wanted subway tile. I had the choice between a 'bone' off white color and the bright white. The bone was identical to the color of my cabinets. I feared it would match too much. So I chose bright white, and I think there is a subtle yet nice contrast between the too whites. Another decision that one doesn't normally "realize" they need to think about was the grout color. I kinda liked the idea of a dark grout to highlight the dark counter top. As you can see, even with all the white, the dark is definitely not too much and there is still a lot of "light" in my kitchen. Many many people discouraged me from going dark, but they were usually the people with more traditional tastes. Which, is fine - it's different opinions, but since I was going for a contemporary look, I knew a dark grout wouldn't be 'terrible', especially since I was choosing the smallest grout joints you could have between tiles. This made for them to take on a look of being "outlined" like you would see on a drawing or something. I am completely happy with my choice and think it turned out great!
The floor I was torn over because if there was one thing I absolutely LOVED about my kitchen before, it was the travertine tiles placed on the diagonal. It was gorgeous before. The flooring guy really educated me on the types of materials and discouraged me from using travertine on the floor due to it's high maintence qualities (having to be sealed at least 1-2x year since it's so porous and with little little kids...not such a great idea). He showed me some spectacular options for flooring and I kind of wanted to keep it simple. Tile is the most durable of all flooring materials, and since we would get a little money back on this department, I decided to go with a light gray huge 20 inch square tile and it was placed in a brick pattern. We had enough credit from the tile, that we were even able to replace the laundry room flooring with the same tile (and believe me, it probably needed it the most!). Although, it isn't my favorite part of the kitchen, it turned out really nice!
The carpet in the back half of our house was also replaced from a Berber to a Frisee style carpet. I just love our soft new, CLEAN, carpet!
The paint color in the kitchen is called Glidden Polished Limestone, a soft dove gray green. Other parts of our kitchen: I also love the little breakfast bar that I had before, but I'm just loving the girls sitting there to eat. It's great! The recessed lighting on the ceiling adds a lovely architectural detail to the kitchen, that I just love. I matched all my appliances to my Fridgidaire dishwasher, so they all have the same cohesive look (all except the fridge, which was kept the same). My oven is a double CONVECTION oven, which I ABSOLUTELY LOVE! I made cookies yesterday for VBS and they turned out AMAZING. THe evenness in which the convection cooks is wonderful and I've already been able to tell a difference. I highly recommend it if you are ever in the market for a new oven.
I Love my new kitchen and how the entire thing came together! Although it was a huge hassle dealing with insurance, now that I'm on the other side, I can say it was worth it! And I think I did a pretty good job as designer if I do say so myself! ;) Hope you've enjoyed!
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