Tag Archives: renovation

First of all, thank you so much for all of your kind words about my kitchen remodel!  I was blown away by your responses and support.  It means so much to me.  Truly

As promised, today’s post is about where I purchased things, the paint colors I used and providing answers to some of your questions:

Paint Colors:

• Cabinets –  Sherwin Williams Mindful Gray
• Walls – Sherwin Williams Balanced (but I had this mixed in Behr’s Premium Ultra paint from Home Depot)

Cabinet Hardware:

• Knobs – Home Depot from their open stock in the store
• Cup pulls – Restoration Hardware Gilmore pull in oil rubbed bronze
• Pulls – Restoration Hardware Ephram pull in oil rubbed bronze

Appliances:

We kept our existing dishwasher and refrigerator and purchased a new oven, microwave and warming drawer.  All appliances were purchased locally at Texas Appliance.

• Thermador 36″ Pro Harmony standard depth all gas range
• Thermador convection microwave
• Thermador warming drawer

We did a lot of research and looking at the appliances…the range in particular.  There are so many choices…do you go dual fuel?  All gas?  What’s the difference between professional style ranges?  Is it worth paying more for some and not others?  Do you pay extra to get features like a grill or a griddle?  In the end, we chose the all gas range with six burners because it was the least expensive option all the way around — we wouldn’t have to do anything extra like add or upgrade electrical outlets.  I’m thrilled with this range and may do a short post on what I learned if enough of you are interested. (In particular, the pros and cons of dual fuel vs. all gas.)

Pendant lights:

Carriage House Chandeliers from Ballard Designs

I fussed and fussed over lighting for MONTHS!  I found many, beautiful lights that I wanted to put over our island and in the end, the Carriage House chandeliers won out because of a few factors:

• Price (they were on sale and this was a huge factor because lighting is SO expensive!)
• Didn’t take up a lot of visual space (I didn’t want the lights blocking the view to my glass-front cabinet doors)
• No glass and wouldn’t be big dust collectors
• Didn’t require fancy light bulbs (I adore the look of the Edison bulb, but I really think they will be hard to get in a few years with greener requirements and traditional bulbs going away)

Pot Filler faucet:

The faucet is made by Delta and can be found here.  However, it was purchased by our kitchen designer from another supplier — most likely from the manufacturer itself.

Backsplash Tile:

• Daltile subway tile in Artcic White (purchased through our kitchen designer)
• Tremont shell blend by Soci (this is in the little square above the stove)
• The frame surrounding the Soci tile is also from Daltile (sorry, I couldn’t find a direct link on their site, but I know Lowes carries this)

Counter tops:

Calcutta green marble found at a local stone/granite place purchased through our kitchen designer.

Sink:

Blanco fireclay apron front sink – this was purchased through our kitchen designer directly from Blanco.

Counter Stools:

Restoration Hardware oak counter stool – These little stools are simple, sturdy and fit perfectly in the space.  I didn’t want anything fancy or that stood out.  I just wanted them to tuck neatly under the new overhang of the counter and these do exactly that.  Plus, they were a great price and I loved that!

Your Questions Answered:

How did we move the island?

My husband and I did this ourselves.  The island was screwed or bolted in to the floor, but when Mr. Longhorn lifted up the island using a car jack he was able to free it from the floor.  (You can see a couple of divots in the tile under the stools above.  (We’ll replace the tile at some point, but today is not that day!). 

So, yes, he used a car jack to carefully and gently lift up the island.  Then we put a couple of 1″ pipes under the island, lowered the jack until the island rested on the pipes and then slowly rolled the island forward.  It really was pretty simple and easier than we thought!  

Did moving the island improve your work flow between the sink and the stove?

No.  In fact, I think the island was so off-center in the first place to help improve the flow issue.  But, for me, moving the island to a more centered position helped us in a few ways:

1. The overall asthetic — the centered look just feels so much better to me
2. I can now open the refrigerator and set things on the island without taking 4 whole steps to get there.  In a big kitchen, the number of steps you take when working is huge, so I really appreciate being able to just turn around and set things down especially when I’m trying to get to something in the back of the fridge.
3. It opened up the space to the breakfast area so I can now fully extend my table to seat more people.  I could do this before only if I angled my table.  Now I can do it without angling the table, AND I have extra seating at the island.
4. Moving the island enabled us to increase the overhang on the counters so we could incorporate seating there.  My kids LOVE this!

Did we paint the cabinets ourselves or hire them out?  

We hired them out.  We had a lot going on in the kitchen and it was easier to let someone else do it.  I honestly did consider painting the cabinets myself because I like to paint and felt confident about doing a good job, however,  given the size of this job and the fact that we use this space every single day, we decided to leave it to the professionals.

They did a wonderful job and I’m very pleased with our decision, however, it was much more expensive than doing it ourselves so it may not be an option for everyone.

How is the marble to keep up?

This is a huge question and it deserves it’s own post, really.  We agonized over whether or not to replace our counter tops and then we deliberated some more about whether to stick with granite or opt for marble which we both agreed was a gorgeous choice.  I know you don’t want to hear this, but I can’t answer this question fully for you today.  We have only had the counters installed for a couple of weeks and, I’m going to be honest, our counters have been an issue.  However, I don’t want to swear you off of marble.  I have marble in my bathroom and have had it there since the day we moved in — over 13 years ago — and we do not have the same issues in there that we have in the kitchen.  I also grew up in a home with marble counters in the bathroom.  It did not look or behave the way our kitchen marble does.  This is a long story and I’ll get in to it at another time.  I am hoping we can get some resolution with the supplier and that’s all I’m going to say right now.

In the meantime, I will tell you what I have experienced in my bathroom.  Marble is beautiful.  There is nothing like it and therefore, don’t expect it to be as durable and impervious like granite or other stones like soapstone.  You will get some etching and you can’t use regular cleaners on it, but it is a wonderful material.  If you’re considering marble as an option, you have to decide if you can live with some etching here and there or whether you are a perfectionist and want it to look brand new every single day of its life.  This is a personal choice only you can make.  If you appreciate the patina marble acquires over time, then go for it!  You will love it every single day!  If you like things to look new and perfect, you will not enjoy your marble…go with granite.  I really think it’s that simple.  

 I think that covers most of your questions.  If you have any others, please let me know and I’ll try to answer them the best I can.

Thanks so much for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day!

 

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