One of my favorite rooms in our old house was our kitchen. It was so warm and inviting (you can see pictures of it here). Not so much the case in our new home. This kitchen needed a lot of love and some major updates. The cabinets are all solid maple and we originally planned to try and keep them as is and just focus on the countertops and moving some things around. We started by removing the electric cooktop and microwave and building a custom hood vent. We also removed the backsplash, tore out all the countertops and removed the island to open up the space. We then prepared to pour concrete countertops.
Next we installed a new travertine tile backsplash and a new polished marble farmhouse sink to replace the old stainless steel sink (I just love this sink!). The new gas cooktop was installed, along with a pot filler but before staining the hood vent we decided to take the remodel a step further. A new island was built and a matching concrete countertop poured. We also added an inlaid tile mosaic in the floor.
Although we felt this was an improvement over the original kitchen, I still wasn't loving it (but our sweet Chloe pictured above seemed content LOL). We ultimately decided to paint the cabinets. So, I removed all the hardware, prepped all the cabinetry and began priming and painting. Meanwhile, my husband built new small display cabinets to go on top of the existing upper cabinets.
The end result was totally worth it! I love our new kitchen. It's so much brighter and more welcoming than the original design, and it flows much better with our newly remodeled family room. Plus, the addition of the new upper display cabinets really draws your eye up and captures the beauty of the 9' ceilings.
Here's a look at the before....
And here's the finished design...
