We started seriously discussing having some minor kitchen renovations done last November (2009). We met with a local renovator, and finalized our plans in June (2010). The renovations started July 12th, and were just completed yesterday.
Just a few things we wanted done were to replace all of our granite with new granite, reconstruct our kitchen island so that it had an eating bar, new backsplash, a new apron sink, replace the old flourescent/box lighting with pendants, additional recessed/canned lighting, and under-the-counter LED strip lighting.
What we didn't plan on was having the floor replaced. However, after trying to match our wood floor on several tries (and 3 weeks just working on the wood floor), we decided to opt for a new slate floor in the kitchen/breakfast area - this took 3 weeks of planning and completing. We also added (ourselves) a new light fixture over the breakfast area. You should have seen Harry and a very pregnant me trying to hang that thing! I have to give kudos to Harry - he did a GREAT job and didn't allow me to help him any more than he had to!
We forgot to take "before" pictures....so I had to go through tons of "old" pictures trying to find a few pictures of our kitchen with un-obstructed views. Not much luck, but below, I've attempted to do a "before" and "after" of our kitchen. Towards the end, I just ended up doing a bunch of "after" pictures so that you can fully see the end result.
(Even though I took plenty, I didn't include any during pictures where we basically didn't have a kitchen at all for 5 weeks. Even though most of our appliances were present (because we ONLY replaced the sink), they were all sealed up to protect them from the renovations. We couldn't even use our fridge!!!! (Good thing we have another fridge out in the garage - it was our saving grace.) I think I missed the sink the most. That was a pretty rough 5-6 weeks! Here goes pictures.......
Before: You can see the dark granite, rectangular island (no eating bar), wood floors, and far in the distance you can see a small glimpse of the black backsplash in the kitchen area. Also there is a desk/cabinet to the front, left in the picture. We replaced this with a built-in (dark stained) cabinet over a year ago....so it isn't new to THIS project.
After: New pendant lighting (removal of flourescent light box), new granite, newly configured eating bar, new backsplash, and new slate flooring. Oh, and let's not forget my new counter stools!
Before: This picture shows the end of the island where we worked the most with design adding a new eating bar. This also shows our old kitchen table, which we replaced over a year ago with a "puzzle" table we found in Carmel, CA.
After: I didn't get a very good shot of the eating bar in this picture, but I DID capture the new light fixture that Harry (with my help) hung over our breakfast table. This table was ordered almost 2 years ago, and was delivered a year ago. It's triangular pieces that pull out and the table expands from 60+ inches in diameter to 80+ inches in diameter, easily seating up to 12 people. We love it! (We still plan to get window treatments and new chairs for the table.....but one project at a time, right?)
Before: This picture wasn't taken too long ago. It shows the front of the rectangular island. All of this shelving was removed during renovations - but it is where I used to store all of my cookbooks (which I collect), but they had already removed most of them in preparation for renovations. Timothy was hiding from Benjamin in this picture! Ha!
After: This is the front of the island now - where the eating bar is. I think what we like most about it now is the stone that we selected to put all the way around the front. This picture also shows the corbels that we chose and how well they match the iron-work on the counter stools.
Before: This picture was taken back in March. The only thing it really shows (a little bit of) is the old sink, the wall area around the windows (shutters) that is now tiled with backsplash, the old black backsplash (to the left of Timothy's head), and a closer picture of the dark granite.
After: You can see the new backsplash really well in this picture. We also decided to take the backsplash all the way around the windows (where we used to have paint). You can also see our new apron sink in this picture.
More pictures of the final product!
Just one word will do -- GORGEOUS!!! It's so light and bright now, and it appears more functional too. I think you should consider your contractor's suggestion about going into the design business because you'd be great at it! Your selections are perfect and everything looks so beautiful. I know it was such a pain and frustration to you for all those weeks, but the end result is worth it!!
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