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Before And After: The Kitchen

October 13, 2014

By:

Erin Schrader

It’s finally time to present to you the first “official” before and after post for our new house [you can see the unofficial posts herehere, and here]. I have decided I am going to share one room at a time because 1) It’s more fun that way 2) My blog post would be longer than the great wall of China if I did the whole house at the same time and 3) Not all of the rooms are done yet. And by not all rooms I really mean only this one room [the kitchen] is officially “done”. And by “done” I mean “done enough”. These days done enough is more than satisfactory in my book. As you will see below, we’ve come a long way. I’ll try to reference every thing that I can, but if I forgot something, you have a question, or if you just want to send me a box of macaroni and cheese to cook in my new kitchen, feel free to do so. I’ll gladly answer [and receive] any questions or presents you may throw my way. Let us begin…. 
When we took possession of our 1960’s home, the kitchen left a lot to be desired. It was this really small, really strange space. For starters, you had this boxed in little area with cabinets hanging down from lovely soffits, a fake brick exterior, and then an extra wall of kitchen cabinets which was in what felt like the hallway. Basically it was a 2014 nightmare. 
I had absolutely no idea how we were going to maximize the space and make it feel like a normal, functional, beautiful kitchen. That’s when I called in the help of a local kitchen design company, The Design Studio. Thank God for those people. They came out, told us exactly what we need to knock out, what we should add in [helllllllo center island], and then drew up something spectacular for us. 
Within one day of owning the home we had the entire kitchen gutted, the wall knocked down that was separating the kitchen and dining area, and was left with an empty canvas waiting to be filled up with all sorts of goodness. 
This is when things started getting fun again. After a few tweaks at The Design Studio [I obviously added in the beverage fridge, wine cubbies, and liquor cabinet..priorities] we had a space that I knew was going to be perfect for us. And well, I kinda think it is. #hearteyes
And there she is….our brand new favorite kitchen. Time to break down all the details…
Lets start with the paint color — we went with Benjamin Moore Woodlawn Blue. Granted you don’t see much of it due to the back splash, it is the perfect airy and fresh color. Speaking of the back splash, I am obsessed with how it turned out. For all of you locals, we purchased it from Troyer Carpets [the style is Miles Bliss Glass/Stone, Iceland color] and I couldn’t be happier with it. 
succulents and salt/pepper shakers: target 
For the cabinetry I knew I wanted something slightly different. Not stained wood, not painted white, just something different. We decided on doing the perimeter cabinets in Homecrest Jordan style doors in the color Sand Dollar [which is similar to an off white or light grey depending on the light] with a smoke glaze. Again, we purchased these through The Design Studio
On the center island I wanted a slightly darker color so we went with Willow, which really just translates to grey. 
center island light: menards // bar stools: target
Here are two recommendations if you are either building a new home or remodeling — make sure you get the soft close cabinets and choose plenty of deep drawers in your design. Who knew that a drawer could bring so much pleasure to your life but it absolutely does. Junk, junk, and more junk! There is plenty of room for it all! 
As far as the hardware goes on all of the cabinets. graphite it is. I felt like between the stainless steel appliances and the bronze light fixtures, this was a nice compliment to both. 
Lets talk counters shall we? Again, I wanted two different counters [variety is the spice of life people] so that’s what we did. On the perimeter counters we went with a black honed granite. Basically that means it’s not all shiny like you typical granite but rather it’s matte and smooth as butter. Mama likes butter.
On the center island we decided on a white quartz with some gray marbling. I have never fallen more in love with a piece of stone. 
bowl and pumpkins: target 

As far as appliances go, we went with the Frigidaire Gallery line because guess who hates fingerprints all over things?

What’s next? Oh yes, floors. Again for you local folk, we purchased ours at Troyer Carpets and I couldn’t recommend them more. We went with the Montage birch distressed hardwood in the color coffee. Partially because I like coffee and partially because I like wood. 

Hands down one of my favorite things about our kitchen is the sink. I know, lame and boring thing to be so excited about but seriously. I insisted that we have a single bowl sink and it’s been somewhat revolutionary. For those of you who don’t hand wash your dishes, this is absolutely the way to go. It’s huge. Do you know how many dirty dishes can pile up in a huge sink? Exactly. Amazing. 

Another favorite in the kitchen is the whole liquor/coffee area. We like to stay well hydrated in the Schrader house and this area ensures we do just that. Moscow mule anyone? 

And that completes the kitchen tour. I hope you all enjoyed your visit and will come back again soon 😉 I’m off to go forget the fact that this blog post took more time to compose than this entire kitchen took to come together.

**It should be noted that all of the ceiling you see was installed by yours truly and my husband. 500 pine boards and 40 hours later, we are still married thankfully. It was touch and go there for a minute but we prevailed. There’s a whole lotta love in that wood. And cuss words. Definitely a lot of cuss words.**

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