Hey guys! Today I wanted to share a bit more progress in our kitchen after our recent lighting project. Like I mentioned in that post, I decided to take the update a step further and paint over the two-tone green and tan walls from the previous owners. As a reminder, here’s what the kitchen and breakfast nook looked like when we moved in.
Once we replaced the fluorescent light box and painted the ceiling, it was time to tackle the walls.
I never thought I’d want to use the same paint color in every room of my house, but this house is super open. You can see basically every room except the master bedroom from the center of the house. With so many rooms visible from so many vantage points, I wanted the wall color to fade into the background instead of chopping up the flow.
That being said, it was time to paint (Silver Drop by Behr). After a couple of coats and putting the room back together, here’s how the kitchen looks today!
Here’s a closer look at the finished ceiling with the new wall color. The ceiling isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty darn hard to tell those can lights aren’t original. I still can’t believe we waited so long to make this update!
This shows one of the new lights and the previously existing can light in the corner above the sink. We replaced a yellow-trimmed CFL bulb in that corner with a CREE LED recessed downlight to match the other four we installed ourselves.
Now for a quick tour of the kitchen, along with some changes we’d like to make!
You enter the kitchen from the sitting room and see the pantry and fridge wall on your left. One project I’ve been brewing on for awhile is adding a more effective bulletin board/ chalk board/ magnet area to this side of the pantry. I’ll probably update this area soon, but for now the small corkboard is a great place to tack up a few photos and recipes, along with our Whole30 Shopping List (call us crazy but we’re back on Whole30, y’all!).
We brought the stainless fridge with us from Arkansas (see it in our old kitchen HERE) and still love it as much as we did then, even though it’s huge. We got lucky that it barely fit into the existing space when we moved in!
The Instant Pot has seen almost daily use since we bought it, so it easily won a coveted countertop storage spot pretty much immediately. Ha! I’m imagining all my other small appliances shaking their fists at the Instant Pot. “Someday, we’ll knock you off your high horse, Instant Pot! Someday…”
We keep veggies and cutting boards on this side of the kitchen for easy peeling, chopping, and Instant Pot-ing. We must have been light on groceries the day I took these photos because that white bowl is usually overflowing with potatoes and sweet potatoes with a few types of squash on the counter beside. Our grocery-purchasing style has definitely changed since we started Whole30 and have had to cook at home more often.
It may go without saying, since we painted the cabinetry in our Arkansas kitchen, but I’d love to update these oak babies with a fresh coat of white (or white uppers with contrasting lowers). I’d also really love to remove the soffit above the cabinets and extend the cabinetry to the ceiling or figure out a way to disguise the soffit like we did in our old kitchen. Whether that will happen will depend on budget and how labor-intensive it will be, since we’d do it all ourselves.
When we tackle the next phase of the kitchen renovation, I hope to replace the vented microwave with a real range hood and possibly add glass doors on a few of the upper cabinets. I’ve considered open shelving, but those cabinets hold so much and the constant dusting that goes along with open shelving doesn’t really sound like my idea of a good time. 😛
On this side of the kitchen, we store the everyday-use items: plates, bowls, cups, kids dishes, and baking dishes. We also have a little drink station next to the coffee pot, and you can barely make out our little brass “beer bear” bottle opener on the side of the upper cabinetry.
I always wanted a sink under a window that looked out into the backyard, and I found that in this house! It’s almost perfect, except the sink is set pretty far back into the countertop. I’m only 5’2″, so it’s quite difficult to reach the back of the sink, not to mention the countertop behind it. Don’t even get me started on washing dishes at this sink when I was 9 months pregnant! Impossible!
Eventually, I’d like to remove the square tile border on the wall and replace it with a full tile backsplash. We want to wait to tackle the backsplash until we decide if the current countertops will stay or get the boot during our next reno phase.
We keep fruit close to the sink to make washing and snacking easy. Stephen found this cookbook years ago, and I finally picked it up the other day and started using it. It’s got great tips on how to “throw together” meals using what you have on hand, for each season of the year.
Our breakfast nook is an open area at the end of the kitchen with a sliding door to the back deck. I had patterned curtains hanging over the sliding door before we painted but haven’t hung them back up yet. I love the light, bright look without the busy pattern, so I might end up replacing them with white or light-colored linen ones instead.
Our round table works so well here, but we’ve realized lately that it’s getting hard to host with a table this size. Having friends to dinner a year ago might have consisted of us and another couple, plus a highchair for Libby. Now, a typical dinner with friends requires at least six chairs for the adults and big kids, plus two or more boosters for the littles. Since we got rid of our dining room in favor of our new sitting area, we’re on the lookout for a rectangular table for this breakfast nook that can seat at least eight.
This shot really highlights how open our floorplan is. To the left is the den with a hallway to the laundry area and basement and to the right is the sitting room, playroom, and front door. You can even see our upstairs landing, linen closet, and the kids’ bathroom door through that railing up above. Now that the kitchen has been painted, I’m so motivated to banish the beige for good and paint the tall walls in the front of the house.
The art is That Bowtie I Like by Michelle Armas and I luuurve it. It was a Christmas gift years ago, and it’s slowly made its way through the several rooms in our house; you can see it in our master bedroom in Arkansas, Libby’s old nursery, and Libby’s nursery in our new house. Looking back on those posts, I realized I’ve designed more than a couple rooms off of this painting!
I’m guessing it’s hung in so many rooms because as soon as I start working on a new space I think, “you know what painting would look great in here…”
So that’s a look at our kitchen post-lighting and paint and pre-whatever updates come next. I mentioned on Instagram the other day that I’ve had sooo many house ideas buzzing around in my head lately, it’s hard to pick a direction and GO! We also have lots of weekends booked this summer, but I’m going to do my best to eek out some house projects between trips.
How about you? Are you using summer to get projects done or taking much needed time off?
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