So, it all started with the Corian....and before you say it, I am aware that there are some gorgeous Corian designs out there- we just didn't happen to have one. From afar our countertops looked like a dirty white and up close they were speckled to look like a doctor's office reception area. Now, if you asked Dean, he would tell you that the electric stove was his breaking point. As the main chef in our home he was really missing cooking with gas, especially as we already had the hookup under our kitchen island.
Regardless of what got the project started, we finally talked ourselves into renovating our kitchen for the new year. Here's what we started with:
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| Spacious but plain |
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| You can't see the dreaded Corian pattern in these pics but...it's there! |
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| Our breakfast nook |
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| The first time I saw our kitchen I was blown away by the size! |
We had already done a kitchen renovation project at our last house and the biggest lesson I learned was to keep it light and bright. We went with Ubatooba black granite, and brick backsplash and the finished kitchen was beautiful but very dark and moody:
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| We had to add under cabinet lighting because it was so dark! |
The first thing we decided on was the granite counters. We chose the Cotton Linen white:
But when we went to the granite yard in Dallas we were disappointed to find that the large slabs were covered with huge brown splotches that we really didn't like. Instead we found the Exodus white slabs that were much cleaner looking and had bits of sparkly silver that we loved:
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| Hard to see in the sunlight but it was gorgeous and sparkly |
Our next item to agree on was the backsplash. I fell in love with the arabesque dove gray tile from Home Depot and decided that it worked well with the granite we had selected:
It took Dean a moment to love the backsplash as much as I did...at first he thought it looked very busy. Then (I think) he thought it looked too feminine. But after taking a sample home and looking at it in our kitchen it started to grow on him.
The next big decision was what to do with our cabinets. At first we were going to just leave them the same, but with all the work we were doing it felt like a waste. So, Dean decided to go with a gray stain. And unfortunately, the stain did not give us our desired look...at all:
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| Just a hint of gray after about 3 coats! |
We decided painting would be the best and Dean went to the Sherwin Williams store and mixed a dreamy shade of gray that coordinated with everything. And then he got to work painting. And he painted. And for 40 doors and 26 drawers and all the cabinet fronts, that man painted:
And once it was all said and done....the final outcome has been gorgeous:
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| We picked out a nice gas stovetop and now Dean is a happy camper! |
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| Undermount sink in cashmere color. Always go with zero-reveal for the mount style...trust me! |
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| I got the valances on Amazon, RLF Home Royal Damask M Shaped Valance |
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| Brought our dining room table into the breakfast nook. |
We decided painting would be the best and Dean went to the Sherwin Williams store and mixed a dreamy shade of gray that coordinated with everything. And then he got to work painting. And he painted. And for 40 doors and 26 drawers and all the cabinet fronts, that man painted:
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