Kitchen Update
It has taken us years, but the kitchen is finally updated to my satisfaction (pending the delivery of 3 new World Market bar stools to replace these saddle bar stools). When we first moved into this house nearly 5 years ago, the kitchen was the first thing we tackled. I wish I could find a before picture for you. We replaced the laminate countertops with this granite, installed the black granite sink with the brushed nickel faucet, ran a gas line to the stove and installed a gas cooktop with a ventilating downdraft. Here is how it looked after those changes.
I knew I would eventually want to paint the cabinets, but I put it off because, well, painting cabinets sucks. And we have A LOT of cabinets, which, under any other circumstance, makes me super happy. I finally built up the courage to tackle the cabinets. I followed this very detailed tutorial here. My only deviation from this tutorial was to do things in sections. With 2 little ones at home, I knew I would be overwhelmed if I tried to do everything all at once. Instead, I started with the small coffee bar/oven area. This allowed me to perfect my process before moving on to bigger sections.
Then, I painted the island to make sure I liked the sea salt color. Next up was all the upper cabinets, and the last section was the biggest: all the lower drawers and cabinets. I painted most of the cabinets Benjamin Moore White Dove because I think it's the perfect creamy white and the island Sherwin Williams Sea Salt because I love a hint of blue.
I was planning to do the backsplash myself, but I didn't know if I had it in me to do another big project after 2 weeks of painting cabinets. Lucky for me, we got a super cheap quote to replace the backsplash, and it was money I was more than happy to pay. Because my countertops are so busy and dark, I went with a white beveled subway tile to keep things simple. I used a natural gray grout to highlight the contrast without going overboard.
I hung 3 Fintorp rails from IKEA in different places around the kitchen to keep things handy. You can see one above the stovetop for pans and cutting boards. I also have one on the false drawer fronts under the sink to hold dish towels. The third bar is hanging on my island since that's where I do most of my cooking, and I can hang whatever utensils I'll need.
For the last 10 years, my kitchen has had red as an accent color, and my Kitchen Aid mixer, which I adore, was no exception. It seemed silly to spend hundreds of dollars buying a new mixer that matched my updated kitchen when my mixer works perfectly fine. I did some research and thought I'd try spray painting it.
I used this tutorial, and it worked beautifully. So far, it's holding up great, and my hubby said it looks like I bought it that color. I decided to go with Rustoleum's Dark Copper because it goes well with my countertops.
About a year ago, our single oven died, and it was time to get a new one. I've always wanted double ovens, but I didn't want to sacrifice the built-in microwave. I found out that GE makes something called a single double oven. It's a double oven that fits in the space of a single oven, and I freakin' LOVE it! We got super lucky and found a practically new one on Craigslist for an awesome deal. You can find a new one here.
I'm very blessed to have such a large kitchen, but the painted cabinets and updated backsplash make the space feel even bigger, and I love how bright it is. I wasn't liking our granite much anymore, but now I love how the dark countertops contrast with the white cabinets.
