Before & After: Kitchen Renovation

Our home renovation has come a long way. I don’t think I’ll ever feel as though it’s finished because of what I like to call “Golden Platter Syndrome” AKA the fear of serving something up on anything less than a golden platter (also known by its street name “Perfectionism“).

In my own mind and for my own sanity, these photos have no finality to them. Our home is by no means finished, and while we’re almooosstttt there, I would much rather we all think of this like a movie scene where you’re abandoned at sea, drifting along in the ocean clinging to a half-deflated inner tube, getting hella sunburned, and then, all of a sudden, you see shore in the distance. That’s where we’re at — we see the shore, but we’re not there yet. (Sorry to leave you all with such a cliffhanger.)

We’re going to do these Before and After shots as a series because otherwise this post would be hella long. In these, we’ll let you know that status of the room, if it’s finished and if it’s not — what we want to change about it.

The first thing we’ll start with also happens to be our favorite: our kitchen renovation.

 

KITCHEN RENOVATION

status: finished

 

BEFORE:

 

AFTER:

BEFORE:

 

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

MORE AFTERS:

What we changed:

Pretty much everything. The kitchen renovation was the one thing I really thought would be a small project, but when we realized the extent of the damage (from the friendly pests we talked about here), we gutted it and started anew. Choosing the design was incredibly difficult because I eventually came to the realization that 1,000 kitchen renovation pins on Pinterest wasn’t going to do me much good due to the fact that I only had one kitchen and I needed to commit to one style.

Here’s a nice & neat list of everything that was done. Doing the following things was not at all nice & neat:

• Shortened the shared hallway + kitchen wall to achieve open concept
• Removed and replaced tile flooring, cabinetry, countertops, hardware, drywall, insulation, appliances
• Added large-format subway tile to wall
• Added recessed lighting, light above kitchen sink, pendant lights over bar
• Built & installed mahogany kitchen shelves and waterfall edge bar
• Added additional electrical outlets

Finishes:

• European oak wood floors
• Large subway tile
• Brazilian marble
• African mahogany bar and open shelving
• IKEA black cabinetry
• Mixed metals of brass, copper, and GE slate grey appliances throughout

I’m now realizing how much I could write about our kitchen alone, so I will go ahead and cut it off there. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below!