BUNGALOW KITCHEN REVEAL

“The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” –Socrates

Since I could not salvage the cabinets or the wood floors, I started with a clean slate, and a creative mind to make the best possible use of the available space.  Removing the large swinging door now allows the Dining Room and Kitchen to flow together nicely. The globe lights above the farmhouse kitchen sink grab your attention from the Dining Room directing you into the space.

Let’s step into this newly renovated beautiful kitchen I designed.  With the room being considerably small my challenges were to first maximize the space to its full potential, second  focus on the functionality, and third bring more value to the house since the Kitchen is one of the best selling points.

I chose a neutral paint color and beautiful white shaker style kitchen cabinets. Very clean and simple look that goes a long way. Running around town trying to get the best pricing on cabinets within the budget for the look that I wanted was a hard challenge to face. I received a quote from Lowe’s, Home Depot, Menards, Kite Kitchen Interiors, and lastly the Amish located in Montgomery, Indiana. Surprisingly, with the look I wanted with the layout I designed the most cost effective were the Amish. In fact, they came in over half of the price of the other stores. Significant discount! The cabinets are all custom made with real wood and a soft close feature. I was able to pick out the custom paint color (same color as my trim throughout the house), the interior storage (ie. pullouts, silverware insert, lazy susan, spice rack, can goods rack), hardware, and the glass inserts. They have a team of installers who do an excellent job and stand by their work! (Please contact me if you want more information) Glass cabinets extended all the way to the ceiling frames the open window and the beautiful farmhouse kitchen sink.

Moving onto the breakfast nook… a great little space to sit and enjoy a fresh cup of coffee. The modern drum light adds a soft touch to the overall kitchen feel. The chairs and table are hand-me-downs which are too big for the space, I will eventually be replacing them.

Instead of lining the two walls with upper cabinets all the way around as it was when I first bought this house, I decided I wanted more of an open concept look but still have enough storage and possibly add a small pantry.  First, I switched the range and refrigerator placement from the original. It made more sense to put the large refrigerator next to the bump-out and the range on the other wall. 

By doing this, I created a focal point from when walking into the back door with two upper cabinets on either side of the beautiful stainless steel range hood. I did not make them go all the way to the ceiling because I wanted that height variation.

To create the illusion of the space seeming larger in the corner, I went with stained open wood shelving…great for displaying extra dishes, bowls, and creates more counter space by setting the microwave on it. An 18” deep set on surface cabinet with a frosted glass mullion door brings tons of storage to the space acting as a small pantry.

Moving on to the beautiful marble counters…NOT. These are actually Quartz, but looks like marble. Much more cost effective than granite and it doesn’t stain like marble. For the backsplash, I chose a large light grey subway tile to bring out the grey veins in the quartz accented with a beautiful mosaic and marble trim.

For the floor, I wanted to use a tile that is extremely durable, water resistant, and does not show footprints or dirt. One of my rules of thumb when it comes to picking out tile for the floor is stay away from shiny light colored tile if you have kids or pets (especially a bulldog who drools everywhere.)   I used a 12 x 24 matte grey porcelain tile in a brick layered pattern with a grey grout. Porcelain tile is extremely durable and the matte finish does not show footprints or drips. I used a grey grout because the kitchen (being right off the back door) collects a lot of foot traffic and the darker the grout the more you do not see dirt… which means you won’t have to spend weekends on your hands and knees scrubbing your kitchen floors.

The archway leading to the back door used to be hidden with an outdated wallpaper. Now I highlighted the archway as a focal point by brightening up the space with neutral colored walls, added a new brushed nickel light fixture, and created a space to hang coats in the landing of the stairs.

Hope you enjoyed it! If you would like to know any of the sources please comment below. Check out the Before and After pictures here!