Progress on our Kitchen Upgrades

Well, we had a nice long break in home renovation projects from Thanksgiving until now! There’s just so much going on during that time that we just got the kitchen to a passable state and left it that way until we were ready to get back into the swing of things.

I last left you with a picture of an in progress kitchen make-over and since then really all that has been done is the new marble and granite countertops have been installed, but what a difference they have made to the feel of the kitchen.

So this was the original listing photo of the kitchen area.

We took out the upper cabinets and backsplash and added cabinets to the end of the cabinet row. The new cabinets are the same as the original cabinets, but the finish is different which is ok because I will be painting them Benjamin Moore’s Black Iron which is the same color we painted the island in our last home, obviously we love that color!

Our installers came in before Christmas and removed the old granite (which I sold on Nextdoor to a neighbor a win-win for us both) and installed the new marble and granite.

This is leathered & honed Negresco granite, which has a fabulous soft feel and look. It’s not too black, nor too grey, we LOVE it! To me it looks similar to unsealed soapstone.

The installers were super tidy and didn’t seem to mind me taking pictures as they worked, but the process was pretty interesting to watch.

We chose leathered Covelano Fantastico marble and I totally run my hand over the surface of the bar top every time I walk by it as it is butter soft! I looked at a TON of options, including a lot of Quartzite, but this marble just drew me in! Even though I know the marble will need a little more TLC (i.e sealing frequently) I am willing to do that to get the look I wanted.

The marble has a soft matte feel and sheen to it with some variations in the surface texture, but not as dramatic as the Negresco.

We temporarily mounted the range hood before Thanksgiving so that we could vent our cooking, so we still have to make and install a surround for it. We also installed our articulating arm pedant lights which add so much needed light to the cooking area. I also installed the new cabinet hardware on all of the kitchen cabinets, matte brass on the stove area and matte black on the rest of the cabinets.

I laid the tile out to ensure we don’t have any small cuts on either end or the top. The layout works perfectly as I only need to remove about 1.5″ of each end tile. We will take the tile from each end of the granite all the way up the wall to the bottom of the crown molding.

We bought bullnose tile that will frame out and finish both sides.

We actually did one small project after Christmas, we wrapped the peninsula with shiplap and painted it in Benjamin Moore’s Black Iron in a new finish that they have in the Advance paint line “Matte”. I love the matte finish as I think it compliments the honed countertop surfaces, but I will have to see how it holds up to scuffing etc.

We considered other tile options of course and these 2 were the runner up options, both I loved but especially the blue!

All three final options had texture and interest as we quickly nixed the standard white subway tile (which I love), but we wanted a little something more interesting, but still with a classic look. The tile on the right was our final choice.

We will have a ton of light reflecting off of this wall and the subtle handmade look will give the wall a unique reflection.

So I have a little wall prep work to do this week and hopefully we will tile this weekend! I also have to decide the grout color, I’m leaning towards a mid-grey but we haven’t made the final decision yet on that.

The overall look for the kitchen will be sort of a soft industrial with beachy blue pops of color. I love the idea of leaving most of the cabinets natural wood, while accenting the stove area with the black lower cabinets. We will also be installing 4 wood shelves on the wall that are supported by hand forged black iron brackets, I’m really going to enjoy having some open shelving again!

FYI, we are also replacing the flooring, but we have just started the hunt for an installer and the materials as well… I’m thinking that’s going to be a pain in the butt!

Wish me luck this weekend, tiling can be such a pain but I can’t wait to start…

Thanks as always for stopping by!

PS… All of the tile samples were from the Tile Bar