Steve and I bought our house about 10 years ago, and though we were the first to live in it and everything was brand new....it was not completely my taste. However, it was all "current" for 2007, so we moved in and made it our own. Things about the house had to grow on me, but eventually it did, but now that 10 years have past I have outgrown things about it.
We are living in a time where it seems like "all of our friends" are building new homes. Of course this isn't true, but it has fired me up about wanting to update our house, and truly make it our own. Steve isn't particularly bothered by anything in the house, so it took some persuasion on my part, but he eventually agreed to let me remodel our kitchen.
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| Goodbye busy counters, brushed nickel faucet and heavy lights! |
Thankfully we liked the layout, and the appliances are all top notch, so there was no reason to change those out. It was really just a cosmetic upgrade: new counters, back splash, fixtures, hardware, sink, faucets, cabinet colors and bar stools. So we put together a budget, and I began shopping (the fun part)!
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| See ya plain hardware and back splash! |
Thanks to websites like Pinterest and Houzz, ideas are easy to find. I had some thoughts of what I liked, but I still needed to see items in person. So I set an appointment with my decorator and off we went to look at counter and tile ideas. Then I went to a local hardware store, Brandino Brass, and looked for hardware. Who knew that would end up being the most difficult choice I made.
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| Good bye dated splash guards and tiny cabinet pulls |
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| See ya dining chandelier! |
After spending a couple of hours shopping, I knew exactly what I wanted...I just had to wait for my fabricator and tile guy to measure and quote the job. It didn't take long to realize that we missed the boat with our budget....Steve was not happy. Everything I fell in love with cost more than we thought it would, so I needed to make some adjustments. We changed our counter from quartz to marble, which helped our price dramatically! The rest was just non-negotiable so we bit the bullet and ordered it.
Of course the remodel process didn't go exactly as planned....subs took longer than projected, our painter quit our job the day before he was to start, so we had to find a new one and then wait two weeks to get on their schedule, our tile guy was short a little on his tile measurement, so we had to order more from California and wait for that to arrive, our first two slabs of marble got cracked, so I had to choose new ones, one of our lanterns was broken so we needed to return it and wait for the replacement. However, with all of these hiccups, I am still happy we did it. I just realized that I could NEVER build a home from the ground up. We LOVE our new kitchen, and hope to love and enjoy for at least another ten years!
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| Loving my lanterns, faucet and bar stools |
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| The mirror backsplash and new faucet changed the bar |
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| Large pulls make me smile |
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| Love my marble behind the range with navy tiles! |
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| New rug and recovered seat cushions |
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| New Dining Room Chandelier |
Overall, I am most happy with our splurge on hardware! I love the colors, and how everything just looks fresh and current. We look forward to years of entertaining in our new space.
