For the last few weeks Handsome Hubby (HH) and I have been meeting with architects to discuss our big renovation project. We have lots to think about and more homework to do before we pick a team but on the plus side, no one fled the premises when we we finally got down to talking budget - even after seeing the basement.
Going into the talks, the kitchen was my biggest concern. The current kitchen is big, which is great, but the big footprint means the cost of gut renovating it could easily break the bank. We want to open up the floor plan to all allow for a better flow between the mudroom and adjoining dining room and family room. We could easily spend our entire budget on the kitchen with all of that and new floors, counters, fixtures, etc., but that's not because mama needs a new closet! Aside from the kitchen, we've got a huge upstairs master bath/closet addition planned (among other things) so we have to find a team that's creative and willing to re-purpose as much as possible.
The big takeaway from our preliminary meetings is that our wishlist is pretty steep but in the kitchen it looks like we'll be able to get more than enough to make us happy by refinishing the exiting hardwood floors and some of the cabinets, and reusing a few of the appliances that Little Debbie recently upgraded. So our kitchen dreams live on and I finally have a legitimate excuse for oogling kitchinspiration pictures so the architects and contractors can get a better sense of our style.
LOVE everything about this kitchen from the white, shaker style cabinets, marble counters with contrasting walnut (?) island to the subway tile backsplash and hardwood floors. Oh, and the windows. Sigh.
If I could, I'd put a window next to every cabinet just like this. And the vaulted tongue and groove ceiling?! Yes, please.
At first I thought I would die without Cararra marble counters like these, but after weighing the pros and cons (and cost!), I quickly changed my mind. HH would KILL me if we spent all of that money on nice and shiny marble only to have it etched up and stained a few months later. Fortunately there are lots of pretty marble look-a-likes out there in granite and quartzite that I would be more happy with and that won't require me to maintain an acid and red-wine free kitchen.
With this "supreme white" granite, I'd get the look of marble without the housekeeping headaches. I'm also really liking the idea of breaking up all of the white with a contrasting island - maybe with a contrasting island or a bar built-in like this?
Kashmir white granite seems like another good white marble alternative.
I think granite is our best bet because of it's toughness, but this Bianco Macabus quartzite is a dead ringer for Cararra marble. Thanks to
Erin from Elements of Style for the tip!
I'm leaning towards a white subway tile backsplash since it's classic and clean (and cheap) but how cool is this?!
I always over research the hell out of things, so here's even more pretty kitchenspiration :)
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