KITCHEN REVEAL

I wanted to do something special for my 50th blog post. One of the best features of my house is my kitchen and I am excited to finally share it with you. It really fits my personality and works well into the flow and floor plan of our home. It is the first thing you see when you walk in. It's the center of our home and serves as our command center. I spent a lot of time planning and working with my cabinet builder and contractor to design 

something unique, cozy and functional. I am giddy with joy every time I walk in the room.

I hope you enjoy the tour and this photograph heavy post!

Here is our downstairs floor plan to give you an idea of where the kitchen is and how it lays out.

We have more of a lodge style interior so I really wanted the kitchen to pull features from a log home but at the same time I wanted it to have a farm house feel to it as well. I like darker paint colors but it's really hard to photograph in darker rooms so you'll have to excuse my over and under exposed photography. Some of these pictures make me cringe. They were worse before I played with the exposure in Photoshop. I did the best that I could do with my ability. 

In order to pull off more of your log home look, I decided to go with knotty pine wood. My Amish cabinet builder was extremely nervous with this as he had never done a knotty pine kitchen before. He became even more nervous when I told him that I wanted an opposing burgundy island! I wanted the cabinet doors to have a beaded face so that the antique glaze could really soak in. I also opted for crown molding up top with a burgundy accent strip to play off my burgundy island and pantry.

Hardware, I feel is an extremely important feature in a kitchen. It's a small detail but it can really bring out the personality you're trying to achieve. I knew I wanted oil rubbed bronze cabinet pulls to play off of my sink faucet finish. I ended up finding these at Lowes. I shopped around quite a bit. There are so many choices out there! These are plain and sturdy.

A sink could be just a sink. It doesn't necessarily take away from your kitchen's personality but a unique sink can definitely add to it. I knew for years that I wanted an apron front sink. I wanted one before they were the "thing" to pin on Pinterest. I didn't want clean cut white or almond porclain because I was trying to bring out dark features in my kitchen. I brainstormed for months on this. I got together with my fixture consultant, Kim at Mid-City Supply for a third time when she showed me a picture of a hammered copper sink. The instant I saw it, I fell in love! Copper even has natural anti-bacteria agents in it. This is definitely perfect for a more rustic look and defines my kitchen. This sink is made by De La Frontera.

Photo from Danze.com

My kitchen sink faucet is from the Danze Opulence line in an oil rubbed bronze finish. It is model d404557-RB. Head over heals for this thing. Kim told me she was a "Danze girl" and I think I may now be a "Danze girl" too! It's very sturdy, well made, attractive and highly functionable. 

 I wanted a burgundy island to add some color to the kitchen. My cabinet maker did a color match with Sherwin William's Red Theater to match my dining room wall. I had him "beat" it up a little and add an antique glaze. I really like how it turned out. The top three drawers of this island are a God send. I no longer have to rummage through drawers to find tools and gadgets like I did in the old house. Everything is nice and neatly laid out and easy to find. There aren't any guessing games. The two bigger drawers in the middle hold my pots and pans.

Originally, I was going to have a walk in pantry. It would have been in between my laundry room and little half bath. I ended up removing that wall out of the plan because I wanted to expand my laundry room. It was really tiny and no way was I having a brand new house with a tiny laundry room. I decided to just incorporate enough cupboard space to hold food.

I had recently opened a Pinterest account after my decision to remove a walk in pantry. Barely knowing what Pinterest was, I came across this God send of a pin:

Photo on Pinterest linked to houzz.com

Ah ha! That was my alternative solution to a walk-in pantry. I ran up to my cabinet maker the next day and showed him this picture. He said it could easily be made. Then, there was the decision of having it match my burgundy island or my knotty pine finish. Choices, choices! I decided to go with burgundy to play off the island.

I think it turned out quite well and I couldn't be happier with my choice! It holds plenty of food and the bottom cabinets are perfect for miscellaneous items and baking ware. Even the inside shelving of my pantry turned out identical to this one. SLM Woodshop did a very fine job! Everyone always asks me how much it cost to have that made. Don't know. Don't care! It was included in the cost of the kitchen cabinetry final and that's all I need to know....

I just adore the little extra cubby shelf above the pantry doors. It's so fun to play around with and to use as a display for my favorite kitchen antiques!

I've been putting off purchasing hardware for the pantry. I want big, metal handles. Big, metal handles are expensive. What I want runs about $80 a piece. I need to keep searching. If you know of any good resources, please let me know!

So, as you can see, the kitchen is a U shape with a working island in the center. I must say, it has been a dream working around this lay out. There is so much room to spread out and a station for everything.

Even my spice rack matches my island finish! My cabinet maker and his family are good friends of ours and this was their wedding gift to us. They were sneaky :)

The log next to the fridge was another surprise by my cabinet maker. He obtained a log from my contractor when the rest of our wood came and worked it into the cabinetry detail. What an awesome touch! He said he had a vision and that I just needed to trust him. I am so glad that I did! The little cabinet on the left of the fridge was an idea I had to hold special glasses and wine bottles. It's just another way to utilize all the space available!

The counter tops are quartz. Originally I was going to go with Corian but my supplier had quartz on sale in a similar color to the Corian I had picked out. I knew nothing about quartz at the time. Actually, I thought it was kind of ugly at first. I cannot tell you enough how happy and thankful I am to have fallen into quartz. I have Corian in the laundry room along with the upstairs bathrooms and it just scratches too easily. I would pick quartz over any solid surface any day. You don't have to reseal it like you do granite and butcher block. You still need to use a hot pad because hot temperatures can disrupt the bonding that holds the quartz pieces together. Not a problem. I can do that.

I just love how the light bounces off the counter tops causing the whole kitchen to shine!

The peninsula that divides the kitchen and the living room is knotty pine facing the kitchen and painted burgundy like the island facing the living room. The burgundy in the living room really adds a lot of warmth. It really flows very nicely. I am not sure how I came up with that decision, but I like it!

Honestly, out of this entire project, you know what took the longest to pick out? Bar stools. I stewed and stewed and stewed on this decision. I wanted something unique and different that pulled the room together. I had everything under the sun picked out. I wanted something reasonably priced, durable, rustic and comfortable. Could not find that anywhere. One day, after I had thrown in the towel, I called my cabinet maker and asked if he'd be interested in creating my bar stools. He had a catalogue of different styles he could get unfinished from his friend. I am telling you, networking with the Amish is the way to go!  I chose this stool because it looked extremely comfortable and accommodating to all shapes and sizes. Even my two year old niece can crawl on and off of this safely.

Once I had the style picked out, it was time to pick out a finish. Oh boy, here we go again with decisions! I ended up taking one of my dining room chairs to him to replicate the finish. I thought it would help the flow into the dining room.The finishes were identical! He did an amazing job at color matching. He did an amazing job at everything, period.

So there you have it! My kitchen reveal. The pictures don't do it justice and I wish I were a better interior photographer. There was a lot of time and planning that went into this room and it feels great to finally show it off. I cannot thank my fixture consultant, contractor and cabinet maker enough for helping me bring this vision in my head to life! It was amazing to have people that I could work so closely hand in hand with especially with some of the changes that took place. Even though you have your vision dead set in your mind, it's good to have others point out potential problems and they can even suggest great ideas like my log next to the fridge! I never would have thought of that.

I was striving for a rustic, cozy place where we would spend many years with friends and family gathered around my island sharing good food and conversation. I think we achieved just that :)