Karli's Kitchen Makeover: Part Two

Here's part two of my kitchen update. I thought the last post showed a drastic change, but this one is a very close second. 

So we left off with white paint on the cabinets. It was already such a happier, brighter place to cook. I spend so much of my time in the kitchen, I really wanted to love this space (but not break the bank in the process.)


Just a reminder of where we left off after painting the cabinets.

At this point we didn't have a backsplash on the wall behind the stove--probably the place where I make the biggest mess (hello spaghetti sauce and cake batter splatter).

Painted cabinets, but we were still living with old counters and one missing next to the fridge--a result of my super measuring skills.

At this point, we hired a contractor for new countertops, backsplash and installation of a new sink and faucet. I knew I wanted a fairly neutral slab that would work with stainless appliances, white cabinets, gray walls and the future darker hardwood floors we'll have (these might be in the plan for 2013--fingers crossed). So off to the granite yard we went... 

Brent was holding up a white cabinet door and a darker clipboard to represent the future hardwood floors. We wanted to check out how the slabs looked with those components.


At this point I'd also decided I wanted to do a classic white subway tile backsplash. For many of the same reasons I chose white cabinets, we chose a crisp white backsplash and white grout. My goal was to bring light to the space!

At the same time, I ordered my dream sink and faucet. I HATE (cannot stress this enough) trying to wash large pans in a double sink. So my answer was one giant sink basin in classic white cast-iron. Nearly every day I say to Brent while washing dishes, "I will never regret spending the extra money on this sink. Look at me...I can run this entire cookie sheet under the water!"

After the counters had been templated, cut and were ready for installation, the crew came and took out the old, ugly stuff. I did a happy dance! 


Old counters GONE!

They made fast work of getting the countertops installed and putting my new sink in. That faucet is pretty awesome too. The spray nozzle can toggle on and off and just slides right out of the neck.

This makes me so happy!

The next day the tile guys showed up and started the subway tile backsplash. It was tedious work and they had to make several trips to the house: mortar dry time, grout and finally a seal on the whole thing. 
 

Woohoo! What a difference with the counters, backsplash and white sink too! At this point we still needed the grout/seal and electrical covers.

 

Just look at how much brighter it is. I love the way the light bounces off the subway tiles.


I think I may have forgotten to mention in this whole process--that ugly light over the former owner's dining table was one of the first things to go. Before we had our table there, I can't tell you how many people nearly ran into it.  

I'm working on a final post so you can see the real finished kitchen. (Maybe soon I can post more with the wood floors too).

~Karli