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Monday, February 13, 2012

From Lam to Glam

We have a small house.  It's fine for us because it's just the two of us.  There's 2 things I would change about it though, add another bathroom (which is about a year or two away) and have a bigger kitchen which is impossible.  When we moved in we didn't have money to get a bigger model so we got the smallest, most basic model and sadly that meant little to no counter space in the kitchen.  When we decided to remodel the kitchen from builder grade, sterile white everything (cabinets, counters, appliances) to a warmer honey maple with crown molding I maximized every inch of space in that thing.  I took a huge wasted corner of empty space and added a lazy susan which I don't know how we lived without before.  We took out 36" cabinets and added 42" ones.  I added a pantry which isn't huge but gets the job done.  A few years ago we added stainless steel appliances including a double oven which I also don't know how I lived without before.  The final touch was going to be the granite countertops we decided to skip when we did the remodel.  Now don't get me wrong, I loved our laminate.  It was a pretty dove gray that had this almost textured look to it.  It looked great:



When we decided to upgrade to the granite, we fell in love with Black Pearl.  It's almost black but has little bits of grayish and flecks of gold that kind of went with the cabinets.  Those were installed Friday and give the kitchen a completely different look...



I like them, they're pretty.  But dang do they suck the already bad light out of the room!  I kind of miss the light, airy feel of the laminate we had but it was nicked up and we needed to replace it.  I know the darkness of it will wear off eventually, it'll just take a little getting used to.  Here's a close up...



Before people freak out about why we didn't go with an undermount sink, we have a tip out to keep sponges and potato scrubbers and such and we use it all the time.  Undermount sinks aren't compatible with that so that was a no go.  I'm not heartbroken over it, it wasn't that important to me, it just would've been nice had it worked out.

So in the end, I'm happy that part of things are done around here.  We've already given it a pretty hard initiation with a nice spread of things to serve our friends who were putting up our crown molding upstairs.

What did you end up doing this weekend?

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20 comments:

  1. Looks great! Do I hear a lighting project in the near future.... Stainless steel track lighting? Lol.
    I was a lil productive this weekend: cleaned out 2 closets and build a small shelve inside the kitchen cabinet over fridge to help organize by too many cake pans.

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  2. It looks completely different with the new countertop! And by the way, you have more counterspace than I do. Pinky swear.

    This weekend I got some mascara (because my favorite dried out), made tortilla soup for lunch this week, made a flourless chocolate cake (still needs work), made scottish eggs for Eddie's breakfast, bought/wached Breaking Dawn Part 1 (and was extraordinarily disappointed), and did our taxes.

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  3. One more project done, it looks wonderful!!

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  4. Lots of catching up on housework, hung out with the little guy, and did my taxes.

    My kitchen is tiny too. I'm pretty sure you have more counter space than I do too, but I just try to remember that it means less space to clean.

    You new counter tops look great! I'm sure you'll get used to the lighting in no time.

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  5. I like the countertops! We have Maple Kona and a silver/grey granite with black flecks in it. I liked it when we first moved in, but its terribly hard to color coordinate and I am not a home decorator at all.

    Is a backsplash in your future plans? I think it would tie everything together nicely.

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  6. Well I have to say I'm kind of relieved to hear that we're not the only ones with a tiny little kitchen! I have felt so inadequate because everyone seems to have an amazing kitchen when they post pics of their food or whatever. I felt like "and then there's MINE." So thanks for making me feel like less of a kitchen enigma!

    Kerry- No backsplash for us. I just painted in there and we'll be moving in the next few years so we're not dumping more money into the place than we absolutely have to. Now at the next place, I would love to do glass subway tile but with my luck that trend will be on its way out but I don't care. I love the look of it!

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  7. I have a super litte galley kitchen. If there are more than 2 people in there, you're pretty much standing still = ) The new kitchen looks great! My weekend was not nearly as busy as yours, and I hope you get to take it easy for a few days.

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  8. My kitchen had the same lighting problem. Money was tight, so a lighting overhaul was not happening. I installed a couple of touch lights under the bottom of my cabinets. They are small enough that you can't see them unless you are looking for them, they are battery operated, so no running of electrical or loss of outlet. They serve there purpose, light where I need it, when I need it.

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  9. It's beautiful! We had our first round of Mardi Gras parades this weekend. Fun stuff!

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  10. Looks wonderful--I love the look of the granite. I swear, your kitchen layout is almost identical to mine so we have virtually the same countertop space. I think I might have a tiny bit more in that back corner, but what can you do with that area anyway? Oh, and I have the double oven, too--so worth having.

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  11. LOVE LOVE LOVE the dark countertops. GRANITE! It just sounds RICH! I want new granite countertops so badly. I don't have much counter space either, so how much could it cost, really? More than I have, I'm sure. I painted the walls in my living room a dark blue about 7 years ago. The room is not very big, but I have light carpeting and furniture in there. I think it's gorgeous. Loved it then and still do. LIGHT is highly overrated.

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  12. LOVE the granite! It plays nicely with your stainless appliances.

    I'm back and forth on the undermount sink. I like the look of it, but it seems like it would create a hidey hole for germs and grime.

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  13. looks fab, I love 'em!
    undercabinet lights perhaps?

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  14. Wow, your kitchen is beautiful--you guys did a great job! I really don't think it looks that much darker either (although I'm just judging from photos, you see it in person!).

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  15. I think they are beautiful and it makes the color pop more on the walls...when we remodeled we went without granite, too, and figure some day we'll replace ours with something else...but I like ours just fine for the moment and we tried to focus on the cupboards instead. I spent my weekend re-organizing my files from 2011 to 2012...yeah, I'm a little late!

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  16. Your kitchen is absolutely beautiful! I love the green paint too!

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  17. It's funny reading this and looking at the pictures because the new ones are very beautiful, but the old ones did make the room appear lighter.

    It seems like no matter how much kitchen space we have, it never seems to be enough. I know my kitchen is not the smallest, but I wish that it would have been a little bit bigger. My mom and sister come over and envy my kitchen because they say that it's big and open. I will admit that I have a lot of space, so I need to appreciate the space that I have because it's definitely bigger than some that I have seen. I wouldn't have approved of the house if the kitchen had been smaller.

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  18. Beautiful job! I love the counter. I think you will get used to the darker color, too. Your maple cabinets look remarkably like my maple cabinets. I've got black metal "bird's nest" pulls and knobs on mine.

    Lookin' good!!!! Just like the beautiful cupcakes that made my mouth water! Yikes!! Your Mr must be the most popular guy in his department! Great idea to have your treat and send the rest to the office. I do that with my sons. I'll make a batch of cookies, for example, and ship all but two! Get those suckers IN THE BOX and taped closed FAST!

    Enjoy your Valentine's Day, my dear!

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