Plans for Our Kitchen

shade | lantern | hardware | paint | stool | tile

Good morning everyone!  How was your weekend?  Ours was the same busy kid activity filled weekend plus a good dose of college football.  The fun Fall weekends that we've come accustom to!  And our weather was absolutely gorgeous, so we spent a lot of time outside soaking it up. 

Today I wanted to share a little about our kitchen plans.  I have been so anxious to redo our kitchen ever since we moved in.  When we moved in May, we had all the walls and ceilings painted and I picked out paint for our kitchen cabinets.  The painters painted all the walls one weekend and then they were supposed to come back the next weekend and do the kitchen cabinets, but I had them hold off.  Here's why - our cabinets our currently painted a dark brown almost black color, so I was hesitant to paint over them again especially a white color.  So we started toying around with the idea of replacing them.  I also wasn't sure if our granite would pair with the white cabinets and still give the kitchen the white look I wanted.  So we thought replacing the cabinets and granite would be the way to go.  But once we started down that path, it snowballed into also doing the floors because the new cabinets may not line up exactly, which then lead to if we do the floors in the kitchen, we really needed to do the whole downstairs so it would all flow.  And then some of the appliances would need to be replaced and so on and so on.  So I kind of put the kitchen on the back burner and we carried on with our other projects, which were mostly outside this summer.

Then a month ago, I had a girlfriend over and shared my thoughts on our kitchen and her response was why not just paint the cabinets now, even if you know one day you want to remodel the whole kitchen and do the floors.  She knows that I love a white kitchen and she said that it's better then living with the dark cabinets, until you're ready to do the full remodel.  Yes it is!

Rewind a few weeks ago when I came across Sita's kitchen and it seriously all came to me.  Her countertops are actually a similar color as ours and pairs beautifully with the white.  And her island is about the size of ours, which made me think pendant lanterns could work over my smaller island (which at one point I thought would not be the case.)  And then I came across this kitchen makeover which sourced out these mini lanterns, which are just a slightly smaller version of Sita's that I loved so much, but would be a better fit for the size of my island!  Finding these two sources really got my mind thinking hard again about our kitchen update.  I could finally see how it could all come together without doing a full remodel, but a face lift instead.  Sometimes having an inspiration picture is so helpful.  So we are penciled in to have our cabinets painted the first part of November and then hopefully move on from there with the finishes.  So, while I very anxiously wait for the painters to finish, here's what I have picked out:

Riviera Stripe Cordless Roman Shade in Navy - I've always wanted a window in the kitchen and we got lucky with one in this home.  I have plans to frame/trim out the window and then add a window treatment.  I love Roman Shades and this casual navy striped shade will pull in the blues I'm using in our family room which opens up to the kitchen.

Darlana Mini Lantern in Gilded Iron - I have been pinning several white kitchen images lately and there is always one common denominator in them - gold finishes.  So I knew when we painted ours, I would be adding some gold finishes.  At first I thought our kitchen island was too small for the size pendants I was finding.  But then I came across these and I think they will be the perfect size.
 
Brushed Brass Pull Bar - Excited to add these to the cabinets to tie in the lanterns.

Simply White by Benjamin Moore - A fresh, white color for the cabinets.  Our walls are painted Palomino Gray by PPG, which is a very, very light gray (almost white) color and I think this bright white color on the cabinets will look great against the walls.

White Subway Tile Herringbone Pattern - I love classic white subway tile.  Thinking about installing it in a herringbone pattern to change it up a bit from our last kitchen. 

Riviera Backlless Counter Stool in Navy - I have been in love with the Riviera style barstools and chairs ever since Serena and Lily first showcased them.  Because our island is smaller size, I'm thinking 3 backless barstools will be a better fit then two with backs and three will off set the two pendants.

When I put this design board together yesterday and I saw everything grouped together it made me so happy!  Besides painting, we will be doing the backsplash, lighting and hardware installations ourselves so hopefully by the end of the year we will be finished.  I would love it all done by Christmas, but we'll see.  At least there is a plan.  Having a plan and vision is a good thing.  Have a wonderful day!